Lots of people seemed to be telling Nick how to do his job lately.
Charles stepped between them. “Detective Mason, I have a contract with the Salinas Police Department. I’ve been doing computer forensics on a freelance basis for several years now. Detective Christianson and I understand the importance of the chain of evidence.”
Nick glared at Piper. “Detective Ambrossen undersigned the evidence sheet. Charles is the best at what he does.”
“Why can’t he just do what he’s so good at right here?”
I decided to defuse the situation. “Detective Mason, Charles has more equipment at our offices. He’s having problems, just like the other tech, getting past Garrison’s lockdown of this computer. At the office, he has tools and such that can get past it.”
Nick and Charles walked out together. Piper watched them go, the red in her face fading.
“That asshole. Why didn’t he just tell me that?” Tears welled in her eyes.
“Because he’s Nick, and he prides himself on being an asshole. It’s even worse when you’re sleeping with him.” I really should have left that last part off, but it was out there and I couldn’t take it back.
“You’re having sex with him?” Piper asked, incredulous.
I laughed. “No.” Maybe a tad bit defensive.
“Then what are you talking about?”
Jackie was back from the bathroom. “She thinks you’re doing it with Nick.”
Piper’s eyes widened. “Doing what?”
I shot Jackie a look. What the fuck?
Jackie looked at Piper like she was an alien. “Having sex, silly.”
Piper nearly doubled over laughing. “Oh, honey, the only penis shaped thing I’ve ever had was made of silicone and hot pink.”
I stood there, speechless. Yeah, I know, hard to believe.
Now Jackie was laughing too.
I said, “Oh my God, I should’ve seen it.”
Suddenly, Piper wasn’t laughing anymore. “Excuse me?”
“Charles. He knew from the moment he met you. I wondered why he was so attracted to you. So helpful.”
“Helpful?” Piper asked.
“At the crime scene, when you had barfed. He was so caring and even gave you his shirt.”
Jackie stopped laughing and deadpan, said, “Charles gave someone the shirt off his back? Surely you jest.”
“I jest you not,” I said. “That’s what I mean. Charles has never done a chivalrous thing for a female in his life.”
Jackie interjected, “That’s not completely true. He’s pretty good to you and me.”
I had to agree. “Most of the time.”
Charles popped back into the room. It was like he knew we were talking about him.
“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.
CHAPTER 10
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 of 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 y
ou 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.”
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 sou
p. 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.”
Textual Relations Page 8
