Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

asked. ‘The one who saw her au pair killed?’
    ‘She’s still under sedation,’ JD said. ‘We did get the photos the Philly mall’s garage camera picked up. This is Doug getting out of the black van on Monday night.’ The team flashed away, replaced by the still photo.
    Joseph leaned forward, frowning at the sight. ‘Fuck him. Daphne used to wear her hair that way.’ Doug wore a wig that had been teased into Daphne’s old beehive hairdo. ‘One more check in the this-is-personal column. How are we doing on her caseload files? Did you find anyone who hates her this much?’
    ‘None that fits Doug’s description,’ Grayson said. ‘Lots of hate, though.’
    ‘See if anyone she prosecuted died or had a family member die,’ Joseph suggested. ‘That fact that Doug is this personal and focused indicates that he blames Daphne for more than a few parking tickets.’
    ‘We will,’ Grayson said. ‘Have you heard from Bo?’
    ‘Not since this morning,’ Joseph answered. ‘They’re planning the raid on the Antonov warehouse, which should be going down tonight. If Doug is Antonov’s employee, we might get info on him as part of what’s recovered in the raid. How’s the search for Doug’s house coming?’
    ‘Got it narrowed to thirty properties owned by anyone with Doug, Douglas, and even McDougal in the name. Until I know a little more about Doug, I’m stuck. I started checking out the thirty though. Maybe something will pop. So far, nothing.’
    ‘Keep looking. Kate, since you’re with Simone, ask her about her older sister, Vivien. Vivien’s daughter was Kelly, the cousin who was killed. They lived here, near Wheeling. I’d like to get the story from Simone so I can compare details to the newspaper reports I requested from the local PD’s archives. I’ll be asking Daphne when she wakes up. We’ve obviously been lured here. I want to know why.’
    ‘I will,’ Kate said. ‘I’ll contact you when I have that information.’
    ‘Thank you. Hopefully we can get Ford up and moving so we can bring him home. I’m very uncomfortable being here at Doug’s invitation.’
    And you want to have Daphne in your own bed . Well, yeah . Duh .
    ‘ Keep in touch and keep your phones with you. I’ll text you any outcome from the search to backtrack Ford’s trail to where he was held. Kimberly and her sister are still missing, so the priority is finding Doug’s house and wherever Ford was held. Let’s connect at seven tomorrow morning unless we have a breaking lead.’
    Joseph disconnected and went straight to the bedroom. Daphne was so deeply asleep, she hadn’t moved. He’d thought she’d be more comfortable in the dark for their first time together. He’d been utterly stunned when she turned on the light. More stunned when she kissed him full on the mouth when his lips were covered in her juices. She surprised him at every turn.
    He dropped his pants, shrugged out of his shirt, selfishly hoping her son slept a little longer, because he wanted to be surprised again.
    Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday, December 4, 7.40 P.M.
    Cole checked his gym bag, making sure he had everything he needed. Cell phone, charger, GameBoy, box of ammo, T-shirts, clean briefs, spare set of keys to the van. And a ziplock bag full of cash, money he’d grabbed by the fistful from Mitch’s stash.
    Two thousand dollars in small bills. He hoped they were unmarked. He had no idea where to look for a mark. He hoped nobody he planned to buy stuff from knew where to look either. There was something wrong with money you could grab by the fistful like candy at Halloween.
    I need to get out of here before the cops come . He’d wasted a lot of time planning, but it was cold outside and he needed to know exactly where to go. First to the bus station and then thirty miserable hours with a Greyhound full of people who hadn’t showered in a week. Rico, Cole’s pal from his old school in Miami, would pick him up at the bus station there. Rico lived in a condo complex that was three-quarters empty. There were plenty of abandoned units that Cole could hide out in while he figured out what to do.
    I never should have taken the stupid gun to school today , he thought miserably. What was I thinking? I’m just a stupid kid, like Mitch says . Cole looked in the mirror, unimpressed. He’d grown six inches since the summer. Six inches . I should be king of the hill . Instead the guys still wouldn’t leave him alone.
    He hadn’t planned to