It was worth a try. Lucy handed Mrs. Walker her card. “If you talk to him, have him call me, okay? I spoke with him yesterday, he’ll know what it’s about. Do you know how to reach your granddaughter?”

“Yes, would you like to talk to her?”

“If that’s possible.”

“She lives outside San Antonio, in Boerne. Her husband is a doctor, isn’t that nice?”

The woman reached inside her sweater pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She put on the reading glasses that hung around her neck and then scrolled through her contacts. “Here’s her number.” She read it off for Lucy, who wrote it down.

“And her full name?”

“Penny Lopez. Penny, not Penelope. Her husband is Joshua. Dr. Joshua Lopez, isn’t that nice? He’s very respected. They have the most precious baby girl. Gracie. Isn’t that a cute name?”

“Thank you, Mrs. Walker.”

Lucy and Laura walked back to the car. Lucy dialed Penny’s number while Laura drove.

Four full rings later, a woman answered. “Hello?”

“Penny Lopez, please.”

“Speaking. Who is this?”

“This is FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid. Your father didn’t go to work today, and I was hoping to speak to him regarding a bank matter I discussed with him yesterday. He mentioned to me that he was planning a visit with you?” That was a guess on Lucy’s part, but if he was as close to his daughter as he appeared he would never attempt to leave the country without seeing her.

“You just missed him. We had breakfast together, though it was a surprise. He doesn’t usually skip work to visit.”

“I was in his office and saw your picture on his desk, he just mentioned in passing that he was going to see you soon. I just didn’t know it was today, and we’re trying to resolve a situation here.”

“It’s about an hour drive, so he should be back in Kerrville by eleven. He left here a little after ten.”

“And he said he was going back to work?”

Silence. “Well, I assumed.”

“Does he often surprise you during the workweek?”

“What’s going on?” she asked. “This doesn’t sound like anything to do with the bank.”

“We need to talk to him.”

“If you’re really working with the bank, you would have his cell phone number.”

“We already tried.” He’d turned his phone off and removed the battery, Lucy was pretty certain. They could get a warrant to ping the phone, but anyone on the run from the police wouldn’t keep it on them.

“I’ll call him and tell him you want to speak to him.”

“That would be great.” She gave Penny her number.

Lucy ended the call.

“You think that’s going to work?” Laura asked.