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“Felix sent Cheyenne’s call logs over this morning. The flip phone only communicated with four people: Felix, Ruth, Pamela and Madison.”

Emmy said, “That’s not surprising. Cheyenne knew that her parents were keeping a close eye on her digital life. Ruth donated her laptop to the church after she got caught bypassing the parental controls. I made a note to call them this morning, but then Dale happened. I can go—”

“No.” Gerald motioned for her to stay seated. “Virgil?”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “The last thing is, I sent Brett to both the cell phone kiosk at the outlet mall and the Good Dollar. They sold a total of six phones with SIM cards on the day Cheyenne’s replacement number came online.

We tracked down all the purchasers. One is a bookie, two are single moms down on their luck, the other three admitted they were using the phones to cheat on their wives. ”

Emmy said, “Cheyenne’s first burner phone was reported stolen in Atlanta over a year ago. The second burner was probably stolen, too, but the SIM card could’ve been purchased locally. You don’t have to buy a new phone to get one. You just swap them out.”

“All the phone company could tell me was that both SIMs were activated in North Falls. I’ve got the twenty-digit ICCID numbers from the cards, but the things are sold in batches.

They don’t have value until someone puts money on them.

It’s like a gift card that hasn’t been activated.

There’s no way to track it back to a seller. ”

“Okay.” Gerald sounded ready to move on. He told Virgil, “Irma Woodrow goes to your church.”

“That’s correct.”

“Her grandson’s Wesley. Goes by Woody. Been selling drugs. Need to know if he had contact with Cheyenne or Madison. Maybe see if Father Nate will go with you.”

“On it, boss.”

Gerald ended the call. Emmy thought he was going to stand up to leave, but he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair.

He told her, “Tap the weak spots.”

This was another game they played, even when they were certain they’d arrested the right person. A good defense attorney would always look for the weak spots in the case. A good cop always made sure there weren’t any.

Emmy turned toward the monitors, following their prime suspect’s movements across the interrogation room. Dale was pacing, was still animated, undoubtedly still insisting that he’d had nothing to do with kidnapping Cheyenne and Madison.

What if that part of his story was the truth?

There was no doubt that Dale was a pedophile, but was he the pedophile who’d kidnapped two girls? Or was he another pedophile, just like the eighty seven pedophiles already on the register?

She said, “The FBI pulled Dale’s bank records. Between the mortgage, Esther’s car payment, and their student loans, there’s barely enough left over at the end of the month. She works in the church office. He has to take the job at the rec center every summer to make ends meet.”

“Okay.”

“Cheyenne had sixteen grand hidden in her room. Meanwhile, Dale’s handing out towels at the rec center eight hours a day for minimum wage?

” Emmy thought of something else. “Kaitlynn overheard Cheyenne making a joke about the older man she was seeing. She said something like, ‘I wish his penis was as big as his wallet.’ Dale doesn’t have a big wallet. ”

“Could be more than one older man.”

“The child porn Dale kept on his laptop,” Emmy said. “The girls he was looking at were tweens—nine, ten, eleven. Cheyenne and Madison had already gone through puberty. There’s a difference.”

Gerald looked at the monitors, too. Lionel was pointing his finger in Dale’s face. He’d finally stopped yo-yoing, though the new tactic looked about as effective as the old one.

Gerald said, “Let’s go for a ride.”

Emmy hadn’t realized how claustrophobic the room was until she was out in the hallway. She blinked at the bright overhead lights. Her eyes took so long to adjust that she heard Brett before she could see him.

“Boss.” He sounded excited. “That other FBI agent said I could sit in on the interview with Dale’s wife. That okay with you?”

“Nope,” Gerald said. “Find a man called the Perv. Hit the streets. Bring him in.”

Brett did a half-ass job hiding his disappointment. “Yes, boss.”

The door to the interrogation room opened. Emmy caught a whiff of stale sweat as Lionel Faulkner came into the hall and pulled the door closed behind him. He kept his voice low, telling Gerald, “Guy’s a hard nut to crack.”

“They usually are.”

“Got any insight?”

“Easy when you don’t know anything to talk yourself into knowing something.”

Lionel laughed. “That’s a riddle inside of a puzzle.”

“Good luck.”

Lionel looked more than a little perturbed as Gerald continued up the corridor.

Emmy gave the agent a shrug before she followed her father out the side door.

She tossed him her keys, then got into the passenger’s side of her cruiser.

The car had baked in the sun. She crossed her arms so her bare skin didn’t touch the scorching seats.

Gerald cranked the key in the ignition. Hot air from the vents blasted into her face.

It would take a good five minutes of misery before it cooled down.

Emmy waited until they were halfway down Main Street to ask her father about the interrogation.

Gerald had clearly seen something on the monitors that made him change course.

She asked, “What did I miss?”

“DFR,” he said.

Don’t Feel Right.

Emmy tried to listen to her body. The knot was twisting inside of her stomach again.

She had accused Lionel Faulkner of being a physical yo-yo, but emotionally, Emmy was doing the same thing.

Her feelings had gone up and down at least twenty times in the last four hours.

One minute, she was telling herself that Madison was alive and would be found.

The next, Emmy was certain that she was dead.

She’d felt almost elated when she’d arrested Dale, certain that he would tell them the truth.

Then she’d sunk back into a depression because he wasn’t talking.

Dale was never going to tell them what had happened.

He would not lead them to the bodies. The girls would never be found.

Gerald said, “Not sure it’s him.”

“What?” Emmy’s head snapped around. “We tapped some weak spots, but nothing broke. Dale looks perfect for this.”

“Run the pros and cons.”

She didn’t have to think through the pros . Of course it was Dale. There was a stack of circumstantial evidence piled against him.

She listed, “He had both girls in his classes for two years. He’s had each of them alone in his car.

It wouldn’t be hard for him to find private time during school hours.

His afternoons are free. His gun is missing.

He bleached his car clean this morning. He wasn’t shocked by the child porn in Cheyenne’s locker.

He tried to wipe his collection off his laptop.

He doesn’t have an alibi for last night.

He fits the profile of an abuser. He’s arrogant, thinks he’s smarter than everybody else.

He’s used to being in control. He seeks power by—”

“Emmy Lou.”

“I know you don’t like the theory stuff, but it’s true, Dad.

There are profiles for people like this.

You told me last night that the money and drugs could be a distraction.

Maybe you’re right. The girls could’ve been taken because they’re two young girls.

Bad men don’t need a logical reason to do bad things to women. They hurt them because they want to.”

“Okay,” he said. “Do the cons.”

“I did the cons. The money. Dale’s wallet isn’t big.

” Emmy knew he wanted more. She took a moment to think.

“If it’s not Dale, it’s someone like him.

Someone in the community who hides in plain sight.

He’s probably in a bad marriage or divorced.

He probably started out watching child porn on his computer, then he decided to act on his fantasies. ”

“Last night?”

“No, he’s been grooming the girls for a while.

That’s the only way to explain the burners, the cash, and the drugs.

If we assume from the photos in Cheyenne’s locker that the kidnapper met them before they bought their necklaces last Christmas, then this goes back at least seven months. Something set him off recently.”

Gerald slowed the car to make a turn. “Walk me through it.”

“Last Wednesday, Cheyenne had to give up her phone to Celia. She must’ve told the kidnapper what happened.

By Friday morning, Madison was in Celia’s office stealing the SIM card.

She cut it into three pieces, but she left it at school over the weekend.

Maybe he didn’t take her word for it that she’d destroyed the card.

Maybe he got worried and decided he had to shut them up permanently.

He’s older, so he’s patient, calculating, knows how to bide his time.

He knows they’re going to be together at the park for the fireworks show.

Not just them, but the whole town is going to be out.

The streets will be empty. He decides to take them on Wednesday night. ”

“How?”

“He must’ve told Cheyenne to meet him somewhere first. That’s why Madison was worried. Cheyenne was late. She was supposed to meet Madison at the park under the oak tree.”

“When?”

“Probably eight o’clock, one hour before the start of the fireworks.

That would mean that Cheyenne was supposed to meet the kidnapper around seven or seven thirty.

Madison would know the details of the meeting.

That’s why she was antsy when I talked to her.

Then, when I blew her off, she decided to grab her bike and go look for Cheyenne on her own. ”

“And?”