Free Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Redemption for Avery (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Ryker Townsend FBI Profiler Book 2) by Jordan Dane Page B

glistening on his forehead and down his neck, Lucinda suspected he had something to hide.
    When the door to the darkened observation room opened, someone handed Deputy Lovell a message.
    “Well, this could be something,” he muttered, spitting his chewed toothpick to the floor.
    “What is it?” Lucinda asked.
    “The canvass in the Hubbard neighborhood paid off. It seems Bob Sanford had been away for the weekend, but when he packed his car on Friday night, he saw Lily. It took him until now to say something, because he just got back.”
    “What did the neighbor see?”
    “He saw Lily get into a car outside her house. Someone picked her up.” Lovell grinned. “Now that’s good police work.”
    “Did he get a license plate?”
    “Uh, no. Not exactly.” The deputy shrugged. “But he said he noticed the car, because he had one as a kid. A vintage Mustang.”
    Lucinda smiled and crossed her arms.
    “I bet it’s red.”
    “Yeah, how did you know?”
    Lucinda stared into the interrogation room where Ryker still had Altamonte sweating buckets. Grayson Barbour had lied when he claimed not to have heard from Lily after she’d been kicked out. His words replayed in her head.
    ‘Her dad kicked her out, the tight-assed bastard, but she never came to me. She wouldn’t even return my phone calls.’
    Grayson lied for a reason and Lucinda would find out why.
    “You’re with me, deputy. I know who owns that Mustang and we’re bringing him in for questioning.”
     
    ***
     
    Barbour residence
    Lucinda saw Deputy Lovell’s cruiser parked outside the Barbour residence. Driving on his own, the deputy had beaten her to the address. Before she rang the front doorbell, Lovell opened the door and let her in. With watery eyes, Grayson’s mother sat on the living room sofa clutching a tissue.
    “Where’s Grayson?” the woman pleaded. “Where’s my boy?”
    Lovell stepped in front of Lucinda and lowered his voice.
    “Grayson’s in the wind. His mother said he never showed at his part-time job at El Pollo Loco . She’s been trying to reach him on his cell since noon, but he’s not answering. She even tried his friends, but no one has seen him. She was about to call 911 until we showed up.”
    “What about his Mustang?”
    “Gone. Mom says some of his clothes are missing, too. Do you think he’s on the run?” The deputy hoisted his duty belt with both hands. “He’s the last one to see Lily alive. You think he’s the one we’re looking for?”
    “Mrs. Barbour. We’ll need your son’s cell phone number.” While the woman reached for a pen and paper, Lucinda said to Lovell, “Issue a BOLO on Grayson and his vehicle. He could be out of the state by now.”
    Lucinda took a deep breath and shook her head. The BOLO, be on lookout order, might not cover enough ground. Once she had Grayson’s cell, Lucinda would get it to Sinead. If it were activated, his phone could be tracked with GPS. The kid could have good reason to run, but had he been capable of brutally killing his girlfriend, the way Lily had died?
    Truthfully, she had no idea.
    “Can I see Grayson’s room, Mrs. Barbour?”
     

Chapter 11
    Off North Shore Drive
    Big Bear Lake
    Evening
    Lucinda expected Mrs. Barbour to lead her to an upstairs bedroom, but when she departed through French doors onto the patio, Crowley had a good idea where the woman would take her. Grayson lived in the pool house in back. He had a separate entrance through a gate. If the kid brought Lily to his place, it would’ve been entirely possible that no one had seen her.
    She had a bad feeling, especially after she entered the premises.
    “What’s that smell?” she asked Grayson’s mother.
    “It’s the fresh paint. He never wanted me in here, but he finally agreed to a paint touch up. They finished today.”
    “I smell bleach.”
    The woman scrunched her nose and shook her head.
    “Maybe he cleaned off paint. I don’t know.”
    People who tried getting away with murder