Page 33 of Rescuing Sara

She led him to a cubicle among the others. It was almost Spartan in its tidiness, with only an old-fashioned appointment book with copies of paintings featuring reading women and a large color photo of her and Sara.

Plopping down in the rolling office chair, she switched on her laptop and pulled up her account. “You know, I’m feeling like Mexican for lunch if that’s– Holy Saint Hannah!”

“What?” Patrick leaned over her shoulder as she opened an e-mail with today’s date and the heading MY KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER

“Look at that.” Danni had to swallow hard before she began to read aloud.

Ms. Blake,

I hope and pray you find this in time. I read your article about Sara Turner, and I beg you to help me. My daughter Robin Master has been missing for three days and the police have found nothing. I really want to talk to you. I’ll be at The Museum at 4thand Main in Knoxville tomorrow at noon by the staircase. I can wait two hours before my husband gets suspicious. Please DON’T TELL OR BRING THE POLICE!!!. I will be wearing a red coat and white knit hat. Please answer asap. Celia Masters.

“Another case of a suspicious husband,” Patrick muttered. “This is starting to smell really bad.”

“It does,” Danni agreed, typing in her agreement and sending it before turning off the computer. She turned to face him, excitement sparkling in her eyes. “C’mon. Let’s go back to the Safehouse. I want to start writing some articles.”

“What about Friedman?” Patrick asked, catching her mood.

“Did I say I was going to write about this?” She fluttered her eyelids in such a parody of innocence, Patrick laughed. “No, I’m going to contact Anne Hamilton and Elaine Prescott to start their interviews. I don’t know when Excelsior can print them,but I can get started on them, provided they’re available. Sound good?”

“Absolutely, my Nellie Bly,” he said, lifting her up. “Let’s go. But I have to say, you were awesome in the way you handled Ed Turner and your self-control was beyond awesome. I wanted to re-arrange his face.”

“He’s a jerk,” Danni said. “But thanks.”

“Look, I don’t mean to be forward, but I have an overwhelming desire to kiss you right now.” Patrick watched as surprise parted her lips into an inviting ‘o’. “Okay?”

She blinked. “Okay.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, slowly exploring its full softness of it, savoring the taste, and then chuckled.

“What?” she asked. “Kissing me is funny?”

“No,” he gasped, trying hard not to laugh. “You taste like mustard.”

To his relief and delight, she laughed. “So do you,” she accused. “For now, I think we should go back to the Safehouse and brush our teeth.”

“And after that?” he asked.

For a moment, sorrow clouded her eyes, dimming her smile. “I need to send Captain Haggerty the address for Leo’s brothers in Mozambique,” she said. Then her lips twitched, suggesting the return of a smile. “After that, maybe, we can get something to eat.”

KPD MorgueLater that afternoon

“Who and where did you say they found him?” Haggerty stared at the body on the table.

“Some hikers at Talbot Park in South Knoxville,” Miller answered. “Someone left the body off into the brush near somepicnic tables. There were no drag marks, so I guess someone carried him and left it there.”

“Good place to hide a body,” Haggerty mused. “It’s a nice park, but it doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic at this time of year. How’d the hikers find him if he were hidden in the brush?”

Miller grinned. “According to the officers who answered the 911 call, one of the hikers was answering the ‘call of nature.’ Probably scared the pee right out of him.”

The morgue attendant sniffed in disapproval, but Haggerty choked back a laugh. “OK, Miller, that will do. Anything else?”

Miller gestured toward the door, and they went to step into the hall. The scent of disinfectant seemed to follow them, and Haggerty coughed again. “What is it?”

“I think we may have caught a break in Leo Anderson’s case,” Miller told her.

“Let’s take it to my office,” Haggerty said. When they were safely inside with the door closed, she asked, “What do we have?”

“There was a 2015 Datsun parked a short distance from where the body was found. It’s registered to a Frank Sullivan with a Knoxville address.”

---