Cooked Goose

think the girl would welcome an affectionate gesture when she was so angry.
    “He probably thought you’d be the most safe and comfortable in the hotel,” Savannah offered, knowing how lame it sounded.
    “You’re wrong,” Margie said, heading for the door. “I don’t know why he wants me at a rotten hotel, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what’s best for me or what I want. He doesn’t think about me at all.” She stomped to the door and yanked it open. “Come on. Let’s go.”
    Savannah reached into the coat closet for her purse and gun as Margie marched down the driveway toward Dirk’s old Buick. “I wish I could argue with her,” she said sadly, “but...”
    “Yeah.” Dirk nodded as he followed her out the door. “I hear ya.”

    * * *

    9:55 a.m.

    “I’ve seen Sadder Sacks in my day, but that kid takes the cake,” Dirk told Savannah as they drove away from the Casa Presidio and headed inland toward the foothills, that were charred from the previous brushfires.
    “Sacks, cakes, you’re mixing your metaphors,” Savannah said absentmindedly as she stared out the passenger window and tried not to see the vision of Margie’s woebegone face when she had told her good-bye only moments before. “Mixing my whats?”
    “Never mind. You’re right. She was really bummed.“
    “That was pretty nice of you, Van, offering to go over to her house this afternoon and pick up some of her clothes and makeup stuff.”
    “Hey, a girl can’t live without her ‘stuff,’ especially a teenager. Besides, somebody’s gotta give the kid some attention. I was afraid if I didn’t, she’d split. She may anyway.“
    “You think?”
    “Maybe.” A chill swept over her when she thought of how the night’s events might have concluded. “I hope she stays put, behind locked doors, at least for a while.”
    “You figure he might be looking for her?”
    “Who knows why a sicko like that does anything?” They rode along in silence until Savannah noticed that Dirk was heading out of town to a small, neighboring community called Two Trees, named for a pair of enormous oaks that crowned a nearby hill. She recalled when Titus Dunn had moved from the beach to this area years ago.
    “By the way,” she said, “I didn’t want to ask in front of Margie, but what’s this about Titus? Why did you want me to go by his place with you?”
    “He’s missing.”
    “Missing?” The chill she had experienced went even deeper. “What do you mean, ‘missing’?”
    “I mean he didn’t report to work last night. He was supposed to come on duty at 1800 hours, but he didn’t show. In eleven years on the force, he’s never done that before.”
    “Did anybody try calling him at home to see if he’s sick or—?”
    “I did. At least five times. Just got the answering machine.”
    “How about his girlfriend, Christy? Has she heard from him?”
    “Seems she’s gone to Seattle to take care of her mom who’s dying of some terminal illness. We didn’t wanna shake her up if there’s nothing to this. She’s got enough on her plate as it is.”
    “No kidding. That’s too bad. I always liked Christy. She and Titus are a nice couple.”
    “Yeah.”
    Savannah pictured Titus as he had been the last time she had seen him at the pancake house. He had been so pleased to have been the first on the scene of Charlene Yardley’s attack, so happy to have been able to offer the victim some help and comfort.
    “You don’t think anything’s actually happened to him, do you?” she said.
    “Do you?”
    Officer Titus Dunn. Punctual. Reliable. A good cop. Not showing up for work or even calling in? Had something happened to him? “Maybe.”
    “That’s what I thought,” Dirk replied, his tone as grim as the expression on his street-worn face. “Maybe.”
    “Do you think it might have anything to do with this case?” Savannah waited, hoping he would say, “No.” Dirk had good instincts; if he thought Titus was okay, perhaps he was.
    “It might have something to do with the rapist,” he said. “It might not. Either way, I think Titus is in trouble.”
    Savannah’s heart sank. Not the answer she had been hoping for. “Me, too.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

    10:02 a.m.

    W hen Dirk and Savannah came to a stop in front of the small, but well-kept cottage, she was surprised to see how many improvements Titus had made to the property. A carport had been added, flower bed planted, a lush lawn nurtured, and the hedges were