“I don’t see why not.”
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Marchant. We’ll be there soon.”
Vic would probably think it was a waste of time, but she kept thinking about the decal on Leroy’s truck. Of course she could be way off track if that logo had been put there by a previous owner. There were so many ifs to do with this case, she was driving herself crazy. But the heartsick expression on Vic’s face when he came out to the car made her more determined than ever to find the smoking gun that would bring Jeremy home.
He got in behind the wheel. “No one recognized him or remembered selling him a sticker like that. It’s an old one.”
That was what she’d been afraid of. “While you were inside, I made a call to one of the local high schools.” He flicked a questioning glance at her. “I thought we’d look through a couple of old yearbooks in the library and see if he happened to be a student here at one time.”
“Your brain astounds me.”
“Now you have an idea of how I feel about yours,” she said. When she looked over at him he was smiling. “Are you laughing at me?”
“No. I’m seeing what my son has seen in you from the moment you came into our lives. To be honest, I’m awed by your brilliant mind.”
“If it’s brilliant, it’s because I love Jeremy so much and intend to help you find him.” He’s a part of you,Vic. Don’t you know that?
Chapter Four
Since Claire had come to work for Vic as Jeremy’s nanny, they had developed a natural camaraderie that made what they were doing easy. She really did have an inquisitive mind and thought outside the box.
“The science of chemistry suits your investigative skills, Claire. I don’t need another Ranger with me to track down fresh leads when I have you.”
“I could be completely wrong about this.”
“I don’t know. So far your intuition has been spot on.”
He drove to the high school. After being given a pass, they went upstairs to the library. The librarian was holding class, but she showed them the shelves where they could find the yearbooks. Before long they’d pulled out three yearbooks for the years Leroy might have been a student there and took them to an empty table.
But after scanning each book, they came up empty-handed. While Vic reshelved the books, Claire thanked the librarian, then they left the school. “I found out this is the newer high school. The older one is on the other side of town. Before we give up on this idea, why don’t we drive over there? The librarian gave me the address.”
Why not? Vic trusted Claire’s instincts. “Let’s go,” he said.
On the drive, Kit texted him. When they reached the school parking lot, he found a spot to park and turned off the engine. Along with the text were the mug shots of the two men arrested with Leroy.
Vic—I’m no longer officially on the case either, but from a friend who works at the jail, I learned the names of the two men who were arrested with Leroy outside the bar last night. Fidel Flores, 39, Austin, mechanic at Angelo’s Body Shop was let go because he got to work late and left early too many times. Armando Varena, 38, Austin, laid off construction worker. I checked with Meyer’s Construction. They said Varena had a drinking problem.
Ranger Rodriguez is still holding both men for questioning. I also learned another piece of information from my source. Leroy worked as a mechanic at the same body shop as Fidel after he returned from Iraq, but they had to let him go because of his problems with PTSD.
Good old Kit. Vic texted him back. My debt to you keeps growing. I’ll keep digging around on my own. Hang in there. We’ll find Jeremy.
I have to find him.
Once Vic had clicked Send, he handed Claire his phone so she could read the text.
“Couldn’t Kit get into trouble for this?”
“Yes.”
“Bless him.” Her voice trembled. “If both men had access to other cars and trucks, maybe that’s where Leroy picked up the blue truck. We could drive to Angelo’s tomorrow and do some questioning on our own. That logo has to be on the window for a reason. Maybe someone who works there will know.”
He nodded. “Once again we’re on the same wavelength. Shall we go check out the library first and see if we can find anything?”
“Yes, and this time we’ve got three names to look up.”
Vic squeezed her hand before they left the car. After they received permission to visit the library, he cupped her elbow as they climbed a flight of stairs to the second floor. They’d arrived during a change of classes and had to battle the crowds of noisy, boisterous students. She flashed him a smile. “I’m so glad I’m not in high school anymore.”
He chuckled as they entered the library and were shown where to find the yearbooks. They ended up with three volumes to check. “This is a long shot, but I believe you know what you’re doing, Claire. I have to admit that if I were with Kit, neither one of us would have thought of checking old yearbooks.”