“Ladies, let’s go. There’s a life…” He caught himself before he said too much.
Thoughts going back to the missing girl, we sobered up fast, and Jackie and I scooted toward the door.
Piper called after us, “Hey, God speed.” Then she winked at Charles. He winked back.
37
Charles was snappier than usual when we got back to the office, so Jackie and I decided to leave him alone with Gemma, who was still sulking.
Normally Gemma would be in on the case, but I needed her to pick up the slack on other clients and cases. I’d left her a long list of tasks, so she’d be busy, and not completely left out.
Jackie had wanted to keep Catey’s improprieties between us. She was embarrassed enough that we were involved.
“How long before Catey gets out of school?” I asked.
“Now, as far as I’m concerned. I let her get away with not telling me everything.” Jackie sniffed her armpits. “I should probably shower, but I want to get to the bottom of this. I don’t smell like a homeless person yet, so do you want to come with me?”
“Shouldn’t you two work this out in private?” I really wanted to go.
“You were with her when she started her period. It doesn’t get much more private than that.” Jackie grabbed me by the arm. “Let’s go.”
I snagged my handbag as I let her drag me out of the office.
“Besides, I may need you for moral support. You always were able to be a bit blunter about things than I was.” Jackie waited at the passenger door to the Land Rover.
I guess I was driving. “Ouch, that kinda stings.”
Jackie got in the car and said, “It wasn’t a slight. I wish I could speak more bluntly to my kids. It’s just that, I don’t know, I guess it’s harder to talk to your own kids than it is to someone else’s.”
I understood what she meant. Not many parents got jazzed about the idea of talking to their kids about sex and drugs.
As I drove toward the school, I said, “I’ll just be a fly on the wall.”
Jackie laughed hard. “That’ll be the day.”
“That stung, too.”
I sat in the driver’s seat and waited at the loading zone while Jackie went into the school to get Catey. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song on my CD. I was so into it that I jumped when I heard the tapping on my window.
I rolled down the window. “Are you following me?”
Nick smiled. “Maybe.”
Damn, he looked good. He’d changed clothes and was wearing a white T-shirt with a navy sweater vest. Not many men can pull off this look, but Nick could. I remained casual, though my heart was thumping. “What’s up?”
“What are you doing right now?” He leaned in closer to the window.
“You do know there’s this thing called a cell phone, right? You could’ve just called me.” But I was really glad to have him there in the flesh.
“Yeah, I know. But I was driving down this street and saw your car. Are you busy?”
So it was random, he wasn’t following me. I felt much better that he just happened to see my car.
“I’m waiting for Jackie. She decided to take Catey out of school and have a talk with her now. Being that time is of the essence, she wants to know if anything Catey knows will help the missing girl.”
“We don’t even know that the two are related,” Nick said.
“But if they are, this can only help.” I looked past Nick and saw Jackie walking out of the administration building with Catey in tow.
Nick looked back, following my gaze. “I’ll leave you be. Can you call me later tonight? I’d really like to talk.”
Really? Seriously? We hadn’t spoken in months until this incident, and now he wanted me to call? “You have my number. Call me later if you aren’t too busy.”
Nick grinned and stepped away from the window. Jackie and Catey walked up as Nick turned and walked away. He looked back and waved, but didn’t talk to them.
I slammed my hand down on my steering wheel. “Damn.”
“What’s the matter, Aunt Mimi?” Catey climbed in shotgun.
Jackie got in the back seat. I immediately saw her strategy. I was such a sucker.
“Nothing. I’m just being stupid.” I rubbed my wrist where I’d hit the steering wheel with the little bone that sticks out.
“Yeah, boys will do that to a girl.” Catey looked over her shoulder at her mom.
I put the car in gear and started driving.
Jackie piped up right away. “Speaking of boys, or men, as the case may be--”
Catey whined, “Mom? Really? Here?”
Jackie snapped. “Yes, here. And your Aunt Mimi is here to be sure I don’t let you pull one over on me again.”
“Pull one over? What does that even mean?” Catey said, now whining even more.
I could see Jackie bracing herself. “Remember how we talked yesterday about being careful with the people you talk to online, and who you let have your phone number?”
“I told you I’d be more careful. And I’m sorry I was so secretive, but I promise I’m done with that.” Catey turned in her seat and was leaning against the passenger door.
“Well, what I didn’t tell you is that the boy you’ve been texting and chatting with sent you a pic of his penis.”
“What? How would you even know that?” Catey snapped.
“I had your phone, remember?” Jackie didn’t back off from the barrage she knew would come.
“You said you changed your mind, that you trusted me, Mom!”
“Oh, stop with the whining already!” I pointed to Catey. “You chill.” Then to Jackie, I said, “You just zip it for a moment.”
They both looked stunned, but did as I said.
“Yes, Catey, we saw your laptop and your cell phone. So what if some of the texts were a bit racy? You thought the guy was seventeen, after all. I mean, if I’d have had a cell phone when I was your age - okay, well, we won’t go there.”
Catey’s eyes welled with tears, but I kept going while I was on a roll.
“Do you understand that predators like this William Garrison guy are doing this to more than just one girl?”
Catey shook her head. “What does Anna Garrison’s dad have to do with any of this?”
I looked at Jackie. Had I said too much?
Catey sniffled and wiped at her tears. “What is she talking about, Mom?”
Jackie sat up. “The supposed boy you were sexting? Honey, that boy was actually Mr. Garrison.”
Catey’s face lost all color. “Are you two nuts? Mr. Garrison is Anna’s dad.”
“I know who he is, I mean, was,” Jackie said.
“Was?”
“Let me cut in again. I’m just going to say it, not sugarcoat it. Catey, you are a big girl and you need to know how the real world works.” I was ready to dump a load on this poor girl.
“Huh?”
“William Garrison, Anna’s dad, was pretending to be this Dylan boy you’ve been texting, or more like sexting, and chatting with online. He’s not only prowling after you, but also other young girls.”
Catey went from no color to green. “You mean that cute boy wasn’t really a cute boy?” She looked at her mom as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Catey, sweetie, I know you were at the house. Did you actually see Mr. Garrison?” I needed to get more information before she completely broke down.
“No, I never met with Dylan. I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t text or call him. I remembered his street name, but not the address.” She sniffed. “When I told Anna I was meeting him, she freaked out. She said talking and texting was one thing, but meeting a total stranger all by myself was stupid.”
“It is,” I said.
“I thought Anna was stupid. Oh my gosh, she knew. I think she knew. Anytime I talked about Dylan, she’d act all weird.” Catey shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I thought she was just jealous.”
&
nbsp; Jackie sank back into the seat. Her little girl was growing up, and she was learning the hard way. “Okay.”
Before this got into territory where a teen was telling me more about sex than I already knew, I spoke up. “I need to know exactly what happened up until your mom took your phone. Every detail.”
Catey stiffened. “No way, it’s so embarrassing.”
I leaned in and spoke low. “Embarrassing or not, I need every last detail. There’s a girl missing. She’s your age, and she may be one of William’s victims.”
Catey’s eyes went wide. “Really? No. This can’t be.”
I didn’t budge. “Every last detail.” Then I sat back in my seat, and waited for Catey to speak.
She took a deep breath. “Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning, from the first contact. I need to know how this works.” I pulled a recorder from my pocket.
“What the hell?” Only it was Jackie protesting, not Catey.
“I’m going to record this. I don’t want to miss any details when we give the information to the police. You can use names, or not, but I need to be recording.” I lifted the recorder a bit as if asking, “Okay?”
Catey said, “I’m fine with the recorder, but,” she looked into the back seat again, “Mom, will you be okay with hearing the details? Knowing how stupid your daughter is?”
Jackie reached forward and put her hand on Catey’s shoulder. “Sweetie, you aren’t stupid. These creeps who do this, they are good at it. They have lots of practice, and years of honing their skills.”
Catey shook her head. “I was so naïve.”
“So let’s get started, from the beginning.” I pushed record.
“He first friended me on this site I’m always on. We started chatting, and he liked the same music I liked. He even posted videos of my favorite bands, and linked them to me. I was flattered. I mean, no guy had even taken that kind of time to be interested in me and my music.
“Then he sent me a book, via email, an eBook. It was Twilight. He said when he read it, all he could think of was us together.” Catey cringed. “Oh God, that should have been a clue. Edward is like 300 years old, and Bella is still in high school. Creepy.”
Jackie asked, “Did you read the book?”
“I’d already read it, but I thought it was so cool that he liked it, too. Even though I wasn’t a crazed fan, I did like the story. And it just went like that for a while. Next thing I know, I gave him my cell number and we were texting.” She pulled out her phone and looked at it.
“So you never talked?” I asked.
“No, I don’t like talking on the phone that much. It’s so much easier to text, so I’d never heard his voice. But I saw all of the pictures on his page, and knew he was cute. All of his friends were cute, too. There were pictures of him with his dog, and you know how I love dogs.”
“Fine, if you promise to never look at another male, I’ll get you a dog,” Jackie relented, well, sort of.
Catey laughed. “I don’t want a dog. Not right now, anyway.”
“So,” I said.
“So we texted each other for weeks. He was so sweet, and we had so much in common. Then in the last week, it got a little, I don’t know, sexy.” She looked at us both, pointedly. “You saw the texts.”
“Yes, we did,” I admitted. “But were you just playing along, or did you really mean those things?”
Catey thought for a moment. “Both, I guess.” She hesitated. “I mean, I really wanted him to like me, want me.”
Jackie spoke very low. “Oh, Catey.”
Catey groaned. “I know, Mom.” She started fidgeting with her book bag.
“He invited you to his house?”
“At first, it was just the joking texts. Then he called me.”
“So you talked to him?”
Catey looked at Jackie like she’d lost her mind. “No. I just texted him back. But then I started deleting the texts. And he was calling from a different number than the texts. I didn’t want him to hear how young I sound.”
“What happened when he invited you over?”
Catey crossed her arms again. “It was all innocent. He said he had a bad cold, could I come over and keep him company. He said his mom was out of town, and he was too sick to even make himself some soup. I said I’d be happy to come over and take care of him.”
“When was this?”
Catey breathed deep. “Yesterday morning, before Mom took my phone. I was pissed off because I had to let him know I couldn’t come by until later because I had a test that morning. And since Mom had my phone, I couldn’t text him.”
“So how did you end up at his house?” I was so curious how this psycho worked.
Catey sighed again. “I borrowed Alyssa’s phone, but I couldn’t remember Dylan’s, I mean, the number.”
I looked at Jackie to see her reaction. “So you weren’t at the school when your mom got there?”
“I’m sure I was, I never left. Really.” Catey looked at her mom, who gave no reaction.
I had to admit, Jackie was being very calm about all of this. I knew it was killing her. It was killing me, and Catey wasn’t even my kid.
“Anyway, he said he was really sick, and wanted some soup. So of course, I wanted to actually go see him. It was sort of exciting. I mean, if he was sick, we couldn’t make out or anything, but at least I’d get to see him in person.” Catey put her head in her hands and rubbed her face.
“I need some air.” Jackie opened the car door and got out of the car.
“Mom wasn’t really working on a case last night, was she?” Catey said through her hands.
“Nope.” I rubbed Catey’s back. “She was in jail.”
Catey’s head snapped up. “Jail? What?”
“Before we go there, I need to know what happened when you got to the house.” I was pretty sure I’d lost her, but she answered.
“I never got to the house. I was telling Anna I wanted to go, but she talked me out of it.” Catey sighed and rubbed her face again.
I thought of the picture with Catey and her friend on the mantle. If she’d gone in the house, she’d know William was Anna’s dad.
“Anna never said she thought Dylan was someone else?”
“No, but she was really weird about it.”
“Do you think she knew her dad was a predator?”
“She’s the one who introduced us online.”
I didn’t know what to say about this. Could Anna know about her dad?
Jackie opened the door and climbed in the back seat again. Her color was better now. She breathed in deep, but didn’t say anything.
Catey looked at her mom, and continued, “Anna’s parents are divorced. He only has supervised visits. But he’s friends with Anna on our social page, so I know what he looks like.”
“And do you know why he only had supervised visits?” Jackie asked.
Irritated, Catey snapped, “I don’t know. Anna and I don’t talk about our parents that much. We have more important things on our minds.”
I had to laugh.
They both turned to look at me, as if they forgot I was there.
“William Garrison was pretending to be a seventeen-year-old boy. He’s a predator,” I explained. Then to Jackie, I said, “Do you think he found his victims through his daughter’s social pages?”
Catey looked to her mom for confirmation.
Jackie nodded.
Catey suddenly pushed past Jackie and bolted out of the car. Once out, she paced the sidewalk. I could see a jerking movement in her chest. Through the sobbing, I thought I heard her say, “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
Jackie got out of the car and held her daughter. “Honey, I know this is hard. But there’s a problem. William is dead, and there’s a girl missing. We aren’t sure if they’re related. If she was one of the girls William was stalking, we need to find her.”
In a heartbeat, Catey was no longer crying. She no longer heaved. Wiping
her eyes, she asked, “Is the girl’s name Tiffany?”
38
As much as I didn’t want to call Nick, I needed to know more about the girl that disappeared. Was her name Tiffany? Did she go to the same school as Catey?
We got her back in the car, and I took Jackie and Catey straight home. I’d come get Jackie in the morning if she wanted to come to work. For now, she needed to be with her daughter. This was a lot for a young teen to process. On the way home, Catey kept saying, “I really thought I was smarter than that.”
She was a smart girl, but this guy had years to hone his “craft.” My head was spinning as I drove away from their house. I grabbed my phone and hit the speed dial button. Don’t judge me; I know Nick’s number shouldn’t be in my speed dial.
“Hey, Mimi.” Nick sounded genuinely happy to hear from me.
“We really need to talk.” I didn’t sound as happy, as I was really starting to feel ill.
“I’m working this missing person case,” Nick said. “Maybe later tonight?”
“I’m in my car. Where are you? We really need to talk, like now.”
Exasperated, Nick said, “Mimi, can’t it wait? There is a girl’s life at stake here.”
“It’s about the girl. Is her name Tiffany?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “What did Charles tell you?”
I’d been holding my breath. “Charles didn’t tell me, Catey did.”
Nick’s tone turned urgent. “Meet me at your house. How soon can you get there?”
“I’m just pulling into my driveway.”
Nick must have gone lights and siren, because he was jogging up my front lawn before I got to the door.
“What’s going on?” Nick called as he approached.
“Come on in. I’ll make some coffee.” I opened the door and went straight to the kitchen.
I had some gourmet beans I’d ground that morning, so I scooped them into the coffee maker and added filtered water. Looking across the counter, I saw the bottle of wine Sebastian and I had shared the night before, and I smiled for a moment, forgetting the present reality.
Nick came behind me, breaking my moment of peace. “So?”
“Jackie and I talked with Catey. We asked her what happened, and she told us everything. When we told her about the missing girl, she asked if her name was Tiffany.”
Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery Box Set Page 30
