“Easy for you to say. You’ve been on the job seven years.”
“Oh, I never said it was easy.” He crossed to take her gently by the arms. “She has parents, yes? She doesn’t need that from you. She came here to find her sister. That, as I recall, you do know how to do.”
She looked at him for a moment. “So, I should put her in a headlock and tell her I’ll cover her sheets with itching powder if she ever reads my diary again?”
He allowed himself a rueful half smile because her comment underscored how young she’d been when she lost Daniel, first to chemo and later to the cancer itself. “You keep a diary?”
“Don’t you go snooping or I’ll sic my attack dog on you.”
Reed glanced at Bump, who was belly-up on the bed, snoring. “I’m not especially concerned.”
Ellery only tolerated physical touch for so long. She extricated herself from his hands and wiped her palms on her jeans. “It would make our lives easier if Chloe kept a diary, huh?”
“I think that’s all online now,” Reed said, resigned. “No one bothers with private thoughts anymore.”
“All the more reason we need her cell phone and computer data. I’m going to check to see if it’s come in yet.”
Reed nodded toward the other room where her half sister waited. “Don’t you have something else to attend to first?”
Ellery already had her phone out to consult her email. “I’ll multitask.”
Reed bit back any further criticism or prodding. It would only make her retreat further behind her wall. Back in the kitchen, Ashley was painting Tula’s fingernails a neon blue while Tula peppered her with questions about her trip. “Did you get to sleep on the bus? Like, all night?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about when you had to go the bathroom?”
“They had one on the bus.”
“A bus with a bathroom? How was it?”
Ashley made a face. “Smelly,” she said, and Tula giggled.
“Okay, time to wrap it up,” Reed said, rubbing his hands together. “Tula and I need to get back to the hotel.”
“Aw,” Tula replied. “She’s only done eight fingers.”
“Once you hit ten, it’s time to go.” He began clearing away the sandwich wrappers while Ellery remained engrossed in her phone.
“You don’t live here?” Ashley asked him.
“Nah, we live in Virginia,” Tula answered as she admired her fully painted hands. “But maybe we could move here instead of Houston. Right, Daddy?”
Ellery’s head jerked up in surprise. “Houston?”
So she wasn’t completely checked out of the conversation. “I’ll explain later,” he said.
“You’re moving to Houston?” she said as though he hadn’t spoken.
“Ouch, touchy subject,” Ashley muttered.
Tula rolled her eyes like she, too, was sixteen years old. “I know. My mom and Randy whisper about it when they think I can’t hear them.”
“It’s not me moving,” Reed said to Ellery sotto voce, although the whole room was in on the secret now. “Sarit, maybe.”
“How would that work?”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed the side of his head, which had started to throb.
Her phone pinged and she looked down at it. “The records are in,” she said. “We should have a month’s worth of Chloe’s data.”
“Can you send it to me?”
She gave him a cool glance. “I don’t know. Are you officially on this case now, or what?”
Okay, he thought, you’re still mad about the Houston thing. Join the club, darlin’. “It hasn’t been an issue so far.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Granting you access to evidence that requires a warrant might be a good place to start.”
He pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. Ellery had never been a stickler for rules, which meant the point of this exchange was just to stick it. To him.
She looked him over, her gaze challenging. “What’s it going to be, Reed? Are you in or out?”
Tula jumped down from her stool and flapped around like an excited bat, drying her wet nails. “Wait till I tell Mama about this!”
God help me, Reed thought. “I’m in.”
* * *
Reed took Tula to the hotel and they enjoyed a brief swim in the pool. He parked her in front of cartoons on the bed opposite his and pulled out his laptop, eager to see if Ellery had forwarded the information from Chloe’s mobile phone and computer. When he saw she had sent the files, he propped up the pillows and settled in to read. Most of the exchanges were banal or ridiculous. Chloe and her friends had entire conversations in emojis. We’ve come full circle to hieroglyphics, Reed thought as he scrolled onward.
Did u c the sequin boots Emily wore 2day? McKenna wrote last week. I need them!!!!
Kinda extra if u ask me, Chloe wrote back.
Yah, extra AWESOME. That’s facts.
Whatever. They r like $1000.
Ok, I’ll put them on my b-day list.
Maybe I will get them 4 u. If ur nice enuf.
Ha! U don’t have that much .
Ive been saving up. Plus, someone gave me a late b-day present.
$1000?????
Close enuf, Chloe said.
U lie.
Chloe sent back a picture of a hand (hers?) closed around multiple hundred-dollar bills.
HOLY SHIT, grrrrrl. What U been doing … turning tricks lol?
I told u. It was a present.
Don’t even tell me it was Ty.
U don’t believe he’s real, so I won’t tell u.
Even if he’s real, u said he’s what … 17? He doesn’t have that kind of .
Ok, he doesn’t have it. I do.
Ha ha ha. Ok, slut. We’ll sneak you out & have sum real fun.
I wish. My warden can’t be bought off.
Ask ur mom if you can sleep over this wknd. My dad will b working late and we can do wut we want.
If ur dad isn’t home, there’s no way my mom says yes.
So we don’t tell her.
She always checks.
Reed scanned through a bunch of texts from Barnaby pestering Chloe for math help. He was apparently in summer school. Chloe seemed happy to reply. Each day, there were multiple texts from Teresa:
Hi, sweetheart. Did you find the fruit salad for breakfast?
Yes, sir.
Mimi said she’d be happy to take you swimming at the club today. It’s gorgeous outside.
If it’s nice out, I want to go to the beach. Not the dumb old people’s club.
No beach. There was a shark spotted there last week.
You never let me have any fun.
One particular exchange with Teresa three days before Chloe disappeared caught Reed’s attention:
Honey, the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra is holding auditions this fall for a young artist’s concerto competition. I think you should try out with the Mozart 21.
I don’t know if I feel like it.
You have a gift, Chloe. You should share it with the world.
If it’s my gift, I should choose what to do with it, right?
Yes, but your father and I are the ones who pay for the lessons.
I didn’t ask for those either.