“Nothing. I walked the perimeter and nothing seems to be disturbed. The guy will be coming by today to put in the outdoor motion detectors.”
“Good. Call me if anything happens.” I turn to make my way to my truck. Driving all the way to work feels good. Getting back will be good also.
Once I get back behind my desk, I grab Lori’s file and see if there are any more notes that have been entered while I was away.
One more phone call, nothing traced back. I take out my phone and shoot a quick text to Mick.
What happened with Marissa?
His reply comes back fast.
Nothing happened with her. Why? Did she say something did?
His response makes me frown as I try to decipher his words.
Where are you?
This is obviously a conversation better had face to face.
On my way!
I throw my phone down, but then I see a message from Bella that came in while I was putting it down.
Missing you ;)
I smile at seeing her name. Two words from her and my whole day just got a little bit brighter.
Holding her all night. Waking up with her in my arms. Just being in her presence, it’s everything.
Miss you more. Hope you’re resting.
I’m still smiling when I hear whistling coming down the hall.
“Looks like you got that situation taken care of!” Mick says while he slides into his chair across from me. Our desks are connected in a small corner of the big office.
“So what’s the story?” I ask him, not even bothering to take the bait on his greeting.
“No story, nothing.” He leans back in his chair, folding his hands on his chest, but his eyes tell a different story.
“Where is she now?” I ask him, knowing he knows who I’m talking about.
“Got a job waitressing at the diner across the street. Phyllis owed me a favor. I cashed in.”
“You cashed in a favor for someone you don’t even like?”
“It was your fault she got fired, so technically I cashed in a favor so your ass wouldn’t feel guilty.” He points at me. “You’re welcome.”
I turn the subject around.
“Lori called again?”
“She did, same MO as before. Crying, asking for help, begging to come back. Lasted maybe a minute. Then nothing.” He sits back up. “I don’t like this shit. I think there is more than meets the eye here. Something else is going on. I just can’t pinpoint it,” he says, and I have to say I agree with him. This isn’t just another case of a teen running away to be with friends. There’s more to it. We just can’t see it.
“Where was she when she got the call this time?” I ask him, trying to see if maybe there is some other similarity to the last call, hoping to find a dot to connect.
“My house, having dinner.”
My eyebrow shoots up. “Your house having dinner? Do I have to say thank you for that one also?”
“Don’t make it out to be more than it is. She came by to thank me for getting her the job and putting in a good word with Phyllis.” He starts pulling papers out of a pile, pretending to be looking for something, but I know he’s just doing it to avoid making eye contact with me so I don’t see what he is hiding.
“Okay, so she came over to thank you. Did you fuck her?”
His head snaps up, an angry glare aimed at me.
“Watch it! I didn’t fuck her. I ordered food, we sat down, she got the call. She obviously freaked out, made a hole in my rug trying to get Lori to talk to her. The call ended, she calmed down, and then she left.”
“Just like that, she left? I saw her the last time Lori called. She couldn’t stop shaking. How long did it take her this time?” I know there is more to this story. I also know he’s evading my questions, and I want to know why.
“Sandie showed up. Ten minutes after the call.” He finally lets out the breath he has been holding. Shaking his head, he continues, “Raincoat, naked. Marissa saw and bolted, okay? There, now you got the story. She hasn’t talked to me since.”
“You know we need to go see her, right? You know we need to follow up?” I don’t need to tell him, but I do it anyway.
“I know,” he whispers then looks up. “I didn’t touch her. We just ate dinner. That’s it.”
“You don’t have to convince me of anything. I don’t think you would cross the line.”
He nods his head. “Another girl went missing two nights ago.” He thrusts the paper at me.
“What’s this one?” I ask him while studying the picture of the blond teenager in front of me.
“Name is Jessica, seventeen. Divorced parents. One week with the mother, one week with the father. Started hanging with a new guy on the scene. No one knows him. Just his name. Robbie. Met in secret every time. Not even her best friend knows him or what he looks like. Mother found a bag of weed, punished her for the week. She left to go to the father’s, but she never showed up there. He didn’t notice until she didn’t answer her mother two days later. Mother called the father. He said she texted him saying she was staying at her mom’s for a couple extra days. Phone goes straight to voicemail, and it appears the SIM card has been taken out since she had the ‘find my phone’ app open and now no one can trace her.”