Page 101 of Three Girls Gone
“We have to.” Her phone rang, and Briggs’s name flashed on the screen. She answered before the first ring finished. “Tell me we have his location.”
A pause, then, “I wish I could, but the phone’s inactive.”
She balled her hand into a fist. To be this close, yet so far away, felt like a cruel joke. “Okay, well, where did it last ping?”
“I can’t tell you that either, unfortunately. I can tell you that number is also part of a prepaid block serviced by Universal. I also got authorization to look at the history on it, and the other one you provided me with. The one given to Mara from Wilson M. They were all activated the first of December and purchased at the same convenience store.”
“Thanks,” she said, despite wanting to punch the wall. The phone being offline might be her fault. She’d tried thatphone about forty minutes ago. Had he seen the unknown number, freaked out, and turned the phone off?
“I hope you find this guy.”
“Makes two of us.” She said goodbye and turned to Trent, shaking her head. But she filled him in on the link.
“The evidence is just stacking up against this guy now.” His phone rang. He pulled it out and told her it was the rental company he was waiting to hear from.
She listened in and could only catch so much, but what she could piece together sounded promising.
“Thank you so much. Goodbye.” Trent cupped his phone in his hand. “We have our lead. We are going to find him, Amanda, and save Eloise.”
This was his second time saying as much within a short time. Was he that positive or was he trying to reassure himself?
FORTY-TWO
Royal Auto Rentals confirmed that a Marshall Wilcox had rented a gray Kia K5, and a trace on its GPS was in progress. Amanda was leery about getting attached to a happy outcome. They could get Wilcox, but would they be too late for Eloise?
They returned to Central at eight o’clock and planned on sticking around to see what came back on the vehicle. Time wasn’t slowing down, and Amanda’s thoughts went from Eloise to her parents. She couldn’t imagine being in their position, sitting around not knowing if or when they’d ever see their daughter again.
With nothing much to do but wait, Amanda caved and called home. Her mother answered.
“Everything’s fine, before you ask.” This time Amanda beat her mother to the question.
“Glad to hear it. What’s up, then? Zoe and I are eating popcorn and watching a movie.”
“Yeah!” Zoe called out in the background, and the sound of her voice lifted Amanda’s spirits.
“It’s going to be a long night, and I just need to say goodnight to her.”
“One second. Do you want to talk to Mandy?”
Mere seconds later, a rustling on the other end was followed by an exuberant, “Mom!”
Amanda’s heart swelled. This would never get old, and she’d remind herself of this thought when Zoe was a teenager and saying it with a sarcastic groan and eye roll. “Hey, baby. Having fun with Grandma?”
“You bet. We had pizza for dinner, and now we’re eating popcorn.”
“I heard that, and you’re obviously being a good girl.”
“Always.”
Amanda laughed. Forget waiting for her teenage years. Zoe was probably rolling her eyes now. She spoke with Zoe a bit longer, asking how school went that day and hearing all about how some boy in her class pulled her hair. “You know why he’s doing that right?”
“He’s an idiot.”
Amanda resisted the urge to laugh. Such an honest and understandable assessment. “It’s not nice to talk about people that way, remember.”
“Fine. But I don’t like him. And if he’s not doing it to bug me, why is he?”
“He likes you.”
