Got Your Number

a corner of the bustling locker room caught her attention—smiling women with normal lives, normal loves. How enviable.
    She'd sacrificed so many everyday trappings that other people took for granted, although she'd never missed those mundane attachments. Until lately. Swathed in a fog of rising panic, Roxann changed into running gear. Where had the last ten years gone, and what did she have to show for them? A twenty-page resume, a gas-guzzling van, and a few dozen acquaintances scattered to the ends of the map.
    She hit the footpath at a fast jog, sucking in fresh air, then exhaling forcefully. A quarter of a mile flew by quickly, then a half mile. The comforting thunk, thunk of her running shoes hitting the packed dirt lulled her into a more peaceful place, where women and children didn't have to be rescued from abusive spouses, where fathers and daughters cherished each other, where families lived intact and happily ever after.
    "So, what are you going to do now?"
    At first she thought she'd spoken aloud to herself. Then she jerked her head around to see Detective Capistrano jogging calmly behind her, still wearing his stained pants.
    Roxann bit back a groan. This day did not appear to be improving anytime soon.

Chapter Two

    WITHOUT BREAKING STRIDE , Roxann looked back to the running path. "Did you come to apologize for getting me fired, Detective?"
    He caught up with her in two strides and fell into a lazy jog. "Apologize? I'm the one who got the lap full of hot coffee." His eye contact was fleeting, his tone dismissive. "I ought to arrest you for assaulting a police officer. That's a federal offense, you know."
    "You're not limping, so you must be okay."
    He almost smiled. "Still, I'm going to let you make it up to me by answering a few questions."
    "I told you, I don't know the woman you asked about."
    "Think hard—Melissa Cape. Blond, back side of forty, daughter named Renita."
    She dug in deeper for more speed—she would at least make him work for it. "No, sorry. What did this woman do?"
    He had no trouble matching her pace, even in his ridiculous boots. "She disappeared."
    "Disappearing isn't a crime in Mississippi."
    He turned to face her while jogging backward. "No, but disappearing with a child to thwart court-ordered visitation with the father is a crime."
    All that without stopping for a breath. She lurched to a halt and dragged her forearm across her sticky brow. "Why are you here, Detective?"
    He stopped and leaned one hand against a tree that had been planted there twenty years ago for his convenience. "I have reason to believe that you work for Rescue."
    "Rescue?"
    He smiled patiently. "You know, the underground network that helps women escape from violent spouses?"
    She shrugged. "Sounds like a good cause."
    "Are you denying knowledge of the program?"
    "No. Are you hassling me for being a knowledgeable citizen?"
    He pulled his mouth down with his hand. "The sooner you answer my question, the sooner you'll be rid of me."
    "What was your question?"
    "Are you familiar with the operations of the Rescue organization?"
    Roxann chewed on the inside of her cheek while she chose her words. "I've heard of Rescue, and I support its mission. Any reasonable person would."
    "Ah, but do you play an active role in carrying out its mission?"
    She crossed her arms. "If you know anything at all about the program, Detective, then you know that if I were involved, I would never tell you."
    "You make it sound as if I'm the enemy here."
    "It's my understanding that the program helps women the legal system have already failed. Maybe this Melissa Cape is one of those women."
    He angled his head. "If so, then according to the exposé in the Clarion-Ledger, your organization would have relocated the Cape woman and her daughter, and given them new identities."
    "It isn't my organization. Besides, I was told that particular article contained inaccurate information."
    "Well, it must have because the description of the woman who apparently talked this lady into leaving her husband sounds like you, only with red hair."
    She seethed. Nanci Harmon was a confused woman whom Roxann had tried to get into counseling because she hadn't seemed committed to cutting ties with her violent ex-husband. Sure enough, the woman had reneged on her relocation and returned to the guy, who then exposed the Rescue program as a man-hating gang of vigilantes. "From what I've heard about the organization, no one gets talked into anything."
    "If