Page 42 of Fatal Strike
Mrs. James trembled. “Elena apparently doesn’t have additional information and chose to ignore you. I’ll have her contact you when she returns. Richard, I don’t like speaking to these people without our lawyer.”
Jon faced Mr. James. “Sir, Agent Riesel and I are concerned about your daughter’s safety. Dylan Ortega is missing, and he is a person of interest in Judge Mendez’s murder.”
“Are you insinuating our daughter is harboring a fugitive?”
“We’d feel better if we had confirmation she’s all right.”
Good one, Jon.
Mrs. James gasped. “You think they’re together? Or he’s holding her against her will?”
Another cue for Leah to soothe the woman’s emotions. “We have nothing to indicate either scenario. When I talked to her, she said they’d broken up.”
Mr. James yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. “Elena, call home as soon as you get this.” He turned to his wife. “What time did she leave?”
“Right after breakfast. She was getting her nails done, then meeting friends at Stewart Beach.”
“Who is she with?” Richard’s voice rose.
“She told me friends.” His wife lingered on each word. The fear in her body language didn’t match her words. “Maybe she has her phone off. I’m sure she’ll call or text us soon.”
“Soon? The FBI suspects our daughter is keeping company with a criminal or is in harm’s way, and you want to wait until she feels like contacting us?” He stared at his wife. “You know where she is.”
Her lips quivered and she peered into her husband’s face.“I’ll try from my phone.” She reached into her pocket for her phone.
The silence ticked by.
Mrs. James dialed. “Elena, this is an emergency. Please call me or your dad immediately.” She laid the phone in her lap and looked up at her husband. Tears filled her eyes. “Richard, I’m frightened. She always picks up. Elena is a good girl—she makes good choices.”
He knelt beside her. “I’m sorry I lost my temper.” He turned to Jon and Leah. “I want Ortega picked up now.”
“We’re doing our best to locate him,” Jon said. “Are you members of St. Peter’s Catholic Church?”
He frowned. “We’re not Catholic.” Mr. James reached for his wife’s hand, and she stood beside him. Both shared ashen faces. “Our daughter is missing. That’s what we care about. Are you finished with the questions?”
Leah hated the desperation evident in these parents, and she wanted to help them find their daughter. “I think we’re done until she’s located,” she said, getting to her feet. “We regret the turmoil. Please understand our concern for Elena.”
Mr. James faced his wife. “I’m heading to Stewart Beach. Irealize it’s closed, but I can check the restaurants or businesses nearby.”
Olivia dabbed beneath her right eye. “While you’re gone, I’ll contact some of her friends.”
Mr. James wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist. “We’ll find her.”
“We’d like to go with you.” Jon captured Leah’s attention, and she nodded.
Richard James clenched his fist. “Thanks.”
28
SILVIA BELIEVED NOTHING GOODhappened after midnight. Her parents had instilled this in her as a teen when she wanted to stay out late. She’d repeated the same mantra to Dylan. When he turned thirteen, she’d worried he might follow a bad path, but he kept her rules. All went well until the year before the robbery. But that nightmare was over, and she didn’t want him to ever experience prison again.
While a movie droned on and she snuggled next to Warren on the sofa, her thoughts hung like a huge question mark. As though feeling her distress, Warren squeezed her shoulders. Where was her son? What had happened tonight that stopped him from turning himself in? All she’d heard were news reports that a firefight had occurred. Had Dylan been hurt? Was he responsible?
Please, God. No.Dylan couldn’t have broken the law again.
The same worries repeated.
The past crept in unbidden, like a cold chill. When Dylan had been arrested for armed robbery and spent those nightmarish months in jail, she’d lit a candle for him every day. She’d visited him every Sunday afternoon and written countless letters. And when he returned to her, she saw her boy had matured into a strong man. He apologized for putting her through the humiliation of having a son in prison. He loved her, and he’d learned his lesson.
