LITMIR.BIZ

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us into the house under these vague conditions—and he’s our only option if we don’t contact the sheriff.”

      His expression reflected her feelings about having to call in the local authorities. “Fine, then I’m ready,” Campbell said. “But let me pay the family a courtesy call. Regardless of his neglect, and Patsy’s resentment of her mother-in-law, Dwayne eventually does what needs to be done.”

      “Because his mother is going to leave him more comfortable than he probably is.”

      Far more than he deserves to be, Campbell thought, rubbing her thumb over the condensation on the soda can. “We need him working with us not against us, especially since the procedure for filing missing persons reports has been upgraded. With the National Crime Information Center program at officers’ fingertips, it takes nothing for police departments to research a subject on their computers. The only people who will get criticized now are those who delay reporting a missing person in the first place.” This was basically the same technology that was allowing the Amber Alert to go national.

      “One big problem,” Yancy said. “Maida wouldn’t qualify for priority listing. She might be over seventy, but she’s fully cognizant and no real threat to herself or anyone else.”

      Campbell signaled for his patience. “I have to confide something she hasn’t told anyone yet. There’s a health wrinkle aside from the cataracts.”

      Yancy didn’t hesitate. “Alzheimer’s?”

      “Osteoporosis. Advancing fast.”

      “How would that influence a situation like this?”

      “She wants to live in her own home as long as possible.” Campbell knew she had to confide more. It didn’t matter that this was her father, the head of a company that held privacy and confidences as sacred. She saw it as breaking her word to a friend. “She’s had two episodes of allergic reactions to medication. The first time she simply developed hives around her neck and her eyes swelled shut. The next time she had some trouble breathing.”

      “She called you and you didn’t get her to the hospital?”

      “She told me afterward. She took Benadryl and used cool packs. They worked.” Campbell stopped pacing to face her father. “I was as upset as you are when she confided this. That’s the point. Maybe she’s had another reaction, a worse one, but was determined not to involve or inconvenience me and tried to get to Emergency on her own. You know how proud some of these people are.”

      “You said yourself, she’s not at the hospital.”

      “Dad, a favorite figurine is lying broken on her patio. At first I assumed the storm did it. Ike must have thought so, too, because he didn’t mention it when he checked her place for me. She was fond of the silly thing. Call me crazy, but if she watched it break in the storm, or she accidentally broke it while trying to secure something…well that could have had a powerful emotional effect.”

      Yancy’s eyes, usually a stormy, cooler gray than her own, warmed, but not with intellectual appreciation. “Belle, listen to yourself. I’m proud of your thoroughness. Just don’t be quick to assume responsibility in any of this. If Maida didn’t take her medication, that was her choice. If she left the premises instead of calling you at the gate to ask for EMS help, again, so be it. What I’d like you to consider is that she confided only as much as she did so you would cut her some slack regarding rules and regulations. Are you sure she’s not involved with some guy?”

      Campbell’s initial reaction was indignation. “She’s not a teenager whose brain has logic gaps as wide as the Gulf. In any case, if she was involved with someone, I think he would be on the premises. Maida doesn’t often leave the Trails these days. I’ve told you that, or has your medication affected your memory?”

      Yancy snorted and reached for his coffee. “Calm down. I just want to know we’re all on the same page when we hit that big alarm button.”

      “Punch it, Dad, because I am alarmed, and I’m trained not to be,” she replied quietly.

      “We’ve had a perfect record here providing security to the property—no burglary, no assaults, no murders.”

      But they’d had a few stalkings and embezzlements. “As I said before,” Campbell replied, “her family is the type to push litigation if something goes wrong. Maida has said enough about their lifestyle to suggest their debt situation would benefit from a quick cash settlement.”

      “Parasites.” As he spoke, Yancy massaged his abdomen. “Well, you’d better get to it, then.”

      His growing paleness troubled her. “You’ve had a difficult night yourself, worrying about me on top of the others.”

      “I’m just reminded that we need to hire new staff, that’s all.”

      But they couldn’t afford to without new clients. Naturally, they couldn’t take on new clients without more employees, and for that they needed some interim financing. Right now, no bank was going to give them a loan until Yancy’s next physical certified a clean bill of health. Adding to their problems were 9/11 regulations to incorporate into their daily procedure—as was the case for everyone in the law enforcement and security business. They’d also lost a small bundle putting two employees on full-time debris search after the Columbia shuttle tragedy.

      Campbell moistened her lips, preparing to broach a subject she’d been debating privately. “Have you considered taking on another partner, Dad?”

      “I have the one I want, that’s enough.”

      His tone left no room for discussion. As touched as she was, Campbell couldn’t help feeling that her father had made the legal changes to the corporation merely as a gesture to keep her psychologically afloat. For her part, she didn’t feel she brought enough to the company to warrant such pride and defense, aside from six years’ experience as a Longview police officer, which had yielded no savings, no legitimate investigative experience—just the academy training.

      “Nothing has changed over at LPD that I know of,” she continued. “I’m still a greater liability than an asset to you. If you considered that offer from National—”

      “Not today, Belle.”

      The nation-wide security firm had approached him just before her resignation from the LPD and his surgery. Even then Yancy declared he would close before surrendering his company to them. But a person could change his perspective.

      “Dad, I was pulled over again on Friday. There wasn’t any ticket or anything, but the officer took his damned time, especially after I told him I was on my way to a dental appointment. He just goaded me in the hopes that I’d do something foolish.”

      “Bastard. Who was it this time?”

      “That’s irrelevant. The point is, I’ll continue to be harassed until I physically make myself scarce, or they get the backbone to do that for me.”

      The word “permanently” didn’t need to be spoken.

      Yancy slapped his hand down on the desk blotter so hard that his coffee mug almost went flying. “Dammit! You’re moving in here. If you didn’t see the need before—”

      “I’m not going to let a handful of ignorant bullies control me.”

      “Bullies with badges. Come on, move in. You know this place feels like a museum half the time.”

      “Invite Cheralyn to move in with you.” He’d ended his budding relationship with Cheralyn Eastman the same day he’d returned from the clinic with his diagnosis. When the suggestion earned her a glowering look, she countered it with a one-shouldered shrug. “You’re alive. You’re going to be around awhile. Why deny yourself good company?”

      “Your love life is off-limits, but you get to give me advice?”

      Campbell averted her gaze. “It’s only been a year.”

      “Fourteen

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