“But he’s kind of right. I mean, we were supposed to look out for each other.We talked about checking in twice a day on the way down. And we just …
lost
her.”
Bri hurried to the bed, sliding an arm around the other girl’s shoulders. Melanie twitched beneath shallow sobs.
A motorcycle growled on the street outside. From the room next door Veronica could just make out the murmur of a television. She leaned across the gap between the beds, resting her forearms on her knees.
“Melanie, if someone did hurt Hayley—they’re the
only
ones responsible.” Veronica’s voice was low and urgent. “And if that’s what happened, I’m going to find them. And I’m going to make them pay.”
Melanie looked up at her from under her baseball cap, eyes wet with tears.
Veronica stood up and handed the phone back to Bri. “Do me a favor and send me copies. None of the pictures on the flyers show what she looked like the night she disappeared. It might be useful to circulate them.” She shouldered her bag. “I’m going to ask around about our Mystery Man. In the meantime—if you two remember anything else about that night, call me right away.”
The girls nodded. Melanie hesitated, then carefully disentangled herself from Bri and got to her feet. She straightened her cap, then held out her hand to shake Veronica’s.
“We will. We promise.” She opened the door, wiping fiercely at her eyes with her free hand. “Thanks, Veronica.”
In the parking lot, Veronica dialed Mac.
“How hard do you think it’d be to hack into the databases of a major research university?”
Mac hesitated. “Since you’re asking me on a cell phone, in front of God and the NSA—impossible.”
“Okay, fair enough. Look, I need to go home and check on Dad, but do you think I could come by your place later? I’ve got some, uh, overtime work for you. It might be a long night.”
“OT, huh?” There was no mistaking the excitement in Mac’s voice. It’d been a while since she’d had an excuse to take her skill set out to play. “Sounds fun.”
“In the meantime, can you get me on a flight to San Jose tomorrow morning? And I’ll need a car. Something sensible.” She thought about it for a moment. “Not too sensible, though. I need to represent the Neptune Chamber of Commerce in style.”
“Give a girl a BMW for a few weeks and suddenly she’s got standards.”
“See you tonight.”
The moon crested the skyline as she pulled the car out of the parking lot. It’d been a week to the day since Hayley’s disappearance. Now hundreds of innocent kids like Hayley were pouring out into the streets for another night of drinking and debauchery, oblivious to just how cruel the world could be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
An hour later, Veronica sat in front of the computer in her bedroom, fingers flying over the keys. Logan’s face grinned crookedly from the corner of his most recent e-mail—it was the picture she’d set as his contact photo, taken right before he’d deployed.
I wish you could have seen Lamb’s face when she told him I had the case. He looked like he’d just swallowed a bug
, she typed.
It would have made your day
.
Keith hadn’t been there when she arrived home at the little blue bungalow. He was most likely out for a walk. The muscles in his leg needed to be strengthened, so he’d taken to circling the block a few times a day, slowly, deliberately, his cane tapping lightly against the concrete. He was wearing away at his convalescence with the same patience, the same resolve that made him a good detective.
Veronica’s room—until recently known as “the guest room”—was decorated with a mélange of high school artifacts and the odds and ends her father had shoved in there before she’d moved back. One of his model ships sat on the dresser, between old photos of her as a little girl. All of her old books—Salinger, Plath, Toole, the literature of choice for the brooding outcast—were lined on the small
lost
her.”
Bri hurried to the bed, sliding an arm around the other girl’s shoulders. Melanie twitched beneath shallow sobs.
A motorcycle growled on the street outside. From the room next door Veronica could just make out the murmur of a television. She leaned across the gap between the beds, resting her forearms on her knees.
“Melanie, if someone did hurt Hayley—they’re the
only
ones responsible.” Veronica’s voice was low and urgent. “And if that’s what happened, I’m going to find them. And I’m going to make them pay.”
Melanie looked up at her from under her baseball cap, eyes wet with tears.
Veronica stood up and handed the phone back to Bri. “Do me a favor and send me copies. None of the pictures on the flyers show what she looked like the night she disappeared. It might be useful to circulate them.” She shouldered her bag. “I’m going to ask around about our Mystery Man. In the meantime—if you two remember anything else about that night, call me right away.”
The girls nodded. Melanie hesitated, then carefully disentangled herself from Bri and got to her feet. She straightened her cap, then held out her hand to shake Veronica’s.
“We will. We promise.” She opened the door, wiping fiercely at her eyes with her free hand. “Thanks, Veronica.”
In the parking lot, Veronica dialed Mac.
“How hard do you think it’d be to hack into the databases of a major research university?”
Mac hesitated. “Since you’re asking me on a cell phone, in front of God and the NSA—impossible.”
“Okay, fair enough. Look, I need to go home and check on Dad, but do you think I could come by your place later? I’ve got some, uh, overtime work for you. It might be a long night.”
“OT, huh?” There was no mistaking the excitement in Mac’s voice. It’d been a while since she’d had an excuse to take her skill set out to play. “Sounds fun.”
“In the meantime, can you get me on a flight to San Jose tomorrow morning? And I’ll need a car. Something sensible.” She thought about it for a moment. “Not too sensible, though. I need to represent the Neptune Chamber of Commerce in style.”
“Give a girl a BMW for a few weeks and suddenly she’s got standards.”
“See you tonight.”
The moon crested the skyline as she pulled the car out of the parking lot. It’d been a week to the day since Hayley’s disappearance. Now hundreds of innocent kids like Hayley were pouring out into the streets for another night of drinking and debauchery, oblivious to just how cruel the world could be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
An hour later, Veronica sat in front of the computer in her bedroom, fingers flying over the keys. Logan’s face grinned crookedly from the corner of his most recent e-mail—it was the picture she’d set as his contact photo, taken right before he’d deployed.
I wish you could have seen Lamb’s face when she told him I had the case. He looked like he’d just swallowed a bug
, she typed.
It would have made your day
.
Keith hadn’t been there when she arrived home at the little blue bungalow. He was most likely out for a walk. The muscles in his leg needed to be strengthened, so he’d taken to circling the block a few times a day, slowly, deliberately, his cane tapping lightly against the concrete. He was wearing away at his convalescence with the same patience, the same resolve that made him a good detective.
Veronica’s room—until recently known as “the guest room”—was decorated with a mélange of high school artifacts and the odds and ends her father had shoved in there before she’d moved back. One of his model ships sat on the dresser, between old photos of her as a little girl. All of her old books—Salinger, Plath, Toole, the literature of choice for the brooding outcast—were lined on the small
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