Every Precious Thing by Brett Battles Read Free Book Online

A follow-up conversation with Alan revealed he had no knowledge of these trips.
    Fulkerson leaned forward so he could read the summary better. “Yes, of course we did. We had people looking out for her in San Francisco, but at the time the investigation was called off, we’d had no sign of her. As for her interest in art, I’m sure you can imagine how ambiguous that is. Short of putting someone in all the museums and art galleries on the West Coast, there was little we could do on that front. And a similar thing can be said about the potential Midwest connection.”
    Logan had figured as much about all three. He was more interested in the phone calls. “And these?”
    Fulkerson nodded. “We sent investigators to both places. Out of the two, Laguna seemed the most promising. There’s a thriving art community there, so it also checks that box.”
    “And?”
    “And we found nothing at either place.”
    “How long were your investigators there?”
    “Long enough.”
    “How long?”
    “A day at Laguna. A couple of hours at Braden.”
    “Why only a couple hours?”
    “It’s a small town, and chances were she was just passing through on the interstate, perhaps stopped to get some gas.”
    “On her way to where?”
    “That, we have no way of knowing. If she hadn’t made that call, we wouldn’t have even known she’d gone out that way.”
    “Doesn’t seem to me like enough time spent in either place.”
    Logan could sense Fulkerson trying not to glare at him. “You’ll have to take that up with Mrs. Johnson.”
    “Why is that?”
    “We recalled our people because she decided to put the investigation on hold.”
    Emily again, Logan realized. Either Callie or Alan had begun to worry that the more Fulkerson and his team looked into things, the more likely word would get to the wrong people that the adoption wasn’t legitimate.
    He glanced through the rest of the report, but didn’t see anything that needed clarification at the moment, so he smiled and stood up. “Thank you for your time. I’ll call you if I need anything else.”
    The look on Fulkerson’s face was not what Logan would call excited.

C HAPTER E IGHT
     
    L OGAN FOUND A Starbucks, grabbed a cup of coffee, took the only empty table left, and then carefully went through Fulkerson’s detailed report. By the time he was done, his barely touched coffee was lukewarm.
    While the notes on the investigation filled out a few things he was hazy on, it had provided no new information. What it did do was make Logan think more about the out-of-character phone calls Sara had placed from Laguna Beach and Braden. They were the only halfway decent leads. But were either of them important?
    The only way to know for sure was to check both places, and given the distance between them, it would go a lot faster if he had help. While Harp and Barney might be able to assist Logan wherever he went, he was not about to send them off on their own.
    He considered his options, then pulled out his phone.
    “Yes?” a gruff voice answered after a single ring.
    “Dev? It’s Logan Harper.”
    “Logan,” Dev Martin said, brightening. “How ya doin’?”
    “I’m okay. You?”
    “I got nothing to complain about.”
    Like Logan and Harp, Dev Martin also lived in Cambria. He was in his sixties, but looked at least ten years younger. A former Marine and Vietnam vet, he’d kept himself in great shape. There were few people, no matter their age, who’d want to mess with him. Dev and his network of former servicemen had proved extremely useful when Logan was looking for Tooney’s granddaughter, Elyse.
    “Good to hear.” Logan paused. “Let me cut right to it. I’m wondering if you might be able to help me out with something.”
    Dev let out a low laugh. “Didn’t think this was just a social call.”
    Logan explained the situation and what he needed.
    “Braden or Laguna Beach, huh?” Dev said. “Let me make a call, and I’ll get right back to you.”
    “Thanks,