THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

miles and turned in front of a small brick building.
    Kasey sat forward. “There’s no way this is the Raleigh police station.”
    Von looked over his shoulder and released his seatbelt. “We’re in Leighsboro. Just outside of Raleigh. The guy saw the alert at the Raleigh concert, but he saw Jake here in his hometown.”
    Kasey looked doubtful, then it struck her.
    Lala had tied her answer to an ‘L’, a Lee to be more specific, could this be the answer? Finally? She’d owe Lala an apology if Jake was here.
    “My house is bigger than this police station,” she said as they walked to the front entrance.
    Von opened the door and held it for them. “Size isn’t everything.”
    “I’m not responding to that.” Kasey shared a nervous laugh with Riley.
    “I will.” Riley reached up and patted Von's cheek. “Honey, you have nothing to worry about.”
    They stepped inside and lined up in front of a row of four desks.
    Von asked the officer at the first desk to see the police chief.
    A huge man walked toward them with his hand extended. “Chief Phipps.” He had a voice that commanded authority, despite his apparently young age. “You got here quick.”
    “Perry Von, my wife Riley, and this is Kasey Phillips.”
    The chief led them to a private conference room at the back of the station. A buzz-cut ex-marine-looking kind of guy, he pulled out one of the chairs and invited them to have a seat around the table. “Let me bring y’all up to date,” he said.
    Everyone leaned in closer.
    Kasey reached for Riley’s hand and squeezed it.
    Please let it be Jake.
     

 
    Chapter Twenty-Six
     
    “The gentleman who came forward is Billy Goodwin. He’s fifty-eight, laid off from the mill when it closed this past fall. Worked there over thirty years. Currently employed at Walmart as a part-time greeter. That’s where he saw the child that resembles your son.” Chief Phipps’s eyes met Kasey’s.
    Was there hope in his glance?
    “Reliable guy, well-known in the community.” Chief Phipps pushed the top page of the report to the side. “Mr. Goodwin stated that he saw the picture of your son at a Cody Tuggle concert in Raleigh the first week of January.”
    Kasey nodded. “Yes?”
    I was there.
    The image of Jake, over seven stories high on that backdrop, was burned into her memory.
    Phipps continued, “He’d seen a child who looked familiar while working his shift at Walmart. But he didn’t make the connection until his daughter mentioned the same plea for help and the picture of the child she’d seen at the concert she attended in Louisiana. She suggested he come forward. Which, as you know, he has.”
    Kasey swallowed and forced herself to take a breath.
    “We’ve secured security tapes from two of the visits Mr. Goodwin remembered.” Chief Phipps turned two black-and-white glossy prints toward Kasey. Kasey’s hand shook as she focused on the picture. The image was grainy and from a distance, but it was Jake.
    “Jake!” She swallowed hard. “My baby.”
    She looked at Riley and grabbed her arm.
    “He’s got Bubba Bear with him. Look at the way he has it hiked under his arm with his thumb in his belt loop. Only he would do that. He’s okay. He looks okay, right?”
    Riley nodded. “He does. He looks good.”
    Von agreed. “It’s him. The bear. Yep.” He turned back to the chief. He pointed to the pictures. “Do you have a lead on the woman he’s with?”
    “No, not yet,” the chief said.
    Von opened his leather portfolio, then handed him a drawing. “This is a sketch of the woman suspected to have sent photos of the crash to Kasey from Nashville a few months ago. I can’t tell from the picture if it’s the same person.”
    The chief nodded and looked. “Me, either. The woman’s image isn’t clear in that picture. Billy Goodwin says he’s seen Jake on three occasions. When Goodwin’s daughter called after the Cody Tuggle concert, and went on and on about the missing child, that’s when it clicked for him. She’ll show up again.”
    Kasey held her shaking fingers to her lips.
    “Can I get you some water?” Chief Phipps asked her.
    “Yes. Yes, please.” Kasey‘s tongue felt thick, and she was having difficulty swallowing. “I feel like I can’t breathe.”
    Chief Phipps leaned out the door and asked an underling for water, then came back in and sat at the table.
    Riley pushed Kasey’s hair back over her shoulder and rubbed her back. “Calm down. Inhale through your