Free Vanished by Kendra Elliot Page B

felt the need to outdo each other, Ava had seen them get pushy or overstep their boundaries. Focus on the missing child, she wanted to lecture them, don’t sensationalize every factor.
    Luckily, the house sat far back from the street, placing a wide stretch of manicured grass, shrubs, and bark dust between the reporters and the home. Would some of them venture onto the property? She’d make certain the doors and windows of the home were locked at all hours. And they’d keep the blinds closed. What a pain in the ass. Thank goodness Clackamas County had seen the need for a patrol unit in front of the home.
    She and Callahan strode to the front door. She hit the doorbell then tried the handle. Locked. Good. “Robin? It’s Agent McLane,” she hollered close to the door. The yelling inside had stopped at the sound of the doorbell. She looked directly at the peephole, waiting, feeling like she was on stage with the reporters staring at her back.
    “Damn vultures,” muttered Callahan. “They’re going to freaking multiply like randy rabbits.”
    The door opened, and Ava was surprised to see Jake’s face.
    “Get back,” she and Callahan told him in unison. The kid didn’t need to be on the news. Those camera lenses could get a close-up of his face from the street. She and Callahan stepped in, and he closed the door behind them.
    “Use the peephole,” he instructed Jake. “Open the door only for people with police or FBI ID. And stay behind the door when you do open it.”
    “How long will they stay out there?” the teen asked. “Won’t they leave for the night?”
    Ava exchanged a glance with Callahan. “No,” they replied together.
    “What is with your mom and Lilian?” Callahan asked. “I could hear them outside.”
    Jake dropped his gaze, his shoulders hunching slightly. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to listen. Something about a guy Lilian dated.”
    Ava sucked in a breath. Here we go. The truth was leaking out.
    Callahan’s boots were loud on the wood floors as he headed toward the family’s great room. Ava followed. He glanced back at her and pointed at himself. She nodded. She’d let Callahan ask the questions. The women knew him better. If she got the sense one of them was holding back, they’d separate the women and question them one-on-one.
    In the great room, Lilian sat in an overstuffed chair, her shoulders slumped and her hands over her face. Robin stood in front of her, her arms folded across her chest, her face red and her eyes wet. Robin turned as the two entered the room, her chin lifting.
    “What the hell is going on?” Callahan started, looking from one woman to the other. “We could hear the shouts outside. And all those damned reporters can hear you, too.”
    Robin didn’t look at Lilian. “Tell them,” Robin snapped. “Tell them what you told the agent in your interview today and what they discovered about the men you date.”
    Lilian lowered her hands and dug her fingers into her jeans, her jaw tightening. “One guy. This is about one guy, and I had no idea what his past was like.”
    “That’s why you dig into their background before you bring them into your home!” Robin’s lips were a white slash where her mouth had been.
    Lilian looked at Callahan and then Ava. “It’s a guy I went out with a few times this summer. The FBI just told me that he’s a registered sex offender. I had no idea!”
    “Why did you stop going out with him?” Callahan asked.
    Lilian shrugged. “It didn’t work out. We just didn’t connect.”
    “Did he feel the same way?” Ava asked. “Would his version of the breakup be the same?”
    Lilian flinched and looked away. “I don’t know.”
    “What do you really think he’d say, Lilian?” Callahan prodded. “Was he angry? Was the breakup one-sided?”
    Lilian rubbed her nose and shifted in her chair.
    “He was pissed. We only went out a half-dozen times, but I wasn’t feeling it. I guess he was hoping for more. He called me