Trix

by Kate Morris

  Hailee is every bit the whore as the others. She lies and sneaks around with her scumbag boyfriend behind her father’s back. She deserves everything she gets. She made the mistake of confessing this to me. Like myself, her outward appearance is something she’d carefully manipulated to appear as something to the public that she is not. Her teeth are the only perfect thing on her, just like my mother’s were, one of the only things I still vividly recall of her.

  Like most predators, I hadn’t needed to seek out my prey, even in my youth. My looks and my brain drew them in, just like it would do the same for you. You are no match. I could seduce an untried maiden like you within ten minutes and without the assistance of liquor. You are but a child in comparison to my vast, seductive skills. Then I’ll take you to my lair and fuck you senseless. You won’t enjoy it. When I have grown tired of you, I’ll pull every tooth from your pretty little head and carry a few around in my pocket so that I can reach in throughout my day and touch them without anyone being the wiser. I’ll see you soon, my little whore.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jack said. “Sick fuck.”

  Lorena nodded absentmindedly as her brain started processing the clues he’d just passed on, whether he’d done so on purpose or in the heat of the moment.

  “He’s saying he’s going to take you. He doesn’t say it as if he’s just thinking about it. He’s saying it like he’s already planning or planned it,” Jack noted aloud.

  “He knew her. She confessed her secret about the boyfriend and her controlling father. Did she go to a therapist?”

  “No, Liz said she didn’t.”

  Lorena shook her head and hopped down to examine their notes on the board, “Right, no therapist. Music teacher. Very small circle of friends. Not much family. Wasn’t a bad kid or a stripper. Didn’t do drugs. There’s a connection here somewhere, Jack. He knew Hailee. He knew her well enough that she trusted him and talked to him about her relationship with the secret boyfriend.”

  “And she trusted him not to tell her father,” Jack said in agreement.

  Lorena nodded again and then shook her head. “I don’t know who else she knew other than these people.”

  “School counselor?”

  She shook her head. “No, the feds already talked to them. The only one Hailee talked to at all this year was a woman, and that was about going to Brown. And she was like seventy or something.”

  “Yeah, here it is,” Jack said, looking through their paperwork.

  “What about a teacher?”

  Jack said, “No, there’s nothing anywhere about her being close with a teacher.”

  “Not even her art teacher? The girl loves art. Maybe…”

  “Nope. Her art teacher in school is a woman. Dead-end.”

  Lorena groaned. “It’s something. We’re missing it. I think she willingly went somewhere with this bastard without the use of force. She even felt comfortable leaving her house with him and leaving her phone on the counter. Teenagers never do that. It tells me she thought she was coming right back.”

  “What about a beloved uncle, one her step-mother tried to keep her away from?”

  Lorena looked up from her notepad and caught the intensity of Jack’s stare. It was time to drive to their meeting with Uncle Christof.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Jack

  He drove them north toward their meeting, and Lorena’s phone rang.

  “Hey, honey,” she said. “Let me put you on speaker. I’m with Jack.”

  “Hi, Jack!” Grace exclaimed. “Catch the bad-guy yet?”

  “We’re close, kid,” he told her, hoping it was true.

  “Good, you guys need to come home,” she said as if there was something she needed to tell them.

  “We’re hoping to leave soon, Grace,” Lorena told her.

  “Good! ‘Cuz Keagan has a new boyfriend,” she informed them. “I got to meet him. He’s really nice. Plays the guitar in a band. Keagan said I could go with her some night and watch!”

  “Oh, she did?” Lorena asked.

  Jack laughed because he knew that she wouldn’t allow that.

  “What’s this jackass’s name?” he asked, his mood switching to angry that Keagan hadn’t talked to him about this yet.

  Grace giggled loudly and said, “Jack! He’s not a…jerk. He’s really cool. He has a lot of tattoos. He even has his ear pierced. Hint hint, Aunt Lo!”

  “You can pierce your ears when you turn eighteen and are in charge of yourself, young lady,” she said, glancing at Jack and rolling her eyes.

  “Whatevs!” she said loudly. “We’re going to an Irish festival with your mom, Jack. She wants me to go with her and the sisters and their kids. I’m so excited. I’ve never been to an Irish festival before.”

  “That’s because we’re not Irish,” Lorena pointed out.

  “Maybe you’ll get home in time to go. We’re going in three days.”

  Jack didn’t miss the bare hopefulness in her small voice.

  “That would be great, sweetie,” Lorena said.

  He also didn’t miss the depression in Lorena’s.

  “Well, hurry up and come home! There’s so much you guys are missing!”

  Lorena disconnected with her niece after telling her twice that she loved her. Jack could hear the melancholy in her voice. The call had left her in the dumps. He was starting to feel a little homesick, too.

  He pulled in to the Heathman Lodge where he parked under the guest canopy since it was raining again. Lorena was already sick; he didn’t want her to catch pneumonia, too.

  “Ready for this?” Jack asked as he walked with her into the hotel. It was a rustic, lovely chateau-style hotel with a lot of wood- paneled walls and a cozy atmosphere. The hostess in the restaurant showed them to a booth in a dark corner where Victor’s brother was waiting for them. “Mr. Neumann, thank you for meeting us.”

  “Not a problem,” he said, his cool blue eyes scanning Lorena carefully.

  “We just have a few questions for you about your niece, and then we’ll leave you to it,” Lorena explained and slid into the booth first.

  “My niece is missing, Detectives,” he said and took a drink of the amber liquid in his glass tumbler, “I want to do whatever I can to help.”

  “When was the last time you saw Hailee?” Lorena asked.

  Jack sat back and let her lead the interrogation. Men usually warmed up to her a lot faster than they did to him.

  “Let me think,” he said, pulled out his phone and began scrolling. “I saw her the day before she went missing. I think it was a Tuesday.”

  “That was not mentioned by her father or step-mother,” Lorena said, leading him to answer.

  “I don’t know why they would’ve. I was in town for a meeting with my brother and stopped over at Hailee’s school to take her out for lunch.”

  “Really?” Lorena questioned. “And then what?”

  “I took her back and dropped her afterward.”

  “Did you see her again before she was abducted the next day?”

  He sighed, “No, I’m afraid not. I wish I would’ve been there at the house, but I had to leave after our lunch. I had a meeting here in Vancouver at four.”

  “At a company?”

  “Yes, Centron. They’re handling our new websites and online retail business.”

  “Did you drive back down the next day and see her or the rest of your family?”

  “No, I caught an early flight to Houston for business.”

  He took her to lunch the day before, though. If he was lying and took her to lunch the day of her abduction, that gave him a three-hour window of time from when he saw her at the school, took her to lunch, and back to the school and then went back to her house and abducted her. They’d need to get verification on that meeting in Vancouver and him signing her out at the school to take her to lunch the day before. They’d also need to verify that he left Vancouver for Houston and didn’t go to her house the day of Hailee’s abduc
tion.

  “Before that day when you took her to lunch, when was the last time you saw her?” Lorena asked.

  He scanned his phone calendar again, “Here, I saw her about seven weeks ago when I was in town visiting with my brother on business.”

  Jack could only imagine what that business entailed, but he kept his opinions to himself.

  “Did she seem agitated or upset by anything or anyone?”

  He smiled, a broad, white, wolfish smile, “Just the opposite actually. I took her to have her braces removed. She was ecstatic, in a great mood, really.”

  “Why’d you take her?”

  “Elizabeth had another appointment, and Victor was busy at the office. I was in town, like I said, so I took her.”

  “What time of day was that?”

  “Around one in the afternoon if I remember correctly. Like I said, I was in town. I volunteered to pick her up at school since my sister-in-law was busy meeting with a client at her gallery.”

  “Other than being happy about the braces thing, did she seem upset, maybe about a boyfriend or someone else?”

  “Not that I can recall,” he said. “And my niece doesn’t have a boyfriend, never has. My brother doesn’t allow it. I don’t blame him, really. If Hailee were my daughter, I wouldn’t want her dating, either.”

  “Why not? She’s certainly old enough to date.”

  “Not in my opinion. She should focus on school and getting into the right college. Boys would only distract her.”

  “But lots of kids date and still make it on to college after high school.”

  “You don’t know Hailee like I do.”

  “Explain that to me, please,” Lorena requested softly.

  He sighed and said, “Hailee is innocent. She’s not like other girls. She doesn’t get herself into trouble, she always listens to my brother’s wishes, and never disobeys him or Elizabeth. She’s a perfect angel.”

  “Would it surprise you if I told you that Hailee did have a boyfriend?”

  Jack wasn’t so sure she should’ve told him that because he’d likely go straight to Victor, but, then again, the girl’s life was at stake. He also figured Lorena was trying to gauge his reaction. It was precisely what he’d expected, too. Christof’s mouth dropped slightly opened, and his eyes narrowed. It seemed like more than just the concern of an endearing uncle, though.

  “What?” he asked on a hiss, the rise in his temper exposed.

  He seemed disturbed and, if Jack were guessing correctly, jealous.

  “I’m…I’m quite sure you’re wrong,” he stammered. “Hailee would never.”

  “She would and did,” Lorena said. “He’s a good kid. Maybe from the poorer section of the city, but he’s kind and cares a lot about her.”

  “What?” he swore again. “Who is this boy?”

  “Oh, he’s not a boy. He’s twenty-one, has a good job with his father in the HVAC business and really big plans to follow Hailee east when she goes to school.”

  Christof said nothing, but Jack could see that he was about to lose his shit. Lorena just kept right on going.

  “Do you know of anyone who would’ve been obsessed with her? Anyone who would’ve wanted her for themselves?”

  “What?” he asked when he finally realized that she was still speaking to him. “No. No one. Hailee was…”

  “A good girl, right? A perfect angel?”

  “Of course,” he asserted.

  He stared Lorena down with angry eyes and took another long swallow of his drink, draining it. Then he snapped his fingers to gain the attention of the server, who appeared a second later. Jack ordered a Coke for himself and a hot tea for Lorena. He wanted Christof to realize they were going to be with him for a while. The man was rattled. Jack wanted to keep him that way.

  “So, if Hailee wasn’t the perfect girl, what was she?” Lorena poked as their drinks were delivered. She stirred a dollop of honey into her hot tea and took a leisurely sip.

  “She’s still perfect,” he said.

  Jack could swear the man was getting hot under the collar.

  “What happened the day of her dentist appointment?”

  “I already told you that,” he snapped.

  Beside him, Lorena jumped just slightly. Then she waited for his response.

  “There was a big ceremony or a celebratory kind of atmosphere at her dentist appointment. When kids get their braces off, the whole staff congratulates them and gives them a goodie bag of treats they couldn’t eat while they were in braces like hard candy and popcorn. I don’t know. It was silly to me, but Hailee thought it was great. She even called the staff by their first names.”

  “That’s awfully personal,” Lorena said.

  “Well, she was in braces for a long time. Before she left Portland, too. Then her teeth went crooked again, and she had to get them put back on in California. I kept telling her to wear her retainer. She never listened, and then she ended up back in braces.”

  “Straight teeth are important, though,” Lorena said quietly, waiting for his answer to this.

  Jack noticed that Christof had very white, straight teeth, as well. Of course, he lived in California where superficial appearances were a sign of a person’s character, instead of the focus being on what was on the inside.

  “They are. They’re essential. Her dentist warned her to keep that retainer in every night this time. She laughed and gave him a hug. I thought it was very inappropriate, but I didn’t say anything. No doctor should be hugging their patients, and I didn’t like the way he looked at her. Creepy old bastard.”

  Christof definitely felt possessive of his niece, more than Jack did of his own and in a very different way. He could clearly see what Liz had told him about. Jack was starting to think that Christof had a romantic attachment to his own niece. He didn’t actually seem upset that his niece hugged her dentist. He seemed like a jealous, obsessed boyfriend. It showed in his mannerisms and body language.

  “You took her home and what?”

  The man was becoming unraveled, “Yes, I took her home. Then we waited for my brother and his wife to come home.”

  “What’d you do while you waited? Did she take any phone calls from anyone during that time?”

  He knew Lorena wasn’t really asking about Hailee’s calls to time stamp her whereabouts or clues into her personal life. They already knew just about everything they needed to know about her. She was trying to draw him out. Under the table, Jack had already sent a text to Trix just to test if Christof’s phone buzzed. It didn’t. Somewhere else in the restaurant, someone got a text or an email alert because a phone beeped loudly. That was pretty normal. It was, after all, the digital age, and the restaurant was crowded with patrons, probably ninety percent of which were on their gadgets. The test texts they’d been sending when they were questioning men were usually just random thoughts that made it seem as if Lorena wanted to talk to him more about herself. He never answered any yet. Jack wasn’t sure if it was because he realized they were doing something nefarious, or if he was not in a position at that time to answer. If he had a family, as Lorena suspected, then it would make answering a woman’s random text difficult. Same as if he was at work at the time of the text.

  “She was on her phone some. I assumed she was talking to her friends from school,” he said with a scowl of self-doubt.

  Then he got quiet. Jack knew he was wondering if Hailee had been talking to her boyfriend, which he hadn’t known existed before ten minutes ago.

  “Probably her boyfriend, now that we know,” Jack jabbed, watching the man’s expression sour even more.

  “What then, after she made calls?” Lorena asked.

  “I just bought a boat, so I sat with her and showed her the pictures of it on my phone. She was excited to see it in person. She wanted to come down to see it before she goes away to college in the fall. I told her I’d take her up the coast in it if she came to see it this coming summer.”

  “Would she stay with you if
she did that?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t she?”

  “By yourselves? Doesn’t that seem… I don’t know, inappropriate?” she asked, using his words against him.

  “It’s hardly inappropriate; she’s my niece,” Christof said and cleared his throat. “Of course, after Victor married Elizabeth, she wouldn’t allow Hailee to come down to California by herself. She thought she was too young.”

  That wasn’t all Elizabeth thought of the Christof situation. Jack had the urge to punch Victor’s brother even more than he wanted to pound Victor. He had a sick feeling that her uncle had molested her or that he wanted to. He really hoped he was wrong for Hailee’s sake. He needed to talk to Elizabeth again.

  “So, what was the nature of your relationship with your niece?” Jack asked.

  “She was my niece. What do you mean?”

  “When they lived in California near you, did you see Hailee more often?” Jack questioned.

  “Yes, of course,” Christof said.

  “Go to the beach together?” Jack asked.

  “Sometimes,” he answered.

  Lorena jumped in and asked, “Did you take a lot of pictures of your niece?”

  “Some. I took pictures of the whole family. I like photography. What are you getting at, Detective?” he asked with hostility and glared at Lorena.

  “I know about your ex-wife and the multiple assault charges you’ve had against you,” Lorena said.

  “What does that have to do with my missing niece? I thought you wanted my help finding her,” he said with outrage. “I met with you because I’m trying to help you.”

  “Do you get along with Hailee’s step-mother Elizabeth?” Lorena asked.

  Jack could tell Christof was grinding his teeth together.

  “Elizabeth is not Hailee’s mother, although she likes to think she is.”

  “Would you say that you don’t particularly like her then?”

  “Elizabeth? She’s fine, I guess. I don’t have to like her. I’m not married to her.”

  Jack jumped in to ask, “Did you know that Elizabeth was having an affair with your brother when she was still married to someone else?”