LITMIR.BIZ

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CALLED, WANTING to meet for lunch again on Friday. And again, Hunter rearranged his schedule. Preparations for the two benefits he had going that night were running smoothly. He was half an hour ahead of schedule, as usual. There’d been some last-minute security issues and road closures with a 10K run he had set to kick off at six the next morning, but those were being handled. And Saturday night’s event to raise money for a political campaign was a roast. Other than arranging the venue, ordering food and drink, and taking care of the guest list and seating, his staff of three had little to do for that one.

      He’d be attending the roast and had asked Julie to be his date for the evening. Or rather, had offered to take her so she could taste the desserts. He’d hired the same company to provide an after-dinner sweets table for her gala. She’d politely declined his invitation.

      He’d originally thought he’d take Mandy—a first for him, mixing her pleasure relationship with business—but changed his mind. And was thinking of Julie again as he pulled into the posh resort where Edward had a room and saw the older man waiting for him at the valet post. Not an unusual occurrence if they were going out somewhere. They weren’t; Edward was just that badly in need of company.

      His white shirt neatly pressed, his shined shoes pristine, the doctor held out a hand to Hunter as he stepped up to the curb. Edward had recently come back from the police station.

      “If this was a stranger abduction, there’d be more chance that she’s already gone,” Edward told him, speaking of his beloved daughter as they sat on the patio of the resort’s Mexican eatery, the ocean restless in the distance. “But since she’s most likely with Shawn, they think there’s a good chance of finding her alive. Many abusers tend to become conciliatory, protective, even loving, after an attack. Our hope is Shawn is that type of abuser. If he lashes out when he’s drunk, we have a fairly good chance, too. As long as Cara can keep him away from the booze.”

      Hunter shifted in his seat. He felt completely out of his element. And figured that if Edward’s daughter had been able to keep her husband away from whatever caused his heinous acts, she’d have prevented their current situation.

      Watching the doctor rub at a nonexistent smudge on his water glass, Hunter felt for the guy. He didn’t expect great things of himself in the hero department. But for Edward, a man who’d dedicated himself to saving lives, being unable to save your own daughter had to be akin to burning in hell.

      Remembering how frustrated and distraught his father would get when he lost a patient, Hunter looked out to sea.

      He had to give his head a shake. The ocean had been a refuge for him back then, too, anytime his dad came home without the patience to deal with the sound of his mother’s voice. He’d go out to the beach. To surf. To lose the sound of his parents’ anger in the roar of the waves.

      And then he’d go home, his usual cheery self, tell a joke, or if things were really bad, ask his dad to watch sports or go to the putting green. Soon all would be well again.

      But this, a missing daughter...

      “Is everyone positive that she didn’t go with him willingly?” Hunter asked. Maybe it was a horrible question to ask, except that it was a truth Edward had been living with for a decade. His daughter had forsaken family to be with a man who hurt her. So maybe the idea that her disappearance might have been voluntary wasn’t as alarming as the thought that his daughter was being held hostage by a maniac.

      Nodding, Edward looked older than he had at the beginning of the week. Older than his fifty-two years. The lines around his eyes seemed more pronounced. “Among other things, she didn’t take her cell phone with her,” he said.

      Hunter shifted again, wondering if a cool breeze would be along soon.

      “But if they had to leave in a hurry, what with Mary’s...situation and all...”

      He really wanted to come through for his dad and Betty. For Edward.

      The older man’s smile was knowing. Sad. Almost as though he was giving up.

      “They found her purse,” the doctor said. “Three hours north of here. It’d been thrown in a twenty-four-hour box-store trash can and was only found by accident. Her wallet was gone, but inside there was some ID cards, makeup, a handheld electronic reader with children’s books loaded and moist wipes. They’re going through it now.”

      “Hopefully they’ll learn something...”

      “Hopefully.” The doctor didn’t sound hopeful.

      “It’s a start,” he continued. “More than they had before...”

      Struggling to find anything in his repertoire for a situation such as this, Hunter dug deep. And still came up empty.

      “I need a favor.” It was as though Edward had read his mind.

      “Anything,” Hunter said, probably too eagerly. Anything he could do, he would do. They’d ordered but hadn’t been served yet. He could flag someone, get their food to go.

      Or skip the meal altogether.

      “I have a meeting this afternoon. An interview, more or less. I want you to come with me.”

      “What kind of interview?”

      “It’s with Joy’s counselor at the shelter. And some other staff. Apparently Joy hasn’t said a word since Mary got her to the neighbors that day. I want to see her...”

      Edward’s voice broke. He visibly calmed himself, then said, “The people caring for her aren’t convinced it’s a good idea, particularly since she doesn’t know me. Or probably even know of me. At the same time, I’m family. And being with someone who loves her is vitally important at this point, too.”

      He’d go. Of course he would. He just wasn’t sure what he could contribute...

      “I have a tendency to come across as standoffish,” Edward said, looking him straight in the eye. “But you walk into a room and suddenly everyone feels comfortable.”

      He wouldn’t go that far.

      “This meeting is critical to me, Hunter. I can’t afford to have it go wrong. They aren’t going to risk that little girl’s emotional health—and I wouldn’t want them to—if everything doesn’t go perfectly. I know how much I love her. I know I can care for her. I just need a chance to get that chance.”

      “When’s the meeting?”

      “Four.”

      Right in the middle of the time he’d allotted for the shower he’d planned to take before the evening’s round of party visits. Well, a washup and change would suffice.

      “You want me to pick you up here?” It would take extra time. Meeting Edward at the shelter would work much better for him.

      But this wasn’t about him.

      “If you wouldn’t mind.”

      And he had an idea...one that was growing on him in leaps and bounds. “Then, afterward, assuming they need a while to discuss things and you don’t get to see Joy right away, you can come to work with me. I always have two tickets to every event, and one of tonight’s functions is to raise money for some technically advanced machine for the new hospital here in Santa Raquel. It’s taking place on hospital grounds. You’d fit right in...”

      Finally, something truly helpful he could do.

      Introduce Edward to his own kind.

      That way, he wouldn’t feel quite so alone while he waited to learn his daughter’s fate.

      And his own, too, Hunter supposed, when you considered that he could possibly become guardian to a seven-year-old child he’d never met.

      “If I’m not spending the evening with my granddaughter, I’ll probably take you up on that offer, son,” Edward said.

      Sounding just like Hunter’s dad.

      So

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