“Why not?” I asked, my voice sounding foreign to me.
“Two reasons. One, our campuses are as secure as any school campus out there,” he said. “No one just walks in and starts exploring, not even parents. Doors are locked and IDs are run through a system before you can go anywhere. If you don’t have a reason to be there, you’re going to be sent packing.”
“I’ve got a reason to be there.”
“I get that. But to the office and school personnel? No, you don’t.”
I shifted in the seat. “What’s the other reason?”
“I gave you the info,” he said, frowning. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to help. I trust Isabel, like I told you. But giving out information on a student in our district? You go in there and say you just came from my office, I’m done and there are gonna be all sorts of hurdles for you to get to your daughter.”
My fingers tingled and my heart hammered inside my chest. I tried to organize everything racing through my head.
The printer buzzed behind him and he pulled a sheet of paper off the tray, examined it, then handed it to me. “There’s her info sheet. There’s a home address and phone number on there as well. You want my advice?”
I didn’t, but Tim had helped me more than anyone had over the last eight years. “Okay.”
“Call the police and go to the home,” he said, his hands folded on his desk. “I’m sure the temptation is to go bull-rush the school and find her. I don’t blame you. But making a scene at the school is not what you want.”
I nodded slowly, staring at the paper he handed me. An address and a phone number. Where Elizabeth lived.
“I’ve seen custody disputes before at schools,” Tim explained. “I know it’s not the same thing, but a parent shows up, wanting to see their kid and for whatever reason, they aren’t allowed because of a custodial agreement or whatever.” He waved a hand in the air. “The cops get called, the school will lock down, the child will be embarrassed and it all goes to shit.” He paused. “Like I said. I know that isn’t your situation, but hopefully, you can see what I’m saying.”
I did. He wasn’t just covering his ass. He was making sense.
“Call the police or whatever authorities are involved in your daughter’s search,” he said. “That’s the best course of action.”
I stood. “Thank you. I won’t get you in trouble.”
Tim stood as well. “I’d appreciate that. If you can’t, you can’t and I’ll deal.” He shook his head. “Can’t imagine what you’ve gone through and I hope it works out.”
I extended my hand. “I’ll let Isabel know you were able to help.”
He nodded and we shook hands.
“And I won’t get you in trouble,” I said again. “It’s the least I can do for what you’ve given me.”
He shrugged, set his hands on his hips. “Don’t worry about me. Just go find your daughter.”
THIRTY-NINE
The icy air hit me like a wall when I stepped outside, the sunshine blinding me, brilliant against the snow-covered world. I shuffled through the slush on the sidewalk to get to the rental, cranked up the heat and sat there for a moment, trying to stop my hands from shaking.
I knew I had to make a phone call.
I fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone. I pulled it out, scrolled through the contacts and found the one I wanted. I stared at it for a moment, then pressed my finger to it, waited for it to dial. The ringing was loud as I held the phone to my ear.
“Hey,” Lauren said on the other end. “You caught me just in time.”
“In time for what?”
“Flying to San Francisco for a depo,” she said. “I’m at Lindbergh. Flight is late. Surprise.”
“You need to come to Minneapolis,” I said.
The line buzzed. “Why?”
Tears were forming in my eyes and my throat was closing. I couldn’t find the words.
“Joe?” she asked. “Why?”
“She’s alive, Lauren,” I managed. “I think I found her.”
The line buzzed again. “What?”
“Can you get on a plane?” I asked. “Now?”
“I’ll call you right back,” she said.
The call clicked off and I set the phone in my lap, my hands still shaking. I gripped the steering wheel, trying to settle myself. I needed to calm down, needed to start thinking straight, plan a course of action.
I thought about calling Mike, but I figured he’d tell me the same thing Tim did. To wait, involve the local police and arrange something at the address I now had for Ellie Corzine.
It wasn’t that it was bad advice. But there was no way I was going to wait. I’d waited eight years to find my daughter, pouring my life into searching, looking, hoping. It had consumed me in a way that I didn’t think anything ever could. And now I had someone telling me that not only was she alive, but she was nearby.
No way in hell I was waiting for anyone or anything.
The phone rang in my lap and I grabbed it. “Hey.”
“I just switched my flight,” Lauren said, out of breath. “I’m running to gate now. Leaves in fifteen minutes.”
“Text me the info,” I said. “I’ll meet you there.”
She huffed and puffed into the phone. “Joe.”
“I saw her picture,” I said. “In a yearbook. She’s enrolled in a high school here. I have a home address.”
“Oh my God,” she said and I knew she was crying. “It’s her?”
“It’s her, Lauren,” I said. “It’s her.”
She whimpered into the phone.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Hang on,” she said. “I’m at the gate.”
She must’ve already gone thru security. I knew her firm always flew first-class and she’d probably gone to the airline’s executive lounge to make the change.
Timing. Timing always mattered.
“I’m in the jetway,” she said. “I’ll send you flight info as soon as I sit down.”
“Okay.”
“Oh my God, Joe,” she said. “It’s really her?”
“I wouldn’t have called.”
“I know, I know,” she said, sobbing. “I know.”
“Just get here,” I said, wiping at my eyes. “I’ll be there to pick you up.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice strained. Voices mumbled behind her. “I’m on. I’m on.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Joe?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s it going to be like?” she asked, her voice cracking.
My grip tightened on the steering wheel and I stared out the windshield. “I have no idea.”
FORTY
Lauren’s flight info came through three minutes later. Her arrival time gave me three hours to fill and I took a deep breath.
I needed to get it together and make some decisions.
The logical decision was to call the police. Involve Mike, federal authorities and get everyone on the same page. But I knew how that would go. She’d been gone for a long time. This wasn’t a fresh disappearance. She wouldn’t just be brought out of the house and handed to me. There would be an incredible amount of red tape to navigate and the thought of wading through that made me ill. I knew that eventually that would all have to be taken care of, but I didn’t have the patience for that right then.
I wanted to see my daughter first.
I plugged the name of the high school into the GPS and it pulled up a route that would take twenty-two minutes.
I made it in fourteen.
The school itself was a massive stone building with steeples, large glass windows and a sprawling snow-covered lawn. Cars were parked along the street at the curb and a few students were walking along the shoveled sidewalk.
I pulled to the side and let the car idle at the curb, staring at the building.
She was in there. Somewhere.
But I wasn’t sure how to get to her.
I’d made the decision driving over that I wouldn’t get Tim in trouble, no matter what I had to do. He’d risked his job to give me the information and I owed it to him to protect the source of that information. I wasn’t going to turn him into collateral damage.