Page 36 of Evidence of Deceit

“Mr. Joe. Mr. Joe.” Mikey came running out of his house, yelling and flailing his arms.

“Mikey, whoa. Slow down, partner. What’s going on?”

Mikey stopped short in front of him, gasping. “Miss Claire.”

“Miss Claire?” He stooped down. “Miss Claire, what?”

“Some man tooked her.” Tears started running down Mikey’s face.

“Mikey, you’re confusing me. Who tooked—took her?”

“Some man in a big black car.”

Oh, God. Had Keith followed them here? His heart stopped. Here, he and Sam were going on and on about protecting her, and they hadn’t again. Where was she? Was she okay?

He stood up. “Mikey, slow down. Tell me what happened.”

“Miss Claire came out and got our ball that slipped into the road. Then she played with us. Then she was going to leave, and the big, black car came fast. The man told her to get in. She didn’t want to. But I heard him say that he would shoot us. Then he said to tell us she was okay. She told us to go home. She got in the car, and they left.”

“How long ago?”

Mikey raised his shoulders and grimaced. “I dunno, a while ago.”

A while ago? What the hell was a while ago? Joe wanted to shake more information from Mikey, but he guessed there wasn’t any more. Why didn’t Mikey tell his parents, though? He would figure that out later. For now, he had to concentrate on Claire.

Joe thanked him and sent him home. He pulled out his phone and dialed Sam, who picked up after one ring. “Tired of the company already?” she joked.

He ignored the remark. “Claire’s gone.”

“Gone?” Silence. “Where did she go?”

“Sam, how the hell do I know?” he growled and took a deep breath, letting it out. “Sorry. I don’t know anything. I just got home.”

“I’ll be right over. Look at your security tapes and see if you can spot what happened.”

Security tapes. He mentally hit himself on the head. He raced into the house, sat at his computer and pulled up the camera feed. Mikey and his friend were playing ball. He saw Claire run out of the house, retrieve the ball from the street and then play with the boys.

He watched as a black car came racing down the road and stopped. He couldn’t see the man’s face. Claire looked more angry than scared as she looked at the boys. She motioned for them to go and stood there for a minute before finally opening the door and getting in. Hat and sunglasses covered most of the guy’s face. Couldn’t see a license plate number. God damn! He punched the table—what a disaster.

The doorbell rang. Sam. He let her in.

“What did you find out?” she asked.

“Some guy took off with her. Doesn’t look like he grabbed her, but the little boy next door said the man threatened them, then told her to tell them she was okay.”

She exhaled loudly. “What a clusterfuck. Did you recognize the car or the guy?”

“Nope. Black car. Couldn’t get a license number. Nothing.”

“Okay, let’s call in the troops, then the police. Phil is on it and will call me when he has something.”

He heard the front door opening, and Joe was on his feet immediately. Claire stood in the doorway. Pale, shaken but alive.

He gawked at her. “Claire. Honey, are you okay? Hurt?”

She gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she whispered. “I wasn’t hurt, just scared.”

“What the hell happened?” asked Joe. He marched over and hugged her tight.

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