Page 93 of Three Girls Gone

Katherine ended her call with Fitz. “He’s going to Wilcox’s address right now, and he’ll let us know what he finds out ASAP.”

“Good news,” Amanda said. “We need to rope in Sergeant Malone and the police chief on our discovery and get some other things moving.”

The three of them set off to Malone’s office. They found his door shut but saw through the window in the door that Chief Buchanan was inside.

Amanda rapped her knuckles on the glass. Both men looked her way. Malone was flushed when he waved them in. She’d guess their arrival was a blessing for him.

“We have an ID on our killer,” she said, getting right to the point. “Marshall Wilcox. He’s from New York City.” Amanda filled the sergeant and chief in on Detective Fitz and the suggestion she’d made to Trent.

“There won’t be an issue with getting the warrant for hisfinancials,” Malone said. “I’ll get on that myself. You said you wanted to call vehicle rental companies in the area. That will keep you busy for a while.”

“Thanks, Sarge,” Amanda told him.

“Okay, go. Track this bastard down.” Buchanan nudged his head toward the door.

Guess we’re excused…Amanda was the first out of the office.

“I’m going to make some calls,” Katherine told her and Trent, stopping their strides.

“To?” Amanda asked.

“To Wilcox’s coworkers from the NYC venue to see if any of them have anything that might help us track him down.”

“That’s a terrific idea,” Amanda told her, and Katherine returned to the conference room. She turned to Trent. “You ready to start on the rental companies?”

“I’m already on with the first one.” He smiled at his hyperbole, but she appreciated his eagerness to get going.

“I’m right behind you, but I have a feeling I better arrange some care for Zoe tonight.”

They returned to their cubicles, and Amanda called Libby first and explained the situation.

“Please don’t worry yourself about it at all. I’d love to keep her overnight…”

The way the sentence dangled, Amanda got the sense abutwas coming. “If tonight doesn’t work, I can arrange for someone else to come get her.” The last thing she wanted to do was take advantage of the woman’s kindness and love for Zoe.

A few seconds then, “If you could. It’s just that Penny and I had planned to spend some time together tonight.”

“A date night on a Wednesday, at that. Way to keep the passion alive.” Amanda was smiling, happy for the couple.

“Yeah, well, you can wish me luck too.”

“Luck for— Oh.” Amanda pieced it together. While Libbyand her girlfriend had been living together long enough and were like a married couple, the law wouldn’t recognize their union. Amanda suspected Libby wanted to make it legal. “Are you going to ask?—?”

“I am.”

“Well, you don’t need luck for that. She loves you. And don’t worry about Zoe. I’ll get someone over to pick her up right away.”

“Thank you.”

Amanda hung up from Libby and called Kristen. Her sister answered in the middle of the second ring. She ran through the situation and struck out again. She had three other sisters and a brother, but she opted to call her mother.

“Mandy? Is everything okay?”

Such a loaded question…“I need someone to take Zoe overnight, or even stay with her at the house. Could you?”

“I’d love to.”

“Wonderful. She’s at Libby’s if you could pick her up. As soon as possible,” Amanda added slowly.