“Damn, I forgot they’re repaving this section.” He looked around. “We’re stuck now. The last turn off was about a quarter mile back.”

“So what else did Hal say?”

Beck scanned through several stations until he found something he liked. “Todd told Hal he’d just spoken with Lisa right before Hal got there. Said the connection was really bad and all he understood was that she was interviewing some witnesses and she’d be back to the station when she was finished to write up her reports. Then he said the call cut off.”

“Sounds like Lisa needs a new phone.”

“I guess so. The important thing is that she’s okay.”

“Did you think she wasn’t?”

“I don’t know.” He thought it over for a few seconds, then said, “I guess knowing how this guy is-how clever and how slick-for a while there, I felt as if she’d disappeared, too. It was just a bad feeling I got when no one was able to contact her. She’s a really good cop, like I said.”

“And a good friend, I’d guess.”

“Yes. She’s a good friend.” He nodded. “She was the first woman officer Hal hired. She was here when I started.”

“Do you think she resented that you were brought in over her?”

“Lisa?” He seemed surprised by the question. “No. She didn’t want the job, made no bones about it. Her kids were still real young then, and she’s always made them her priority. The kids and Todd, that’s what she lives for. She loves the job, there’s no doubt in my mind, but it’s always been second for her.”

“Smart woman.”

“Very.” A song came on that he apparently didn’t like, because he started scrolling through the dial again. “I think the only person who resented me for a while was Duncan. I think he’s always wanted to be chief, but he’s never really reached that level of competency, you know what I mean? Administratively, that is. He’s a good cop but a piss poor record keeper and as Hal said, he just isn’t a leader. He’s come around since then, though. We get along just fine now.”

“You must have been a police officer somewhere before you came to St. Dennis,” she said, craning her next to see if any of the cars were moving. They didn’t appear to be. “You must have proven yourself to have even been considered for the job here, even if…”

“Even if my father was the retiring chief and head of the search committee?” He finished the sentence for her. “Yes, I’d been in law enforcement for years.”

He seemed reluctant to say more, but Mia was curious and persistent.

“Where?” she asked.

“I was with the Newtown police department here in Maryland for six years, and before that I was in the service.”

“Which branch?”

“What difference does it make?”

She smiled. “That means Special Forces.”

He turned up the radio and acted as if he hadn’t heard.

“So which was it?” she asked.

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“Only when I absolutely have to.” She slanted a glance at him, but he ignored her. “So what about these abandoned places you told Hal to look into?”

“St. Dennis is full of them. Down by the river, there are some old oyster shacks, some old buildings where boats were built and stored about a hundred years ago. They were used for different things through the years, then were boarded up. They’re pretty ramshackle, for the most part. On the other side of town, we have an area that’s about to be up for renovation. There are a few places that have been vacant for a while. The owners are waiting for the right market to sell, I guess.”

“Sounds like the perfect place to keep a woman chained up.”

“We did check them out last week, but only from the outside, so I want to take a closer look. If I wanted to keep someone hidden for a few weeks and not attract any attention, I’d be thinking hard about one of those buildings.”

“And you think he’s keeping them in St. Dennis?”

“Pretty certain. Daley and Meyers have said they’ve searched high and low in their respective towns, and nothing’s been found. Of course, neither Cameron nor Ballard has the number of vacant buildings that we have.”

“Why is that?”

“They’re newer towns. St. Dennis is a couple hundred years old. Our buildings have been around longer, and some of them have been used for different purposes over the years. We’ve gone through a period of renovation and restoration, and now we’re being discovered, so the old properties are increasing in value. And the other towns are not built on the water, the way we are. For generations our people made their living from the bay, so it follows we’d have old buildings near the water that are no longer being used because the businesses they served are gone.” He seemed to think that over, then added, “There are some old crabbers’ shacks out near the bay, past Sinclair’s Cove. I think I asked Duncan to look into them but I don’t remember that he said he did.”

He took out his phone as the traffic started moving.

“Garland,” he said, “I need Duncan. Is he around? Find him for me, please. And call the mobile phone service. It looks like Lisa needs an upgrade.”

“Well, that should make Lisa happy. Getting a new phone, that is.”

“Hey, I live to please.” He played around with the radio dial for a minute, then said, “She’s almost like a sister to me, maybe even more like a sister than my sister. I’ve actually known Lisa longer than I’ve known Vanessa.”

“That must have been quite a surprise,” Mia said, “finding out you had a sister.”

“When it comes to Maggie, anything is possible. That woman is always full of surprises.”

“Like bringing you here unannounced to Hal?”

“Yeah, that was a good one,” he said dryly. “Pissed me off more than you could imagine, her dragging me here, never saying a word about where we were going or what she intended on doing. Just telling Hal that I was his problem, turning heel and walking away, leaving me standing there…”

Even now, years later, the pain in his voice and in his eyes was unmistakable.

“Looks like it turned out okay, though. With Hal, I mean.”

“Only good thing she ever did for me.” He nodded. “Still, you have to have something seriously wrong with you to do that to your own kid.”

“But in the end…”

“In the end, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. She really couldn’t handle me. And I guess that last time I got into trouble was the last straw, as far as she was concerned. And Hal was a terrific dad. Just took to it straight away, never questioned for a second whether I was his or not. Here he was, a small town cop, living alone…”

“He never married?”

“Nope. Always said the only woman he ever loved was my mother.” Beck shook his head as if the thought was incomprehensible to him. “How crazy is that?”

“She must have had something going for her. Hal’s no fool.”

“Yeah, well, he is when it comes to Maggie. I swear, if she walked back into St. Dennis today, he’d let her.”

“She must have had a reason to do what she did, Beck.”

“Oh, she had a reason, all right. Her new husband didn’t like me.” His face hardened. “And I guess when you have to decide between your kid and your meal ticket, your stomach is going to win out every time. At least, for some it will.”

“This new husband, he was Vanessa’s father?”

“Right. One mean son of a bitch.”

“But Vanessa told me they split up before she was born.”

“Guess he didn’t like kids, his or anyone else’s.”

“Was he abusive?”

“Abusive?” Beck frowned. “What made you ask that?”

“I don’t know.” Mia shrugged. “I was just thinking, she brought you to Hal right after she married this guy. Then, before she even had Vanessa, she split with him. Maybe she was trying to protect you. Both of you.”

“And her reason for sending Vanessa out here?”

“Maybe she just thought it was time you got to know each other.”

“More likely she was trying to get Vanessa out of her hair.”