There had to be a mistake. Amelia had said she was here. Surely she wouldn’t fail to show up for work and risk the future she so badly wanted.

When the receptionist placed the receiver back in its cradle, she said, “Mrs. Swanner, please have a seat. Miriam Foster, our personnel director, will be down in just a moment to speak with you.”

Fear welled inside Diana. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Swanner, I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“I’d like to see Mr. York,” Diana blurted, desperation rising inside her. He could help her. They had been friends for all those years she’d given his daughter private dance classes. He’d stopped by her house just the other day.

“I’m afraid Mr. York isn’t in the office just now.”

Diana’s heart sank.

An elevator on the other side of the lobby dinged, and the doors opened.

“There’s Ms. Foster now. I’m sure she can explain everything.”

Diana couldn’t move. She told herself to walk toward the other woman to find out what was going on, but her body refused to cooperate. As the woman approached Diana, the words everything is fine echoed in her head. Of course everything was fine.

“Mrs. Swanner.” Foster smiled one of those polite, not real smiles. “Let’s step over here”—she gestured to the seating area—“a moment so we have some privacy.”

Diana glanced at the receptionist and then did as the other woman asked. “What’s going on?” she finally found the wherewithal to ask. “Amelia should be here. I—”

“Frankly, Mrs. Swanner, we don’t know where Amelia is, but she isn’t here. We thought she had quit, which as you know will not look good on her resume.”

The woman was still talking, but Diana interrupted her. “What do you mean you thought she quit?”

“Mrs. Swanner, Amelia hasn’t been here since last Friday.”

44

2:30 p.m.

York, Hammond & Goldman Law Firm

North Twentieth Street

“You can’t go in there half-cocked, Devlin.”

Kerri stared at her partner. When had she become the one on the edge and her partner the steadying force?

“All I want to do is find out what’s going on. We were at his house last night. He asked me if I was Amelia’s aunt. He could have told me something was wrong. That she hadn’t shown up for work all week.”

Saying the words out loud only made her angrier. When Diana had called and then calmed down enough to explain what was going on, Kerri had been cool and levelheaded. There had to be a reasonable explanation.

But sometime between hearing the news from Diana and the fifth time her call to Amelia had gone unanswered, Kerri had lost control.

Diana was right. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

Maybe York, despite his claims, had used his charm and intellect to convince Amelia it was okay to spy on Sela. That it wasn’t wrong—and now Amelia was in trouble.

Didn’t make sense. Amelia was not that naive.

“Let’s go over what we know, Devlin.”

They were sitting here in his damned car parked at the curb halfway down the block from the law office, and he wouldn’t shut up.

“We’ve been over this before.”

“We have, yes,” he said calmly, so calmly she wanted to punch him. “But,” he argued, “we’re under a lot of pressure to solve this case. Your ex is giving you hell about custody. Your daughter is pushing for her independence. Now you’ve got your niece going rogue. There’s a lot happening, and some of those things intersect. Like your niece working for York. Bellemont telling us that York might be involved in this homicide case. Ramsey stalking Amelia and then disappearing. But you just have to back away from all that and go after this one thing. Did something happen at work to cause Amelia to quit?”

“You’re right. I need to cool down and look at this one thing. Leave all the rest out of it for now.” Kerri took a breath. She could do that.

“Good. All right.” He reached for his door. “We’ll go in together and talk to York.”

“No. I want to do this alone. He might say more with only me in the room. No matter how calmly I present myself, he’ll know my emotions are in a knot. If he’s as overconfident as I suspect, he may try pushing my buttons if I’m alone.”

Falco started to argue, but she held up her hands. “I’ll be calm. Don’t worry. You keep prodding the crime scene folks to give us something from the unauthorized access of the Abbott home.”

“Okay, but if sirens start blazing and I see SWAT barreling down the street, I’m coming in.”

He almost made her smile. Almost. “Deal.”

Kerri climbed out of his car and headed for the law office. She focused on deep, steadying breaths. At the entrance to the lobby, she cleared her head once more and walked in.

The receptionist looked up as she approached her desk. “Welcome to York, Hammond & Goldman. How may I help you?”

Kerri showed her badge. “I’m here to see Mr. York. It’s urgent police business.”

“Please have a seat, and I’ll call his office and see if he’s available.”

Kerri couldn’t sit. Containing the wild mixture of worry and adrenaline long enough to be still was impossible. She wandered to the grouping of sofas and chairs and waited. She watched as the receptionist made the call and then placed the handset back in its cradle. The woman rose from her chair and walked over to where Kerri waited. She couldn’t help holding her breath.

“Mr. York can see you now. Take the elevator to the eighth floor, and his assistant will be waiting for you.”

“Thank you.”

While she waited for the elevator, Kerri studied the numerous cameras installed for security. She imagined no one entered or left these offices without being captured on camera.

The doors opened, and she stepped into the car and selected the floor number. When the doors opened once more, another young, attractive woman waited for her.

“Right this way, Detective Devlin.”

Kerri followed her along the lushly carpeted corridor, left into another corridor, and to the fourth door on the right. The woman opened the door and waited for Kerri to enter, then closed the door behind her.

“Detective Devlin.” York stood behind his desk. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a second visit in the same twenty-four-hour period? I feel like Mr. Popular. Please, sit.” He held up a hand. “Of course, yes. You’re here about the employee roster.”

“No. I’m here about my niece, Amelia.”

He frowned. “Yes, we talked about her last night. At the time I wasn’t aware she hadn’t been in this week. Can you tell me if there was a problem with someone here at the office? I can assure you if there was, I will personally take care of the problem.”

How generous. The offer almost seemed genuine.

Kerri reminded herself of all that Bellemont had told her about this man; then she softened her voice and settled into a chair. “I honestly don’t know what happened. I was hoping you could tell me.”

York lowered into his own chair. “I spoke with Ms. Foster, our personnel director. She talked with Amelia’s colleagues here, and no one is aware of any sort of problem. They’re all quite shocked that she stopped showing up. We thought she was very happy to be a part of the team.”

“Is there anyone who was particularly close to her that I might be able to speak with?”

He seemed to consider the question for a moment. “Ms. Foster didn’t mention anyone, but I have to say that I saw Amelia a couple of times in the lounge with Finn. Would you like me to have him come to the office? I’m sure he would be happy to speak with you. He’s our intern from my old high school. He’s heading off to Harvard, his father’s alma mater, this fall.”

“I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with him.”

“Let me round him up.” He stood. “Would you like coffee or water while you wait? Perhaps something stronger?”

Kerri shook her head. “No thanks.”

York walked out of his office, leaving the door open. Kerri didn’t have to look to know there would be cameras in all the offices as well. A minute, then two, elapsed, and she couldn’t help feeling restless. She pushed out of her chair and walked to the man’s extensive praise wall. His credentials and too many honors to count lined the wall. Amid all the acclamations were a few framed photos. She surveyed each. York and the mayor. York and the chief of police. York and the governor. York and Senator T. R. Thompson. York and Daniel Abbott. Anyone who was someone in Birmingham was photographed with York, shaking his hand or passing along some award.

She turned to his desk. Spotted the framed photo of the man with a young woman who looked to be around Amelia’s age, most likely his daughter. Another framed photo sat next to it. In this one York was considerably younger, maybe in his early twenties. Kerri’s gaze narrowed as she moved closer. She picked up the photo and stared at the second man.

A new shot of adrenaline fired in her veins. The second man in the photo looked very much like the one in the photo with Janelle Stevens . . . the one in Kerri’s pocket. He was younger in this photo, but she was certain it was Theo Thompson.