Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 85876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“You can use our conference room,” Dr. Harvey offers, motioning for us to follow him. When we reach the small inner room with a single round table and a few chairs I take a seat not wanting Jay to be more intimidated than he already is and Miles does the same as Dr. Marvin closes the door leaving us alone.
“We came in today to talk to you about Kristen Stable,” I explain, and his face instantly loses some of its color. “We know she used to attend the youth group at World Church, the same one you attend now.”
“She did.” He rubs his lips together. “But she stopped going like forever ago though.”
“Were you two friends?” I ask him.
“Yes, but not after she stopped coming to church. She didn’t talk to anyone after that.”
“Do you know why she stopped attending?” Miles asks, and the boy sits back, putting distance between us.
“No, I…. She just totally changed, and started hanging out with a girl named Carrie.”
“Do you want to tell us a little about what you guys do at youth group?” Miles asks, leaning back in his chair and making himself seem like less of a threat.
“We pray and talk about the Bible.”
“And smoke weed,” I put in, and his eyes widen. The reaction is the one I was looking for. I want him to know we know exactly what it is they’re doing while they’re all there hanging out together.
“I… I don’t do that.”
“But everyone else does?”
“Not everyone.” He looks around like he’s trying to figure out how to escape.
“Did Kristen smoke weed?”
“No.”
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
“She—” He cuts himself off. “I don’t think so.”
“Did anything ever happen to Kristen at youth group that upset her or made her uncomfortable?”
“No,” he says a little too quickly. “N-Not that I know of.”
“Did anyone hurt her?” I ask, and his face that is already pale loses even more color.
“We’re really just trying to figure out what happened to her,” Miles adds softly.
“I… I don’t know anything. I swear I don’t know anything.”
“Okay.” I take out my wallet and pass him one of my cards. “If you can think of anything or if you know anyone who might know something, I want you to call me.”
“Yeah, sure, okay.” He nods frantically, glancing at the door. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, you can go,” Miles replies, and he’s up and out of his seat within seconds and bolting from the room, leaving the door wide open.
“He knows something,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, he’s also more afraid of whoever he’s keeping the secret for than he is of us.”
“I think we should call Steven and ask him if he can come down to the station, and we can have a conversation with him there.” We leave the conference room and walk through the office.
“Have a good day, ladies,” Miles calls out as we pass the group of women, which has grown to ten since we went in there less than ten minutes ago.
“Have a good day, Detectives, and if you ever need anything at all, just stop by!” the eldest-looking of the women calls back, and I chuckle as we walk out the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
miranda
Hearing the chime for the front door of the salon go off, I walk out of the break room and smile when I see Carrie standing near the front desk, looking absolutely freaked out as Sammy talks to her. The other morning on my way to drop Kingston at daycare, I saw her walking in the rain, so I pulled over and asked if she wanted a ride. On the way, she told me that she spoke with her dad, and he thought it would be a good idea if she talked to my friend.
I honestly couldn’t hide my excitement, so I called Nikki while she was in the car with me and asked when we could set up a meeting. Nikki said she’d check her schedule and send me some dates and times. And after I went over them with Carrie, she agreed on today because she got out of school at one. Figuring it was easier for everyone I told her to meet me here at the salon, and we would talk to Nikki at the coffee shop next door at four when she was off work.
“She’s with me, Sammy,” I say as I walk toward the front desk, and Sammy nods as Carrie’s eyes fill with relief. “Hey, honey.”
“Hey.” She looks around. “This is where you work?”
“It is.” I glance around the salon. A couple of years ago, Polly totally remodeled the entire space, painting the concrete floors a cool black and adding accent walls here and there with a floral one near the front door featuring a neon sign that clients love to take photos in front of.
“It’s so cool.”