Emily Locke 01 - Final Approach

Richard turned off the car.
    We crossed a neatly maintained lawn and climbed the steps to David’s apartment. Richard knocked. Jeannie was close behind him, staring intently at the door. I looked behind us and surveyed the grassy yard separating us from the parking lot. An abandoned jump rope was coiled near a patch of geraniums below. I thought of Annette, how she might look jumping that rope, and felt inadequate. Maybe I wasn’t even picturing her face correctly.
    The door swung open and I turned. I’m not sure who was more surprised, Vince or me.
    It felt like ages had passed since we’d last spoken. I wondered if that was because of all I’d uncovered since then, or because of the sour note we’d parted on yesterday. He wasn’t wearing his cowboy hat and its absence made him seem oddly vulnerable.
    He spoke first. “What are you…Is everything okay?”
    He addressed the question directly to me, looking past Jeannie and Richard as if they weren’t there. A mixture of confusion and concern was on his face, and I wondered how genuine it was. After last night, finding Vince at David and Trish’s apartment was unsettling. Maybe David wasn’t a patsy after all. And what if the rift between Vince and his cousin was just another cover? I remembered the afternoon I’d watched Clement search around Vince’s truck, and wondered if the FBI knew something about him I didn’t.
    I introduced him to Richard. Vince studied me a moment longer before shifting his gaze. He nodded to Richard and shook his hand, but his usual cordiality was gone and I had to look hard to find traces of the laugh lines I remembered. He nodded to Jeannie without the smile I’d expected, and then held the door for the three of us.
    As we entered, David’s voice came from the hall. He was asking Vince who’d been at the door, but stopped short when he rounded the corner and found the four of us standing in his entry hall, staring.
    “Hi,” he said, almost like a question. It occurred to me I was the only person in my trio he was likely to recognize. I apologized for dropping by unannounced, introduced Richard, and explained that David might know something to help with Richard’s case.
    “I’m the tag-along friend,” Jeannie said with a half-hearted wave.
    David smiled at her, but it looked stilted. I wondered what we’d interrupted.
    “Could I ask a few questions?” Richard’s tone was more cordial than usual. “You might have information about a child I’m looking for.”
    David’s eyebrows rose. “A child? Sure.”
    He gestured for us to sit. Richard and Jeannie took seats near him on the living room sofas. Vince and I remained standing. I wanted to sit—my leg was feeling weaker every moment—but it was more important to stay where I could watch David and Vince’s reactions to Richard’s questions. Especially Vince’s.
    “What can I tell you?” David asked. He took a seat opposite Richard and sat on the edge of the sofa cushion, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his thighs.
    Richard frowned. “How about the last time you saw Trish?”
    David looked at Vince before answering. Vince’s posture seemed to straighten at the mention of her name.
    “Trish?” David asked, “What does she have to do with a missing kid?”
    “I’m trying to figure that out,” Richard said. “When’s the last time you saw her?”
    “Last night.”
    Richard redirected to Vince. “How about you?”
    The look on Vince’s face was stern, and he didn’t answer right away. He seemed to be exercising enormous self-restraint. His eyes darted from Richard to David, and finally stopped on me. His posture relaxed a little when our eyes met. I’d never seen him stressed before. He seemed weary.
    “Do you know something about Trish I need to hear?”
    I hesitated. What to do with a question like that.
    Richard pressed. “When’d you last see her?”
    Vince raised a hand in Richard’s direction and kept his eyes on me. He asked me again. “What do you know about Trish?”
    It was difficult, but I pulled my gaze off him to steal a glance at David, who had the wide-eyed look of a man afraid to speak.
    Vince seemed devastated. “What’s she done?” His shoulders fell slightly. “Tell me what she’s done.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?” David asked. “Vince? What aren’t you telling me, man?” He stood. “Can somebody please tell me what’s going on?”
    There was a collective pause while Vince and David