They slammed down onto the asphalt.

42

9:00 a.m.

Cortez Residence

Eleventh Avenue South

Birmingham

Kerri had called the LT. He’d issued an endangered child alert and sent Sykes and Peterson to the Cortez residence.

Kerri couldn’t help remembering how he’d put her off about issuing an alert when Amelia was missing. But Tori was younger than Amelia had been at the time. Still, Kerri was fairly certain the LT remembered making that decision.

Pushing the thoughts away, Kerri centered her attention back on the woman who refused to answer her or the other detectives’ questions. She’d finally begun to talk when Falco had threatened to arrest her.

“My husband went looking for Alice as soon as he realized she was missing. He hasn’t returned or called, so I am sure he is still looking and contacting her friends’ parents.”

“Funny,” Kerri said, her voice tight, “he hasn’t checked with me.”

The woman picked up her cell phone from the coffee table and called her husband again.

Falco held up his hands in a let’s-take-it-down-a-notch manner. “She’s talking,” he said in an aside to Kerri. “Let’s be grateful for that.”

Kerri bit her lips together. It was difficult to be grateful at the moment. She had called Tori’s cell phone repeatedly, but it just kept going to voice mail. She should have put that tracking app on her daughter’s phone, but she’d never worried that she would need it. Tori never got into trouble . . . she was a good kid. Trustworthy.

Jesus Christ, she needed her little girl to be okay.

Sykes sidled up next to Kerri. “Peterson is giving Foster a call to have him put the school’s weekend guards on alert. It’s possible they may have gone there. We’ve also got people watching the hospital where the Talley girl is.”

Kerri nodded. “Thanks.” She should have thought of those moves herself.

Goddamn it.

She’d called Diana and Jen and had them checking with everyone they knew. The twins were surfing social media. Robby was driving around the neighborhood.

And Kerri was standing here doing nothing with no idea where to go next.

The door opened, and Peterson swaggered back inside. On his heels was Sadie Cross.

She walked straight to Kerri and looked her dead in the eyes. “If you can clear the room, I’d like to talk to Mrs. Cortez alone.”

Kerri looked from Sykes, who was watching the two of them, to Falco. “We need to step outside a moment.”

Falco gave her a nod and executed an about-face and strode straight to the door. Sykes and Peterson shared a look and did the same. When the door had closed behind the men, Kerri nodded to Sadie and walked out.

“Whatever happens in there,” Peterson warned, “is on you, Devlin.”

Falco backhanded him on the shoulder. “Shut the fuck up, Peterson.”

Sykes swallowed hard, the movement visible along his throat. “He’s right. Shut up, Peterson.”

A minute ticked by. Then another. Kerri felt ready to explode. The sound of sobbing seeped past the front door, and Kerri wasn’t sure she could take it.

The door suddenly opened, and Sadie exited the house. Cora Cortez lingered in the open doorway. Other than being shaken, she looked unharmed.

Relief trickled inside Kerri. “What did she tell you?”

“She thinks they went to the warehouse where her husband works. He called her right before you came and said he was going there next.”

“Let’s go,” Kerri urged.

“What’d you do, Cross?” Sykes demanded as the whole group headed for the street. “Threaten her life. Jesus.”

Cross glared at him. “I just told her that I knew who she and her husband really are and that I would use that information if she didn’t cooperate.”

Sykes watched Sadie round the yellow VW. “Who the hell are they?” he demanded.

Sadie didn’t answer. She climbed into her vehicle and drove away.

Kerri and Falco loaded into his Charger and did the same.

Kerri’s cell vibrated. Dispatch appeared on the screen. “Devlin.”

“Detective Devlin, I’m patching a Junior Ridley through to you. He’s an Uber driver who says he has information about the alert on Tori.”

Kerri’s heart thumped as she thanked the dispatcher and waited for the call to be connected.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Ridley, this is Detective Kerri Devlin.”

Ridley explained that he had picked up two girls. One girl kept referring to the other one as Tori. He described the two girls and how that by the time he reached the drop-off point, he felt as if something wasn’t quite right.

“Where was the drop-off point?”

He gave the address and the time of the drop. Kerri thanked him and ended the call.

“What the woman told Cross was right,” she told Falco. He glanced at her. “An Uber driver dropped Alice and Tori off at the warehouses an hour ago.”

Falco floored the accelerator.

Kerri didn’t have to say the rest.

A lot could happen in an hour.

43

9:50 a.m.

Taylor Warehouses

Birmingport Road

Birmingham

As they reached the end of the long drive, Kerri spotted a dark sedan and the black SUV in the parking lot already.

The Escalade Kerri recognized. It belonged to Cortez.

“Who the hell is that?” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

“Looks like the mayor’s car.”

Kerri scowled. Falco was right. The license plate read: WARREN1. “Why would the mayor be here?” She thought again of the mayor’s personal involvement in this case and the similarities between her early years and those of Alice Cortez. Was she attempting to save this girl Alice or save face?

The idea that there was more nudged at Kerri.

The Charger had scarcely stopped moving, and she was climbing out. She all but ran toward the maintenance building, where a door stood open. Falco caught up with her by the time she reached the entrance.

Kerri drew up short as Mayor Emma Warren emerged, Cortez right behind her.

“Where is Tori?” Kerri demanded.

Warren stalled for a single moment. “Tori? Excuse me, Detective . . . ? Why are you here?”

“That’s a good question,” Falco said, “for you, Mayor.”