to see you’re not armed.” He took a few steps toward her.
“I don’t have much time to chat. I just talked to the mother of the missing child I told you about. I have to do more to find her.”
“Shouldn’t the police be taking the lead on that?”
“The mother isn’t satisfied with the police’s effort. Can you blame her? It’s her child.”
His eyes softened. “I understand.”
“Let’s make this quick.”
“No coffee?”
“I can make some here if you’d like?”
He smiled. “That’d be great.”
She loved coffee. It was one of her biggest weaknesses. Sadie was glad he wanted some too; she liked being able to brew a pot for more than just herself.
Her office wasn’t large, but she had what she needed. She dreamed of expanding and having another investigator and eventually an assistant. Maybe one day. Then it would really be The Lane Group; for now it was just her and her trusty coffeemaker. She started the coffee and then took a seat back at her desk. While she had told him she wanted to make it quick, what she wanted was more information. With Megan’s disappearance, her personal goals might have to wait.
“I just want to make sure you didn’t see anything more on Saturday night? No matter how small, I want to know everything.”
“I can walk you through it. Again. I was there, in position. When I felt the bullet literally graze by me. I could hear noises but couldn’t see anyone. In fact, the only people I saw were in FBI flak jackets—two of them. And then there was you, of course.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Yes, then there was me. And you left out the part about holding me at gunpoint.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t think you needed to relive that, right?”
“Seriously, though. This Vladimir group is bad news. They’re involved in a bit of everything, but the most egregious part of their operation is human trafficking. I’m guessing I don’t need to tell you what that all entails. They also have a full drug and money-laundering scheme. And they run a variety of legal businesses that help serve as cover.”
“So why the move from New York?”
“Easy. The Mexican border. They move these poor girls over the border, and then...I can’t tell you how awful these men are.”
He didn’t have to. She knew. “And I could help how, exactly?”
“You’ve already shown you’re a good shot. Plus you’re a P.I. I’m sure you have expertise that could help out the FBI investigation.”
She nodded.
“But mainly, you probably have your ear to the ground with sources we don’t have at the FBI. If you hear anything, see anything in your work, we’d appreciate knowing about it. As you can imagine trying to take down an operation like theirs is a huge job. And we still may not succeed. They’ve eluded us before. This isn’t a simple takedown. It’s a very complex operation.”
She thought for a moment then asked. “How long have you been in the FBI?”
“Three years.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, before that I was in the military.”
“What branch?”
“Army.”
“You weren’t just the in army though, were you?” she asked on a hunch.
“Ranger.”
“I could tell.
“And how is that?”
“You have an edge about you.”
“I guess I should take that as a compliment?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“So what do you say?”
“If I have any information, I’m happy to share. But right now my top priority is my client and trying to find this missing girl.”
“What do the police say?”
“That they’re overstretched on resources but still doing everything they can. No leads though.”
“Are you concerned?”
“After talking to her mother, yes I am. Moms know best. If she believes something happened to her daughter, then who am I to question that? The girl’s friends also haven’t heard from her. That’s key. A teenager might ignore her mom but definitely not her friends.”
He frowned. “Doesn’t sound good. How old is she?”
“Sixteen.”
“When did she go missing?”
“Saturday before last while out downtown with her friend.”
He frowned even deeper this time.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
She knew that wasn’t really what he was thinking, but she’d let it go.
“I know you’re busy. So I’ll get out of here. I’d like to take you to lunch sometime, though.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Good.” He stood up and walked out the door.
She couldn’t help but notice how sweet his smile had been. Or his concern over Megan. Army ranger. Those guys were no joke. Why did he have to join the FBI? She shook her head in disgust. The FBI had a way of messing everything up. She hoped Kip hadn’t been corrupted. She shouldn’t focus too much on his sweet smile. Megan Milton was her top priority.
* * *
Sadie didn’t waste any time getting to work after Kip left her office. She needed to talk to Lauren and retrace Megan’s steps from the prior Saturday night. She’d gotten the teenager’s address from Ms. Milton and arrived at the house out in the El Paso suburbs. Lauren’s family had money. The two-story white sprawling house with a perfect fence was so cliché.
She’d called ahead of time to confirm the meeting. Lauren and her mother were actually eager to talk to her. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by a woman with bleached blond hair, in her forties, dressed in a tennis outfit. However, her perfume and heavy makeup didn’t seem consistent with an intense tennis match.
“You must be the private investigator?”
“Yes, I’m Sadie Lane. You must
