Page 51 of Little Child Gone

Nikki slid the closet door open. The clothes were hung by color, just like the Halls’ master closet that Nikki had peeked in earlier.

“Agent Hunt.” Christy had returned with Caden and Amelia, who looked nervous as a scared cat.

“Mom said you haven’t found him,” Amelia said. “You talked to Neena? And Logan?”

Nikki nodded. “We’re not going to stop looking, I promise. Can you think of anyone else we should interview?”

Christy’s phone rang, making them all jump. “It’s the sheriff.”

“He told me he was going to call you with a detailed update on the door-to-door search.” Nikki felt bad for putting Christy through an unnecessary call, but she couldn’t figure out any other way to speak to the others alone. “You go ahead, we’ll talk.”

Christy hesitated and then hurried into the hall, closing the bedroom door behind her.

“Okay, guys, now is the time.” Nikki looked at both of them. “And we probably don’t have a lot of it. If there is anything else you aren’t telling me, it’s now or never.”

They both shook their heads, Amelia’s gaze flashing behind Nikki to the closet.

“Taylor never mentioned a new female friend?” Nikki asked.

More head shaking.

“What about this number, does it sound familiar?”

Both answered no, but Amelia remained fixated on the closet.

Nikki moved directly in front of Amelia, gently touching her shoulder. “What is it?”

“Mom will be mad,” Amelia whispered. “Taylor isn’t supposed to wear those shoes, only for special occasions.”

Nikki looked back at the closet, searching for whatever Amelia was talking about. She looked at the floor where Taylor’s shoes were in a meticulous line. An empty spot in the middle suggested a pair was missing. “What shoes?”

“His new Curry shoes. Mom said he had to only wear them in nice weather. She didn’t want them to get dirty,” Caden said. “He had on his boots yesterday when he left.”

“Is there any reason he’d take these shoes?” Nikki recognized Stephen Curry’s name and knew the shoes were pricey, but Taylor wasn’t going to get much in a resale or pawnshop if that’s what he was thinking. “Amelia, what do you want to tell me?”

“He kept money in there. All the cash he earned from doing anything. He had over seven hundred dollars in there.”

Christy’s footsteps made Amelia go silent. Once she’d returned, Nikki reiterated her questions about another friend and brought up the mysterious phone number again, her eyes on Christy.

“Whose number is that?” Christy demanded.

Nikki debated not telling her, but it wasn’t right to keep it out of the investigation. “This is the number Taylor gave his manager a week ago. He told Mr. Livingston it was yours. Mr. Livingston called last night when Taylor didn’t show and spoke to a woman who said she was Taylor’s mother and he wouldn’t be coming in because he was sick.”

Christy sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at Nikki in shock. Nikki watched the two siblings’ reactions, but they’d seemed as shocked as their mother.

“You’re sure there’s no other family he’d go to?” Nikki asked. “Maybe a friend in Indianapolis? Someone you’ve forgotten?”

Christy insisted they’d given all the information they had. “Talk to Jared, he will tell you. He’ll set you straight.”

“I’m headed there next.” Nikki looked at each person in the room. “Please call if you think of anything else or hear from Taylor.”

Nikki called Miller as soon as she left the Halls’ home. “Thanks for distracting her.”

“No problem, but fill me in, please.”

Nikki explained that Taylor had changed his mother’s contact information at work and that his boss spoke to a woman claiming to be Taylor’s mother on that number yesterday. “If he’s close to his siblings, they’re our best shot at information. But they seemed just as shocked as Christy, and I don’t think Amelia could have hidden her emotions well enough to be acting.” She told Miller about the missing basketball shoes. “Taylor kept his cash in there.”

“So he changed his mom’s contact information to an internet number, an unknown woman vouches for him yesterday, and he took his favorite shoes and all his cash. That sounds more like a runaway.”

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