“Holy fuck,” I whispered, my brain on overdrive, my hands shaking so hard that the file was vibrating. “It was her.”
“Who was her?” He waited for me to answer, and when I was too busy reading through the notes, he added, “Speak, Flynn. It’s too early for me to try to guess what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Fifty-Four
Before
Ashe
“What other information can you give me?” the detective asked Gran and me while he sat on the couch in her living room, looking at the small pad he’d been taking notes on.
I’d gone over every detail in my head, repeating each of those thoughts to the detective the moment he’d walked inside her apartment.
The pieces I didn’t know, like when Pearl had left my place upset and gone home, Gran had filled in those blanks. She’d told the detective that when Pearl returned that night, they’d had a brief conversation, Pearl never mentioning that she was going to New York alone. She then went into her room and packed and said good night. The next morning, she’d stopped by Gran’s bedroom to kiss her good-bye, telling her that she’d left the information of the hotel on the table.
Before I’d called the police, I’d phoned her agent, Brett Young, and asked if he’d heard from Pearl. He’d confirmed what I feared—that he hadn’t spoken to her since the day prior to when she was supposed to leave and that Pearl hadn’t shown up to any of her auditions.
I’d told all of that to the detective as well, and that was where our knowledge came to a screeching halt.
We knew nothing more.
I dug my fingers into my scalp. “I can’t think of anything else,” I said to him.
The detective looked at Gran. “How about you?”
“Please find my granddaughter and bring her home to me,” she replied.
He shut his notebook, placing it on the inside of his jacket. “The first forty-eight hours are crucial in missing persons cases. Normally, that’s the window in which they show up—sleeping off a bender, finding cash to use a pay phone, realizing they stayed the night at a place they shouldn’t have been at and they come running home.”
“That’s not Pearl,” I informed him, sitting up from the floor. “She’s not that person you’re describing.”
He looked at me and said, “Since this case has passed the forty-eight-hour mark, I would say things look a bit more serious. My team and I will start by retracing her steps.” He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together, like he was washing them at the sink. “We’ll send out a report, letting all local and state officials know that she’s gone missing. We’ll speak to the bus station and the hotel, every place we can think of in between. I have both of your numbers, and I’ll follow up when I have some information.”
My stomach was in a fucking knot, my arms wrapped around it, trying to alleviate some of the aching. “What do you think happened to her?”
He shook his head. “There’s no way for me to speculate.”
“Will you find her?”
I had been hesitant to ask this question in front of Gran, but we needed answers.
And hope.
“I’ve been doing this a long time.” He glanced down. “Every case is different, and many still surprise me.”
“What does that mean, Detective?”
His stare was haunting when he replied, “It’s been over four days without any contact. The statistics aren’t in your favor at this point.”
“She had everything going for her,” Gran said, the emotion clear in her voice. “A big move to New York, a career on Broadway.” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “She was going places, making a name for herself.”
He nodded impatiently, standing from the couch. “We’ll do everything we can.”
“I don’t understand this.” My voice rose even though I was trying to stay calm. “How does someone just disappear?”
He sighed, sounding like this job exhausted him, the bags under his eyes confirming it. “Responsibility can make or break a person, and Pearl certainly had a lot on her plate. Maybe her plate was full, and she took matters into her own hands. Maybe someone was jealous of her success. Maybe I’ve missed the nail entirely. We’ll find out …” He breathed loudly again. “And oftentimes, we don’t.” He handed me his card. “Call me if you remember anything else.”
I glanced at the bottom, where Detective O’Connell’s name had been printed with the police station’s address and his direct line, before shoving the card in my pocket. When I looked up, he was walking out the door.
“Ashe …” Gran whispered.
She was squeezed into the corner of the couch, her body the size of a small pillow.
I could only imagine the thoughts running through her head right now.
Pearl was her life.
She counted on her granddaughter for everything, including paying for the home they shared.
“We’ll find her,” I said softly.
We both needed to hear those words for entirely different reasons, but love was what we had in common.
“He didn’t sound convinced.”
I took a few breaths, pushing the emotion away so Gran wouldn’t see it. I needed to be strong for her even if I wanted to fall the fuck apart. “He doesn’t know her like we do.”
I’d spent two full years of college with this girl; there wasn’t anything I didn’t know about her. She wouldn’t have gotten so overwhelmed with her future that she would just take off. She would have called; she would have left a different note.
She would have told us she needed a break.
I was certain.
But for some strange reason, something the detective had said was repeating in my head, and I couldn’t get it to stop.
“Responsibility can make or break a person, and Pearl certainly had a lot on her plate.”
That was something I’d always said about her.
But that still didn’t explain this.
Fifty-Five
Kerry
He’d forgiven me.
Just like the man on the other side of the wall had said.
I didn’t know how long it had taken. I’d lost track of periods and nail-biting.
I just knew that after loads of groveling and begging, he’d accepted my apology.
The light then turned back on.
Food was left for me on the stairs, paperbacks in my possession again.
His playdates resumed, like there had never been a pause at all.
When I sounded as though I enjoyed the playing, when I was wet instead of him having to use his spit, he would make my plates of food extra full.
I would gag in the bucket the moment he went up the stairs.
But his good side was the one I wanted to stay on.
The side that rewarded me.
The side that was hopefully making me something to eat right now as I heard him banging around on the floor above, the light in the ceiling shaking from his movements.
With Beverly in my arms, I crawled across the floor and huddled in the corner.
That was my favorite place down here.