Page 54 of Three Girls Gone

“Will do.”

Marvin kept his eye on Amanda as she went to leave, which she knew because she was looking at him.

Once they hit the fresh air of the parking lot and got into the car, she turned on Trent. “I feel like I’m on a leash. What was that about?”

“What was what about?” he pushed back.

“You stepped in back there, called an end to the meeting.”

“I thought we were finished with him. We asked all we came to ask.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What am I missing? You call an end to most of our interviews, but I never say a thing.”

“I’m the senior detective.” The words were out, and she wished she could pull them back. He pursed his lips, and his cheeks flashed red. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you’re right, but I also know you, Amanda.”

She couldn’t argue with the truth, and they both knew it.

“I could see that you were getting on his bad side. He gets his back up, he’s suddenly less cooperative, and we need that video.”

“We’d get it even if he didn’t like me.”

“True. I’m sure we could get a warrant and force him to hand it over, but you’re not the only one feeling the loss of that little girl. That man is reeling too. I certainly wouldn’t want to trade places with him. Imagine being responsible for Hailey and this happening to her. That’s before having it pointed out to him that his school has security loopholes.”

“He should already know that. I just hate the idea of strangers wandering off the street into public schools.” And like that, this conversation turned personal. Zoe had beenkidnapped from her school not long after Amanda had taken her in.

“It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”

“Do I?”

“Come on, they aren’t the first school to hold a public event. They won’t be the last.”

“Maybe not, but there should be more accountability, more security.”

“Sure, but that’s a matter for another day.”

Before she could respond, her phone rang. She answered without noting the caller’s identity because she just wanted a pause from this conversation with Trent.

“It’s Katherine. Return to Central. I have something you’re going to want to hear.”

TWENTY-TWO

Amanda and Trent raced to Central and were directed to the conference room. Katherine and Malone were in there, and both turned their heads to the doorway when they entered. She breathed easier when she noted Buchanan wasn’t present. Whether that luck would hold out remained to be seen. “No police chief for this one?” She’d rather be prepared for his arrival if he was expected.

“Not this time,” Malone said. “He’s in meetings, but I’ll be briefing him.”

“I’ll keep this short and quick.” Katherine handed each of them a printout of Anne Harrington’s photo. “For all these years the Gilbert investigation was focused on a male perp, as you know.”

“The FBI’s profile and the sexual assault element,” Malone summarized. “But I’m guessing your digging into Harrington paid off?”

“It has. The raw facts are Harrington had no business being backstage that day. She doesn’t take rejection well, and the family of her former lover was there. There’s no saying how far she would go to retaliate.”

“Former?” Amanda asked.

“Yes, I spoke to Evan Gilbert. He admitted to the affair in the years before Julie, and that it was casual on and off after, even at the time of her murder. He said he never mentioned Harrington because he couldn’t see her doing this to Julie. When I pushed him on why he’d ended things, he said that he’d had enough of her manipulation tactics. She’d play up feeling abandoned by him when he had to go home to his family.”