by PJ Fernor
“Something?”
“I don’t know. Just… something. I never trusted him. Then I got pregnant. We got married. I wanted to have this happy, normal life. And it never was that. Ever. And when it got tough, he just demands I leave. He wouldn’t let me take anything. He fights me on everything with Jessie. Like he’s always hiding something. If you want to know the whole story, there’s a little bit of money on his side of the family. And if he thinks I won’t go after it… or more…”
Cat looked a little crazy.
I had no idea who I believed more or less at that point.
I sighed. “I’m going to need proof of everything, Cat.”
“I just told you.”
“I need a name,” I said. “I need to confirm everything. I need proof that you were with someone that night. I need the place. The time. Everything.”
“If Connor finds out that I was paying someone to follow him…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, Cat,” I said. “Whatever this is between you and Connor is not my problem. I need to find Jessie. And if you can’t get me proof of where you were and the time, then I’ll have to look into you even more. And if I do that and you are innocent, think about all the time wasted again.”
“Right,” Cat said. “I have his card. Jeremy. That’s his name.”
I exited the room and held the card between my fingers.
Ben raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Did you have your guy talk?”
“Quickly,” Ben said. “Story seems true enough. The messages and texts and calls match up.”
“Call the restaurant too,” I said. “And then call the number on this card.”
“Why?”
“Cat hired a private investigator to follow Connor. That’s where she was the night Jessie went missing.”
Ben’s jaw dropped. “Just how messed up can this thing get?”
I shook my head. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
Chapter Twenty
The day treated me to blow after blow.
Connor and Cat had lied about their whereabouts originally. There were skeletons in each of their closets and those doors were going to be opened whether they liked it or not.
I tried to figure out the reasoning for one of them to kidnap their own daughter.
What did they do with her? To her? Was she alive? If so, where was she?
There were no records of either Connor or Cat owning property other than the house that was now solely in Connor’s name.
I hated sitting at a desk, hitting a keyboard, so I made a list and gave it to Ben to give to whoever handled the work.
I drove through Sandemor, chasing down memories and doing my best to forget them.
There was an aura in the town.
A scared aura.
Everyone looked skittish.
Rightfully so.
My instinct told me to question everyone.
Someone had to have seen something.
There was a vehicle involved in this.
Someone kidnapped Jessie.
My mind said to get to the dance studio. Ben said they were there last night.
I didn’t care.
I needed to see it with my own eyes.
A mile away, Ben called me.
“Two things,” he said without a hello.
“I’m listening,” I said. “I’m on my way to the dance studio.”
“Yeah, well, turn it around and come back here.”
“Why?”
“So far the search parties have found nothing,” Ben said. “Not one clue.”
“It’s early enough…”
“Check your watch, Allie,” Ben said. “You need to keep better track of time.”
Shoot.
Lo was going to be home soon.
The day had flown right by.
More hours with Jessie missing.
And still no answers.
“Okay,” I said. “As long as they want to keep searching, let them. What else do you have for me?”
“It’s why you need to come back here. Or not. Your choice.”
“Ben…”
“The new alibis completely check out,” he said.
I went silent.
I sat at a red light after it turned green.
The car behind me beeped.
I started to drive.
“Allie?” Ben asked.
“Let me get back to the station before I go home to see Lo,” I said.
I ended the call and threw my phone to the passenger seat.
One thing I learned a long time ago was to not let any personal emotion get involved. That meant when you were both right and wrong. A part of me secretly wished to blow up one or both of Connor and Cat’s new alibis and then begin to push at them harder.
Maybe that wasn’t the case now.
No matter what, I couldn’t escape my own thoughts on the ride back to the station.
I found Ben in my office, sitting in my squeaky, ready-to-collapse chair.
“Show me,” I said.
“Connor’s story,” Ben said. He flicked a few papers at me. “I called Stephanie. It checks out. They were on a date. Everything she said matched. She was shocked to find out he had a daughter and was divorced. I guess he told her he was some fancy businessman and was never married. I called over to Smith’s and they were able to confirm Connor there. I know the manager and there’s security. We’re welcome to go see it in person but he told me it was Connor.”
“I’m not completely sold, but go on,” I said.
“Now for Cat…” Ben shook his head. “Her PI is legit. Jeremy Ragniowitz. He’s called Rag… or The Sauce Man… a few other dumb nicknames. But he’s legit. He’s a little slimy. Probably took advantage of Cat based on her situation. He said she came referred through another client. He’s not keen on giving up names and information. Except he documents everything. Accurately. He has record of him and Cat meeting the night Jessie went missing.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “We can push at him for more proof. Same with Connor. But this checks out, Allie. I’m sorry. They’re just two divorced people unsure of how to live. Connor was looking to lie about his life to have a night of fun. And Cat is obsessed with finding something out about her ex.”
“Doesn’t that alarm you?”
“Yeah, it does,” Ben said. “But does it have anything to do with Jessie going missing? I’m not sure.”
I opened my mouth and my phone started to beep.
It was a text from Lo.
“Bad news?” Ben asked.
“Lo,” I said. “Wants to know if I’ll be home.”
“You should be home when she gets there,” Ben said.
I looked at Ben.
He stood up and showed his hands.
“I need to go to the studio,” I said. “I need a look around for myself.”
“Then let’s do that in a little bit. Swing by the apartment and see Lo. Eat a snack with her. Tell her you’re headed out for some work. I’m sure by now the news has spread…”
My heart sank even more.
Lo knows about Jessie.
“Go,” Ben said.
My face must have been pale.
I wanted to confess to Ben that I couldn’t do this.
Not the case… but Lo…
I hurried out of the station to meet Lo at the apartment.
The alibis checked out on both parents.
But that didn’t mean they didn’t have something to do with Jessie’s disappearance. How about at the very least, negligence?
That wasn’t going to bring her back though.
I pulled into my parking spot at the apartment and before I got to the main building door, Lo was dropped off by a friend.
When she saw me, she looked sad.
Really sad.
She ran toward me and I was ready for whatever was going to happen. I saw her as little Lo comi
ng in for a big hug.
Instead, Lo stopped and blinked fast.
“Did you find that little girl?” she asked.
My heart sank again.
“Not yet, Lo. We’re working on it.”
“Then why are you here? You should find her.”
“I’m going to find her,” I said. “I wanted to meet you here. You texted me…”
“You could have told me what was happening,” she said. “That you were working on it. Did you leave to meet me here?”
“Of course,” I said. “I didn’t want you coming home alone.”
“You didn’t care before,” she said.
She opened the door and hurried up to the apartment.
I chased after her, right into our apartment.
I saw Miss Kesslier and she touched her cheeks. “How about that little girl going missing?”
“Not right now,” I said as I went into the apartment and shut the door.
Lo threw her bag on the table and spun around.
“I’m going to find her,” I said. “I wanted to see you first. See how your day was. I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay if I left for a while. I’ll make sure Miss Kesslier knows. She offered to help…”
“Then go,” Lo said. “That girl is missing. I took dance at that same studio. What if…”
I walked toward Lo. “No, no, no, Lo. Don’t think like that. This is… it’s… it’s going to be okay. Her situation…”
“Someone took her,” Lo said. “Kidnapped her.”
Lo looked around.
“You’re safe here,” I said. “I promise. You’re safe here. Text me every minute if you have to.”
“I can’t believe you showed up here,” Lo said. “What if that little girl is hurt? And you’re here with me…”
Lo grabbed her bag off the table and hurried into her bedroom.
She slammed the door.
My head started to spin.
I reached for my phone and called Ben without blinking once.
If I’m not here, I’m the bad guy. If I show up, I’m the bad guy. Where’s my niece gone to? The girl that used to love me…
“Allie,” Ben said, taking my call.
“Ben,” I said.
My voice cracked.
I cleared my throat.
“What’s up?”
“I got here… Lo is here… everything is…”
“Right,” he said. “Good. Take your time. I’m just going through-”
“Ben,” I said, cutting him off.
My eyes stared at Lo’s door.
I took a deep breath.
“Are you okay over there?” Ben asked in his classic soothing voice that helped heal my heart so many times when Tommy broke it.
I shook my head.
Ben obviously couldn’t see that.
“Allie?” he asked.
I finally blinked.
And answered him.
“Meet me at the dance studio where Jessie was last seen.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The dance studio was a single-story, ugly tan building with cracked sidewalks, a front set of steps led to the front door and a side door with a wheelchair access ramp. If my memory served me right, the building had been either a lawyer’s office or an insurance agent’s office when I was younger.
There wasn’t a single identifier on the building suggesting it was a dance studio.
Even the main door had not a name, phone number, nothing.
Ben waited for me on the sidewalk as I looked around the outside of the building.
There were a handful of parking spots, none of them clearly painted either. It looked as though the original lines had faded and someone came to paint new ones but didn’t match them up with the old ones.
Around the building there was a small, brown and rusted dumpster.
Sandemor being the town it was, the dance studio was surrounded with a few staples in town. That included a laundromat, a beer distributor, and a CPA’s office.
I stood in a narrow alley that ran behind all the locations, connecting side street to side street.
That’s how these towns were built.
Each building with decades of stories.
Main streets that were decently kept, decorated with lights for Christmas, some shut down in summer for block parties for local vendors and food trucks to make a little money. The side streets were ignored, except in bad snow storms. And then the alleys… they were their own world.
But Jessie wasn’t taken in an alley.
Possibly.
I walked back to the front of the dance studio.
“What are you thinking?” Ben asked.
“Jessie was waiting right there?” I asked, pointing to a streetlight.
“That’s what her parents said she usually did,” Ben said. “They would pick her up and find her practicing her dance moves.”
“So she’s standing here and…” I shook my head. “She must have been used to her parents being late. Could she have tried to walk home?”
“Possibly,” Ben said.
“That means she could have been grabbed anywhere.”
“We could plot out the logical routes to take,” Ben said.
“Or did someone just show up right here?” I asked. “Someone familiar to her? Friend? Friend of the family? Connor’s family?”
“All avenues are being looked into,” Ben said.
There was one thing that really bothered me.
I looked over my shoulder at the dance studio. “Why did she leave a little girl waiting outside in the dark?”
Before Ben could say anything to my question, the door opened and out walked a woman.
Tall, skinny, perfect blonde hair pulled back into a perfect ponytail.
Wearing extra tight yoga pants with an oversized black hoodie with the white printed picture of a woman on her toes, reaching into the air. She turned to check something on the door and I noticed near her butt on the hoodie it read NELLE.
“You should go ask her,” Ben said. “She owns the place.”
“Nelle,” I said.
Then it hit me. This was the Nelle. From back in high school. She had been touted as one of the best dancers for her age. She had been flown out to Los Angeles and performed with famous musicians in music videos and on stage. At one point I vaguely remembered hearing rumors of her learning to sing so she could become a pop superstar.
I met Nelle on the steps, knowing I looked pissed at her.
Ben was more casual. “We’re back again.”
“That’s good,” Nelle said. “I can’t stop thinking about it myself.”
“Nelle,” I said.
“You look familiar,” she said to me.
“Allie Down,” I said.
“That’s right,” she said. “What are you doing back here?”
“I could ask you the same,” I said.
“Life,” Nelle said. “Short story? Ended up injured and locked into a bad contract. Decided to leave it all behind and come back home.”
“To open a dance studio with no name?” I asked.
“I like small, private classes. Teach these young girls to appreciate the art and not get lost in the idea of fame.”
“I’d love to chat more about life, but you know why we’re here,” I said. “And I’m going to ask the question… why did you leave her out here?”
Nelle blinked fast, tears filling her eyes. “It’s Sandemor. Nothing bad ever happens. I knew Jessie was going through a lot at home. Her parents… this was her outlet. I’d let her stay after class and practice. The other night I had to take my dog to the vet. There have been many times in the past where her parents forgot about her. Sometimes I’d stay with her. But she always would tell me she has her phone and it’s fine. I thought it was the same thing.”
“Except it wasn’t,” I said.
“I know that now,” Nelle said. She wiped the corners of her eyes. “This is my fault. I left her out here and she’s gone now
. If she ends up… dead… it’s really my fault. You should arrest me.”
“Nelle, let’s take one thing at a time here,” Ben said. “We need to find Jessie.”
“Let’s go over everything again,” I said to Nelle.
“I just told it…” She froze. She snapped her fingers. “I remember now. What happened. Jessie was excited. She had just perfected a routine we had been working on for weeks. She wasn’t sure which parent was picking her up. Class ended and I had to hurry everyone out. My dog…” Nelle shut her eyes for a second. “I was cleaning everything up, waiting as long as I could. I was on the phone with the receptionist at the vet’s office. You know the place, Ben. Butler’s.”
“Right,” Ben said.
“Keep going,” I said to Nelle.
“I had to put my dog down,” Nelle said. “Coming to terms with it was hard to do. I shut off the lights in here and walked slowly through the studio. I got Georgie when I moved back here. Adopted him. I came outside and was getting into my car to leave. And I swore I heard a door shut. A vehicle door shut. When I looked, there was an SUV out front. Maybe. No. Yeah. Definitely. I mean, it wasn’t a car.”
“That’s good to know,” Ben said.
“You didn’t remember this before?” I asked.
“I haven’t slept yet,” Nelle said. “Okay? Between this and my dog…”
I reached for Nelle’s hand. “I’m very sorry about your dog.”
“Tell us about the SUV,” Ben said.
“I don’t remember much. I just figured it was one of Jessie’s parents. You know? The rest of the parents would pull into the parking lot. But her parents were always late. So they’d pull up out front and pick her up.”
“You didn’t hear any noises? Yelling? Struggling? Anything?”
“No,” Nelle said. “I wasn’t focused. I was on the phone. Then I got off and heard the door close right before I closed mine. I turned my head and saw the SUV. I don’t know, maybe there was a bumper sticker?”
“Maybe?” Ben asked.
“I’m sorry,” Nelle said.
She pulled her hand away from mine and wiped the corners of her eyes again.
“Okay, listen to me, Nelle,” I said. “Put my number in your phone. And if you think of anything, you call me. I don’t care what time it is. Got it?”
“Of course,” she said. “Feel free to come in. Look around. Bring in people to look for tire tracks or footprints or whatever…”
