Page 48 of Girl Long Gone

The waitress hurried over with a large plate in each hand. Mark moved his mess of paperwork out of the way, and she slid the plates in front of them. “Can I get you two anything else?”

“No thanks,” Connor said and waited for her to be out of earshot. “Good idea. The guy knows more than he’s letting on, and there’s no way he’ll talk to me.”

His blood burned thinking of his earlier encounter with Mr. Wilson. He wouldn’t be able to keep his temper in check for another interview.

Mark picked up his burger. “I’ll keep looking into this shit tonight and hopefully uncover something before then.”

His phone vibrated against the table. Connor glanced at the screen and smiled. Evelyn. He scooped the device into his hand and accepted the call. “Hey. I’m about to leave to get you.”

“Help! Help me!”

Fear churned in his gut and sharp breaths rasped through his throat. “Evelyn? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Tortured cries and racking sobs scalded his ear.

“Evelyn. Talk to me. Tell me where you are.” He needed to get to Evelyn. Dammit. He should have stayed with her and protected her.

“Connor, look at me,” Mark said. “If Gabriel got to Evelyn, he would have gotten to Ben. Do you think that’s possible?”

Tears filled his eyes as his mind struggled to click the pieces of the stupid fucking puzzle into place. “What are you talking about?”

Mark slid his phone across the table. “Call Ben.”

Keeping his phone pressed against his ear, he dialed Ben’s number on Mark’s phone and waited for the line to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Ben, where’s Evelyn?” Panic made Connor’s voice high and tight.

“She’s at the kitchen table. Dude, what’s going on?”

A low, masculine laugh mingled with the cries for help against his ear. Connor’s blood froze. He wasn’t listening to Evelyn’s cries for help, he was listening to Monica.

Evelyn concentrated on article after article about Lynette Nelson. Sadness flowed through her as she read about the tragic disappearance of an innocent girl. But where did Gabriel fit in? Could Simon’s missing cousin just be one hell of a coincidence?

“Find anything?” Ben took the seat across the table from her, the legs of the chair scraping against the tile floor as he leaned back.

“There’s a lot of information about Lynette, but not one single mention of Gabriel in connection with her.” Evelyn rolled her shoulders forward to ease her cramping muscles. She’d been hunched over her computer for hours. “What about you?”

Ben snorted and shook his head. “The police have already checked out most of the properties I uncovered. I’ve found some obscure places in the tri-state area connected to Gabriel’s family, but those are long shots. He has to be somewhere close.”

“What all do we know about Gabriel? He owns a successful real estate development business, everything he’s passionate about is located in Brooklyn, he enjoys building things out of wood, and he’s got a weird fascination with France.”

“France? What do you mean?”

“For someone so focused on his career, it struck me as strange he’d waste time studying French Literature. When I looked deeper, I found he took a sabbatical from work to live in France for a year. Seemed odd for someone so driven by his career.”

Ben spiked up an eyebrow. “Did you mention that to Connor? Lynette had lived in France with her family before moving to Brooklyn.”

“No, it didn’t seem important.”

“Any detail could be important, no matter how small.” Evelyn sighed. “There has to be something else. Something we’re not seeing.”

Ben filled two glasses half full with the wine then faced Evelyn. “I’ve been thinking. If Gabriel’s responsible for Lynette Nelson disappearing, she was probably his first victim.”

A shiver raced down her spine. “That’s young for someone to become a killer.”

Ben nodded. “It happens. Usually there’s a catalyst to push someone over the edge.”