BLUE
She’s not the big bad wolf. She’s not the devil. How bad could this be?
Still in a towel after showering, I let out a breath and stare at the phone. If it hadn’t been for the call that came in from West late last night, I wouldn’t even be considering this, but knowing there’s an actual ledger with names and records of cash exchanged makes this whole thing so much more real. I need to get Scar out of here as soon as possible.
There, I’ve dialed all the numbers. Now, just to actually make the call.
Just do it. Quick. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
The next second, the line’s trilling in my ear and my stomach’s in knots.
“Hello?” an aged, raspy voice answers. A voice I haven’t heard in forever.
“Grandma, it’s Blue. I’m sorry to bother you.”
I hear what sounds like an old box spring creaking in the background, which means I woke her.
“It’s early, I know. I wouldn’t have called if it weren’t an emergency,” I explain.
“He dead?” she asks coldly. It only takes a second to realize she’s talking about Mike, her son.
“N—no,” I stammer. “He’s alive. This isn’t about him.”
A disgusting sound assaults my ears when she clears her throat and barks a rattly, mucus-infused cough.
“Then what the hell do you want?” she presses.
There are no formalities. No questions about how her three grandchildren are faring in this world. No questions about her son, other than to ask if he’s dead.
“I… was hoping I could ask you something. A favor.”
“Just say it, would ya?” she gripes, making it clear this is going to be a million times harder than I thought.
I swallow hard and close my eyes. “It’s Scar. For reasons I can’t really explain, she needs to get out of Cypress Pointe, and your house is the only place safe I could think to send her. So—”
“She pregnant?”
Caught off guard yet again, I stutter a clunky response. “She… I… no.”
“Sure about that?”
“Of course, I’m sure,” I say.
There’s a long pause, a sigh so deep I can tell she’s regretting picking up the phone this morning.
“What is she, eleven? Twelve?”
I roll my eyes, grateful the woman can’t see me. “She just turned fifteen yesterday.”
“That’s a terrible age,” she complains. “Teenagers think they know it all and don’t listen to a damn thing. No. I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”
“Grandma, please.”
It isn’t until those words leave my mouth that I understand the level of my own desperation. To be begging a woman to take my sister in who I know for a fact has never cared a thing for anyone’s wellbeing but her own.
She’s quiet again, either considering what I’ve asked, or she’s thinking of a more effective way to tell me to go fuck myself.
That hateful sigh hisses into my ear again.
“Don’t make me fucking regret this,” she snaps. “I’ve got a paying tenant in the spare room and I ain’t screwing up that arrangement for anyone. That means Scarlett will be on the couch and she and Hank can share the guest bath. If things don’t work out, she’ll be the one to go.”
Hank—a strange man I don’t know from the next guy.
Under the same roof with my sister.
“…Thanks,” I force out. “Can you text me the name of the local school district when we end the call? So I can get the enrollment process started? I’ll likely be bringing her to you early next month.”
“Shit. How the hell did your problems become my problems this morning?” she says. “I’ll get to it when I get to it. I’m going back to sleep.”
With that, the line beeps in my ear. She hung up.
I stare at my phone when the call ends and I’m sick to my stomach at the thought of… well, all of it. My grandmother being my sister’s sole caretaker, Scar being so far away.
Hank.
I take note of the time and toss my phone to the bed. I’ve got the breakfast shift this morning and I really don’t need this shit.
I pull my hair into a ponytail and drop my towel, slipping into the powder-blue uniform I’ll be wearing until at least three this afternoon. It’s freezing outside, so I slide on a pair of leggings I’ll take off when I get to Dusty’s. I’m nearly done, swiping on some lip gloss when my eyes dart to the phone again. Grandma Riley isn’t my only option. Hell, she isn’t even the best option, and I’m starting to think I know who might be.
Before I can overthink things, I dial the Cypress Pointe Police Department and ask for Detective Roby. I’m on hold for what feels like forever, but that’s mostly my impatience making it seem that way. By the time I hear a familiar voice on the other end of the line, I’ve lost my nerve.
What if he can’t be trusted?
“This is Detective Roby,” he says for a second time.
Just talk to the man. You know him. He’s a good guy. At least he used to be.
“Good morning, Detective. This is… Blue. Blue Riley.”
He’s quiet for a moment and I don’t know how to read his silence.
“It’s been quite some time, Blue,” he says. “You doing all right?”
I’m shaking so bad I can hardly hold the phone, listening to the ambient chatter and shuffling of paperwork in the background.
“I’m good.”
“I stopped into your uncle’s diner a few weeks ago. He said you’ve been waitressing for him.”
“I have. Headed there in a few, actually,” I say. “How’s Dez?”
“She’s well—graduated from Everly with honors last spring. Now, she’s having a great first year according to the grades she’s bringing in. I don’t hear from her much now that she’s all grown up,” he adds with a laugh.
“And Mrs. Roby?”
He pauses this time. “She passed away a few years back. An aneurysm. Completely unexpected.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m so sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known,” he reasons. “Is there something I can help you with this morning?”
The spotlight’s back on me, I guess.
“Actually, yeah. I saw your interview on the news the other night and I… wondered if we could talk about that. You mentioned that you’ve formed a task force just to look into the missing girls.”
“I did,” he says. “It’s been an uphill battle, but we’re making some headway now. I suppose I still don’t understand what this is about. Were you friends with one of the girls who’s disappeared? Do you have some information you think might help?”
I’m losing my nerve, but it’s either Detective Roby or Grandma Riley.
“I think I might know who’s involved,” I confess.
Dead silence again. This time I’m pretty sure it’s because of the bold claim I’ve just made.
“I’m listening.”
“Something happened to me last week. I was confronted by someone and he alluded to having the means to make me and my sister disappear.”
“Those are some pretty serious allegations,” he says, concern heavy in his tone. “Have you spoken to your parents about this incident? Made a police report?”
If only it were that easy.
“My parents aren’t exactly available at the moment, and I didn’t go to the police because, honestly, I’m not sure who I can trust. Which is why I called you after seeing you on TV. I know it’s been a while and all, but—”
“Hang on just a sec,” he cuts in before the line goes quiet. Then, maybe half a minute later, he’s back. “I needed to get someplace with a bit more privacy,” he explains. “Now, mind telling me who it was that threatened you? I can swing by his place, maybe bring him down to the station for questioning, but you’d need to file a report before I can take action.”
“I can’t do that.”
The words leave my mouth with force, but I have good reason. Like, keeping a low profile so Vin doesn’t see cause to retaliate.
“For now, I’d just like to tell you what I know, so you can see if any of it fits with what you know, and maybe it’ll help you, and… maybe you can help me.”
“Do you feel safe?” he asks.
I’m grateful for not being face-to-face with him, because he’d know what I’m about to say is a complete lie.
“Yes.”
“Then why’d you mention needing help?” he wants to know.
“I guess that came out wrong. Mostly, I’m only calling because it felt wrong not sharing what I know if it could make a difference in your case.”
He breathes into the phone, probably not buying any of that. “Ok, tell me. Who threatened you?”
“My boyfriend’s father,” I confess, building up the nerve to add, “Vin Golden.”
A cynical laugh leaves Roby. “Of course it is.”
My brow tenses, hearing his reaction. “Is something wrong?”
He sighs into the phone. “Vin Golden’s what we refer to as an ‘untouchable’. One of those who has his hands in so many facets of the city, owns so much of the city, the guy’s basically insulated by his power.”
He stops there and I’m not sure if this changes things. Maybe it means he doesn’t believe me, or that he’s no longer interested in pursuing this thing if Vin’s who he’ll be up against.
“Tell me exactly what he said to you,” Roby suggests.
I breathe deep, hoping to God I didn’t make a mistake here. “Well, he came to my house, asked me to get into his SUV to talk—which I’m sure you saw when Pandora shared. But before the conversation ended, he said that if I didn’t distance myself from his son within the next two months, he’d get Scar taken away from me. Then, he’d make me disappear, too.”
“He specifically said two months?”
“Yes,” I answer.
“And Pandora posted about this incident?”
“She did,” I confirm, nodding as though we’re sitting in the same room together.
“I’ve got a member of our task force assigned to monitoring Pandora, but only for specific activity. He never mentioned this, which means he likely assumed your situation was more of the usual, useless drivel she posts. I suppose we should be looking a bit more closely,” he concludes, which I don’t disagree with. Especially seeing as how Pandora seems to be engaged in an intense war with whoever’s trying to out her.
“Probably a good idea. I resisted downloading the app for years, but at the very least, it helps to give a heads up when everything’s going to shit,” I say with a humorless laugh.
“I bet. But getting back to your encounter with Vin, is this all that was said?”
I retreat a bit when it sounds like he’s making light of this.
“I mean, he mentioned having people interested in me already. That has to mean something, doesn’t it?”
I hear a pen scratching across a notepad in the background. “Anything else?”
There are a million things, but I’m admittedly not sure which details to share because I still have no clue if Roby’s completely on the level. So, just shy of telling him about the phones, the pic, Vin’s connection to Paul, and West overhearing the conversation about the ledger, I hold back.
“That’s all.”
More of that pen scratching across the notepad.
“While I think we’ll both agree it was highly inappropriate for a man his age to approach a girl your age in this manner, there’s nothing criminal here, Blue. I’m sorry. If I’m being honest with you, I see this sort of thing all the time. Parents from the north side get all up in arms when their kids intermingle with kids from the southside. This is probably that same thing. Especially seeing as how Vin’s notoriously obsessed with his and his family’s image.”
Those words leave his mouth and, instantly, I’m certain this was a mistake.
“But I don’t want you to think I’m being dismissive,” he adds, right when I was thinking it. “You were heard today, okay? And if there’s anything else you need to tell me, or if things get weird, don’t hesitate to call. Understood?”
Deep breath. You tried.
“Understood.”
“All right. Try to enjoy your weekend. I’ll let Dez know you asked about her.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
The call ends and that got me absolutely nowhere. Roby probably thinks I’m a paranoid nutcase now, but I couldn’t show all my cards. Not when I’m still so uncertain who can be trusted. If he’s not as clean as I think he is, anything I say could get back to Vin and we’d be screwed. For now, I have to be content knowing that at the very least, someone else in this town is at least questioning Vin’s involvement where the missing girls are concerned.
It isn’t much, but it’s all I’ve got for now.
