Page 21 of Three Girls Gone
“What are you doing here? Mara, you were supposed tomeet with that lawyer after that one detective came after you already.”
“He cleared me. Kendra, these detectives are with Homicide.” Mara’s voice was small when she shared this news with her sister.
Kendra set the bag on an end table and crossed her arms. “Are you telling me that Hailey’s dead?”
“Someone murdered her,” Mara told her sister.
“Really?” Kendra turned on Amanda, let her gaze drift to Trent.
“You must not have seen the news. I believe it’s already out there,” Amanda said.
“No, not at all. It’s been a day.” Kendra dropped onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her sister. “Oh my God, Mara.”
“Just one more question before we leave,” Amanda said. Mara looked expectant while Kendra crossed her arms. “Were any of Hailey’s tutus at the cleaners?” She’d leave the slippers out of the conversation.
Mara narrowed her eyes. “That seems like a strange question.”
“Please just answer Detective Steele,” Trent encouraged with a firm tone.
“I took them two weeks ago, but they should all be in her closet, except for the one at the dance studio.”
Just as Jean Tanner had told them. But it wasn’t so much about her answer, but Amanda being able to get a read on the nanny. Based on appearances, she was genuinely confused that Amanda had brought them up. “All right, thank you for your time. We’ll see ourselves out.”
She and Trent didn’t speak until they were back in the car. Then Amanda broke the silence.
“Mara allowed visitors into the home against the Tanners’ wishes. What other lines did she cross?”
“I admit that doesn’t say much about her character, but it seems a leap from that to kidnapping and killing the child under her care.”
Amanda would love to agree, but she’d witnessed too much human atrocity to dismiss the possibility.
TEN
Amanda saw Trent’s viewpoint on Mara Bennett, but she wasn’t ready to release her from suspicion yet. She had commented she didn’t have money for children of her own. Had she taken Hailey, even worked with someone with ransom as the goal? Not a new theory, but McGee would have requested her financials having considered her a suspect himself at one point. He never mentioned why he’d released her from suspicion, but in his defense, Amanda hadn’t bothered to ask. Her phone history couldn’t have revealed any sinister plan to take Hailey with an accomplice or McGee would have pursued her. Amanda called McGee for more details on Mara, but had to leave a message.Just one more person to wait on…
The CSIs who processed Hailey’s bedroom hadn’t reached out yet. They should have finished by now. Amanda had left her card but was now wishing she’d gotten theirs too. If she didn’t hear from them soon, she’d call the lab in Manassas or even CSI Emma Blair for their number. She’d like to convince herself no news was just that, but assumptions tanked investigations. She’d give them a bit more time before she followed up.
Trent parked in the long and empty driveway in front ofNick Potter’s house. It was a McMansion in a nice neighborhood.
“Let’s hope his car is in the garage,” he said and turned off the vehicle.
He beat her to the door, but her steps were slowed by the images forming in her mind. None of them were new, but they were crystalizing into clearer focus being here. Two people close to Hailey may have worked together and exploited the girl’s trust. But if Mara and Nick were an item, money wouldn’t be an issue if they headed off into the sunset together. Nick had enough to finance the trip. It was hard to consider this revenge for what Vincent had done to Nick, from Mara’s perspective anyhow. She’d said that Vincent felt bad for what had happened. Though, that didn’t mean that she excused his behavior. And the relationship between Mara and Nick could have been more serious than she let on. How that escalated to killing Hailey was unclear.
Trent knocked and followed up by ringing the bell right after.
The door swung open, and Nick stood there with his cell phone to his ear. “Listen, I’ve got to go.” His voice petered out as he spoke, his gaze taking in the badges they were holding up. He almost had his phone in a pocket when it started ringing again. He held up his left index finger to them while he consulted the screen. “I really need to take this.” He answered.
Amanda looked at Trent.Unbelievable.
“Yes, I know you need an answer on this today. Five minutes,” Nick said and swept his phone from his ear to his pocket in a swift, fluid motion. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Detective Steele, and this is Detective Stenson,” Amanda began. “You’re Nick Potter?”
“I am.”
“We need to talk to you about Hailey Tanner. If we could come inside…” She didn’t present this happening as an option.
“Ah, sure.” He fumbled backward to let them into the house. “Do you want water, coffee—” His ringtone cut him off, and he swore before removing his phone from his pocket and swiping left to refuse the call. “I’ll set this thing to silent, or we won’t get a minute of peace.” He moved a finger around the screen. “All right, that’s done. So, as I was trying to say, can I get either of you anything?”
