“Officer Wilde was simply assisting with the search for two missing people. It seems he had a sixth sense for where the car might be, based on his knowledge of the area.”
Rad fisted his hands, his mind going back to the days when he and Hunt did everything together and had each other’s backs. Then his buddy went and made something of himself on the police force and Rad found himself stuck in a garage fixing cars and scraping by.
“Hunt’s lived here his whole life. Of course he knows all the back roads and places to go,” Rad grumbled.
His lawyer gave him a look to shut up, then asked, “You said you found the car? Did you find Angela or Lana?”
Rad flinched because he should have asked that question the second they said they found the car. He leaned in to the cop, who held him pinned in his gaze. “Well?”
“I’d have expected you to ask, seeing how you’ve been so concerned about finding your girlfriend and daughter. I mean, you must have called us... Oh, wait, you haven’t called a single time to see if there’s any word on them. You didn’t file a missing person report. Not even on your daughter.”
“Because I expect Angela to show up groveling that she wants me back, she didn’t mean to leave with my kid, and begging me to forgive her.”
Officer Reid sat back. “Your kid goes missing, hermom’s not answering the phone, no one, including her sister, who is very close to her, knows where they are and you just sit back and wait?”
Rad folded his arms across his chest. “You don’t know me or how things were between me and Angela.”
“I’ve got a good guess based on the domestic disturbance calls and the assault on Cyn Wilson.” Officer Reid leaned in. “Just tell me what happened the other day when you came home angry you’d lost your job and you took it out on Angela.”
“I’ve already told you everything. We fought. She got her licks in.” He pointed to his scratched neck. “She took the baby and left. I haven’t seen or heard from her since. Now, was she in the car, or not?”
“You mean weretheyin the car?” Officer Reid gave him an I-know-you’re-lying-and-you-suck-at-it look that went with the smug I’ll-get-you-for-it smirk.
Rad smacked his hand on the table. “Just tell me.”
“No.Theywere not in the car.”
He sighed and sat back. “Didtheyget swept away by the current?”
“Funny thing about what we found in the car. Or I should say, what we didn’t find in the car.”
“What?” he asked, because this was taking forever.
“No car seat. Not the base or the infant carrier.”
“Couldn’t they have been swept out of the car by the raging current?” his lawyer asked.
“Not likely, because they would have been strapped in with the seat belt. Oddly enough, the front windows were rolled down about three quarters of the way. On both sides. Strange since it was only a high of seventy-one the day Angela . . . left your place. Now, if she hada newborn in the back seat, it’s extremely unlikely she’d have the windows down.”
“Maybe the heater was on the fritz and she rolled the windows down because the car got too hot.” Rad offered the plausible explanation.
“You’re a mechanic. I’d think you’d have kept her car in tiptop shape.”
“Things happen.” He sounded stupid to his own ears.
“Then there’s the thing with her seat belt.”
“What about it?” he asked, trying to look bored.
“It wasn’t buckled. It’s the law. Now I know some people don’t always remember, but her car has one of those reminder signals in it. Plus, with a new baby, you’d think she’d take all precautions.”
“She was in a hurry when she left. Maybe she forgot and ignored the warning buzzer.”
“Perhaps. But you know what I find the most interesting about us finding the car?”
“What?” he snapped.
“That you knew we found it in the water.”