Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,20

the mailbox because she was texting as she backed out of the driveway, and Mr. Albright was real mad about that and took her phone away and she couldn’t drive for a month. But Ricky thought his dad was mad at his mom, and he thought his mom was going to leave, and it really scared him. He didn’t want to make a choice about who to live with.”

Ginny said, “It wasn’t fair. And they don’t talk. Didn’t talk. You know, like our mom and dad tell us almost everything and we can always ask questions and stuff, but Ricky never liked to ask questions about anything because he said his parents would not really answer him, just say, ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ or whatever. You know?”

Very smart observations from two young kids, Lucy thought. It reminded her that kids picked up on a lot more than adults gave them credit for.

“Did Ricky mention that they were going on a trip or anything? Or maybe that his mother was planning a trip?”

“No, ma’am. He, um, he didn’t really want to talk about his mother that day.” Joe glanced at Ginny.

Ginny said, “Ricky heard his mom on the phone talking to someone, like a friend, saying that she didn’t want to leave but didn’t have a choice.”

Joe frowned, and Lucy wondered if Ricky had shared that information with only Ginny.

“Anything else?”

Ginny shook her head and looked back down. “I miss him a lot.”

“Me too,” Joe said. “We were supposed to meet up that weekend to go over to the Garcias’ and look at their new puppies. Ricky’s dog died that summer and his parents said maybe they’d get another, so he wanted to see the puppies and talk them into it.” Joe glanced at Ginny. “Well, he was going to take one and bring it home because he figured if his parents saw the dog they wouldn’t send it back.”

Cute and manipulative, Lucy thought. “He didn’t call and say he wasn’t coming.”

“No,” Joe said.

Ginny said, “Can I ask a question?”

“Anything,” Lucy said.

“Do you know who killed Ricky’s parents and sisters? Like who or even why? When the police came here three years ago they weren’t nice, and they said that Mrs. Albright stole a bunch of money and disappeared, then they said Joe was lying, and my brother doesn’t lie. They were mean and I don’t think they cared about what really happened to Ricky.”

“I’m sorry the detectives treated you like that,” Lucy said. She wasn’t surprised that Ginny sounded angry, she certainly had the same protective personality as her father. “I can’t share everything about this investigation, but I can tell you that the FBI is now in charge. Usually, the FBI doesn’t investigate homicides, but there are special circumstances here.” She didn’t need to go into the details with the kids. “I want to believe that Ricky is alive, but we honestly don’t know. What I can promise is that Agent Dunning and I will follow the evidence wherever it goes. We want the truth as much as you do. That’s why anything you know about Ricky can help us.”

JJ said, “I’m a big supporter of law enforcement, but I’m not going to talk to those two detectives again. They were rude and disrespected my family. Chavez and Douglas, I’ll never forget them.”

“This is our case, sir,” Nate said. “You won’t have to speak with them, though we may have additional questions later.”

Lucy thought of something and asked, “If Ricky was in trouble—if he was scared or worried—where might he go?”

“Here,” Joe said immediately. “He’s my best friend, he would come here.”

“Did he have any other friends?”

“Rafi,” Ginny said.

“Rafi moved to Austin,” Joe said.

“But they were still friends,” Ginny said.

Jill said, “Rafi Medina. His parents divorced a few years ago and his mom moved to Austin. He lives there most of the time. This was about a year before the Albrights were killed. I still can’t believe they’ve been dead all this time and no one knew.”

As she said it that way, Lucy realized that whoever killed the Albrights never wanted their remains to come to light. They were buried in a remote location, and their bodies may never have been uncovered except for the flooding. Even then, to have the bones found by someone who knew what they were and then who called the proper authorities … and then Ash being able to trace them to their burial site. Several things had to happen before they’d been able to