Free One by One by Chris Carter

could’ve done with a trim. Two young kids were riding their bicycles up and down the street, incessantly ringing their handlebar bells. As he stepped out of the car, Hunter noticed a neighbor from the next house along studying them over her pristine hedge.
    The short walkway from the wooden gate to the front door of Kevin Lee Parker’s house was old and paved with cement-colored blocks. Several of them were cracked. Some were missing one or two corners.
    They got to the porch and Garcia knocked three times – nothing for a long moment. He was about to knock again when the door was finally opened by a plump woman in her early twenties. Her disheveled hair was dark and short, her face round and meaty. She had a baby propped on her hip. She looked exhausted, and her eyes had the gritty red tint of someone who’d been crying, or had had very little sleep, or both. She just looked at the two detectives without saying a word.
    ‘Ms. Lee Parker?’ Hunter asked.
    She nodded.
    ‘My name is Robert Hunter. I’m with the LAPD. We spoke earlier on the phone.’
    Anita Lee Parker nodded again.
    ‘This is my partner, Detective Carlos Garcia.’ They both showed her their credentials.
    The baby girl in her arms smiled at them and moved her right hand, as if wanting to greet both detectives. Looking at the tiny baby, Hunter smiled back, but inside him his heart sank.
    ‘You find Kevin?’ Anita asked in an anxious voice. She had a strong Puerto Rican accent.
    ‘Could we maybe talk inside, Ms. Lee Parker?’ Hunter suggested.
    For a moment she seemed confused, as if she hadn’t understood him. Then she took a step to her left and showed them inside.
    The front door led them straight into a small living room. On one corner, a portable fan stirred the air, which was heavy with the smell of baby stuff. A three-seat sofa and two armchairs were draped with multicolored sheets that looked like patchwork quilts straight out of the Deep South. A large picture of Jesus decorated one of the walls, and family portraits were scattered around the room. Anita was so nervous she didn’t offer anyone a seat.
    ‘You find Kevin?’ she asked again. Her voice almost faltering. ‘Where is he? Why he no call me?’
    Anita already seemed on the verge of a breakdown. Hunter had been in that situation too many times before to know that he needed to extract whatever information he could out of her before she went hysterical.
    The baby in her arms was starting to sense her mother’s anxiety. She had gone from smiling to frowning, on the verge of crying.
    ‘Anita,’ Hunter said warmly, indicating the sofa. ‘Why don’t we all have a seat?’
    Again, she looked at him as if confused. ‘Don’t want no seat. Where’s Kevin?’
    The baby girl started kicking her legs and flapping her arms. Hunter smiled at her again. ‘What’s her name?’
    Anita looked down at her daughter with tender eyes and started rocking her. ‘Lilia.’
    Another smile. ‘That’s a beautiful name. And she’s a beautiful baby, but because you’re upset she’s getting upset, see? Babies can sense these things better than anyone, especially from their mothers. If you have a seat, it will help Lilia feel more comfortable. And so will you.’
    Anita hesitated.
    ‘Please.’ Hunter indicated the sofa again. ‘Just try it. You’ll see.’
    Anita placed Lilia’s dummy in her mouth. ‘No llores, mi amor. Todo va a estar bien.’ The baby took the dummy and Anita finally took a seat. Hunter and Garcia took the armchairs.
    Lilia settled into a comfortable position in her mother’s arms and closed her eyes.
    Hunter took that opportunity to fire a question before Anita could fire hers again.
    ‘You said that the last time you saw Kevin was on Monday, is that right?’
    Anita nodded. ‘In the morning. He ate breakfast and left for work, like every morning.’
    ‘And he didn’t come home that night?’
    ‘No. That was not so strange before, but since Lilia was born he no