Page 31 of Little Child Gone (Nikki Hunt #10)
SEVENTEEN
After talking to Jared, Nikki drove back to Washington County to meet up with Miller and go over things. Inside the government center, she followed the smell of pepperoni to the big conference room. “Thank God. I’m starving.”
Two large pizzas sat on the table, one of them half eaten. Miller motioned for her to sit, quickly washing down a bite. Nikki grabbed two pieces before calling Liam on FaceTime. She balanced the phone against her bag so that he and Miller could see each other.
“Wisconsin troopers are going through CCTV near the bridge that goes into Hudson,” Miller said. “So far they haven’t seen anything, but it’s hard to spot a passenger in a car on CCTV sometimes. They’ve checked the bus station and train station, too. No sign of him.”
“No sign in Indiana, either,” Liam said. “And I was able to track that internet phone number to a server at a coffee shop near the University of Minneapolis. It’s very popular with students because of the free Wi-Fi. That’s available to everyone, too.”
“We’ll never be able to get a warrant for their CCTV yesterday with just that,” Nikki said.
“Nope,” Liam said.
“I’m not ruling out a kidnapping because we’re talking about a minor, but right now it looks like Taylor left on his own,” Miller said while Nikki ate her second slice.
“Or he was at least manipulated into doing so. My deputies looked at the CCTV on the route Taylor takes to Menards and went to each business to ask to look at their security footage. I’m confident Taylor never went in that direction because we’ve got a traffic camera at the intersection.
If Taylor had planned on going to work, he would have reached that intersection and turned left.
He never showed up. Between leaving school an hour earlier than he was supposed to and everything else we’ve learned today, I don’t think he was kidnapped.
There’s nothing related to Eli Robertson either. ”
“Jared and Christy both insist that Taylor wouldn’t put his siblings through this,” Nikki said.
“I wanted to ask Amelia more, but I didn’t have the chance.
I did notice that Taylor’s closet was arranged by color just like Christy’s master closet.
The kids say she has OCD and seemed fearful of her finding out about the shoes.
But Christy seemed genuinely shocked when I told her about the woman pretending to be her yesterday. ”
“Is that why you had me call the internet number earlier?” Liam asked.
Nikki nodded. “She’d made sure her phone was turned up and said something about being afraid the ringer would be off. It’s not a guarantee, but if she had notifications set up from that internet number, her phone would have made some sort of noise. It didn’t.”
“It sounds like Christy and Taylor don’t get along,” Liam said. “Maybe he just needed a break from her and didn’t tell his siblings so they wouldn’t have to keep his secret.”
“That’s what I’m wondering,” Miller said. “Nikki, do you think Amelia knows anything else?”
“She might, but like I said, I don’t think she’s capable of pretending to be surprised given her emotional state. I don’t think either one of those kids know where their brother is.”
A familiar number flashed in front of Liam’s face. “Daniel Bancroft is calling me back; I have to take this. FaceTime Miller, Liam. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Nikki excused herself to take the call. “This is Agent Hunt.”
“Hi, Agent, this is Daniel Bancroft returning your call.” His deep voice seemed loud on her cell phone. “Spencer called me, too. I cannot believe this has happened.”
“I appreciate your calling back.” Nikki wished Spencer hadn’t said anything, but she’d expected him to fill his parents in. “How much did Spencer tell you?”
“That human remains were found in the apartment’s closet, and it’s likely Karl’s former housekeeper.
” He cleared his throat. “Spencer’s mom and I were separated, and I hadn’t moved to Wisconsin yet, so I’d check in on Karl now and then.
I remember specifically seeing him just a couple of weeks after Ms. Smith and her kids disappeared.
I was in that apartment, Agent. Granted, I didn’t scour the place, but—and I know this sounds crude—I should have smelled something. I didn’t.”
Nikki was surprised at how forthcoming he was being after everything she’d heard about Stephanie. “It’s nice that you checked up on him even after the divorce.”
“I’d known Karl since I was eighteen,” Bancroft said.
“He and I always got along well. He was devastated about Ms. Smith. Karl kept insisting she wouldn’t have left without telling him, regardless of missing items. I’d already planned on seeing Spencer that trip and I visited Karl.
He and Spencer were both devastated. He liked the daughter. ”
“You said you went into that apartment,” Nikki said. “Why didn’t you move the mattresses from in front of the closet door?”
“These were old, heavy mattresses and box springs,” Bancroft answered. “At the time, I was dealing with a herniated disc in my back. We just assumed she and the kids put them back where they found them when they moved in.”
Nikki hadn’t heard that detail. “Really? Why were they standing up?”
“If I remember correctly, Karl had the apartment’s carpet cleaned before Ms. Smith and her kids moved in. It was thick with dust. I’m pretty certain that’s how the carpet guys left the beds.”
But who outside of Karl and his immediate family would have known that? “Do you remember who cleaned the carpet?”
“I’m sure it was Spencer or his uncle Pat, although I don’t know if Patrick was even visiting then,” Bancroft answered. “You’d have to ask him.”
“What about Stephanie? Portable carpet cleaners aren’t that heavy.”
Bancroft laughed. “No. She never did any sort of manual labor, and she hated that her father refused to pay for services like that. He lived pretty lean despite the money in the bank. Stephanie is the opposite.”
“I know you were living in Wisconsin, but do you have any idea what she thought about Ms. Smith?”
“Hated her. She saw her and her kids as a rival for her inheritance. Guess she was right.” Bancroft snickered. “I would have loved to see the look on her face when the will was first read.”
“Did she think Ms. Smith was trying to charm her dad into marrying her?” Nikki asked.
“Who knows?” Bancroft said. “Stephanie’s got a temper and when she lands on an opinion, it’s really hard to change it. To be honest, I assumed that’s why the Smiths left.”
“You think Stephanie threatened them?” Nikki asked.
“I know she did at least once,” Bancroft said.
“When Stephanie drinks, she gets aggressive and brings up everyone she thinks has wronged her. She called me one night drunk and accusing me of cheating, even though she and that damn Atwood were running around behind my back for months. Anyway, she told me that she’d talked to Rebecca, the oldest daughter, and told her that if she didn’t get her family out by the end of August, Stephanie would do it for her.
At the time, I assumed that’s why they left. ”
“Spencer didn’t mention that.”
“He doesn’t know unless his mother or Rebecca told him, and I think he would have said something to me about it if she did. He really liked that girl.”
Nikki thanked him for the information and promised to let him know if they were able to identify the bodies as the Smiths. “Did she mention anything about her past to you?”
“I only met her once,” Bancroft said. “She was very nice, well spoken. She asked about my work and seemed knowledgeable about engineering in general. I thought she was likely educated, but Stephanie had a more derogatory opinion, given Ms. Smith’s heritage.”
“She was an immigrant?” Nikki asked.
“No, I don’t think so, but she was a Latina without a doubt. I don’t remember Rebecca or her younger brother having an accent either. Whether or not she was born here wouldn’t have mattered to Stephanie, I assure you.”
Nikki jotted down the note about her being Latina. “How old do you think she was? At least, a ballpark figure?”
“She had teenagers, so I would say forty, give or take a few years. But she looked youthful.” Bancroft snickered again.
“I remember Stephanie complaining about Ms. Smith not having any wrinkles. She insisted the woman had Botox done, but I don’t think she did.
She just took care of her skin and had good genes. ”
Something he’d said a few minutes ago nagged at her. “You mentioned her cheating with someone named Atwood. Do you know his first name?”
“Rodney Atwood,” Bancroft said. “By that summer, she’d moved on to a younger guy named Brandon Kelly. I’d hear stories about them bar hopping and her telling lies about me. That’s a big part of the reason I accepted the job here. I just needed to get away from her.”
Nikki barely heard the last few words.
Rodney Atwood was Scott Williams’ stepfather and the main suspect in his death.