She studied the building. It was a private club. She’d heard he was a bit of a gambler but didn’t know to what extent. Her phone rang, and she knew who it was. “He’s gone into a club.”
“And you completely broke the tail,” Jennifer said in outrage. “I’m catching complete hell here thanks to you.”
“Well, he saw me, and he asked me to walk with him. I didn’t have a whole lot of choice at that point.”
“What the hell?” she said. “You know this isn’t a game. We have a child missing.”
“I know,” she said. She frowned, thinking. “I’m backtracking.”
“Why?”
She stopped and turned. “Because a panhandler was back there, and Simon tossed some money into his tray.”
“And?” Receiving no answer from Kate, Jennifer continued. “Good thing you’re not on my team,” she snapped. “I would have fired your ass for that stunt.”
“Maybe so,” she said, “but I’m not done. The evening is young.” With that, she turned and pocketed her phone.
She didn’t know what was bothering her, but something was. She headed back toward the area where she’d seen Simon drop some coins in the panhandler’s tray because, at that time, something had changed. As she came back, the panhandler moved quickly down the street. She raced behind him.
“Wait,” she said. But instead of waiting, he pulled his jacket tighter and moved faster. “Stop,” she said. “Police!”
He broke into a blind sprint. What had appeared to be an old man suddenly looked to be someone in prime shape, as he raced down the street ahead of her. She’d already been running, but he quickly dodged into one of the back alleys, and, by the time she got there, he’d already disappeared. Standing here, swearing, she was pissed beyond belief.
Not only had she not caught him but he’d completely fooled her the first time around.
She didn’t have any photos of him either. As she walked down the alleyway, gathering her breath, the coins had spilled from his tray. She bent and took a look. One was an oddity, like a casino coin. Instinctively she knew whose it was. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and quickly wrapped it up and tucked it back into her pocket. Why had he dropped that here? Just then her phone rang. She pulled it out.
“We got a sighting of a lost little boy two blocks away,” Jennifer said. “Where are you?”
Kate quickly gave her location. “Who called it in?”
“We don’t know,” Jennifer said in frustration. “But he said the little boy needed to be picked up because somebody else was after him.”
Kate raced back out onto the street and started searching. “Where? North, south, east, west?” She was frantic as she ran toward the coordinates. Just as she hit the corner across the street, she saw a little figure up against a doorway. She bolted in that direction, just as another man came closer to him. “Get away from him,” she roared.
He turned and looked at her, startled. Then he hurriedly stepped back. She only caught the briefest glimpse of him, as he bolted down the opposite side of the street away from her. She bent down to see it was, indeed, a little boy. “I’ve got him,” she said into her phone a moment later. “Another man was literally ready to snatch him up again.”
“A good man?”
“No,” she said, her voice deadly soft. “No, I wouldn’t say so. But I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too harsh.”
“Is he alive?”
She reached out, checking the little boy, and he whimpered and cried. “He’s alive,” she said, “but I don’t think this is the one you are looking for.”
“Why the hell not?” Jennifer asked.
“Because this one is only two, maybe two and a half,” she said. “Easy, little one. Just take it easy.” The little child started to sob. He held out his arms; she sat down on the steps beside him and tucked him into her lap. “This guy is little,” she said. “And he needs help.”
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He is exhausted and cold.” She could tell from his body temperature through the clothing. “And he’s crying, in case you can’t hear that.”
“Got it,” she said. “I have an ambulance heading toward you. Hold him close. We are still looking for the other boy—Leonard. Damn it. What the fuck is going on? Did you get a good look at the other man?”
“No.” On instinct, she said, “Send somebody after him. He headed down Thurlow. See if you can run him to ground.”
“Okay,” she said. “I have two others in the neighborhood. Description?”