Chapter Three

Jason arrived at Hannah's home just before 5am. He knew it was still too early to pester people or wake them from their sleep, but if his daughter was in danger, he couldn't afford to waste any time. He rang the bell at the front of the house, half-expecting to get no answer, but at the third ring, he heard a female voice.

“Who's it?”

“Um.. sorry to bother you ma'am. It's the FBI.”

“FBI?”, the woman sounded alarmed.

“Yes ma'am.”

He knew that as an FBI agent, he'd have a higher chance of getting the woman to let him in. He could hear the sound of feet pattering toward the door.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

The woman that opened the door was a tall blonde in the early stages of middle age. She was wearing a nightgown and a pair of what looked to be reading glasses, so he guessed he must have interrupted her early morning Bible reading session. For effect, he flashed his badge.

“Special Agent Raids...”

“You're alone?”, the woman cut in, looking around at the surroundings.

“Yes ma'am. Just following up on a lead. You're Mrs. McMurdo, am I right?”

“No. That's my ex-husband. What's going on?”, she asked, blinking worriedly at him.

“Nothing much, ma'am. Like I said, I'm just following up on a lead. Is this the residence of Hannah McMurdo?”

“Yeah. Why? What happened?”, the woman straightened up now, staring him full in the face.

“We... I just need to ask her a few questions.”

“Is everything okay?”, she looked highly concerned.

“Yeah. No problems at all. Just a few questions,” Jason said, as nonchalantly as he could.

“Okay. Come in.”

The woman let him in and closed the door behind him. She offered him a seat in the lighted parlour and then went off to get Hannah, giving him the chance to observe his surroundings. The house was well furnished, no doubt, and everything from the rug to the chandelier looked expensive. A lot of pictures lined the walls. He could recognize the woman in most of them and it didn't take much to point out Hannah too. She looked very much like the woman, only a little smaller and perhaps a little more harsh-looking.

“Mr... Raids, is it?”, the woman asked when she returned to him.

“Special Agent Raids,” Jason corrected, getting to his feet.

“Yeah, um.. my daughter's out of the house right now. I can't seem to find her anywhere.”

“Oh, that's a little inconvenient. Do you know where she might be?”, Jason said, trying not to look too disappointed.

“No. I have no idea. She could be at any party anywhere in the city.”

“Does she do this often? Leave the house suddenly?”

“Unfortunately, yes. And she turns up the next day. I have tried talking and scolding, but she just won't listen. I really don't know what to do.”

The woman sounded sincere enough and Jason thought it a waste of time to remain where he was. He had hoped to catch up with Hannah at home, but it seems he was too late or perhaps she had sneaked out much earlier, even before he called her.

“Well ma'am, I'll call again some other time. Just call this number when your daughter returns. Ask for Special Agent Raids or Special Agent Aurello. Speak to no one else. We're the only ones working the case.”

“What case?", she fairly shouted. "Is my daughter in trouble? But you told me it was nothing serious.”

“Oh nothing like that, ma'am. Just some kid stuff. Everything's okay. Just call us. Thanks for your time.”

Jason did not waste any time in leaving the house to his car. There, he called his sister and let her know how far he had gone. There was no luck on her side either and they resolved to keep trying. He then rang up Tony Aurello.

“What's up, Jason?”

“I didn't find the girl," he sighed. "What do you have on Chrissie's stuff?”

“Depends on what exactly you need.”

“Hey Tony, I hope this is under tight wraps. I don't want anyone else knowing about this.”

“Sure! You know you can trust me, huh don't you?”, Tony chuckled.

“I'll let you know later. Tell me about the last call Chrissie made and received.”

“Uh.. last call was to a number registered to a Tracy Duncan and last call received was from guess who... Hannah McMurdo. What's going on here, Jason?”

“I'll fill you in later, but in the meantime I need you to track down Hannah McMurdo. Check her calls, hack her emails, ping her phone. Anything. Just get me a location.”

“Okay. I'm on it.”

The next thing Jason did was call Tracy Duncan. She was Chrissie's maternal aunt and one of the few relatives that Chrissie really liked, so he was not surprised that she was the last person Chrissie called before leaving.

“Hello Jason. Long time!”, came Tracy's bubbly voice across the line.

“Yeah, Tracy. Work's been hard. Sorry to wake you, but have you heard from Chrissie recently?”

“Why?”, she asked, sounding wary.

“Oh nothing. Just curious.”

“She called a couple hours ago, but I was asleep. She left a message, I just listened to it. I've been calling, but her phone's turned off. Is everything okay over there?”

“Yeah sure," Jason coughed. "Uh.. what did she say in the message?”

“Well, she was inviting me over to spend some time with her.. that she wanted to see Harry and so on.”

“Oh. How's Harry?”, he quickly asked, happy for the change in topic.

“Well, he's good. Still breaking my stuff regularly.”

“Haha. Just like Chrissie at that age. It's in the family I guess. Look Tracy, I gotta run now. Take care. Say me hi to Harry and Orv, okay?”

“Okay. Tell Chrissie I'll be there whenever she wants me to come over, unless of course you don't approve?”

“Oh no no no. No problem at all. You're always welcome here.”

“Good to know. Thanks, Jason. Bye.”

Another dead end. Jason leaned back in his car seat and put his hand to his forehead. He could feel it hot and throbbing. Ever since he got the call from Summer, he had been putting his entire mental capacity to work. He prayed to God that it would not all be in vain. He wanted another chance to see Chrissie and be a much better and attentive father, even if it cost him everything else. His phone was vibrating. It was Tony.

“Hey Tony, what's new? Got what I need?”

“Found your girl. Hold on... I took some not too funny risks before getting a breakthrough here.”

“Thanks Tony. I owe...”

“Yeah yeah, you always will. That cliché doesn't hold much water with me anymore. I'm only going this far 'cause of Chrissie.”

“And I very much appreciate that. What've you got?”

“The girl most likely dumped her phone, so no hope in that department, but her credit card was used just a few minutes a...”

“Where?”, Jason fairly shouted, his nerves all taut.

“Patience, cowboy. Her credit card was used few minutes ago at a store not very far from her house. Sending you the location.”

“Thanks Tony. I owe... I'll make sure Chrissie calls to say hi when we find her.”

“Now, that makes me very happy," Tony chuckled. "By the way, does she have a boyfriend?”

“Gotta go, Tony.”

“There's nothing wrong with ol...”

He disconnected the line and fired his engine. In less than a second, he was charging down the street toward the stores where he hoped to find Hannah.

Arriving at the place, Jason looked it over before walking in. It was quite a large store, the kind that sold almost anything one could think of. He had been wondering what Hannah would want from a store at this time of the day, but now that he'd seen the place, he stopped wondering.

“Sir? Can I help you?”

The store-keeper had noticed him looking around. Jason turned to him and flashed him a prim smile. He thought about using his badge, but quickly dumped the idea. He didn't want to leave a clear trail behind him, just in case he'd have to go dark for a while in order to track down his daughter. It was time to try another tack.

“Hi. Sorry to bother. I'm actually looking for my girlfriend. We had a little quarrel, so she got angry and walked off. If I don't catch up with her now, she'll definitely take a flight to somewhere I'll never know. I'm wondering if she came in here. Saw her heading this way a short while ago. Tall, blonde, with a little mole on her cheek...”

“Uhhh.. yeah. With a nose ring, right?”, the storekeeper asked, making the sign on his nose.

“Yeah yeah, that's her.”

“Well, she came in here, bought some stuff and headed to that bar there across the road.”

“Great. Thanks a million. Uh.. did she have anyone with her? Another girl?”, Jason asked expectantly.

“Nah. All alone. Only female I've seen since I opened up.”

“Thanks very much, man.”

“Sure. Good luck.”

Jason didn't know if Hannah wore a nose-ring or not, but he had decided to risk it. Anyway, how many blonde girls with a mole could the area possibly have? He hurried over to the small bar across the road, hoping that she was still in there. He knew her face from the pictures at her house, but he wasn't sure if she knew his too. From what the storekeeper said, it was clear that Chrissie was not with Hannah, but judging from her recent actions, he could swear that she knew his daughter's whereabouts. Pulling his jacket tighter around him and, buttoning it up, he hunched his shoulders, lowered his head and swaggered into the bar as nonchalantly as he could.