“She acknowledges that’s possible, but not probable. For one thing, they weren’t together when they went missing. Carisma was walking home from school and was seen talking to someone in a car. A witness didn’t see her get in the car, but it’s assumed that she did.”

“Do we have a description of the car?”

“The witness wasn’t sure what kind of car it was, but it was an older sedan, maybe a Corolla or Civic in either navy or black.”

“That narrows it down to thousands of possibilities.”

“Yep. Daniella was at LaToya’s the afternoon of Carisma’s disappearance, but then she went out to get coffee that same night and never came back. LaToya said that in all the confusion over Carisma’s disappearance, it took her a full day to realize Daniella was gone, too. That’s when she started to suspect the two events were related.”

“If it’s related, I’d want to know who was in the car and how they were attached to Daniella.”

“With the ex-boyfriend’s help, I did some digging into people she was close to at the time, and one of them was an uncle who was only a couple of years older than her. He drove a navy-blue Corolla at the time.”

“What do we know about him?”

“Reggie Parks, age forty-two now, in and out of trouble all his life, beginning as a juvenile and escalating into drugs, robbery, B&E.”

“So, it wouldn’t be much of a leap to add kidnapping to the list.”

“Right.”

“Where is he now?”

“Locked up for the latest B&E. If things don’t pan out in Richmond, my next stop is at Jessup to see him. The ex-boyfriend told me Daniella had people in Richmond and where to find them. He isn’t sure they still live there, but I figured it’s worth a shot to scope the place out.”

“Definitely.”

“Thanks,” Jeannie said. “You know… for caring about Carisma.”

“It’s about time someone cared about her.”

“That’s how I feel, too, and I’m strangely unconcerned about getting in trouble if there’s any possibility of finding her and reuniting her with her mother and siblings.”

“Right there with you, partner.”

Nick loved everything about Camp David, from the no-frills accommodations to the hiking trails to the basketball court and the barbecue pit that was built during the Eisenhower administration and never upgraded. A feeling of historical significance hung over the place as he stood on the same porch FDR had once occupied with Winston Churchill. He took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air and felt himself begin to truly relax for the first time since his life—and that of his family—was turned upside down by President Nelson’s sudden death.