Chapter 3

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Glen laid another piece of paper on the table at Vavoom's. Wayne pushed the information toward Thad to read and tapped his finger on the sheet.

"Look it over." Wayne gritted his teeth. They were no closer to finding Annie Morgan than they were last week.

Though, they'd concluded that she wasn't located within a three-block radius of her house. Her parents, unaware of any close friends that would kidnap their daughter, passed the polygraph test they volunteered to take with the police in charge of the investigation.

Tonight, Notus MC had expanded the search, paying AirChinook Search & Rescue to search by air along the bank of the Willamette River where it merges with the Columbia River using their heat thermal equipment and spotlight. He hoped going over everything again, for the third time would clue him into something they were missing.

"Let's look at the babysitter again." Wayne rubbed his dry eyes.

"Karen Goldstein. Annie calls her Gramma G. She's fifty-seven years old, a widow, and lives three doors down from the Morgan's. She watches Annie after school Monday through Friday, and once a month, on a Saturday night, while Annie's parents have a 'date night'." Thad's leg bounced under the table, rocking the top. "When I talked to Mrs. Goldstein after the police were done questioning her, she was visibly upset. The day Annie went missing, she was due to go to her house, and when the bus stopped, Annie didn't get off."

"Then what happened?" asked Wayne.

"Mrs. Goldstein called Mrs. Morgan and asked if Annie was sick and stayed home." Thad inhaled deeply. "Apparently, Mrs. Morgan had forgotten to call Mrs. Goldstein one other time when Annie ended up getting sick at school, and her mom picked her up early and took her to the doctor and forgot to inform the babysitter during the rush. It was the latest phone call that Mrs. Goldstein answered her cell phone at her work at...."

"Providence Hospital off I-84." Chuck leaned forward and planted his elbows on the table. "She's a nurse in the critical care unit. She works twelve hours on, twenty-four hours off. Her husband holds down the fort when the mother is working. Mr. Morgan owns his own architectural firm on Sixth Street in downtown Portland. He was at work when he received the frantic phone call from his wife. She had hoped Mr. Morgan had taken the day off early and picked the child up at school and taken her to get ice cream at Dairy Queen, something that he does a couple times a month, but usually lets everyone involved in Annie's life know ahead of time...the mom, the teacher, the babysitter."

Wayne scratched his jaw. From the outside, the Morgan family appeared loving, close, and respected. There was no struggle to pay the bills, the parents had a good relationship, and they'd vetted the babysitter.

"Did the parents provide a background check on Mrs. Goldstein?" asked Wayne

Glen shuffled through the papers in the file. "Yeah. She's a former secretary for the school district. She retired early and lived off the life insurance her husband left her at the time of his death."

"She only babysits Annie." Thad crossed his arms and put his boot on the rung of the stool.

Wayne shook his head. "Does Mrs. Goldstein have adult children who visit the house while she's babysitting Annie?"

Thad clicked the pen in his hand and wrote on the paper. "I don't believe anyone asked her, but considering she goes by Gramma G., I'm going to assume she has adult kids with children of their own."

"Pass that question along to Lieutenant Gomez and have him question her in the morning. There's nothing more we can do tonight." Wayne picked up his mug, found it empty, and looked around the table. "Anyone else want another drink before we head out of here?"

Thad looked at his phone. "Shit. It's already one o'clock."

After stopping at Vavoom's for a late dinner when darkness called a halt to their search, they'd had one beer, and then because they were all together, decided to go for a second look at the case. Wayne picked up the papers, straightened the pile, and put it in the folder. With tomorrow being Saturday and he didn't have to work at Port Loaders, he planned on getting an early start continuing to search for Annie Morgan.

He caught sight of Clara approaching the table. She stopped beside him. "I wanted to check to see if anyone wants a drink before we shut the taps down in a half hour."

He closed the folder. "We'll take four beers."

"Coming right up." Clara walked away.

He watched the strings of the apron tied behind her lower back slap her ass and stood, following her to the counter. When she rounded the bar, he leaned against the surface to get her attention. "I appreciate you not kicking us out of the booth tonight. We overstayed."

"Not a problem." She stuck a mug under the tap. "It looked like you guys were having a deep discussion and since the bar wasn't full of customers who needed a place to sit, we didn't mind you staying longer."

"I've come to Vavoom's for years. Business picks up in June when the weather gets warmer. It won't be long, and you'll have a packed bar on Friday nights." He took the beer off the tray and stayed there while she filled the next drink. She was easy to talk with.

There was nothing fake about her, and she gave off a take-her-as-she-is attitude he liked. At Forty-two years old and with what he dealt with in his life, he appreciated honesty.

Clara glanced at his chest. "Biker business must be serious business."

"Sometimes it turns out that way. During the day, I still have to earn a living, so I work at Port Loaders." He took a drink of beer and motioned his chin toward the booth his MC brothers occupied. "I spend my days parking cars on and off the ships. It's like stacking a deck of cards. Those guys over there work at the same place."

She set the last beer on the tray. "That doesn't sound too serious."

"Not at all." He chuckled. "But, it's honest work."

Her smile grew. "I respect that."

"It's away from work when we put on the vest and hop on our bikes that's hard. We...find missing persons." He rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing the reason why he felt it was important for him to tell her that bit of information. It would explain the reason why they'd taken the booth all night, but his reason seemed to be bigger. "There's a little girl missing. She's seven years old."

Clara's mouth opened and closed. He couldn't let himself think about what was happening or had already happened to the child. It'd been too long. Notus preferred knowing immediately after someone went missing. Even twenty-four hours later, which the police went by, was often too late. With Annie Morgan, they were pushing a week since her disappearance and soon the search would turn into a rescue mission to find a body if they couldn't find a valuable clue. Too many children never showed up.

"This happened in St. John's?" asked Clara, studying him closely.

He nodded.

She swallowed and her eyes filled with tears before she blinked them away. "If you need to come here and discuss things with your friends, you're welcome anytime. Day or night."

"Are you sure you want to give out that invite?" His gut tightened as her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head, thinking about the offer.

Then, her eyes widened with confidence. "I haven't quite figured you out, Wayne Shaw. You ride a loud motorcycle, wear a leather vest, and hang with your buddies, but any man who would help find a little girl deserves a place to park his ass, have a beer, and get business done."

She picked up the tray and walked around the counter. He turned to enjoy the full sight of her from her red sneakers to the loosely wound hair at the back of her neck. The second he had his free time back, he was going to make sure he got to know Clara better.

"If she catches you staring, you'll scare her away," said a soft feminine voice behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder and found himself looking into the same face he had been admiring. Except, Clara's sister Gracie had a frown. "You don't give your sister enough credit. I don't think she scares easily."

"Yeah? She's my sister. I think I know her better than you," said Gracie.

"Maybe. For now, at least, but I plan to change that." He walked back to the booth.

He needed to call it a night and clear his head. Tomorrow was a new day, and he needed to find out what he was missing in the search so he could bring Annie Morgan home to her family.