Page 14 of Hidden Falls

Peter refused to look at Harry, keeping his gaze on Lei. “This all needs to be shared with the FBI. They’re the only ones who will have the reach to help with something like this.”

“Good thing you have an FBI agent on your team.” Marcella’s voice came distinctly through the window, making the three of them jump. “And that I’m up to speed with everything.”

“Nice job eavesdropping,” Lei said, suppressing annoyance as she walked over and raised the window sash higher. “I would’ve appreciated you waiting till we were ready to loop you in.”

“I’ve gotten used to the locals never being ready to loop us Feds in,” Marcella said. “I’m coming to join you.” Lei heard the rustle of grass as she got up and walked around the house to come in.

“Mama?” A quavering voice came from the stairs. Kylie, Harry and Peter’s biological daughter, peered down at them through the upstairs railing. “What’s happened to Malia?”

Harry got up from the couch and hurried to the stairs. “Go back to bed, honey. I’ll come up and tell you what’s going on.”

“No! You’ve been lying to me and dad! I’m not listening to you!” The rapid change in emotion and tone made Lei’s head spin.

The girl disappeared, and a door slammed overhead.

“That’s a twelve-year-old for you.” Peter stood up. “Sounds like I’m needed.” He hurried up the stairs, pushing past his wife. The bedroom door opened and closed again. A murmur of voices drifted down.

Harry stood on the stairs, stricken.

“Come on back down, Harry. Let’s fill Marcella in on the backstory. I think we have to give this angle some juice,” Lei said.

“I can’t believe it’s all coming out like this.” Heaviness thickened Harry’s voice as she rejoined Lei, and now Marcella, in the living room. “Where do we go from here?”

“To the airport,” Marcella said. “And the Coast Guard needs to know, too. We have to get them to close any exits off the island.”

9

Lei drove the three women toward the airport in her extended cab Tacoma truck. All of them were on their phones. Marcella had to put a finger in her ear to tune out Lei’s and Harry’s voices. “SAC Waxman? I have the off-the-record angle you were looking for. Malia was illegally adopted from Mexico.”

Ben Waxman muttered something that might have been a curse. “Tell me more.”

In a hissing whisper, Marcella summarized the story Lei and Harry had disclosed. “It’s possible that Malia was a kidnap victim as a baby. Her parents could’ve been looking for her. Once her info was in our systems, they may have discovered where she was. The timing fits. The lack of a ransom note fits.”

“We might have to contact the authorities in Mexico,” Waxman said. “That’s not going to go well. They may want to bring charges against Detective Clark.”

“I understand; Detective Clark does too—I think.” Marcella spared a quick glance at Harry, who sat in the back seat, her feet buried in kids’ paraphernalia and a car seat beside her. Harry was speaking to someone in a low voice on her phone, her head turned away. Her tanned complexion had gone pale with stress.

Marcella whispered into the phone. “I was hoping we could explore this theory confidentially via back channels withanothergovernment agency.”

“You mean the CIA? They do squat in Mexico.” She heard the sound of the chair as Waxman got up, and then heard him pacing on the laminate flooring near his desk. “I see why the parents don’t want to open this can of worms. It could end up impeding more than helping. I’ll think on this a bit more and get back to you.” He ended the call.

Marcella placed her phone in her purse, a Prada with backpack straps that Marcus had bought her for her birthday through her father’s wholesale connection. She dug around in it for her sunglasses, listening to the other women’s conversations.

Lei was on the phone with her captain. She was discussing the idea that Malia had been taken off-island, but no mention was made of a reason, other than the “evidence suggests professionals took her” angle.

Harry was speaking so softly Marcella couldn’t hear her at all.

Harry was a woman with a lot of secrets. Secrets could get people killed, and Marcella wasn’t a fan of them on any investigation.

Marcella put on her sunglasses and angled her head to the side as if resting, her ear deliberately placed in the opening between the headrest and the window so she could listen in to Harry better.

“I know,” Harry murmured. “I know it’s been a long time, and I have no right to ask this—but could you please help me? For old time’s sake. I’ll owe you big, and you know I pay my debts.” A short silence. “Thank you. Call me later at this number.” She rattled off a series of digits.

Marcella memorized the number and reached into her purse, opening her phone’s email with one hand, and typing the number in with a thumb. She sent it to Bateman with??? look up for me.

Bateman would find who the number went to; even if it was a burner, it could be useful to know Harry’s secret phone number.

Lei might trust this woman, but Marcella didn’t.

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