The high school principal Anita Vargas didn’t tell Lucy and Nate anything they didn’t already know: Glen Albright had taught in the school district for nearly twenty years, the last fifteen at the high school. He’d been popular among both staff and students. He hadn’t told anyone they were leaving town, didn’t request a substitute, and appeared to be devoted to his wife and family. Vargas had been shocked when the police told her his wife had embezzled from a client and left the country.
The older daughter, Tori, had been a popular student, received mostly Bs and Cs from her teachers, and had been known to cut class on occasion. But even though she wasn’t a strong student, the teachers liked her because she was outgoing and friendly and exuded school spirit. She was active in the drama club and had just been cast as the lead in the winter play when she disappeared.
Becky was far more studious, a straight-A honors student. In addition, she had made the varsity volleyball team as a freshman. She wasn’t as outgoing as her sister but was far more disciplined in her work.
All in all, the visit to the school had been mostly a bust, though they confirmed the information in the file, talked to Becky’s best friend—who hadn’t heard from her since she walked out of volleyball practice the Friday afternoon they disappeared.
That tidbit hadn’t been in the police reports—that Becky had dressed for volleyball, but her sister came in and said they had to go, that there was a family issue. That was the word she used—issue, not emergency.
“I tried calling Becky that night, but she didn’t answer her cell phone,” her best friend, CeCe, had said. “I tried again on Saturday like a half-dozen times, and Sunday, and when she didn’t come to school on Monday I knew something was wrong. I knew she was … well, that something was very, very wrong.”
CeCe didn’t have any other information; Becky hadn’t told her that they were going on a trip and had been making plans for the weekend before she left that Friday. Nothing was out of the ordinary … until Becky didn’t answer her phone.
After the school, Nate and Lucy checked in with Ash at the Albright house. The cadaver dogs had found nothing—which was good, Lucy thought, though Ash seemed heartbroken. He didn’t believe that the boy was alive, and he felt that he’d missed something. He was going to return the following day with the dogs and go over the entire area between the Young house and the Albright house.
By the time they were done, it was after five, and Nate drove back to the Young house.
The father, JJ Young, answered the door before Nate knocked. He was a tall, muscular man in his early forties with a military-style haircut and an elaborate tattoo on his right arm, partly visible under his short sleeve.
He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. “Jill called me and I came home early. Said you wanted to talk to our kids. Before I let you, I’m laying down some ground rules.”
“Of course,” Lucy said, then introduced herself and Nate.
“Sir,” Nate said as they shook hands.
JJ said, “Jill told me what you said. I need to know if Ricky is dead. He and the twins have been friends since the day we moved here, and if he’s dead, I need to tell them first.”
“We don’t know,” Lucy said. “That’s why it’s so important that we retrace his steps the day his family disappeared.”
“Are you sure those bones that were dug up are the Albrights?”
“Yes,” Lucy said. “FBI confirmed through DNA evidence. Denise, Glen, Tori, and Becky.”
“Not Ricky.”
“No. We brought in cadaver dogs to search the area near both the gravesite and the Albright house, but he hasn’t been found, and now we’re concerned about where he might be. Your family is the last to have seen Ricky before he went missing. Ricky might have said something to them. Reached out to them in some way—a text message maybe, or a note.”
“They didn’t have phones three years ago. They were only nine.” He ran his hand over his head and glanced toward the house. “You don’t talk to my kids without either me or my wife present, understand? Not now, not ever.”
Lucy nodded. “Of course we’ll respect your wishes.”
“And I’m telling them about the Albrights. They don’t need to hear it from strangers. So no questions until I say, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Nate said.
JJ continued, but his voice quivered with restrained emotion. “My kids are smart and I don’t sugarcoat the truth around them, but they don’t need to know details, okay?”
Lucy and Nate concurred. Then Lucy said, “Before we go in, your wife said that a detective came to talk to you the week after the Albrights disappeared.”
“Yes. Actually, twice. The first was that Monday—Glen hadn’t shown up at work, and Ricky wasn’t at school and Ricky’s teacher said he went home with Joe and Ginny. The kids and Jill weren’t home, but I confirmed that Ricky left at six—that’s what Jill had told me. The detectives returned later in the week—I believe Thursday, maybe Friday—with more questions and a hostile attitude. It was right after dinner. They wanted to know the last time we’d seen the family, if they said anything about a vacation, if we’d heard from Ricky.”
“Did they tell you that they believed the Albrights had left the country?”
“I pushed because I don’t particularly like anyone who comes in and demands anything from me, especially at the dinner hour. I missed too many dinners with my family when I served, I don’t miss many now. I didn’t like their attitude, and the way they talked to my son Joe was uncalled for.”
“How so?”
“They accused him of lying, said that he had to tell the truth or he’d be committing a crime.”
“Truth about what?”
“If he’d seen Ricky over the weekend. He said no, and he had no reason to lie, but the cop treated Joe as if he was. He was nine, dammit. My kids don’t lie, I don’t condone it, and they know better. I didn’t like the cop accusing him. They said there was evidence the family had gone to Mexico and that Denise was under suspicion of embezzling from her employer. I didn’t believe it, but they showed me a photo of their car crossing the border, and said if we heard from any of them—parents or kids—to call them. Then there was an article in the paper a week or so later about how Kiefer Brothers lost millions to embezzlement, lost a major government contract, and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Think they did go under, if I recall.”
“Did you ever hear from anyone in the family?”
“No.”
Nate said, “We promise to treat your kids with respect, sir.”
JJ looked at them both, then nodded. “If I say stop, you stop, agreed?”
“Yes, sir.”
He let them into the house. Jill offered them something to drink, but they declined. “Sit, please, ma’am,” Nate said.
“I’m fine, really,” she said, but sank into a chair at the dining table.
JJ left out the back door and called for the kids. Jill said, “JJ built a tree house back when they were little, and they practically live out there, even now that they’re almost thirteen.”
They ran in a moment later, grabbing water on their way to the dining room. Joe and Ginny were the same height and could have been clones, except that Ginny had long curly dark hair and Joe’s was cut very short. They both had dark, inquisitive eyes and a smattering of freckles over their skin. According to the file, they were the same age as Ricky Albright, therefore twelve going on thirteen.
They stopped when they saw Lucy and Nate at the dining table.
“Come sit,” JJ said, entering behind them. He waited until his kids were settled and he sat across from them.
“This is Agent Dunning and Agent Kincaid from the FBI. They have some questions for you, but first I need to tell you something.” He waited until both kids looked at him. “Remember the news report about skeletons that had been found south of Kerrville?”
They nodded.
“Those skeletons were Ricky’s parents and sisters. They were killed three years ago. They didn’t run off to Mexico like we were told, but something bad happened to them.” He looked at his kids as if reading their expressions and nodded. “I know it’s hard to hear this, but you’re both brave. And if you have questions after, you can ask me or your mom anything, okay?”
They nodded.
“Now, these two FBI agents have some questions about the last time you saw Ricky.”
“Is he—?” Joe asked, his voice barely audible.
“They don’t know if Ricky is alive,” JJ said, “but they are doing everything they can to find out if he is and, if so, where he is. He might know something of what happened to his family, or he could be in trouble. Or, to be honest with you both, he might be dead, too. We don’t know.” He looked at them. “You okay?”
Both Joe and Ginny blinked back tears but nodded at their dad.
“I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I expect complete honesty here. This is important.”
“Yes, sir,” Joe said, sitting straight and trying not to cry. Ginny stared at her hands, folded on the table in front of her.
Lucy said, “Let me tell you what we know already, and you can fill in any holes, okay? The police were here a few days after the Albrights disappeared. You said that Ricky had left about six p.m. to go home. It was Friday. Your mom called over to the house and left a message on the answering machine that he was on his way home. You also said you didn’t see him after that, correct?”
They both nodded.
“Did Ricky say anything to you either that day or any other day about his parents leaving town? Was Ricky worried about anything?”
Joe stared at her. “Like what?”
“Anything,” Lucy said. “I was the youngest of seven kids, and no one told me anything, but I was a good listener. I picked up on a lot of stuff going on in my house, like when my sister broke curfew or when my dad decided to retire, long before anyone else knew he planned on retiring. Because I listened and was very quiet. And I told my best friend Justin everything, especially when I was worried about something—like my dad retiring—I would talk to him about it first. You and Ricky were best friends, right?”
“Yes,” Joe said. “Since first grade. The three of us. The Three Musketeers. I miss him a lot. We both do.”
Ginny nodded her agreement.
“Did Ricky share anything with you that he might have been worried about?”
They still didn’t say anything.
“You’re not going to get him or anyone in trouble. I promise. But someone hurt his family, and we want to find that person.” Or people. “Anything Ricky shared with you is important, because part of a police investigation is gathering information, as much information as possible, to piece together the truth.”
Joe and Ginny exchanged looks, then Joe said, “He thought his parents might be getting a divorce. He saw his mom crying a couple of times. It really bothered him.”
“I can see how that would upset him.”
Lucy waited, to see what else came to mind.
“His dad yelled at him a week before,” Joe added. “And Mr. Albright never yells at anyone, even when we deserve it.”
“Do you know what that was about?”
He shook his head. “I don’t even think Ricky knew, he said that his dad yelled more now than he ever had in his life, even when Tori hit the mailbox because she was texting as she backed out of the driveway, and Mr. Albright was real mad about that and took her phone away and she couldn’t drive for a month. But Ricky thought his dad was mad at his mom, and he thought his mom was going to leave, and it really scared him. He didn’t want to make a choice about who to live with.”
Ginny said, “It wasn’t fair. And they don’t talk. Didn’t talk. You know, like our mom and dad tell us almost everything and we can always ask questions and stuff, but Ricky never liked to ask questions about anything because he said his parents would not really answer him, just say, ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ or whatever. You know?”
Very smart observations from two young kids, Lucy thought. It reminded her that kids picked up on a lot more than adults gave them credit for.
“Did Ricky mention that they were going on a trip or anything? Or maybe that his mother was planning a trip?”
“No, ma’am. He, um, he didn’t really want to talk about his mother that day.” Joe glanced at Ginny.
Ginny said, “Ricky heard his mom on the phone talking to someone, like a friend, saying that she didn’t want to leave but didn’t have a choice.”
Joe frowned, and Lucy wondered if Ricky had shared that information with only Ginny.
“Anything else?”
Ginny shook her head and looked back down. “I miss him a lot.”
“Me too,” Joe said. “We were supposed to meet up that weekend to go over to the Garcias’ and look at their new puppies. Ricky’s dog died that summer and his parents said maybe they’d get another, so he wanted to see the puppies and talk them into it.” Joe glanced at Ginny. “Well, he was going to take one and bring it home because he figured if his parents saw the dog they wouldn’t send it back.”
Cute and manipulative, Lucy thought. “He didn’t call and say he wasn’t coming.”
“No,” Joe said.
Ginny said, “Can I ask a question?”
“Anything,” Lucy said.
“Do you know who killed Ricky’s parents and sisters? Like who or even why? When the police came here three years ago they weren’t nice, and they said that Mrs. Albright stole a bunch of money and disappeared, then they said Joe was lying, and my brother doesn’t lie. They were mean and I don’t think they cared about what really happened to Ricky.”
“I’m sorry the detectives treated you like that,” Lucy said. She wasn’t surprised that Ginny sounded angry, she certainly had the same protective personality as her father. “I can’t share everything about this investigation, but I can tell you that the FBI is now in charge. Usually, the FBI doesn’t investigate homicides, but there are special circumstances here.” She didn’t need to go into the details with the kids. “I want to believe that Ricky is alive, but we honestly don’t know. What I can promise is that Agent Dunning and I will follow the evidence wherever it goes. We want the truth as much as you do. That’s why anything you know about Ricky can help us.”
JJ said, “I’m a big supporter of law enforcement, but I’m not going to talk to those two detectives again. They were rude and disrespected my family. Chavez and Douglas, I’ll never forget them.”
“This is our case, sir,” Nate said. “You won’t have to speak with them, though we may have additional questions later.”
Lucy thought of something and asked, “If Ricky was in trouble—if he was scared or worried—where might he go?”
“Here,” Joe said immediately. “He’s my best friend, he would come here.”
“Did he have any other friends?”
“Rafi,” Ginny said.
“Rafi moved to Austin,” Joe said.
“But they were still friends,” Ginny said.
Jill said, “Rafi Medina. His parents divorced a few years ago and his mom moved to Austin. He lives there most of the time. This was about a year before the Albrights were killed. I still can’t believe they’ve been dead all this time and no one knew.”
As she said it that way, Lucy realized that whoever killed the Albrights never wanted their remains to come to light. They were buried in a remote location, and their bodies may never have been uncovered except for the flooding. Even then, to have the bones found by someone who knew what they were and then who called the proper authorities … and then Ash being able to trace them to their burial site. Several things had to happen before they’d been able to connect the bones to the Albrights.
“If we can trouble you for the Medinas’ contact information, if you still have it?” Lucy asked.
“I’ll get it. It’s in my phone.” Jill started to get up, but her husband waved her down. “It’s on the charger,” she told him.
“Anyone else you can think of?” Nate asked. “A relative? A teacher?”
“His grandparents live far away,” Joe said. “He has an aunt I think in Houston or Dallas or something. I met her once. She has a bunch of kids.”
JJ said as he came back to the dining room and handed his wife her phone, “I would have thought he’d come here, talk to me. I like that kid a lot, I think he knew it.”
“He did, Dad,” Ginny said. “He liked being here.”
“You said earlier, Mrs. Young, that Becky had babysat a few times. Did you know the girls well? Did they have any problems?”
“Like a problem that would get them killed?” Jill shook her head. “Nothing I can imagine. Tori was a bit boy crazy, and sometimes she drove that pickup truck like a bat out of hell. I talked to Denise about that once. Becky was a smart girl. Really smart. Mature. She was more responsible than her older sister. I’m so sorry this happened to them. I really hope you find Ricky—and he can live with us. We love him as if he were our own, and I can’t imagine … if he’s still alive … what he must have gone through.”
“Absolutely,” JJ concurred. “He has family, I’m sure, but he is always welcome here.”
If he’s still alive.
Lucy couldn’t imagine that a nine-year-old could survive on his own for three years.
Nate turned his phone to Lucy. He had two missed calls from Ash. Maybe that’s why her phone had been vibrating. Then a message:
Call me when you’re done.
She thanked the Young family and made sure they had their business cards. The kids, especially Ginny, eyed her with both suspicion and curiosity.
“If you two,” she said to the twins, “remember anything that you think might help us find out what happened to Ricky, please call me. Anytime. Or talk to your parents if you’re not sure you want to call.”
They shook hands with everyone and JJ walked them out. He glanced behind him to make sure his family couldn’t hear, then asked, “Do you really think there’s a chance Ricky is still alive?”
Lucy didn’t want to give him false hope, but she didn’t want to make a definitive statement. “The odds are against it, but there is a chance. When we know for certain, we’ll contact you.”
“I would appreciate that. I want my kids to hear it from me, not from kids at school.”
While Nate drove, Lucy called Ash and put him on speaker. “It’s Lucy and Nate,” she said when he answered.
“I had a call from Denise Albright’s parents,” Ash said. “Julie at the ME’s office did the official notification, but because I’d talked to them earlier, they called me for more information. I gave them your contact information, Lucy, but they were talking and I guess I just wanted them to talk because they were trying to make sense of everything. They’d just found out their only daughter was dead.”
“That’s kind of you, Ash.”
“That’s not why I wanted to talk to you. Mrs. Graham—that’s Denise’s mother—is sharp as a tack. She said that she’d called the sheriff’s office repeatedly after they disappeared but couldn’t get any answers, so they hired a private investigator. A firm based out of San Antonio. They found the Escalade at a chop shop outside Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville. The car was already dismantled, but they bribed an employee and confirmed that it was the Albrights’, and that there had been luggage inside.”
“Could they’ve been carjacked on the Mexican side of the border?” Nate asked.
“And someone else brought their bodies back and buried them ten miles from their house?” Ash snapped.
Lucy said, “Nate’s playing devil’s advocate. They could have rented a car, borrowed a car, found a friend to pick them up if they were robbed.”
“Sorry. I’m just frustrated. But I have the PI’s contact information and Mrs. Graham is calling to give them permission to share information with you. The frustration on her part was that she gave the information to the detectives in Kerr County and she doesn’t think they did anything with it. She’s angry and upset.”
“We’ll talk to the PI first thing in the morning,” Lucy said.
“We’re taking another stab with the cadaver dogs tomorrow, going wider, but … dammit, Lucy, where is he? Where did they bury him? Why wasn’t he with his family?”
Ash sounded forlorn and depressed.
“We’re doing what we can, Ash. So are you.”
“What are the chances that he’s still alive?”
Lucy didn’t want to put odds on that. “I don’t think he’s alive, Ash. Because all I can think about is, where has he been for the last three years?”
“Maybe he was kidnapped. He was nine, Lucy. I don’t have to tell you that there are some truly evil people in the world.”
“I’ll follow up with your report to NCMEC. I have a couple friends there. We also learned he had a friend in Austin, so if he was scared he might have contacted him. Nate and I have a long list of people to talk to tomorrow, not to mention following up with Denise Albright’s clients. If she embezzled from the construction company she worked for, perhaps she embezzled from her other clients. But it’s going to take some time. If you learn anything forensically, let us know.”
“I will. And—um—can you just let me know how it’s going?”
“Of course.”
She ended the call. “Why do I think that the sheriff’s office up here is incompetent?”
“Incompetent?” Nate repeated.
“There was no PI report in the files they gave me. I would have noticed it.”
“I think they dropped the ball, Lucy. They decided they knew exactly what happened—Denise took the money and ran—and anything that didn’t fit into that story was dismissed.” He paused. “Let’s say they did go to Mexico—were robbed, their car stolen. They were an average, white, middle-class family. They were in trouble. Maybe they called a friend and came back.”
“That would explain a lot. And then were killed because?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
“Three-million-dollar question,” Lucy muttered.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled. “It’s Sean,” she said to Nate as she answered. She was looking forward to a shower, dinner, and sleep. It had been a long day. “Hello,” she said. “We’re heading back now, should be home by seven thirty.”
“I just wanted to give you the heads-up that we’ll have company for dinner.”
Her plans for a shower and sleep dissipated, but at least there would be food. “You didn’t have to hold dinner for me.”
“It’s Max.”
“Maxine Revere?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.
“Remember I told you I was helping her with a local case? A friend of the family was murdered, she wanted me to keep tabs on the investigation.”
“The killer confessed, right?”
“This morning he recanted his confession, his attorney quit, and Max hopped on a plane.”
“Is she staying with us?” She hoped she didn’t sound pissy at the prospect that Max would be at the house for a few days. She wasn’t a fan of houseguests in general, unless they were family, but with Max, Lucy would have to be constantly on her toes. The reporter was smart, shrewd, and far too inquisitive. She would pick up on subtleties if Lucy let her guard down for one minute, and frankly, it was exhausting. Home was the one place Lucy could relax.
“No, she’s staying at the Sun Towers. Has a penthouse suite, but I didn’t offer. I like Max, but I wouldn’t want her living here for a week.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s just been a long day.”
“I can cancel, meet her in the morning for an early breakfast.”
“No, I’m fine. Really. If I wasn’t, I’d tell you.”
Lucy said good-bye and hung up.
“The reporter,” Nate said flatly.
“She’s not like other reporters. I like her. Maybe not as much as Sean and Dillon do, but she’s really sharp.”
He grunted, sounding like her brother Jack.
As Nate turned onto the freeway, Lucy glanced down the street. A dark sedan, no front plate, did a U-turn right behind them. She couldn’t read the rear plate as it sped off.
“What?” Nate asked.
“We were being followed. I knew it.”
“Want me to turn around?” But as soon as he said it he shook his head. “They’ll be gone by the time I turn around. Did you get plates?”
“Dark American sedan, no front plates, I couldn’t read the rear plates. Tinted windows. I only saw one person in the car. My sense was ‘male,’ but I didn’t get a good look before he did a one-eighty.”
“Someone is keeping tabs on our investigation,” Nate said. “My money? The detectives.”
“But they can just ask.”
Nate didn’t say anything. Lucy feared he was right, and she didn’t like the idea that they couldn’t trust the local cops.
And if they were tracking Nate and Lucy, why? Did they know they screwed up? Were they trying to fix it … or trying to thwart the FBI? And if so, why?
Or it might not be the detectives at all. It could be someone else tracking the case to find out when and if they found Ricky Albright’s body. When and if they found clues to the killer.
Lucy sent Ash a text message, then said to Nate, “I’m making sure Ash doesn’t go anywhere without backup. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re going to find out.”