Page 52 of I Will Find You

“I’ll give you change later.”

Max handed her a ten-dollar bill.

Philip Mackenzie plowed ahead. “You’re right, of course. I’m close to David. And he’s been acting irrationally lately. So yes, I wanted to speak to his father about it. Like you said, Lenny and I, we go way back—”

“Wait, let me guess.” Max held up his hand. “You brought your son here today for that very reason. Because Adam and David were close, and David was acting so irrationally.”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

Max grinned and held out his palm. Sarah frowned and handed him back the ten-dollar bill.

“Do you two think you’re funny?” Philip snapped.

“We’re not called the FBI Desi and Lucy for nothing, are we, Sarah?”

“Mostly we’re called that because I’m a redhead, Max, not because we’re funny.”

Max frowned. “Seriously, Sarah? But I’ve been working on a modern rendition of ‘Babalu.’”

There was a knock on the door. The meaty prison executive and Semsey stepped into the room. The executive said, “David Burroughs had only one visitor during his entire incarceration. His sister-in-law. Her name is Rachel Anderson. She was here yesterday and the day before.”

“Wait, Burroughs’s only visitor came yesterday and the day before?” Max put his hand to his chest. “Gasp. Oh. Gasp. Another coincidence, Sarah.”

“The world is full of them, Max.”

“It’s full of something, Sarah. What say you, Warden?”

This time, Philip Mackenzie stayed quiet.

Max turned back to the meaty guy. “Do you know where the sister-in-law is staying?”

“Probably the Briggs Motor Lodge. The majority of our visitors stay there.”

Max looked toward Semsey. Semsey said, “I’m on it.”

Meaty Exec added, “She might also have stayed at the Hyatt by the factory outlets.”

“Whoa.”

Max’s head spun around like someone had pulled it on a string. He did his jitterbug step back to the map. The room fell silent. Max studied the route. Then he jumped back to the computer monitor.

“Bingo, Sarah.”

“What, Max?”

“Semsey?”

The detective stepped forward. “I’m right here.”

“You said Burroughs was on the phone call right before they entered the tunnel, right?”

“Yes.”

“And Burroughs initiated that call?”

“Yes. He asked for five minutes and called me back.”

“What time was that? Exactly? Check your phone.”

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