Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

other.’
    ‘You saved Grayson,’ his mother said proudly. ‘Then saved Daphne, too.’
    ‘Actually, Daphne saved Grayson,’ Joseph said. ‘She threw a cameraman’s bag at the shooter and that distracted her.’
    ‘We never saw that,’ his mother said.
    ‘Must’ve been a bad camera angle. Daphne distracted the shooter, then Stevie fired the kill shot.’
    ‘Really?’ His father sounded both surprised and relieved. ‘It looked like you did.’
    ‘Another bad camera angle. If I’d fired, they’d have put me on admin leave.’
    ‘That makes sense,’ his mother allowed, making Joseph smile.
    ‘We’re just glad you’re okay,’ his father said gratefully. ‘That bad camera angle gave us the scare of our lives. It looked like she’d shot you in the back.’
    ‘She did. I was wearing Kevlar, which thankfully worked as designed.’
    ‘Oh my dear Lord,’ his mother murmured weakly.
    ‘But I’m okay, Mom,’ he assured her again. ‘Just a little bruised.’
    ‘Oh my dear Lord,’ his mother said again.
    ‘Just breathe, dear,’ his father said. ‘How is Ford?’
    ‘And Daphne,’ Judy added. His entire family had known Daphne since she started working with Grayson. She and Ford were like family. ‘How is she holding up?’
    ‘The news said that Ford is missing,’ his mother said, ‘which your father apparently already knew,’ she added in a mutter, her panic attack apparently bypassed thanks to his father’s deft subject change. Many of Joseph’s deflection skills had been learned by watching his parents argue over the years.
    ‘I asked Dad not to say anything until we had more information. We don’t know a lot and that’s the truth.’
    ‘Can we help?’ his father asked.
    Joseph thought about what he needed. A timeline around Ford and Kimberly’s relationship was critical. ‘Actually you can. I’ve got Ford’s laptop in custody.’ It had been retrieved by the uniform standing guard at the dorm. ‘But we can’t get into his system. Can you get that intern friend of Ford’s to give us Ford’s log-in info if he knows it or log back into Facebook and create screenshots of Ford’s posts?’
    ‘I’ve still got the Facebook page open,’ his father said. ‘How far back do you want to go?’
    ‘To the day he met Kimberly and then a few weeks beyond that.’
    There was silence on the other end. ‘Why?’ his mother asked.
    ‘I need a timeline.’ And then borrowing his father’s trick, he said, ‘So you’ve got guards now? I hope they’re not tracking snow on your carpet.’
    ‘Your father’s subject changes are smoother,’ his mother said dryly. ‘But yes, we’ve got guards now. It would have been nice to know they were coming, but we understand you’ve been a little busy. Don’t worry about us, Joseph, and we’ll try not to worry about you. You focus on finding Ford.’
    ‘Fair enough. I’ve got to go now. I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes and I called it, so I can’t be late. I just wanted you to know I was okay.’
    ‘Be careful, Joseph,’ his mother said. ‘Love you.’
    ‘Love you too.’ Stepping into the elevator, Joseph hit the button for his floor. The doors were nearly closed when a pair of hands shoved into the gap, pushing them back open. Joseph drew his weapon on reflex, then relaxed when Deacon entered the elevator with a scowl. ‘What the hell, Deacon?’
    ‘Didn’t you hear me yelling for you to hold the damn elevator?’
    ‘No. Sorry,’ Joseph added, unconvincingly.
    ‘No you’re not,’ Deacon said.
    ‘You’re right.’ Joseph eyed the deli bag in Deacon’s hand. ‘Did you get any extra?’
    ‘No. Sorry,’ Deacon added, mocking Joseph’s tone.
    Joseph chuckled, surprising himself. ‘No you’re not.’ As he followed Deacon to the conference room, Joseph’s phone buzzed with a new text message. It was from Judy.
    You never said how Daphne is . I’m worried about her .
    So am I , he thought. He typed his reply as he walked. She’s holding . She might welcome a phone call .
    He hesitated, then typed a new message. Believe . He entered Daphne’s cell phone number from memory, only a little ashamed that he’d known it by heart for nine months, having peeked at Grayson’s contact list shortly after laying eyes on her for the first time. Joseph sent the message and squared his shoulders. Time to get to work.
    Tuesday, December 3, 2.25 P.M.
    Oh, girl . Daphne sat at her vanity, regarding her reflection in the mirror