Carol Ericson - Tough Justice - Burned (Part 3 Of 8)

Holding up his notepad, filled with his black scrawl, Nick said, “Ladies? Anything to add?”

“Yeah, do we have anything to worry about?” Jenna wrapped her long, brown hair around one hand.

“Nothing.” Nick rapped his knuckles on the table. “This is related to Anna’s mother, but if I can get back here tomorrow with a sketch artist, can you help us out?”

They all agreed to help with a sketch.

She and Nick handed their cards to each of the students and thanked them for their cooperation.

The girls wandered into the bookstore, their heads together, and Teddy hopped on his bike and pedaled away.

Lara checked the messages on her phone. “Interesting, but not all that helpful. And those descriptions? Thick hair with bangs? Sunglasses? Facial hair? Obviously, the kidnappers had on disguises. Now, if Teddy had bothered to check the license plate of tattoo lady’s big-ass SUV, we might have something.”

“Any updates from anyone?” He tilted his notebook her way before stashing it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Mei and Ty are done with Professor Hutter, and Victoria and Xander just wrapped up with Anna’s friends.”

“Speak of the devils.” His gaze shifted over her shoulder.

They pulled out the chairs Farah and Jenna had just vacated, and Mei dug her elbows into the table and propped her chin in her hands. “Nothing, nada, zip. Professor Hutter had his mind firmly on Hume, Camus and Russell, not fake FBI agents.”

“Zip it.” Ty drew a line across the seam of his lips with the tip of his finger. “Here comes the boss.”

Nick pushed back his chair and stood. “Have a seat, Victoria.”

Her eyes darted from face to face. “I can tell you didn’t have any better luck than we did.”

Lara reached across the table and curled her fingers around Victoria’s hand. The woman had been there for her more times than she could count. “Anna’s friends couldn’t tell you anything?”

“No.”

“We got a little something from her classmates.” Nick related what the students had told them about the woman, and what Teddy had revealed about the man and the black SUV. “So, we have another black SUV on the scene, like the one that pulled over for Dunst.”

“Another black SUV in a sea of black SUVs.” Victoria squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Xander, standing next to Nick, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Hang tough, boss. If Moretti wanted Anna dead, his people would’ve killed her already, stamped her and dumped her someplace public.”

Lara kicked Xander’s foot under the table. Leave it to him to lay it all out there. She held her breath as Mr. Sensitive opened his mouth again, and Nick looked ready to strangle him.

“Look, they drove off with her in some comfy SUV. Make no mistake. Moretti wants something. He called her a special target, remember?”

Lara watched Victoria’s face, waiting for her to crack at the thought of her daughter murdered and stamped, as Xander so delicately put it.

Instead, Victoria nodded, her mouth tight. “Makes sense.”

Encouraged, Xander continued. “Of course, it does. They want something in return for her—money, information—and we’re going to give it to them. Whatever it takes, boss.”

“Thanks for that, Xander. You’re right. Moretti wants something in exchange for Anna...and I’m going to move heaven and earth to get it for him.”

A feather of fear brushed the back of Lara’s neck as she and Victoria locked eyes across the table. Would Victoria really provide Moretti with anything he wanted?

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