Jacqui could be a pain in the ass but she wasn’t the devil. “I don’t think she’s dangerous.”
She stared at him. Her pretty blue eyes were fierce. “Are you deliberately missing the point?” she asked. “Your ex-wife was on my daughter’s campus, in her dining room. Do you really think that was coincidence?”
“No,” he said. “What happened?”
“Jacqui made up some bullshit story about having a friend whose daughter was interested in UW-Eau Claire and they were touring the campus together.”
That probably was bullshit.
“Your ex-wife is stalking my daughter,” Tess said. “I’ll say it again. I won’t have it. She is too important to me.”
“I get that. My daughter is important to me, too.”
“You can’t understand. It’s just been the two of us for a long time,” Tess said.
“We’re not really going to argue over whose daughter is more important to them, are we?” A.L. asked.
Tess closed her eyes. Took a breath. “No. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, Tess. Jacqui pulled a fast one. Traci no doubt told her about meeting you at the mall and she decided turnaround was fair play. I don’t know what she’s trying to prove but I’ll tell her it needs to stop. Now. I’ll let her know—”
He paused at the knock on the door. Took two steps and opened the door. It was Rena.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, A.L.” Rena looked past him. “Hi, Tess.”
“Rena,” Tess said.
“What?” A.L. asked.
“We’ve got something.”
Thirteen
Rena felt like shit interrupting A.L. and Tess. The tension in the room was palpable.
“Tess, I’m...”
His voice trailed off as Tess held up her hand. “I’ve said my peace. Just take care of it, Able.”
Able. Rena stepped back to let Tess walk past her. She barely waited until Tess was through the double doors before turning back to A.L. “Your first name is Able?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Then why did she call you that?”
“Is that the important question now, Morgan? I’m hoping you knocked on the door for something else.”
“Yeah. We have to go. The dogs picked up Emma’s scent in the backyard of a house, about two miles out of town.”
A.L. pulled his keys from his pocket. “I’ll drive. Who owns the house?”
“Alice Quest.”
His head snapped up. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Rena shook her head. Then started running to keep up with A.L., who was sprinting toward the door.
“That house has already been searched once,” A.L. said. They were in his SUV and he’d taken the turn out of the parking lot fast. “As was her vehicle. And she was in a classroom. All damn day. She’s the one who called the police.”
Rena didn’t answer. She had a feeling that A.L. was talking to himself.
It took less than five minutes to reach the address. There were already four other cop cars around the house. Two of them had their lights going. She also saw Chief Faster’s SUV.
The man must have seen them arrive because he came out of the house just as they were going in. “We’ve searched the property,” Faster said. “Emma isn’t here.”
“Was here, though?” A.L. asked.
Faster shrugged. “Dogs picked up her scent outside. Not inside.”
Alice Quest lived in a small ranch with a one-car attached garage. Her lot was maybe a half acre, nicely divided between a front and a backyard. There were no outbuildings, no place to hide a child.
“What’s the chance it’s a fluke?” A.L. asked.
“FBI said that they were very confident. That’s good enough for me,” Faster said.
There was a play set in the back. One of those nice wooden ones, with two swings, a good-sized slide and a climbing wall. The ground beneath it was a fine mulch. Rena remembered that Alice had told her she had two granddaughters.
“Where’s Alice Quest?” Rena asked.
Faster looked at his watch. “About right now, I’d say she’s walking into the Baywood PD. We pinged her phone, found her having dinner downtown, and Blithe picked her up.”
Rena felt ill. She really hadn’t wanted anyone at the day care to be responsible for harming Emma. It was such a betrayal. Alice and the others were supposed to be the trusted ones, the ones who maybe didn’t love the children as a parent would but goddamn it, would still step in front of the speeding train for them if it came to that.
What the hell would she do once her and Gabe’s baby was born? Quit work? Was that the only real option because day care wasn’t safe?
“The two of you should head back,” Faster said. “I want you to question her.”
“Okay,” Rena said. A.L. didn’t say anything, just started walking to his vehicle. They were headed back to town when he finally spoke.
“This doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“I know. Emma was outside but not inside? What kind of risk was that? There are neighbors.”
“Not super close,” he said. “And there’s some trees that impair visibility into the backyard.”
“Still. Are you going to abduct a child and let her play outside at your house?” Rena asked.
He shook his head. “She had to have had help. We have multiple witnesses who support the fact she was at the day care.”
Once A.L. had parked, they walked inside and went to find Blithe. “Where is she?” A.L. asked.
“Room 2,” Blithe said.
“She say anything?” Rena asked.
“Nope. She seems like a nice lady,” Blithe said. “It’s going to be a kick in the balls if she’s the one.”
How true, thought Rena. She had no balls but she clearly understood what Blithe meant. She turned and led A.L. back to the middle of their three interrogation rooms. When she walked inside, Alice Quest was sitting at the oblong table, a half-full plastic cup of water in front of her. She looked up when they entered.
“Detectives,” she said. “I’m assuming there’s news.”
“Alice,” Rena said, taking a chair. “Thank you for coming in.”