Page 64 of Lost Lake
He trailed her scent through the open pen to her cubicle.
“The vehicle list.” She handed a paper to each of them. “Let’s split the list. Gabe, take the first three. Jude, the next three. And I’ve got the last ones. Search the internet for anything that connects them to Kenna, Mason, or the daycare. Feel free to sit at one of the desks, but I can’t give you access to our computers or network. You’ll have to use your phones.”
Jude rubbed his hands together. “I guess that ends my diabolical plan to hack your network.”
Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Okay,” Jude said. “I get it. Lay off the jokes. Just trying to lighten things up.”
“I appreciate it, but it’s falling flat for me.” Gabe looked at El. “Can you email this list to Hayden so he can work it too?”
“On it.” She settled into her desk chair.
Gabe took that as a sign she was done talking with them. He nodded at Jude then moved to the nearest cubicle, where he made sure she was still in his line of sight. Jude slid down onto the floor and crossed his legs. He was often more at home on the floor. Probably frustrated his perfectly mannered mother.
Time ticked past as they got to work, Gabe feeling every second of the urgency to find Lucy. Instead of helping to focus him, he found it hard to concentrate.
You can do it. For Lucy. For Kenna.
He entered Mason’s name, but it returned nothing. He typed in the second name and the third with the same parameters. No link connecting them.
He tried again, this time, entering all three potential vehicle owners with Kenna’s name. Another bust. Then Bonnie’s name. Lastly, he typed in each name with the daycare as the second factor. Nothing.
Pressure mounted. Weighing down on him like a two-ton vehicle pressing on his chest.
He glanced at El. She was concentrating on her screen. Jude, too.
They hadn’t given up. He needed to keep at it. But doing what? Maybe simplify and enter only the individual owners’ names for background information.
He typed in his first guy, Ronald Ryker. The search returned a long list of links, the first one from Multnomah County in the Portland metro area. The story was titled, “Ronald Ryker Charged With Assault With a Deadly Weapon.” Gabe read the story then rolled his chair into the aisle.
“One of my guys might have a record. An internet story says Ronald Ryker was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Allegedly attacked his wife when she planned to leave him.”
“Could be related, I suppose, but what connection might he have to the daycare?” El’s eyebrows knitted together. “It mighthelp if we list why we think the van driver was watching the place.”
Jude’s narrowed gaze didn’t look promising. “I’d rather not say this, but my first thought is some perv making plans to abduct a child.”
Gabe really didn’t want to consider that motive. Especially not as it related to Lucy. But Jude could very well be right.
El swiveled her chair. “Might be a father who doesn’t have custody of his child, keeping an eye on him or her.”
“From what Kenna told me, Lucy’s father doesn’t know about her, so that one doesn’t fit our situation,” Gabe said.
“Fair point.” El stared at the floor then her head snapped up. “What if one of the other parents called the cops, and they were watching the place for the same reason Mason had eyes on it. Unfortunately, we don’t have any idea what his reason was.”
Jude uncrossed then recrossed his legs. “What if someone was watching the employees. Like a jealous spouse or boyfriend.”
“Could be a private investigator for the same reason,” Gabe said. “Or they could have any number of reasons to be keeping eyes either on the children or the staff.”
“In that case, the van should probably come back with a business name instead of a person,” El said. “But if it’s a small company, the guy might be using his personal vehicle.”
“Maybe the daycare owner hired this guy to watch the center for some reason,” Jude said.
Gabe shoved his fingers into his hair, wanting to pull it out. “Too many possibilities.”
“I’ll pull up Ryker’s record.” El rolled back to her computer. “Only one Ronald Ryker in the state with an assault with a deadly weapon. He was charged in 2019. It’s a Measure Eleven offense and the conviction carries a mandatory minimumsentence of seventy months in prison. No possibility of parole, probation, or early release.”
Gabe quickly did the math in his head. “Means if he kept his nose clean in prison, he should’ve been out and could possibly be the man who killed Kenna.”
