“You know Bazer? Coronado P.D.?” I asked.

Lasko thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Lauren was at the car and Anchor and Kitting walked past us, ready to go.

“Look him up,” I said, turning and heading for the car. “Pretty sure he’s the chain puller.”

THIRTY-NINE

I grabbed my phone as soon as we got back in the car.

“Who are you calling?” Lauren asked.

I punched the screen, but didn’t answer her.

“Should we wait?” Anchor asked.

I nodded.

Mike Lorenzo answered on the first ring. “Joe. Where…”

“Listen to me,” I said, cutting him off. “Bazer issued the alert, correct?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Can you find out if he just put out a stop on a white Escalade, east side of downtown?” I said. “Supposedly I.D.’d with Elizabeth?”

“What are…”

“Can you find out, Mike?” I asked, my patience gone. “Yes or no?”

The line buzzed for a moment. “Yeah. I can find out.”

“How long will it take?”

“Gimme a few minutes.”

“Call me back when you find out.”

“Okay, but…”

I hung up.

“You think Mike’s clean then?” Lauren asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what I think, but it’s irrelevant now. One of them is not right, but at this point, they both know we’re here. If Mike calls back, then we’ll assume he’s on our side. If he doesn’t, we won’t.”

And that was about all we could do. If either of them were involved, then they were just as close as we were and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I couldn’t stop them. They were police officers and could do nearly anything they wanted.

We just needed to find her first.

“My guess is we’re going to be tailed from here on out,” I said.

“We’re already on it,” Anchor said. “We’ve called in a little help.”

“A little help?”

“Just a couple cars that might inadvertently get in the way,” Anchor said smiling.

I nodded and the phone vibrated on my leg.

I grabbed it without looking at the screen. “Who called it in, Mike?”

The line hummed for a few seconds. “I need help.”

The female voice surprised me.

The fact that it was Elizabeth’s floored me.

I glanced at the screen, saw Morgan’s Colorado number and put the phone back to my ear. I tapped Anchor’s seat and pointed at the phone frantically. He nodded and he and Kitting immediately started working their phones.

“Elizabeth?” I asked. “Where are you?”

“No, Ellie. I mean, yes,” she whispered. “It’s me.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice shaky and it sounded like she was crying. “I’m scared.”

“Are you alone?” I asked.

“I’m in a bathroom,” she said. “I only have a second. Help me. Please.”

“You’re with a girl named Netty, right?”

“How did you…”

“Don’t say more than you need to,” I said, banging on Anchor’s seat, begging him to grab the locale.

He made a motion to keep talking.

“And a guy named Alex?” I said. “Yes or no?”

“Yes.”

“Did you drive far from the train station?”

“No.”

There was some rustling in the background. “They know you have your phone?”

“No. Don’t think so.”

“Are there other people there?”

“Yes. Five maybe? Six? I don’t know. I’m scared.”

“I know you are. I’m coming for you, though, okay? So you need to stay calm.” I took a deep breath and realized that Lauren was pressed up against me, trying to listen. “Any idea what they want with you? Are they taking you anywhere?”

“I don’t know,” she said. There was a loud knocking through the phone and a muffled voice. “I have to go.”

“I’m coming, Elizabeth. I’m coming.”

“Please, hurry,” she said and there was no doubt she was crying. “Please. I’m so…”

The line went dead.

FORTY

“Think we got it,” Kitting said. “About ten minutes away.”

“Go,” I said. “It doesn’t sound good.”

“Any idea of what we’re looking at?” Anchor said.

“She said five, maybe six other people there,” I told him. “But she didn’t sound certain.”

Anchor nodded and stared straight ahead as we drove.

I looked at Lauren. “I should’ve put her on speaker. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lauren said, her voice tight and hoarse. “She’s scared.”

I nodded.

The phone vibrated again. I looked at the screen first this time before I answered. “Mike.”

“Joe, I don’t know where it came from,” Mike said. “It was an anonymous number.”

I stared at the window, watching the drab houses go by. “No idea who the caller was or where they called in from?”

“Blocked number,” he said. “I’ve got someone working on it but it’s gonna take awhile to find the origin.”

“Okay. Where’s Bazer?”

“Bazer? I don’t know. Why? You want his help?”

“Hell no,” I said. “Just curious.”

“Last I knew, he was out patrolling. He rolled all units into San Diego, based on the alert.”

I nodded.

“Where are you?” Mike asked. “Why aren’t you telling me what’s going on?”

“Because I don’t know.”

“But you know where you are, right?”

“A neighborhood in Southeast,” I said. “Not exactly sure where. We may have a location.”

“A location?”

“On Elizabeth. Where she’s at.”

“Tell me where. I’ll get there.”

“It’s complicated, Mike,” I said. “I’m not sure of anything at the moment.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I’ll call you when I know more.” I hung up.

“Location’s a warehouse,” Kitting said over his shoulder, holding steady on the wheel.

I nodded.

Anchor turned around. “I assume you aren’t adverse to going in armed?”

“Whatever we need to do to get my daughter.”

Anchor shifted his gaze to Lauren. “Ma’am?”

“I’ve never fired a gun,” Lauren said.

“Not a problem,” Anchor answered. “We’re going to park the car a ways away. We’ll rely on you to keep it at the ready and stay in communication with you.”

“So I’m like the getaway driver?” she asked, looking at me and then him.

“Probably won’t be anything to get away from,” Anchor said. “We’ll just call you when it’s safe to come pick us all up, including your daughter.”

Lauren took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright.”

“And our help has worked,” Anchor said. “We are going in without a tail. They intercepted.”

I nodded.

“We’ll be parked in two minutes,” Anchor said, twisting back around in his seat.

I stared out the window, but couldn’t focus on the houses and buildings out there. All I could see was Elizabeth. I felt like we were at the end of the road. Like we were going to finally see her. I still didn’t know what had happened all those years ago or who was responsible, but there was a calm settling over me. The car slowed and Kitting moved to the curb.

I was ready to get my daughter back.

FORTY-ONE

“We’re three blocks away,” Anchor said to Lauren as she settled into the front seat. “You see any reason to leave, do so. We’ll worry about catching up with you after we’ve recovered your daughter. Questions?”

Lauren shook her head.

He pushed a button next to her seat. “Give us just a minute in the trunk.”

He and Kitting headed in that direction and I lingered for a moment.

“You alright with this?” I asked.

“Just get her back, Joe,” she said, her voice drained, her eyes ringed with dark circles. “Get her back and I’ll be fine.”

I nodded and walked to the back of the car.

The floor panel was up, revealing a small arsenal that glistened in the afternoon sun.

“What are you most comfortable with?” Anchor asked.

I peered in closer and put my hands on a handgun that resembled the 9mm Beretta I’d carried as a cop. “This.”

Anchor lifted out a similar looking weapon and Kitting armed himself with something that looked to me like it was semi-automatic. He slung it over his shoulder and it disappeared inside his coat.