Chapter 32
ONCE WE LEFT Eric Snaff’s house, Cindy insisted that I meet her new friend Gina Scrittori. Before I could answer yes or no, Cindy was dialing the youth services worker she’d met here in San Julio.
Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting in a little family-owned diner called Armando’s. The place was pretty basic, with paper napkins and plastic water glasses. Just a regular diner.
A couple of minutes after we arrived, I noticed a young woman with straight, dark hair and a fashionable jacket hustle through the door and look around. I knew this had to be Cindy’s friend Gina.
Gina and Cindy greeted each other with hugs and a little squeal. That sort of over-the-top greeting sets me on edge, but I kept my mouth shut.
Gina slid in next to Cindy in the booth. She pulled off her aviator sunglasses and looked me right in the eye. “I hear you’re a homicide detective in San Francisco.”
I nodded.
“That sounds like a tough job to me.”
“It has its moments. I’m sure your job does too.”
Gina just shrugged.
Cindy filled her in on our short conversation with Eric, which surprised me a little. I usually don’t disclose the contents of my interviews. But as I sat back and listened, I reminded myself that while Cindy wasn’t a cop, she was a stellar journalist who knew what she was doing.
Cindy asked, “Can you think of any viable suspects?”
Gina held up her hands. “I’m not convinced there is a suspect. Nicole could just be a runaway. I see it all the time.”
Cindy said, “Eric gave me the names of two other missing girls.” She flipped through her notepad. “Do you know Carly Nash or Katie Dharma?”
Gina said, “Carly was at our facility for a while. I don’t recognize the other girl’s name. But as far as Carly goes, she always dreamed about getting out of here. It doesn’t surprise me that no one has heard from her.”
I leaned forward and asked Gina, “So you don’t think there’s some kind of ring of predators luring young girls out of the area?”
Gina let out a laugh. “It’s a lot more likely that the girls just ran away. I know there are people who try to lure girls into prostitution and things like that, but just taking off is much more common.”
I sat back for a few moments. Gina had stated a simple fact. One that I might’ve been overlooking in my desire to connect the missing girls in my cases. I wasn’t back to square one, but this youth services worker had made me open my mind a little bit.