“What have we heard from the kids at that stop?” Ava asked Wells.

“Nothing officially. The school wants the parents present before we question any of the kids.”

Ava bit her lip. “What about unofficially? Has anyone just asked them if Henley was there this morning?”

Wells glanced at Duncan, who was deep in conversation with three other agents. “Two of the kids told Clackamas County that Henley wasn’t at the stop this morning.”

“I knew it,” Robin whispered.

“Until we’ve talked to all the kids that were there, I don’t want to state that she didn’t make it to her stop. But yes, two preliminary accounts say she didn’t make it.” His eyes pleaded with the mothers. “Let’s not accept this as fact yet, okay? And we’re investigating both avenues simultaneously. We could miss possible leads by assuming that she didn’t make it to school.”

“What about the bus driver?” Ava asked.

Wells frowned. “She says she doesn’t remember. A half-dozen kids get on at that stop. Sometimes more, sometimes less. ”

“Any parents waiting with their kids at the bus stop?” she questioned.

“Not this morning,” Wells stated. “And Henley walks around a large curve in the road right before the stop. There’s no line of sight for the other kids to see her approaching.”

“Why is no one telling us anything?” Lilian burst out. “So far all we’ve heard is speculation and secondhand statements from kids. You have to give us more than that.”

A tall man Ava had seen speaking with a local plainclothes cop pulled out the chair next to Robin. “I’m Lucas, Henley’s dad,” he said to Ava. She noticed immediately that he had Henley’s brown eyes. He took Robin’s hand and squeezed it while leaning toward Lilian. “I don’t think they have much to tell us yet, Lilian. But Mason has offered to be the liaison between the family and the investigation. I think we need to let him be the one to deal with them, and trust that he’ll keep us up-to-date, instead of us pestering the FBI nonstop to keep us informed.”

“Who?” Ava and Wells asked at the same time.

“He’s my ex-husband,” Robin said quietly. “He’s a Major Crimes detective with the Oregon State Police. I think that’s a good idea. Mason knows who and what to question. And I trust him. He has time for this?” she asked her husband.

“He says he’s taken the time off work, and that it won’t be a problem.”

“I’m sure he has plenty of vacation time available,” Robin muttered.

Ava raised an internal brow at the comment. Were there some sore feelings between Robin and her ex-husband? But Robin had been quick to chime in with a vote of confidence for him to act as a liaison. Ava liked the idea of a liaison for the family, and she knew Ben would, too. Managing a family during kidnappings took manpower. They deserved to know what was going on, but the agency didn’t want ten family members asking multiple agents the same questions. A conduit, especially someone in law enforcement, would be ideal.

Would Ben embed an agent with the family? It wasn’t uncommon for an agent to move in with the family to help manage their side of the investigation.

“But how long can this last?” Lilian asked, her voice rising. “You’ll find her soon, right? Do you really need to set up a command center, and do we need a liaison? She can’t be far away. It’s only been a few hours, right?” Desperate-mom eyes stared at Ava.

It’s been over five hours.

Ava looked directly at Lilian. “We want to catch every opportunity we can. When it comes to kids, we jump into action. We don’t wait. That means immediately investigating each lead we get. To do that, we need our resources pooled in one area. It’s more efficient. Trust me, we know what we’re doing.” She ended softly and gave Lilian a sad smile. “I know it’s hard for you. You’re sitting in here and can’t see the fifty agents who’ve already joined the search at the school and in the neighborhood. And a lot more are on their way.” Her heart ached for the parents. The FBI had extensive experience organizing searches for missing children. It was a finely honed set of skills, acquired in a painful way.

“Is someone at Lilian’s home?” Ava asked Wells.

He nodded. “Yes, we have agents waiting there and canvassing the neighborhood. She doesn’t have a landline, so any phone calls she gets will go to her cell.” He raised a brow at Lilian for confirmation. She nodded and touched her iPhone on the table, making the screen light up. Ava caught a glimpse of a photo of Henley. It wasn’t the school photo Ben had shown her. This one had been taken at the ocean.

“Do you think there will be a ransom?” Lilian whispered.

Ava shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Lilian touched her screen again.

“Can I see the photo on your phone?” Ava asked, holding out her hand. Lilian gave her the phone.

Ava studied the little girl splashing in vibrant blue water. That wasn’t a Pacific Northwest ocean. “Hawaii?” she asked, choosing the closest tropical vacation site.

Lilian nodded.

The child in the photo still had that thin layer of baby fat that kept her from being mistaken for a middle-school student. This was a child who still reveled in being a little girl. Her bathing suit was Minnie Mouse, and her long white-blond hair hung in braids to her waist.