Chapter 3:

Eddie slept until 8:00 when her phone buzzed inside the silent apartment. Jamie and the baby had left a couple hours earlier, and Eddie had only a vague recollection of them getting ready and leaving. A post it note on her phone said, "Be brave, we're here for you - love J & E." Smiling, Eddie removed the paper and checked her messages. Detectives Gregory and Petersen would like her to meet them at Rosa Martinez' home where the Perez family lived. Eddie jumped out of bed, responded to the detectives and headed to the shower. In just under thirty minutes, Eddie was dressed and headed back to work. She tucked the note Jamie had left for her behind her badge, where it joined a few other slips of paper including the card from the mini golf game that was the scene of Jamie's proposal.

At the precinct, Eddie swapped her car for an unmarked police vehicle and drove over to meet the detectives. When she arrived, there was already a flurry of activity. Gilberto and Gloria Perez, her mother Rosa Martinez, a priest, an unidentified woman and the two detectives were crammed into the small living room. The mood was much less contentious but everyone seemed frustrated and overwhelmed, though the detectives were trying their best to hide it. A technician, wearing a department labeled polo, was set up at the kitchen table monitoring the phones and computer accounts for all three members of Emilia's family. He didn't seem to be gathering much quality information. Eddie couldn't shake the feeling that Rosa Martinez was linked somehow, even if it was unwittingly. It didn't take long for Eddie to read the room and realize that the detectives were coming up empty on the cause of the abduction.

The maroon vehicle was turning out to be a much better lead. The detectives were receiving text messages and phone calls updating them on surveillance footage and security camera feeds from the area at the time of the kidnapping. The latest was an image that showed an Empire Rent a Car logo on the bumper of the car.

Detective Gregory was eager to get the information about who rented the car that grabbed the little girl. Knowing he should stay with the family, because the "who" did this was only part of the puzzle. Most importantly was the "where", and if he was going to figure that out, he needed to stay here continuing to mine the family for information or wait for contact from the kidnappers. He was pleased to see that the young officer from yesterday had arrived. Already he remembered why he asked for her in the first place. Eddie had subtly brought over coffee for the little girl's parents and grandmother from the kitchen. She innately knew to put them at ease so they could share whatever they could think of.

Gregory motioned Eddie off to the side. "Any contact from Rosa?" he asked.

"No - would have let you know immediately," she assured him.

"Thanks... Listen, I've got a lead I need you to run down, then report back here. I am not sure who's involved yet, so give me your take on the rental agency staff as well. I requested the warrant for their complete rental records for the past 6 months. Wait while they pull them up and don't let them out of your sight while they print them out. Just in case, someone is tied up in all this from their end, I'm not taking any chances. I was surprised that the rental agency didn't call us themselves. This case has been all over the news. You'd think they would at least tell us they had a car matching that description and picture out on the road."

Eddie was immediately impressed. That was a fact she never even considered. Detective Gregory may have been a bit gruff the first time they met, but since then he had been quick to acknowledge the inroads Eddie had made with the family and was more than willing to use her to help solve the case. He was also sharing enough information to help her be her most effective. Eddie went back into the room and gently reminded Rosa and her family that everything possible was being done to bring Emelia home. She promised to check back in later with the family, but kept the nature of her departure between her and the detectives.