Rita Herron - Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon

Another wave of sadness washed over the man’s face. “No. Everyone loves her. In high school she was voted most congenial and most likely to succeed.”

Amanda had forgotten about the most-likely-to-succeed award.

“In college, she worked on the school newspaper,” her father continued, “then earned her degree in English and planned to teach high school. She’s been applying for jobs and hopes to start in the fall.”

Amanda cradled her own coffee cup, aiming for a casual tone. “You and Kelly get along?”

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Kelly means everything to me.” He coughed. “When we lost her mother, she was depressed, and at first I thought what the hell am I going to do with a teenage girl? But then...we both missed Janelle and...” His eyes flooded with tears as he looked up at her. “She’s a good girl, Sheriff. A good girl.”

“I know she is,” Amanda said, battling to keep her compassion at bay so she could ask the tough questions that needed to be asked. The first rule of police work was not to let your emotions get involved. Her father had taught her that, God rest his soul.

“How about her and Raymond?” she asked. “Do they have any problems?”

“Not that I know of,” Lambert said. “She adores him. I wanted them to take it slower, not marry till they had more money in the bank, but they insisted on going ahead, said they’d survive on love.”

Amanda grimaced. She’d never been that naive. Maybe because she didn’t believe in love. Her mother and father sure as hell hadn’t loved each other.

“Mr. Lambert, what about you? Do you have any enemies?”

His eyes widened. “You think this might be about me?”

“I don’t know, but we have to look at all the possibilities.”

He stood and paced across the room. “No, I mean I own the bank and a few people got angry at me because I turned down loans. Filed a couple of foreclosures. But that’s business.”

Money was a powerful motivator. “I’ll need their names.”

He paused in his pacing, smoothing his hands down his suit jacket. “All right.”

“Tell me about your financial situation,” she said. “Do you have a large portfolio of investments? A big savings account?”

“You mean in case we receive a ransom call?”

“Yes,” Amanda said. “That’s a possibility.” In fact, it would be preferable to the alternative. If someone called with a ransom request, they might have a chance of saving Kelly and catching the kidnapper.

“I have some money,” he admitted. “Enough.”

“Enough that someone might take your daughter to force you to pay them off?”

He paled. “If this is about money, I’ll pay whatever they ask.”

“Just make me a list of all of the people who might have a grievance against you,” Amanda said. “We’ll also need a list of all of Kelly’s friends so we can talk to them.”

“Of course.”

He headed back to the chair but paused by the whiteboard in the corner. Amanda tensed. On the back of that board she’d tacked photos of all the missing women from the past ten years. She didn’t want him to see them. “Mr. Lambert, sit down and—”

But a strangled sound escaped Lambert as he flipped it over. He staggered back, shaking his head in denial.

Anger hardened his voice when he spoke. “You haven’t found any of those girls, have you? And you’re not going to find my Kelly either.”

Fear mingled with anger in Amanda’s chest. She’d inherited the ongoing case from Sheriff Lager, but Kelly had gone missing on her watch. An image of the pretty woman’s face taunted her. Kelly was her age, vibrant, planning her wedding. Looking forward to having a family and a long life ahead of her.

But her life might already have been cut off because some crazy maniac had targeted her.

And Amanda didn’t have a clue as to who it was.

What if Lambert was right? What if she couldn’t save Kelly in time?

* * *

JUSTIN TAPPED THE notepad in front of Fisher. “Make a list of the groomsmen in the wedding and their contact information for me.”

Anger blazed in Fisher’s eyes as he realized the implication. “What the hell? Kelly’s father and I came here for help, and now you’re treating me like a suspect. You think I had something to do with Kelly’s disappearance?”

Justin forced his voice to remain level. The majority of missing-persons cases wound back to the family members or close friends. The fact that a string of females around the same age had gone missing was suspicious, but he couldn’t discount anything at this point.

“I didn’t say that. But it’s important for us to talk to everyone who knew Kelly,” Justin said. “Female and male friends included. Maybe one of them saw or heard something that could be helpful.”

Fisher shot up, glaring at Justin. “That’s bull. You want to ask them how Kelly and I got along. If I was jealous enough of an old boyfriend to hurt her.”

“I will ask that, but it’s routine,” Justin said. “The first thing we do in an investigation is to clear family members and friends. Oftentimes, someone may tell us some detail to help us—it might be something small that you don’t even think is important.”

He motioned to the chair. “Now, if you want us to find Kelly, sit down and make that list. You’re wasting valuable time.”

Fisher’s gaze met his, his eyes stormy with emotions and red rimmed from crying or lack of sleep. Maybe both.

Finally he released a heavy sigh and dropped back into the chair. “All right. But I love Kelly, and I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

Justin studied him, wondering how he’d react if he was in this man’s shoes. He’d be tearing apart the office, demanding answers, pushing for the police to comb the streets.

Ready to kill the person who’d stolen his fiancé.

That is, if that was what had happened.

Fisher took the pen and began to scribble names and phone numbers.

Sheriff Blair and Lambert appeared in the doorway, Lambert’s face ashen.

“Mr. Lambert, Mr. Fisher, I’d like your permission to put a trace on your phones,” Sheriff Blair said. “Just in case Kelly calls, or you receive a ransom call. We’ll also need to look at Kelly’s computer and phone records.”

“Of course, whatever you need,” Fisher said.

“Yes, check the phone records and computer.” Lambert’s eyes cut toward her. “Do whatever you have to do. Just find my daughter.”

Sheriff Blair nodded, but she looked worried. “I’ll get Kelly’s picture in the missing-persons database and on the news right away. Hopefully someone saw something and we’ll get a lead.”

Fisher shoved the paper into Justin’s hands. “Call us if you find her.”

Fisher huffed, then strode out the door. Lambert glanced at Justin. “I saw the pictures of those other young women back there. I don’t want Kelly’s picture up there. I want you to find this bastard.”

Justin shook the man’s hand. “Yes, sir. We’ll do everything we can.”

“Do more than that,” Lambert said sharply. Heaving a labored breath, he followed Fisher out the door.

Justin couldn’t blame the man for being angry and frustrated. He didn’t even know Kelly Lambert, and he felt like kicking something.

“I didn’t mean for him to see the wall of photos,” Sheriff Blair said.

“He’s scared,” Justin said. “Do you believe him?”

Sheriff Blair winced and gestured toward the notepad in her hand. “I think he loves her. I want to look at his financials. He turned down some folks for loans this year, had to foreclose on a couple of people.”

Justin arched a brow. “So this could be about money?”

“We’ll see if he receives a ransom call,” Sheriff Blair said. “Maybe someone he angered decided to get their loan money from him after all.”