“Sure thing, boss.”
“I just called Pres,” she said, referring to the hospital where they’d taken Keith Seabright.
Levi whirled around to her. “How is he?”
“He’s alive. Critical but stable. You were right about the tox screen.”
“I know.”
She stepped closer. “Levi, how much do you know about him?”
“We’ve been friends for a few years, but he’s very private. I just know he was in Special Forces and is now a survivalist living off-grid.”
“Let me show you something.” She led him to Zee’s computer. After sitting in Zee’s chair, she gestured for him to take Salazar’s and showed him Elliot. “Do you know this kid?”
He scooted closer for a better look, then lifted a shoulder. “That’s his nephew, Eli.”
Her gaze darted to Quincy. “Elliot.”
Quince walked over, his expression pensive.
“Who’s Elliot?” Levi asked.
“Elliot Kent was abducted from his home in Santa Fe seven years ago. He would be twelve now.” She gestured toward the screen. “And he would look exactly like that.”
“Are you saying you think Seabright abducted a kid?”
“Do you have another explanation?”
He sat back in the chair, clearly angry. “Eli is Seabright’s sister’s kid. They live in Bisbee. He stays with him a lot in the summers and during hunting season.”
“Levi, Keith Seabright had only one sister and she died when he was ten. She was fourteen. She never had a kid.”
Levi looked like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. “You’re wrong. He would never abduct a kid.”
“We can figure that out later. But if Eli was abducted and Keith’s in the hospital, that means Eli is alone and … and possibly imprisoned.”
The look he gave her would’ve killed a lesser being. “You’re wrong.” He stood and stormed out.
She caught up to him and stopped him at the front entrance by throwing herself into his path, an act of desperation comparable to playing in oncoming traffic. She put a hand on his arm.
He speared her with a glare worthy of a king. “Move. I’m going to find Eli.” He started around her, but she stepped into his path again.
“You know where he lives?”
He gave her a reluctant shake of his head. “No, but I have a good idea.”
“Hold on.” She took out her phone and called one of her favorite places on Earth.
“Who are you calling?”
“He’s a kid,” she said, putting the phone up to her ear. “What kid doesn’t like pizza?”
“Adobe Oven,” a male voice said.
“Hey, Ernie.”
“Hey, Sunshine. Need a pie to go?” How he always recognized her voice when he got dozens of calls a day was beyond her.
“I’m actually calling on official business.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It is. And you can help save a kid’s life,” she said, priming him. He was well within his rights to refuse to answer her. Ernie had always liked her. She hoped that would help grease the wheels. “I know this is asking a lot, but can you give me the address of a customer you deliver to? A Keith Seabright?”
“I’m sorry, love. I can’t.”
Damn it. She was hoping to forgo the warrant talk. “Ernie, Keith is in the hospital and we need to find his nephew. It’s urgent.”
“No, I mean I literally can’t. I don’t have an address for them. One of them always meets us at Tinsley’s Crossing.”
“Oh.” She glanced up at Levi. Tinsley’s Crossing was about five miles north of town and led to any number of homesteads.
He nodded, so the information must’ve matched his notion of where they lived.
“Thanks, Ernie. Oh, wait. Can you tell me the last time they ordered?”
“Sure.” She heard him punch some keys on a computer. “I know it’s been at least a week. Yeah, here we go. They ordered sandwiches and a pie a week ago Friday.”
Darn. “Okay, thanks, Ernie.” She was hoping Eli had ordered something to eat in the last couple of days. That would imply he was simply on his own and not locked up somewhere.
“How is he?” Ernie asked. “Mr. Seabright?”
“He’s still breathing.”
“I’ll pray it stays that way.”
“Thank you.” She hung up. “Is that the right area?”
“It is.”
“Then I may know where they’re staying.” She looked toward the plate glass window and gestured to Quincy.
“I think I know, too. I should go out there alone.”
“And why is that?”
“Seabright doesn’t need a bunch of bumbling deputies trampling all over his place.”
“No offense, Levi, but I don’t give a rat’s ass what Keith Seabright needs right now. My only concern is that boy.” She crossed her arms. “I’m coming with you, and you don’t have a say in the matter.”
He mimicked her, crossing his arms, too. “No, you’re not, and I think I do.”
Quincy walked past them, carrying a tactical bag and a shotgun. “Quit being a dick, Ravinder. Let’s go.”
“Fine,” Levi said to Sun through clenched teeth. “We’ll take my truck”
“You and Zee follow,” she said to Quincy, hurrying to Levi’s truck.
She called Rojas as she hopped inside the dark cab to fill him in. “Keep an eye on our visitors. Watch what they do when we leave.”
“You got it, boss.”
She hung up and called Anita. “Call SFPD and find out if there have been any developments on the Elliot Kent case. Anything at all.”
“Absolutely.”
She heard Mrs. Fairborn in the background. “Does Hennessy have one N or two?”
“You don’t know?” Anita asked.
“I just drink the stuff. I don’t read the label.”
Sun hung up and looked at Levi. “This town needs an observation deck.”
“Are we doing it this time?” Cruz asked Auri.
She’d convinced her mom she had a study hour in preparation for upcoming exams, and their teacher had allowed them to go on a coffee run as long as they brought him one, too. Her mom must’ve really been off her game to fall for it. Probably the life-or-death thing with Hailey. Auri would get the rest of that story later. For now, she’d gotten away with skipping. She had to take full advantage.
She checked with her inside man. Mrs. F. was still confessing and, if history repeated itself, she’d be there all day. They’d make her tea and buy her lunch. She would fill out a detailed confession and then one of the deputies would drive her home.
Sadly, the former sheriff, Baldwin Redding, wouldn’t put up with Mrs. Fairborn’s confessions, so she’d had to get the mayor involved. He finally started letting her confess again, but he didn’t like it.
Of course, if he was anything like his son, an upperclassman at Del Sol High, he didn’t like much of anything unless it involved footballs, girls, and kegs.
“We’re doing this,” she said, determination driving her forward. Inch by inch.