Kara Lennox - Bounty Hunter Ransom

“Your usual, Beau?” She cocked her hip to one side and blushed furiously.

“Yeah. You want a menu, Aubrey?”

“No. Just some wheat toast and hot tea.”

The waitress disappeared, then returned with coffee for Beau and Aubrey’s tea.

“I’m gonna run down to the agency and check on a few things,” Beau said. “I’ll be back before the food gets here. Meanwhile, I want you to get on your cell phone and call everyone you can think of who knows Patti—friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, former lovers, anybody. See if you can get a lead on where she might be hiding out, or who she owed money to.” He slid out of the booth and disappeared, seemingly confident Aubrey would obey orders.

With a sigh she got out her cell phone and a small address book she kept in her purse. She knew hardly any of Patti’s friends. Though they’d lived together for more than a year—since Charlie Soffit had kicked Patti out of his mobile home—Aubrey knew very little of Patti’s life. But she had Charlie’s phone number. That was a start. And the number at the insurance agency where Patti worked.

First, though, she wanted to call her uncle Wayne. Since Patti had gone to his law firm for the will, he might know something. Besides, she hadn’t talked to that branch of the family in months. Since her parents had retired to Padre, her uncle and cousin David were the only family she had left in town, other than Patti and Sara. Yet she hardly ever talked to them. She’d once been pretty close to David, who was her own age. Back when they were kids, she and David had been the “good kids,” the scaredy-cats who’d tried to keep the others—Gavin, Beau and Patti—from getting into trouble. Now, though, they didn’t have much in common. He’d gone to William and Mary, then law school. They moved in different circles.

She dialed Uncle Wayne’s home number. This time of the afternoon, he would probably be there. He was semiretired from the firm now, only rarely visiting the office.

She was surprised when David answered the phone.

“Aubrey. How in the hell are you?”

“I’m…okay,” she said guardedly, not wanting to blurt out that she’d been assaulted, her home had been burglarized, and that his sister and niece were missing. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“God knows I should be. But…” His voice trailed off. He sounded troubled.

“What is it, David?”

“I probably should have called you. Dad’s not doing too well. He has cancer.”

“Oh, my God, that’s awful! Is he…I mean, lots of people survive….”

“Not this time. It’s all over his body. They’re not even sure where it started. They caught it way too late to do anything. He’s got a couple of months at most.”

Aubrey took a sip of her tea, trying to absorb the terrible news. “You should have let me know.”

“He didn’t want me to. He didn’t want everyone to worry about him. You know how he is.”

“It’s my fault, too. I should have kept in better touch. I mean, a card and a canister of cookies at Christmas…”

“Well, it’s been awkward, with Patti living with you.”

This was true. Patti had a way of putting tension on the whole family, making Aubrey feel like a traitor if she got too friendly with the enemy.

“Could I talk to Uncle Wayne?”

“Um, not right now. He’s sedated. That’s why I’m not at work. He’s having a really bad day. When he’s like this, I don’t feel right just leaving him with the nurse and the housekeeper. In fact, I’ve moved back here to care for him.”

“I’m so sorry.” It was all she could think of to say. David and Patti had lost their mother to lung cancer when they were just teenagers. Aubrey had always believed it was losing her mother so young that had caused Patti to rebel. “I wanted to ask Uncle Wayne something, but you might be able to help me. Patti’s gotten herself in a bit of trouble.”

“This is news?” She could almost see him rolling his eyes.

“Seriously, David. She had a will drawn up at the firm just in the past few weeks. I thought maybe she might have told you or Uncle Wayne what the problem was.”

“She owes somebody some money.”

“Then you know? You’ve talked to her?”

“I didn’t know anything about the will. But I did talk to her. She called here a couple of days ago, wanting to speak to Dad. I didn’t let her—his doctor says he shouldn’t get upset, and Patti can’t talk to Dad without upsetting him. Then she told me she needed some money.”

“You didn’t give it to her, I take it.”

“Of course not. She’s always making up sob stories about how she needs money. This time she said she’d borrowed money from a loan shark, and he was going to put a contract on her life if she didn’t pay him off. It’s not…I mean, it’s not true, is it?” His voice showed sudden concern.

“I think it might be. Certainly there’s a very unpleasant person looking for her. And she’s missing. She took Sara and fled.”

“Aw, hell. Aubrey, I didn’t know, I swear it. She’s cried wolf so many times—”

“I know, David. I don’t blame you.” She told him then about the break-in and the assault, and the spooky phone call.

“Jeez, Aubrey. Are you safe now? You can stay with us if you want. We have burglar bars and a good security system. We had a prowler a while back, a real creepy guy peeking in the windows, and Dad got paranoid. This house is like Fort Knox now.”

“I might take you up on that. So you haven’t seen Patti since you talked to her a couple of days ago?”

“No. I haven’t seen her in months.”

“She might just show up there and try to see her dad. If she does, call me right away, okay?”

“Of course. Hell, I’ll help her if I can. I just had no idea.”

“I know. Give my love to your dad, will you? And tell him I’ll visit soon.”

Aubrey hung up and took another sip of tea. Beau returned just as the food arrived. He had his timing down.

“You okay?” he asked. “You look kind of pale.”

As he wolfed down pancakes, she told him about her phone call with David. Beau was visibly shaken. The Clarendons had been like family to him, once upon a time. “I haven’t been the greatest about keeping in touch, either. You’re not the only one who’s got a bit of a grudge against me.”

A grudge. That was an understatement.

“Your aunt and uncle were always really nice to me,” he continued, “though I suspect they thought I was a bad influence on David.”

“David? No way. He was incorruptible. ‘Squeak’ fits him better than me.”

Beau shook his head, the corner of his mouth turning up in that infuriating almost-smile. “He had you snowed, Aubrey.” But then he turned serious. “I need to check out the tip Erin gave me. You want to help me out?”

“Me?”

“It’s a conservative neighborhood. I’ll be spotted immediately, but you’ll look right at home.”

“What exactly do you want me to do?”

Beau handed the waitress money for the bill, including a generous tip, and they left the restaurant. “Once we find the house, just go up to the door and pretend you’re a new neighbor. Ask for a cup of sugar or something.”

“I’ll ask to use the phone.”

Beau grinned. “You’re a natural.”

They climbed back into his Mustang. Beau raised the top and turned on the air-conditioning, for which Aubrey was extremely grateful. She normally didn’t mind the Texas heat, but her fair skin would freckle if she got any more sun.

They found the small tract house with the broken mailbox soon enough. Beau parked around the corner. “If someone answers the door, try to peek inside and look for a two-year-old.” He showed Aubrey a photo of a cute towheaded toddler. “If you see the kid or kid’s toys, that’s all I need for now.”