Gone Before Goodbye (Love &Mystery in the--6-oh-3 Book 1) Read Free Page B

the next news conference.”
    “I read up on the last girl’s disappearance during my flight. Has the crime line gotten any action?”
    “We’ve followed three hundred tips. We checked out every one from the weird neighbor who cuts his grass in the middle of the night with a flashlight to the guy who threatened to blow up his mother-in-law’s car. An elderly couple swore they saw Lisa at the bus station, but the girl they ID’d turned out to be a teenager traveling to her grandmother’s.” The chief pulled a sheet out of a file and handed it to Noah. “Here are her basic facts”
    Noah studied the sheet while the boss talked.
    “Lisa Grant disappeared sometime on the night of the fifth or morning of the sixth when she was reported missing. Black and pink hair, light brown eyes, weight one hundred and ten pounds and five foot six. Her guardian for the past six months, Teagan Raynes, reported the girl was last wearing denim shorts and a white T-shirt when last seen.”
    Noah tried a different tact. “Do we have an intruder theory?” Was she a new Elizabeth Smart abducted from her bed?
    “No evidence supports forced entry or a struggle. Lisa slept alone on the third floor. No ladder, trees, or trellis near the house or prints on the ground.” The chief passed him a picture of Lisa’s bedroom and her folder.
    Noah noted the windows and door locations. The room size suggested an intruder could get in and out quickly, but going down three flights of stairs with an unwilling teenager was risky even if someone memorized the layout.
    “We’re done canvassing the neighborhood. State Police questioned the eight registered sex offenders in the area. Your partner’s notes are in your file and dropbox, Cassidy.”
    “What do we know about the guardian?”
    “Miss Raynes is a local, who moved to Massachusetts, but returned this winter to care for her aunt. She died two weeks later from leukemia. Since her return, Raynes got a job at the elementary school. At this time, she’s not a person of interest. No one else lives in the home.”
    “Any chance the girl’s a runaway?”
    “Everyone swears Lisa never mentioned taking off, though she had dreams of working in Boston or New York City. She had little cash and no credit cards. Miss Raynes had confiscated Lisa’s cell phone, but it was no longer in her bureau where Miss Raynes put it. The cell, Lisa’s wallet, and house key didn’t surface in the search. We developed the theory Lisa lifted her phone before she vanished. Miss Raynes reported Lisa carried her key in her wallet wherever she went. The judge issued a warrant for the phone records yesterday, and I’ve a man working on the call history.”
    Noah scanned the first page of his partner, Denny Hines’, notes. “No useful statements from other foster children in her previous homes.”
    “Not a damn thing. Lisa’s boyfriend, Travis Bodell, says he knows nothing. He shows up each morning for an update. He flips between a civil, mature discussion to an out-of-control rant that we need to work harder and find Lisa sooner. We can’t predict which Travis will show up.”
    “Strange behavior. Counseling?”
    “His guidance counselor described him as a teen with poor self-image, who has weak social skills but isn’t violent.”
    “He sounds like every high school kid to me.”
    “Travis admitted he argued with Lisa on her lunch break the last day she was seen. He maintains he hasn’t glimpsed or heard from her since the fight, but until he’s ruled out, he’s a person of interest.”
    “Lisa Grant disappeared without a clue.”
    “The girl vanished faster than a bullet from a Bushmaster rifle. You and Hines focus on Grant. I’ve got another team searching for the Linn girl. Continue pressuring Travis. He lives with his uncle, Seth Bodell. He’s threatened to lawyer-up the kid if we question Travis again and turns deaf when we explain his nephew wants to talk to us. Uncle’s earned a rep as