Terminal (A Lomax & Biggs Mystery Book 5) (18 page)

“This one could have. There are monorails running in and out of the park every six minutes. We picked Sophie up on the security feed. She got on a train about forty minutes ago and got off at Jackrabbit.”

“Alone?”

“Hard to say. She was in the middle of a pack of people. I couldn’t tell if she was with anyone, or if she used them as a beard to exit the property. I’m guessing she’s smart enough to realize she’d get stopped by Security if we spotted her roaming around on her own.”

“Smart doesn’t begin to describe this kid,” I said.

Ten minutes later I pulled into the sprawling transportation complex and headed straight for the cluster of police cruisers at the far end of the depot. Diana was already there, along with the comforting presence of the man whose job it was to protect the well-being of everyone who entered his utopian domain—Brian Curry.

I put my arm around Diana. “Brian thinks she got on a bus,” she said.

“Emphasis on the word
think
,” Brian said. “I can’t tell for sure. The cameras are on a ninety-second sweep over here, so once she got off the monorail we couldn’t stick with her. She could have bolted and taken off on foot. If she did get on a bus, we have no idea which one, or if she’s alone.”

“If she did hop a bus, what were her options at that hour of day?” I said.

“We’ve narrowed it down to six different LA county bus lines. Blue line, green, red, gold, white, and tan.” He handed me a sheet of paper with a thumbnail route map for each one.

“Green is her favorite color,” Diana said, looking at the maps. “And her last name is Tan.”

“It’s crazy to guess,” Brian said. “I was just about to call the dispatchers and have them radio their drivers to pull over until we can get a unit out there to search each bus.”

“Don’t,” I said. “If someone took her they’re not going to wait around for the cavalry. They’ll get off the bus as soon as it stops. If she’s on her own, she’ll do the same thing.”

I studied the route maps. “Damn!” I said. “She’s on the red line.”

“How did you come up with that?” Brian said.

“Cop instinct,” I said. “I’m going after her. How many backup units do you have here?”

“My people have no juice outside the park, so I put out a call to LAPD, county, and local. A dozen cars have showed up so far, and there are more on the way. Nothing rallies the troops like a missing kid.”

“Here’s the drill,” I said. “Diana and I are going to chase down the red line, but just in case I’m wrong, send one unit out to stop and search each of the other five buses.”

“I’ve got another half-dozen units available,” Brian said. “You want me to send them home?”

“Hell no,” I said, grabbing Diana by the hand and heading toward my car. “I’m just a private citizen who is about to break every traffic law in the books. I could use some lights and sirens to help me get where I’m going without getting arrested.”

CHAPTER 46

“DO YOU THINK
she’s all right?” Diana asked as we barreled along the Pomona Freeway.

“I think she’s more than all right,” I said. “I think she’s on that bus, laughing her ass off, and enjoying every minute of it.”

“And you don’t think Jeremy took her?”

“I did at first, but not now. He didn’t know she’d be at Familyland, and even if he did, he’d have a car waiting in the parking lot.”

“Why didn’t you say that to Brian?”

“Because custody abductions get Amber Alerts and a slew of cop cars to run interference for us on the freeway. The kid flew the coop on her own—probably started scoping it out the minute she knew she was going to Familyland with Lucy and Daniel. I guarantee you she had a getaway plan and bus fare.”

“And what makes you think she’s on the red line?”

“Because when people are running away from a threat, they go where they can feel safe.”

“We’re safe,” Diana said.

“
You
are, but I became a threat the minute I didn’t agree to adopt her.”

“Then where is she going?”

“To the one person she knows is not afraid to stand up to me.”

Diana’s eyes opened wide. “Big Jim,” she said.

“The red line runs right through Riverside,” I said. “She can walk to Big Jim’s place from the bus stop.”

“Oh, my God, do you think he knows she’s coming?”

“No. Whatever other bad behavior Big Jim Lomax may be guilty of, he wouldn’t let us spend a nanosecond worrying about a missing kid. However, once she gets to his house, he’ll call us, tell us she’s okay, and then grant her asylum, because he’s convinced that I don’t want her.”

“He’s not alone, Mike. Everyone is convinced that you don’t want her.”

“Of course I want her, damn it,” I said, slamming my hand on the steering wheel.

“Then why—”

“Because she needs a father, and I don’t know if I’m going to be around long enough to do the job!”

“What… what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ve been holding out on you. I finally made up my mind to come clean. I was going to tell you tonight over a glass of wine, not on a freeway at a hundred and ten miles an hour.”

“Mike, I don’t care if we’re on a rocket to the moon. Something’s wrong. I’ve known it for days. Whatever it is, please… just tell me.”

“That bullshit about Doug Heller calling me back to his office from a prostate exam—that was just a cover story. My white blood count was high, and when he took it a second time it went higher, so he sent me for a bone marrow biopsy. They’re testing me for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. I never heard of it, but I’m guessing you have.”

Diana is a pediatric oncology nurse. “More often than I’d like to. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why do you think? I won’t have the results till Tuesday, and I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Mike, you’re a cop. Are you remotely aware of the fact that I
worry about you every day?”

“Yeah, I think you may have mentioned it two or three hundred times since we’ve been together.”

“So in your infinite male wisdom you decided that it’s okay if I worry about someone putting a bullet through your thick skull, but you want to spare me the possibility that you might have a treatable disease.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds kind of stupid.”

“It’s beyond stupid,” she said. “I thought you and I were in this relationship for the long haul.”

“We are.”

“Well, then bad stuff is going to happen. It’s called life. I can handle that. What I can’t handle is you sneaking around, keeping secrets, thinking you’re going to spare me, when in fact what you’re really doing is driving me insane trying to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

“Detective.” It was my radio.

I keyed the mic. “Go ahead, officer.”

“We’ve got the bus in sight.”

“Pull him over and box him in, so that people looking out the windows know we mean business. But don’t board. I’m getting on first.”

“I’m going with you,” Diana said. It wasn’t police protocol, but at this point I was not about to argue with her.

CHAPTER 47

THE LEAD CRUISER
rolled up alongside the bus and signaled the driver to pull over to the shoulder. He complied in a hurry, and a caravan of cars, their roof lights strobing red and blue surrounded him. A single CHP unit hung back a half mile to the rear to keep the traffic out of the right lane.

I put my badge around my neck, got out of the car, and walked toward the bus. Diana was right behind me. The driver opened the door, and we got on.

“LAPD, ladies and gentlemen,” I said. “Please remain in your seats. This won’t take long.”

I let my eyes drift over the passengers. No Sophie.

I walked toward the back of the bus and slowly checked every row one by one. I was three-quarters of the way up the aisle when Diana’s nails dug into my shoulder.

There was Sophie, slouched low in her seat, her head turned to the window, a baseball cap pulled down to her eyes.

She was sitting next to an attractive Asian woman in her early thirties. The kid knew she would attract less attention if it looked like she was travelling with an adult, and she had picked a perfect seatmate.

“Detective Mike Lomax, LAPD, ma’am,” I said to the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Suki Choi,” she said.

“Ms. Choi, I’m looking for an eight-year-old girl. I think she’s running off to New York to join the Rockettes.”

The woman was a quick study. She stole a sideways glance at Sophie and winked at me. “I love the Rockettes,” she said.

“Who doesn’t?” I said, “but I’m afraid this kid is in for a big disappointment. She’s only four feet tall, and to be a Rockette you’ve got to be at least five foot two.”

“Five foot six,” the lump in the baseball cap mumbled.

“She’s also quite a talented young author,” Diana said, “so it’s possible she’s not really running away. She could just be out there in search of something to write about.”

“Did you happen to see her?” I asked. I shook my head vigorously, and Suki Choi played right along.

“No, detective,” she said. “She sounds like a real keeper, but there’s nobody here by that description. I hope you find her.”

“Oh, I will,” I said, leaning across the seat and talking directly into Sophie’s ear. “Because Detective Mike Lomax always gets his man.”

“Girl,” the lump protested.

“Nice try, Sophie Tan,” I said, “but I’m taking you downtown. You have the right to remain silent.”

“Fat chance,” she said, turning to face me. She held up her wrists. “Go ahead, copper, slap the bracelets on me.”

Suki Choi laughed out loud.

“She’s been spending a lot of time with cops,” Diana said. “She’s picked up the lingo.”

“Come on, Sophie,” I said, holding my arms out. “Are you ready to go home?”

“China’s not my home.”

“I’m not talking about China. I’m talking about going back to your home on Hill Street in Santa Monica, California.”

“For how long?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. For as long as you can put up with me, Diana, Big Jim, Angel, Frankie, Izzy, and all the other peo
ple who love and adore you.”

“Really?” Sophie said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Really,” Diana said.

“I’m not going to China?” Sophie said. Tears were streaming down her face, but she was grinning.

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” I said. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying right here with us.”

Sophie bolted from her seat, jumped into my arms, and hugged me tight. I scooped Diana into the hug, and I stood there surrounded by a busload of dumbstruck passengers, strangely aware that despite what I’d been through over the past four days, I had never in my life felt so alive.

CHAPTER 48

“CAN WE GO
to Big Jim’s house and tell him the good news?” Sophie asked as soon as we were off the bus.

She could have asked for anything, and I’d have agreed. “Yes, but first we have some unfinished business to attend to,” I said.

The three of us backtracked to Familyland where Aunt Lucy and Uncle Daniel were waiting in Brian’s office. Sophie delivered a semi-sincere, but well-written apology and allowed herself to be hugged, scolded, and hugged some more until the Zhangs finished letting off their hours of pent-up emotional steam.

As soon as her penance was done, Sophie launched, unscripted, into “
You can go back to China now because I’m staying here with Mike and Diana, thank you very much
.”

Daniel and Lucy looked at me, and I nodded. “There’s a lot of logistics we have to talk about, but that’s the plan as of now,” I said. “How do you folks feel about it?”

“You’re asking us?” Lucy said, laughing. “We only had her for a few hours, and we lost her.”

“You didn’t lose her,” Diana said. “You were outsmarted. There’s a difference.”

“Even so,” Daniel said, “we are much too old to go through this on a daily basis. We’d be happy for Sophie to stay here with you, but we still have one obstacle to contend with.”

“Let’s talk about it over dinner,” I said. “I called Angel, and
she and Big Jim are expecting us.”

I took Brian Curry aside and thanked him for pulling out all the stops.

He shrugged off the thank-you and rubbed a hand over his smooth-shaved bronze pate. “Hey man, whatever it takes to help you get your little girl back.”

My little girl
. The words both warmed me to the core and weighed heavily on my mind as we drove to my father’s place in Riverside.

Frankie and Izzy were there already there, and Sophie burst out of the car to let my brother know that he was about to become her uncle.

“And what will I be?” Izzy asked.

“Duh,” Sophie said. “My uncle’s girlfriend.”

“Where are Big Jim and Angel?” Sophie said.

“Angel’s waiting for you in the kitchen,” Frankie said. “Big Jim will be there in a minute.”

Sophie raced to the kitchen door, and Frankie frowned at me. “Don’t shoot the messenger, bro, but Dad’s waiting for you in the truck barn. Brace yourself for one of his legendary father-son talks.”

“Gosh, I can’t wait. I haven’t had one of those since …” I looked at my watch. “Oh, I think it was about eight o’clock last night.”

Big Jim has a small office in the truck barn with a desk, a file cabinet, a fridge, and two chairs.

“Congratulations on coming to your senses,” he said, giving me a hug and a cold can of beer. “You’re going to make a great father.”

“I’m not so sure,” I said. “I haven’t gotten the annoying meddling part down yet, but I think I can learn.”

“Speaking of which,” he said, “what can I do to help you convince Jeremy that you’re a better father for Sophie than he is?”

“I thought about that a lot on the drive over here,” I said. “You
can help, but I hate to ask.”

“Are you kidding me? Just say the word, and I’m all over it.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Jesus, Mike, I’m your father. Of course I don’t mind.”

“Okay. I need you to write it all down,” I said, sitting down and popping the top on my beer.

He grabbed a pad and pencil. “Go ahead,” he said.