Faye Kellerman - Hangman

“Are you going to be able to sleep?”

“Probably not.”

“I’ll show you how to work the TV. It’s a little funky because it’s from the Stone Age. My brothers have been out of the house for a while. What grade are you in?”

“I was in tenth. My mom and I just recently moved out here, so I haven’t been going to school.”

“So you’re fifteen?”

“Four months shy. A lot of people think I’m older ’cause I’m tall.”

“Yeah, same with me. But I don’t mind.” She hopped off the counter. “Follow me. And try not to worry too much about the situation. My dad may be a mush ball with me, but he’s really tough when it comes to police work. Whatever it is, he’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“That’s good.” Gabe smiled weakly. “I just hope that when he gets there, the bottom doesn’t drop out.”

DECKER’S FIRST CALLwas to his favorite detective, Sergeant Marge Dunn. “I’ve got a situation here. I could use some help.”

“What’s going on?” In the next breath, she said, “Is it something to do with Terry McLaughlin?”

“She’s missing.” After he explained the state of affairs, Decker said, “She has a sister and a father in town. I’ve already called her sister, Melissa—apprised her of the situation. She hasn’t heard from Terry in a few days. She also told me not to bother with the father. The two of them are barely civil to each other.”

“Did she sound worried?”

“Yes, she did. She told me that Terry would never leave Gabe without a good reason. I told her I’d keep her updated. As far as finding Donatti, I’ve called up all the numbers I have for him and left messages. That’s been a dead end. He owns some brothels in Nevada. I got hold of a receptionist who told me that Chris wasn’t due in until tomorrow afternoon.”

“That means nothing.”

“Of course. I’ve phoned Elko PD and have asked them to tell me when he comes into town.”

“Are they cooperating?”

“Hard to tell. The brothels make a slew of money, so it could be that the department wouldn’t be anxious to give up one of their own. I’m trying to retrace Donatti’s steps, starting with when he came into L.A. I’m checking commercial airlines, leasing companies, and jet card companies. And rental car companies. He has to be driving something, but I haven’t had any luck with that.”

“Have you done a search of the hotel?”

“Not yet. If it shakes out that way, I’ll call West L.A. It’s their district. Right now, I’d like to handle it myself…with a little help.”

“I’m on my way.”

“I came back to the hotel from dinner…turned around as soon as the kid called. I don’t have any of my kits or evidence bags with me.”

“Is something amiss?”

“No, it seems to be pretty much as I left it. There’s a drinking glass I’d like to bag.”

“I’ll bring the stuff down with me.”

“I can think of only two reasons why Terry would leave without notifying her kid. Something scared her off or she had a gun to her head. She took her purse, her keys, and her car, but she left behind a wad of money and her jewelry.”

“Oy, that doesn’t look too good. Didn’t you say that the meeting between them went well?”

“I thought it did. But Donatti is unpredictable.” He gave Marge the address. “It’ll take you about forty minutes without bad traffic.”

“Where’s the boy?”

“He’s with Rina. I’m keeping him at our house for the night.”

There was a pause. “Aren’t you getting a little overinvolved?”

“You should talk,” Decker snapped back. “If you hadn’t adopted Vega after that Father Jupiter debacle, she would have been declared a ward of the state and placed into the state foster care program. She would have probably become a delinquent, gotten pregnant ten times, been hooked on drugs, and turned into a prostitute. Instead, you got overinvolved and now Vega is almost done with her dissertation for a PhD in astrophysics. So you tell me if I’m wrong to get a little overinvolved.”

There was a long pause over the line. Then Marge said, “Hard day, Pete?”

“A little challenging.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Sooner is better than later.”

MARGE ARRIVED WITHthe kits, the bags, and the gloves. She had put on a little weight in the last year but almost all of it was muscle. At five ten, she was a lean one-sixty and had added workouts in the gym as part of her daily routine. Her face had lines across her forehead and faint spiderwebs crisscrossing at the corners of her brown eyes. Her blond hair—formerly light brown—was tied back in a ponytail and she had pearl studs in each earlobe. She had dressed in gray slacks and a black sweater, rubber-soled shoes on her feet.

“Thanks for showing up,” Decker said.

“Someone has to take you home,” Marge told him.

It took the two of them over three hours to conduct a preliminary search of the hotel, first going to the bar and the restaurant, then room to room, and finally checking the spa, the storage areas , and the empty banquet hall. Another hour was spent searching Terry’s room. When they had finished bagging whatever paltry evidence there was to be taken, the clock had struck one and Marge saw that Decker was still agitated. The lieutenant was usually the consummate professional. He said, “What am I going to tell that kid?”

“He’s probably asleep.”

“Would you be able to sleep if you were him?”

“No.” A few moments passed. “If he’s up, this is what you’re going to tell him. You’re going to tell him that you’ve done everything you could do on a Sunday night. Tomorrow you’ll call the phone company to see if his mother’s cell has been used, you’ll call the credit card company and see if there has been any activity, and you’ll call her bank to see if there’s been any suspicious withdrawals.” Marge smiled. “More like you’ll assign someone to do it because you’re a busy guy and this isn’t even your jurisdiction. Have you called in to West L.A. yet?”

“I did indeed. I put in a need-to-locate on Terry’s car shortly before you arrived. It’s a 2009 Mercedes E550. Somebody has to come back and interview all the personnel. I’ve only talked to the desk clerk and she doesn’t know a thing.”

“It’s a skeleton crew right now. It’ll keep until the morning. ”

“The desk sergeant told me that someone from West L.A. Missing Persons will call me. Whoever catches the call has to know who they’re dealing with.”

“So everything’s under control. Let’s go.”

“I’m too worked up to face the kid right now.”

“You’ll be okay by the time we get back to the Valley. If not, I’ll buy you a cup of hot cocoa at one of the twenty-four/seven convenience stores.”

Decker smiled. “Hot cocoa?”

“Once a mother, always a mother. Vega may be brilliant, but I still look out for her.” Marge patted his shoulder. “We know better than anyone else on the planet that the smartest people can do dumbest things.”

A T TWO INthe morning, the house was dark and quiet, just the way it should be. Decker closed the front door as softly as possible, waiting for the kid to emerge out of his sons’ room. When he didn’t, he tiptoed into his bedroom, undressed, and slid under the covers. Rina rolled over and draped an arm across his back.

“Everything okay?”

“Nothing to report, one way or the other.”

Rina was quiet, but then she sighed. “You’re upset. I’m sorry.” “Yeah, I’m a little upset. I should have talked her out of the meeting.”

“You’d only be postponing the inevitable.” Rina sat up. “From what you’ve told me over dinner, she wasn’t planning to leave him permanently.”