Chapter 4 #3
Staring at the mugshots in her lap, she listened to herself breathe. She counted twenty-seven intentionally loud breaths before Detective Toll finally poked his head into the lobby and motioned her in.
“Sorry about that,” he said, holding the door for her.
“Was it something to do with Holly? Or this other girl that’s missing?” Hailey pointed to the TV.
“No,” he sighed as he led her through the squad room. “News can’t get anything right. This other disappearance they’re chasing is a 21-year-old known drug user with a history of near-fatal ODs. She’s probably passed out in a motel again.”
“Oh.” Did that mean they weren’t looking for this other girl? Hailey wasn’t sure if she felt more compassion for the drug user or relief that the police weren’t diverting any energy from their search for Holly.
“Anyone look familiar?” He pointed at the binder.
Hailey shook her head.
Leading her into his office, Toll motioned her to a chair facing his desk, which was a good old-fashioned mess, piled with papers and photos and folders and notebooks with yellow sticky notes everywhere.
He sat down and blew his cheeks full of air.
“So tell me about last night.”
“I already told the officer last night—there…it was…” Hailey sighed, her mind racing, her heart keeping pace. She shook her leg but resisted the urge to bite her thumbnail as she filled him in on everything from stuffing papers into the trash with Holly to preparing to dance.
“And then Mrs. Lash walked into the bar with Holly’s cell phone—” Why hadn’t she thought of this before? “Maybe Mrs. Lash saw who took Holly!”
Toll shook his head. “She didn’t.”
Hailey’s shoulders fell. “Where do you think she is?”
She wanted to know what he knew. She wanted him to tell her exactly when Holly would come home. She wanted him to say that they knew where she was, that she was safe and sound and just waiting for the police to come and pick her up and bring her home.
He said none of that.
“I don’t know, Hailey.” He frowned. “We’re working on it.”
“What have you got so far?”
“Not much. We’ve got a timeline and some physical evidence, as you know.”
Maybe she already did know as much as he knew.
“We’re working on a suspect vehicle make and model…”
Nope. She knew more. He obviously hadn’t read the papers in his precious folders.
“…which we should have soon…”
Hailey couldn’t stand it.
“You’re looking for a white Ford Explorer with damage to the passenger side,” she blurted, and the detective’s mouth fell open.
The clock on the wall ticked twice, before he closed it again.
He grabbed up his notebook and pen. “Did you see the vehicle?”
“No,” she said, pointing to his precious files. “I read the acceleration mark analysis and compared it to the analysis of the paint scrapings. That narrows your pool to one possible vehicle—a white Ford Explorer.”
“I left you alone for five minutes,” he said as he flipped through his stack of papers. “You read all that in here?”
“Didn’t you?” she fired back. “And it was seven minutes.” This guy was never gonna find Holly.
“No,” he said, “I only just got these as I was walking out the door to come see you.”
At least he’s honest.
“What else did you read in these files that you weren’t supposed to even look at?” he asked, annoyed but interested.
Just then a uniform knocked twice on his door and poked his head inside.
“Sir, we finished that analysis you asked for,” he said. “Looks like a white Ford Explorer.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically, and he turned back to Hailey. “Well? Anything else you’d like to share?”
“Why do you have a file from our house fire?”
“I just…” He pulled the confidential folder from the pile and opened it.
“This is every scrap of info we had that relates to Holly. This file is…what…fourteen years old?” He raised his eyebrows as he thumbed through it, and then he closed it again.
“I’m looking at everything,” he said simply.
“…anything that could point us in the right direction.”
“What’s DOPPLER?”
“Doppler?” He started flipping through the papers again.
“Never mind,” said Hailey. He didn’t know.
Toll clicked his pen and put his notebook on top of the chaos that was his desk.
“Does your sister have any enemies?”
“No. Everybody loves Holly.”
“Boyfriends?”
“No.”
“Anybody you can think of that wanted to hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did she recently reject someone?”
“No.” Hailey was feeling less and less helpful.
“Did you notice anything or anyone out of the ordinary at the pub, maybe paying extra attention to her lately?”
Hailey racked her brain, but no one stood out. She shook her head.
“How about outside the pub. What’s Holly do when she’s not working?”
“Nothing. I mean, we practice dance in our basement; we play board games; we make sure Uncle Pix eats, and she watches FBI profiler shows.” Actually she was obsessed with them.
Toll licked his lips. “Anything…strange been happening?”
What the hell?
“You mean…stranger than finding Holly’s—” That sentence punched her in the stomach and stole her voice. There it was, like she’d just picked it up again. Her throat aching, Hailey bowed her head so Toll wouldn’t see her tears.
“I’m sorry,” he said gently. He offered her a box of tissues and some water.
“You’re gonna find her, right?” Hailey cried.
He dropped his eyes, drew in a breath, and looked directly at her. “I will personally keep looking until we find her. I won’t stop, I promise you.” He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Not gonna lie, Hailey, this is a strange case. And I’m calling in some help from outside.”