Page 91 of Three Girls Gone

“I don’t know.”

Katherine wondered if she even would have noticed. Her comments so far made it clear she considered Marshall beneath her. But Katherine had heard enough. Marshall Wilcox was the killer they needed to stop.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Amanda adjusted her posture in her chair. She had hers rolled up next to Trent’s, and they were watching the video from Hailey’s school from the day of theNutcrackerperformance. People were going in and out of the school. Some of them were stepping off to the side of the walkway, lighting up cigarettes. Some were alone, others were in small clusters. Without a distinctive image from the doorbell cam footage, pinpointing one person in the crowd was near impossible.

It wasn’t until they reached the footage showing people leaving after the show that Amanda sat up straighter. “That’s Hailey Tanner with Mara Bennett.” They were walking out together hand in hand. “But look there.” She pointed at the corner of the screen, where a man was leaning against the side of the school. He was watching Hailey and her nanny.

“Is that…?” Trent paused the video and zoomed in. “He’s wearing bright white running shoes, and he’s the right size for the man who took Eloise.”

“Look how fixated he is on Hailey.”

“I’d say.” Trent advanced the video in slowmotion, and they watched as the man followed Hailey and Mara until all three were out of the camera’s sight line.

“He’d have no reason to follow them from the school,” Amanda said.

“Agreed. I’m thinking he spoke to Mara and got her number earlier.”

“He couldn’t be confident she’d lead him to the Tanners’ house. This way he could have tailed them and figured out his best approach.”

“There is that. Well, we have his face. Let’s try facial rec?—”

“No need for facial recognition.” Katherine’s breathless voice caught Amanda by surprise. When Amanda turned to her, Katherine was staring at the screen.

“Do you know him? You said the man from the doorbell cam felt familiar,” Amanda said.

“I think I might. Bring up a background on Marshall Wilcox.”

“Okay.” Trent did this, and a few moments later they were looking at his license photo.

Katherine gasped. “Half caf, half decaf.”

“Kat?” Amanda looked from her friend to Trent and back again. “What is it?”

“That’s his regular order. I thought a scar in the lip sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. But that’s him. He comes to the diner. Just this morning, I told him to have a good day, and he said he planned on it. I’m going to be sick.” She put her hand over her stomach.

“You were at the diner?” Trent asked.

Amanda shook her head.Not the point…

“After I got the boot, I was trying to figure out what to do with myself, so I went there.”

“But that would have been just hours after he took Eloise,” Trent began. “So what does that mean for the girl?”

They all remained silent for a few beats.

“I guess I’ll just come out and say it.” Goosebumps laced down Amanda’s arms. “Either he’s holding Eloise somewhere he can leave her without risk of her being found or she’s already dead.”

THIRTY-EIGHT

Amanda paced outside Trent’s cubicle. Marshall Wilcox lacked imagination, choosing an alias so close to his own. Wilson M-Something.Please.

Katherine filled them in on her conversation with Leslie Gallagher. “I can’t believe after all this time we have the guy.”

“Having his name is one thing. Tracking the asshole down is another,” Trent pointed out.

“Is he always like that?” Katherine jacked a thumb toward Trent.