Day 3 - Billy.

Johnny spent the next morning with Sally's parents and Billy. He was chafing to begin the hunt but found it impossible to just drop in, say 'hi', and leave. The FBI had, of course, interviewed them at great length but Johnny asked them to go through it all again, hoping to pry out a nuance, a feeling, anything that might give him a lead.

It was Billy that gave him his first clue. "She said she was going to call you," he told his father. "Something about seeing a ghost." After careful questioning, Billy was able to narrow the time frame to a week before her disappearance. The Boy Scout volunteered to carry the information back to the hive and Johnny sat down to lunch with the family.

After lunch he and Sally's dad took Billy to a nearby park where they flew a kite, tossed a baseball, and generally re-connected. Johnny recognized that the grandfather was doing it as much for Johnny as for Billy, and was grateful. Left alone with the boy, he would have not known where to start.

Mark Henley found them in the park. Johnny hugged Billy, promised him he was going to find his Mom, and went back to work.

Henley told him that around the time of the ghost comment, Sally had pulled two files. They were unrelated to her current cases. She had added no notes to them, and had returned them to Central with no other actions. Henley had brought copies. 

Johnny sat in the car and read the files and thought for a bit. "Have the guys re-look at Sally's open cases. Somewhere she saw sumtin that set her on this search. Have them scour the areas  she's been with a fine-tooth comb. She woulda left sumtin' for us, a clue or sumtin'.  These two are very bad guys. Some of the worst I've seen. But if she had found 'em, she wouldda called in the cavalry. She wouldn't take off after them on her own. Sumtin' ain't right."

Then he told the boy scout to take him to the airport.

"Morgan wants you to come back to headquarters," Henley told him.

"I can't solve the case by sittin' on my ass drinkin' coffee," Johnny replied.

Henley grinned, "He said you would say that. Where we going?"

Johnny noted the 'we' but let it go. The kid might be useful. "We gotta find a guy in California."