Page 94 of Three Girls Gone

“Yes, I will drop everything because it’s Zoe.” Her mother had a dry sense of humor sometimes.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Hey, it gives me some time with my granddaughter.”

“Just don’t keep her up too late. She has school in the morning. And are you going to my house or…?”

“Yes, I would think that would be easiest.” Her mother’s smile traveled the line.

“Wonderful.” Amanda ended the call feeling some sense of satisfaction. Zoe would be well taken care of, so Amanda could devote her entire focus to finding Eloise.

Trent was on the phone in his cubicle, already calling vehicle rental companies. He hung up. “No luck there.”

“Who’s left?”

“Five others in the area.”

“All right. No time like the present. Give me a couple, and I’ll get started.”

Trent handed her some names, and she called them. The first wasn’t willing to part with the information even though the police were asking. The second had no record of a Marshall Wilcox or a Wilson M-Something or even renting out a Kia K5.

Trent hung up his phone and looked over the cubicle wall at her, just his eyes and the top of his head showing. “No luck here, though I had to leave a message for the manager at one. I’m not holding my breath.”

“Guys.” Katherine came hurrying toward them, panting. “I’ve got something, and you’re not going to believe it.”

THIRTY-NINE

Amanda found it hard to believe the creep they were after ever had a girlfriend. She rang the bell, and footsteps pounded toward the door. It swung open.

“What are you doing here?” Anne Harrington stood there, her nose bandaged and her face black and blue.

“We need to talk to you for a moment,” Amanda told her. “So if we could come inside?”

“The last time you wanted to talk to me I ended up with a concussion and a broken nose.” She lifted her hand but stopped short of touching it.

Her injury was technically on her for running away, but Amanda was about picking her battles. She needed Anne in a cooperative mood not an argumentative one. “We shouldn’t take much of your time.”

Anne narrowed her eyes but stepped back. “Keep it down though. Grandma’s having her after-dinner tea and watching the news.”

Amanda could hear the TV from the door. “It might be best we talk outside.”

“Sure, out back. I don’t want all the neighbors gawking.They’re already gossiping about me enough.” Anne hustled through the house and out the back like the last time. Amanda was prepared to catch the screen door.

They stepped on the deck into the warm early-evening air.

Anne leaned against the railing and crossed her arms. “What do you want? I just took another dose of pain pills, and I’m about to nod off.”

“Does the name Marshall Wilcox mean anything to you?” It was a throwaway question to set up the conversation. They were here because one of Katherine’s phone calls had paid off.

“So what if it does?”

“We’ve learned that you dated Marshall back when you were working in NYC at the venue where they hosted pageants,” Trent said. “Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to that relationship?” Amanda asked.

“Relationshipis a little much. And for the record, I dumped him. I had to ghost him for months before he got the message I wasn’t interested.”