by PJ Fernor
“Are you sure about that?” Martha asked.
“Why?”
“Maybe Nikki and Chelsea wanted to know the truth too.”
Martha sipped her tea again and wiped the corner of her eye from its tears.
Chills danced up and down my spine.
I wasn’t going to stop looking until I had all the answers.
No matter what kind of danger my life was in.
But now I had to protect Lo again.
Because everything Steph ever told her was a lie.
Chapter Forty-Five
I left Martha’s house knowing I was far from done with her.
I was far from done with anything.
Not even a block from the house, I grabbed my phone and called Ben.
Personal stuff aside, I needed him.
I needed his partnership. I needed his ear. And I needed his advice.
“Allie Down,” he said. “Where have you been?”
His voice was happy. And soothing.
The happiness in his voice struck me with a bolt of jealousy.
There was nothing I could do about that.
He was happy with someone else.
This had to be about the case and nothing more.
“I just left the house of a woman named Martha,” I said. “I need to talk about everything, Ben. Got time?”
“I always have time for you,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“I think we’ve stumbled onto something really big here.”
“Big as in…?”
“Johnny had been driving Preens crazy so Preens called me to complain. He also gave me Martha’s address. She’s kind of the street watchdog. She’s always calling about one thing or another. But the girls go to her, Ben. They seek refuge withher.”
“She’s keeping them there?” Ben asked.
“Sometimes, I guess. But if they need money or food she helps. More with food than anything. While I was there, a girl showed up. I’m not kidding when I say this, but she had to have been eleven. Maybe thirteen at a stretch.”
“What?” Ben asked.
“The second the girl saw me, she took off. I questioned Martha and she had nothing to hide. She told me everything. I was left in an uncomfortable position with her. I wasn’t sure whether to arrest her, help her or what.”
“What did you do?”
“I just kept talking to her. She has an idea about everything. She knew Nikki. She said that Nikki had been gone for a little while. She’s seen the girls come and go. Same with Chelsea. She was visibly upset when I told her about Nikki and Chelsea being dead. But yet in a way it didn’t surprise her. And then with Lo…”
“Lo?” Ben asked. “Wait a second. How is Lo involved?”
Ben’s tone changed in a hurry.
He was protective of Lo.
I appreciated that.
“Her new friend… Steph.”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “You’ve mentioned her.”
“She’s not really Steph, Ben.”
“What?”
I stopped at a stop sign and sat there longer than the legally required two seconds.
“Ben, when Martha saw a picture of Lo and Steph, she pointed right to Steph and knew her. Said she hadn’t seen her in years. But knew it was her. She pointed out a scar on Steph’s face, but I didn’t see it until I zoomed in on the picture. Steph’s real name is Leslie.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m starting to…” A car pulled up behind me. I started to drive forward again. “I’m getting really bad vibes here. Lo’s best friend isn’t who she says she is. She’s tied to the streets and under that bridge… tied to Chelsea and Nikki.”
“Tied to the girl that was in Annie’s basement,” Ben said.
“Exactly,” I said. “How does that all fit together?”
“I don’t know. What else happened?”
“I asked Martha if she felt safe. She really didn’t answer me. I’m putting a patrol on her house. As much as I hate to do this, if anyone else comes to her house, I want them picked up. I want answers, Ben. It’s one thing to have adults living homeless on the streets. The cops can only do so much. But if there are younger girls… I just…”
I stopped to swallow hard.
“What is it?” Ben asked.
“The way this is looking, Ben. The way I hear the talking. I’m getting the feeling this is some kind of trafficking thing. That these girls are bought and sold. And the older ones are just used and abused then discarded. They get too old to be sold so they have to live on the street. And if they try anything, then they meet their fate…”
“Nikki’s fate,” Ben said.
“Yeah. Maybe the older ones are protecting the younger ones somehow. Keeping them hidden somewhere. I don’t know. Maybe that’s their job. They keep the young ones from the police and they keep their lives. But then someone comes around and isn’t interested in the young ones… am I really saying this right now?”
“You really are,” Ben said. “And it’s all making sense, Allie. Keep going. We have to talk this through. Because if this goes deep, then there are pieces out there we have to find. It would explain why Chelsea and the others refuse to go to shelters or seek help. They’re too afraid. There’s power over them. Power creates fear. You know that.”
“There’s another word floating through my mind too.”
“Which is?”
“Corruption.”
Ben was silent.
I waited a few seconds.
“Ben?” I asked.
“I’m here. Just processing that word. That’s a very heavy word, Allie.”
“I know it is,” I said. “And I know what it implies. I want to believe that it’s just a street thing. It used to happen to me in the city. You’d meet the same people over and over for the same crimes. They were almost like old friends. Like having a drunk family member at the dinner table for a holiday. You know? I want to believe that here…”
“So Preens knows the young women under the bridge,” Ben said. “Their stories all check out. You chase them away, try to get them help, but they slowly come back. It’s just a push and pull kind of game. That part, fine. I get it. But behind that part…”
“Exactly,” I said. “This goes deeper and darker. Oh, and another thing. Martha said there’s no way Chelsea would have overdosed.”
“How could she possibly know that?”
“Because she said Chelsea didn’t do drugs,” I said. “Because of her upbringing.”
“And you believe that?”
“Martha told me the truth on everything else. Why would she lie about that?”
“So that means… “
“Yeah,” I said. “We can’t prove that Chelsea was murdered. It’s already been marked as an overdose. Possible suicide. But it’s way too similar to Annie.”
“She overdosed too,” Ben said. “But she had the pills for it…”
“Doesn’t mean she took them all on her own,” I said.
Ben sighed. “This is intense, Allie Down. Very intense. Where are you right now?”
“Working my way back to the apartment. I have to catch Lo and talk to her. I have to get her to get to Steph.”
“Then what?”
“I’m going to need your help,” I said. “I have to get Steph to the apartment and keep her there. I have to get her to confess that she’s not really Steph. That she’s Leslie. I have to get her to talk. She’s the key right now, Ben. If she talks to us and gives us the truth, we can work from there.”
“What about Lo?”
My heart sank. “She’ll just have to… get hurt again.”
I sighed.
“I’m so sorry, Allie. Things were looking so bright for her too. And now this.”
“Right now, my main focus is Lo’s safety. Then I want to help Steph-slash-Leslie. And then we get to the truth. We go back to our first question and answer it.
“What is our first question?”
I swal
lowed hard again. “What really happened to Nikki?”
Chapter Forty-Six
I had to drive home and face Lo.
I had to tell her that her best friend was a liar. Or if Steph wasn’t lying about who she was, then I needed to tell Lo - and Steph - that everything they both knew was a lie.
Either way, I was in a terrible position.
The key though was getting Steph to come over so I could sit with her. I could protect her from the streets. From whatever was happening to her in her young life.
She was too young to be living the way she was… whatever that actually ended up being.
My heart twisted and ached for both Lo and Steph.
My mind flashed images back to the night I saw that girl running from me.
She had been in white.
She knew the streets.
She knew how to get away from me and disappear in the woods.
“Could that have been… Steph?” I whispered to nobody.
I was alone in my car and chills climbed throughout my entire body.
What if that had been Steph? I had chased her away and…
“Annie’s house,” I said.
The ideas were flowing through my head now.
What if it was Steph that Annie saw in her basement? Maybe Steph had crashed there. Maybe Steph was trying to stay hidden. Maybe she was scared.
Or maybe she was something worse.
Annie ended up dead…
“No,” I said.
I refused to think that at all.
Not right now at least.
Bad enough I had to entertain the idea that Trevor was the prime suspect for Nikki’s murder.
Sadly, it seemed that maybe Steph could be the one to kill that theory.
Poor Lo.
It was like quite literally choosing between her boyfriend and her best friend.
I arrived home and opened the apartment to find Lo’s door open with music playing from inside.
With each step I took toward her bedroom, I knew it was another second closer to this new found sense of innocence she had getting ripped away.
“Knock, knock,” I said as I stepped into the doorway.
Lo turned off her music.
She closed her history book on her notebook and tossed it aside.
“I need a break,” she said. “Can you study yourself into being stupid?”
I smiled. “I’m not sure about that. You can definitely psych yourself out though. Stay confident. No matter what.”
“Thanks,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“Hey, I have to ask you something,” I said. “It’s going to sound weird…”
“Okay,” Lo said. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. “What’s up?”
“Is Steph’s real name Steph?”
“What?” Lo asked.
“Steph…”
“Yeah, I heard you. I just don’t understand what you’re asking me. Her real name? Of course it’s Steph. I mean, it’s probably Stephanie or something. I don’t know.”
“Did she ever mention someone named Leslie to you?”
“No,” Lo said. “Why?”
“Lo, I think you should sit down,” I said. “I’m going to need your help.”
“What’s going on?”
“I talked to someone today who saw a picture of you and Steph,” I said. “But she knew Steph as someone else. She knew Steph as Leslie.”
“So? Two people can look alike. Did you know that it’s been said there’s a total doppelgänger of everyone somewhere in the world?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I knew that. I’m not asking that. I’m asking if Steph could be lying to you.”
“What? Why would she lie to me?”
“Lo, something strange is going on around here. This town. There are parts of it you don’t know much about. I’m worried about Steph. Have you talked to her today?”
“No,” Lo said. “I mean, I’ve been in school and then studying. I haven’t texted her yet.”
“Why don’t you give her a call?” I asked. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’m worried about her. I need her here. I need to know she’s okay and safe and I can keep her here.”
“What is going on?” Lo asked. She stepped toward me with tears in her eyes. It was the moment I feared the most. “Just tell me…”
“I just did,” I said. “In some roundabout way, she’s tied into that woman that was found murdered. I’m not sure how though. But someone identified her as someone else. So I need to talk to her. In person. I need her here. I need her safe right here with us, Lo.”
“Allie, now I’m scared.”
“I know,” I said. I touched her arm. “I don’t want her to get spooked. So just call her and invite her over. Tell her you’re upset about something. Just get her here.”
Lo nodded.
I watched her hands shaking as she touched her phone to call Steph.
A second later she threw her phone down on the bed and covered her mouth.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s been disconnected,” she said.
I lunged for the bed and grabbed Lo’s phone.
I tried calling the number and shut my eyes when I heard a voice say the number is no longer in service.
“Allie, what’s going on?” Lo asked, her voice cracking.
I turned around and hugged her. “I don’t know, Lo. When was the last time you talked to Steph?”
“Last night,” she said. “Before bed. We were texting like normal.”
“And you’re sure you didn’t hear from her today?” I asked.
“Positive,” Lo said. “I was going to text her in a little bit. After I got done studying. If I text her and I’m not studying she calls me out on it. She’s a real good friend. This isn’t fake.”
Lo broke the hug. “I know. But it’s just-”
“She’s not someone else!” Lo yelled. “She’s not a liar! Find someone else!”
“Lo, her phone isn’t working,” I said.
“Maybe it broke or her parents didn’t pay the bill.”
“Do you know where she lives?”
Lo’s face dropped. “No.”
I swallowed hard.
This was not looking good for Steph at all.
“Lo, come here,” I said.
“No,” she said. “How come you always do this to me? Every time I think something is going right you step in and make it worse.”
“I didn’t disconnect her phone,” I said.
“Just leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Lo. I’m sorry this is happening to you again. It’s not fair. It’s not right. You deserve better.”
“I deserve better?” Lo asked. “What am I…”
She caught herself and shut her eyes.
“I’m going to find out all the answers to this. But if you hear from her I have to know. Don’t tell her anything I’ve said to you. Okay? It’s important. I need to see her. In person. I need the truth.”
“The truth…” Lo let out an angry laugh. “Fine. You want the truth?”
“All of it,” I said. “Why?”
“Then sit down, Allie.”
“Why?” I asked again.
“I can prove that Trevor didn’t kill that woman.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
“You know something I don’t know?” I asked Lo.
She stepped back and bumped into her nightstand.
She slowly nodded.
“Lo…”
“You have to listen to me,” she said. “You have to promise not to get mad at me.”
“I will not promise a thing,” I said. I felt my voice getting deeper and meaner. “I’ve been investigating this murder…” I swallowed hard. “Lo, if you’ve been withholding information about a murder, that’s a crime in itself.”
“I know that,” she said. “Trevor didn’t want me to get into trouble.”
“You? In trouble? How? What did you do?”
Lo shook
her head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. You’ll find out who really did it. Then it won’t matter. Trevor didn’t hurt anyone. He didn’t kill anyone. Believe me, Allie.”
“See, I want to believe you,” I said. “I do believe you. I believe Trevor too. But I can’t go by my beliefs. That’s not how this works, Lo.”
Lo wiped the corners of her eyes. “My boyfriend is going to end up in jail. My best friend isn’t who she says she is. And my aunt thinks I’m crazy.”
“I do not think you’re crazy,” I said. “Those words never left my mouth, Lo. What I want to know is what you know. Things are getting dangerous out there. There are pieces to this thing scattered all around.”
“Just let me try calling Steph again,” she said.
“The phone is disconnected,” I said. “We both heard it.”
Lo looked at me. She was scared.
“Here’s what I’m going to do,” I said. “I’m going to go make two cups of hot chocolate. With a lot of marshmallows. I’m going to sit at the table. If you decide to join me, we talk.”
“If I don’t?” Lo asked.
“Then I’m going to have to really think about some stuff I never thought I would have to think.”
“Like?”
“What to do if my niece has information about a case and won’t talk. Who to call about that. How to face myself in the mirror that my niece doesn’t trust me enough to talk… or that as her caretaker I ended up letting her get into enough trouble that she ends up down at the station answering questions about a murder.”
I hurried to leave the room.
I didn’t like needing to scare Lo but I didn’t have much of a choice.
Wasting time was only going to end up getting someone else hurt or killed.
Nikki’s murder was tied to Chelsea’s death. And that was tied to Martha, who was tied to Steph-slash-Leslie… and all of that came through my front door.
This was moving way beyond just a murder investigation.
It was touching Lo’s life.
And that was the most important life to me.
