Page 11 of Fatal Betrayal

"A few times in passing. Neil has known Solange for years."

"He mentioned that. But Kristine is a newer employee. Neil said they got her from another family, friends of his who were moving out of town."

"The Weiselbergs—Theresa and Glen. Theresa worked for Neil as a production assistant at one time. They moved to New York." Cooper paused, then said, "What happens next? Since you're the expert, I assume you have a plan."

"I'm going to use every resource I have to find out who entered their house this morning and took Elisa. I have to believe that a camera somewhere caught something. Every house on that block had one. Beyond that, we work the case, investigate everyone tied to the family, and if there's a ransom demand, there will be more clues to follow."

"What if there is no security footage, no ransom?" He gave her a sharp look. "We both know some kids are never found."

"Right now, the only child I'm thinking about is Elisa," she said. But as Cooper got on the freeway, her mind went back to the first girl in her life who'd gone missing. Hannah had never been found. Eighteen years had passed, and there still wasn't an answer as to what had happened to her.

"I'm surprised you came back to LA," Cooper said a few moments later. "I heard you and your father stopped speaking years ago."

"Who did you hear that from—your parents?"

"No. They don't talk to your dad. Not that he's home a lot. They said he travels every other week. I ran into Mrs. Lassiter last week. She filled me in on all the gossip she thought I needed to hear. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t stop her from sharing."

"She always loved to gossip."

"She told me she sees your dad at the golf course, and he said you were never coming back."

"I'm sure you were happy to hear that."

"But he was wrong. Here you are. Why did you come back?"

At this moment, she wasn't even sure she could answer that question, because she was already regretting her decision. Finally, she said, "I had a job opportunity I wanted to pursue, and it was here in LA. I didn't think there would be any reason for any of us to run into each other."

"Life is funny, isn't it?" he mused.

She could have used a lot of other adjectives besides funny—like cruel or ironic.

"What happened with you and your dad?" Cooper asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"How's your mom?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to do this, Cooper. We're not old friends. We're not catching up."

"You're very defensive, Andi. Does that come from your guilt?"

"No. I have nothing to feel guilty about," she lied, thankful that they were nearing the office. She needed this ride to be over so she could bury herself in work. She just wished that work wasn't going to include Cooper, but she had a feeling he was going to be a thorn in her side for a while longer.

* * *

When they entered the office suite, Flynn was standing at one end of the room, in front of several large monitors and a dozen agents and analysts. Judging by the simmering energy in the room, she hoped they had a lead.

"What's happened?" she asked.

Flynn tipped his head to the video. "This vehicle was caught on camera at the corner, three houses down from the Benedict's at nine-thirty AM. The car is registered to Jillian Markham, who works as a production assistant for First Look Studios, which is housed in the same building as Neil Benedict's company. Unfortunately, we don't have any footage that captures the driver or the interior of the car."

"Can we pick up the car anywhere else?" she asked.

"Still checking traffic cams," Savannah answered. "But Ms. Markham has no record. She's single, twenty-seven years old, works in Beverly Hills, lives in Culver City."

"There's a good chance she knows Neil if she works in his building."

"She knows Neil," Cooper said, drawing all gazes to him.