Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,10
if they call the police, it’ll only cost us more time.”
“They won’t call the police. Roberson’s too scared I’ll come back and beat the crap out of him. Which I’m more than tempted to do. The man waited two days, Claire. Two days.”
“I know. I knew you’d be angry if I told you.”
“I missed it in the police report. Probably a good thing.”
The corner of her mouth curved up. She had a very pretty mouth when she wasn’t scowling. Nice full lips, glossy pink lipstick.
“Laura said you had a temper.”
His gaze moved from her mouth to her eyes. “I’d never hurt a woman. I wouldn’t hurt a kid, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t thinking that. I was thinking that Sam wouldn’t put up with Kenny’s bullying. That’s why the Robersons didn’t really like him. He’s three years younger than Kenny, and yet he was the leader in the house, the one the other two foster children looked up to.”
A trickle of emotion slipped through him. He wasn’t sure what it was. Pride? How could that be? He didn’t even know the kid.
He amended that. With Claire’s help, he was beginning to know his child, at least a little.
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask to talk to the other foster kids in the house,” she said.
“There was no way that was going to happen without a fistfight, and even if the Robersons agreed, the kids would be afraid to say anything.”
“I talked to them the day after Sam was reported missing,” Claire said. Ben glanced in her direction. “They told me Sam didn’t say anything about leaving. They didn’t see him pack his clothes, but Tim said he took the photo of his mom he kept on the nightstand. He also said Sam and Kenny had a fight a couple of days before. Apparently since then, Kenny had been making Sam’s life hell.”
“So he might have run.”
“Or he met up with Troy, the way I think he did.”
“What about the kids at school?” he asked. “You talk to them?”
“The police did. He was still pretty new. He hadn’t really made any friends. No one knew where he might have gone.”
Ben returned his attention to the road. “The cops will be looking for Sam. I’m going after Bridger. You better be right about Bridger having my son.”
* * *
He drove down Sunset Boulevard, stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic, lots of restaurants and bars, people with weird-colored hair and nose piercings ambling along the sidewalk. The GPS showed a turn up Laurel Canyon Road. He made the turn and followed the directions up the mountain.
There was a wrought-iron gate at the bottom of a hill in front of a private driveway. He pushed the intercom button and a familiar woman’s voice came over the line.
“Yes, may I help you?”
“Hi, Amy. This is Ben Slocum. I need to talk to Johnnie. Sorry it’s so late, but it’s important.”
“Ben! Oh, my God, of course. Come on in.”
Claire flashed him a look. “One of your old girlfriends?”
“That’s Amy Riggs. She happens to be my friend’s wife.”
The electric gate swung slowly open. Ben drove the Accord up the hill, parked in front of the first building he came to and turned off the engine.
It was a modern structure, white stucco with a flat roof and a garage off to one side. Farther up the hill, a much-bigger version looked out over the Los Angeles basin. Amy and Johnnie Riggs walked out on the porch. Amy ran down the front steps and into his arms for a hug.
“Ben! It’s so good to see you.”
She was a tiny little thing, long straight blond hair and big blue eyes, the woman John Riggs had fallen madly in love with. From the sappy grin on his face as he looked at her, he still was.
Johnnie walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. “Good to see you, Iceman.”
“You, too, Hambone.” Riggs was a ranger. He could out-eat every man in the platoon and never gain weight. Or at least it was said that that was how he’d gotten his nickname. Ben turned, introduced Claire to Amy, then the muscular, dark-haired man with the perennial five o’clock shadow. Only Johnnie’s wasn’t for effect like most of the Hollywood crowd’s.
“Good to meet you both,” Claire said. They were sizing her up, Ben could tell, wondering if she meant more to him than the women he usually dated. She meant more, all right. She was the key to finding his son.