Page 60 of Not Our Daughter

“Listen to me very carefully, Jade. We have to run.”

“What?” Jade said. “That cop is right there behind us.”

“I know. But we don’t have a choice.”

“Run where?”

“Straight toward the crowd on Sixth Street. And try to get lost.”

“What about Dad?”

“When we’re in the clear, I’ll call him.”

Lisa’s eyes were locked on her mirror. They needed to get moving while the police officer was still inside his vehicle. That would give thema slight head start. The moment he was out of the vehicle again, they would have a slim chance to get away.

“On the count of three, Jade.”

“Mom, this is crazy.”

“Do not freeze up on me. Do you understand?”

“Okay, okay. I won’t.”

“One, two, three—go!”

At that moment, they both opened their doors and jumped out. Lisa made sure Jade moved ahead of her before quickly following. They hopped up on the sidewalk and began sprinting toward Sixth Street. Lisa took a quick peek over her shoulder, almost tripping in the process. The officer was indeed pursuing. Lisa felt more panic surge through her. Jade slowed as they hit the full crowd of Sixth Street, but Lisa just kept shoving her forward.

“Keep going!” she said. “Don’t stop until I tell you!”

Forty-Seven

Burns dropped his luggage on the bed inside his downtown hotel room. Davis and Myers had the rooms next door to him on the seventh floor of the Marriott. He planned to take a quick hot shower, get cleaned up, and then huddle again with his team to try to figure out their next move. He’d already been creating a list of individuals he wanted to speak with about their investigation. Many of them were the same people he talked to in the days and weeks immediately after Cole and Lisa’s initial disappearance. Family. Friends. Business associates. New information meant new conversations. Burns didn’t know why Cole and Lisa had come back to Austin. But he felt there was a decent chance they had intentions to see someone on his list. He needed to both find the Shipleys and figure out what had really happened on the night they’d vanished.

Burns was halfway through undressing when he got a bang on the door.

He hustled over, cracked it open. Agent Davis.

“What?” Burns said.

“I found our leak.”

Burns swung the door open. “Come in.”

The agent stepped into the room, peeked at his boss in his underwear and undershirt.

“Nice boxers,” he said. “No wonder you’re not dating again.”

“Zip it. What do you got?”

Davis held his digital tablet in his hands. “I carefully back-channeled everything. And I found someone tagging our case who really has no business doing it.”

“Who?”

“A guy named Ross Lester.”

Burns pitched his head. “I know Lester. He’s an old-timer who’s been with the Bureau forever. Why do you think he’s our leak?”

“Ran his phone, boss. Every time we’ve logged a new update, Lester has immediately placed a phone call to a lawyer named Carl Fisk.”

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