Great. He understood. She’d call him on his cell in ten minutes. She tried to keep the fear and anxiety out of her voice and knew she was failing. How was she supposed to handle this? Melissa was waiting for her, and it seemed like-dammit. She looked at her watch.
“Eight thirty-five, then?” She tried to signal with her eyes, Please, Jake, we need to talk. “Right?”
“Everything okay, Ms. Ryland?” Jake asked.
“Sure.” She tried to make that sound like a lie. To him.
Jake looked at Riordan and Dahlstrom. “Excuse me,” he said. “I’ll just show Ms. Ryland to the elevator.”
A wave of gratitude washed over her, almost tears, as she turned away from the office. She felt Jake behind her.
“Jane, what?” he whispered.
“Gracie,” Jane said. “Melissa called and-”
Jake reached for his radio. She put out a hand, stopping him. “No,” she said. “That’s the thing. Melissa called to say that Lewis had called Robyn-you following this?”
Jake nodded.
“It seems like there’s some sort of ridiculous battle over Gracie, between Robyn and Lewis, which Lewis decided to solve by taking her. Problem is, Melissa had no idea there was a battle. And now-”
“Is she okay? Is Gracie okay? Where are they?”
“Yeah, apparently she’s okay. Lewis took her-” Jane shook her head. “I don’t know. According to Melissa, he told Robyn he was ‘taking Gracie far, far away,’ and she’d ‘never see her daughter again.’ It’s all about the wedding and Daniel, and then she said he said-ah.”
She jabbed the elevator’s Down button, jabbed it again. She’d get out of here, grab her car, head for Melissa. “Hate this,” she said. “Why do elevators never work?”
“Honey,” Jake whispered, “tell me what happened.”
“Okay. Apparently Robyn talked him off the ledge. I have no idea where they are, but now he’s promised to give Gracie back.”
“Great.”
“To me,” Jane said. The elevator was finally arriving. Forget the chance to land a job at Channel 2. Gracie came first. The rest would work out. It was not about her. It was about Gracie. If she was part of the solution, so be it.
“To you what?” Jake said.
“Melissa said that Robyn told her-” She paused, reading his expression. “I know, but that’s all there is. Robyn said Lewis told her at first Gracie’d never see Robyn or Melissa or Daniel again. Even threatened to leave the country and take Gracie with him. But when Robyn said she was calling the police, he gave in and agreed to give Gracie back. But only to me.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jake said. “Or insane.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Jane said.
Jake could see the fear in her eyes, as well as the determination. Being a reporter was kind of like being a cop, but without the badge or gun. Or training. Or backup. Jane always asked the right questions, always listened to the answers, and never made snap judgments. Had a good instinct. But-just like some cops-she sometimes wanted to be a hero. And this was no time for that.
“No way, Jane,” he said. “I don’t care what some crazy-ass moron is demanding. If he’s taken Gracie without parental permission, that’s-shit. Let me think about this.”
Jake could hear the elevator laboring toward them. “What are you supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Go to Robyn’s. He’s supposed to call at ten with instructions.”
“Do you know where they are? Lewis and Gracie?”
“I know nothing,” Jane said. “At all.”
The elevator doors slid open. Her expression changed. “But what can I do?” she said. “I have to help. I’d never forgive myself if… and you know? Maybe they’re just having a ridiculous argument. Maybe the guy is scared. Trying to come up with a way to save face. Who knows why anyone does anything.”
Jake had a murder to solve, maybe two, and two still-unidentified victims. Was Jane right? Who knew why anyone did anything? Fear was a powerful motivator. Revenge, greed. Jealousy. Sorrow. Love.
Jane entered the elevator, turned to him. When the doors closed, she’d be gone. The hallway was empty, office doors along the corridor closed, and dark.
He slammed a hand against the thick rubber edging of the elevator door. Leaned close to her.
“Jane, I’m serious.” He saw a flicker of a smile cross her face, the first he’d seen in the last fifteen minutes. “Okay, fine. But I mean it.”
The doors struggled to close, thumping and insistent. He held them open. Leaned in even closer, supported by his arms against the demanding doors, his body in the hallway, his head close to hers. He couldn’t control her. It was part of the reason he loved her. But he could try to keep her safe. He would kiss her, he would, damn the hallway and damn City Hall.
Two young women approached, coffees in hand, chatting. They looked at him inquisitively, as he stood holding the door. He smiled at them-nothing to see here, move along-to indicate all was well. But the moment had passed. It was probably for the best.
“Do not,” he said, straightening up, now holding the door with just one foot, “do anything without calling me. Somehow, I’ll come with you.”
“Will you?” she said. Her smile got bigger. She reached out, touched his cheek. “Promise?”
He burst out laughing, wondering if she’d done that on purpose. The doors closed and she was gone.
37
“Mom, Mom, it’s okay.” Tenley’d waited until Siobhan went away, trying to think of a way she might come out from the bathroom stall without scaring her mother, but no matter how she did it, her mom was still gonna be surprised.
Catherine’s almost silent little scream of shock made Tenley scream, too, a copycat reflex. Tenley stood, the beige metal door clanking against the toggle lock behind her.
Her mom was staring at her, pushed a curling wet strand of hair from her tear-streaked face.
“Mom? What’s wrong?” Tenley took a step closer. Man, she looked awful. Worse than when Lanna-She should hug her mother, she guessed, but somehow couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Are you sick?”
“Were you hiding from me? Why?”
Tenley couldn’t read her mother’s expression. Like she was sad and mad, and trying to get her balance.
“No, really, Mom. I didn’t know it was you.” All true. She would have stayed in the stall until whoever it was left. “But when I heard Siobhan talk, then you talked, then I knew. But what’s wrong? What’re you doing here-and so early?”
“It’s not really early,” her mother began. Correcting her, as usual. But then she stopped midsentence. Her shoulders dropped. “Oh, Tenner,” she said.
Then silence. Her mom turned the water off, and then it was really quiet.
“What?” Tenley said. This was incredibly awkward, and Tenley didn’t know how to handle it. What was making her mother so upset? Unhappy? Was it something to do with her? Had she found out about last night? “What?”
Her mother leaned against the fake marble counter, then stood up straight, patting the rear of her skirt. She tested the counter’s surface with one finger, sighed, then wiped it dry with a bunch of paper towels. She sniffed, dabbing her red nose with another wad of towels, and leaned back again. Like she was trying to think of how to say something. Well, if she was mad about last night, she’d have no trouble coming up with what to say. She’d said plenty of mean stuff to Tenley in the past. Well, maybe not exactly mean, but critical, at least. So maybe she didn’t know Tenley had sneaked out. Good. Anything else she could handle.
Tenley looked at the floor, away from her mother’s face. Unless this was about the video. She felt her stomach tense, like it always did when she was anxious. But it wasn’t her fault the video got erased. It was Dahlstrom’s.