Page 48 of The Girl Who Was Taken

Livia blinked and tried to make sense of what she was hearing. “I don’t understand.”

He finished the cigarette, tossed it in the grass with the dandelions and stray beer cans. “Just being straight with you, Casey and Nicole were screwing and running the club. Like,together. Whatever Casey was into, your sister was into. The whole thing with Diana Wells went bad because Nicole took it too far and Casey went along with it.”

The words pushed Livia back half a step until she, too, rested on the railing opposite Nate. She tried to put on a casual expression. “You ever tell the police any of this?”

“I don’t ever tell the police anything.”

“They ever talk to you?”

“The police? Shit no.”

“You sure?”

“I’d know if the cops talked to me, trust me.”

“But Nicole goes missing, it’s all over the news. Megan McDonald, too. At the same time, Casey stops showing up for work. You ever stop to think if there’s a connection?”

Nate shrugged. “I just figured with Nicole being gone, Casey took off to avoid any heat from the cops. Boyfriend’s always under the gun, know what I mean?”

Nate took out another cigarette, offered the pack to Livia.

“No, thanks,” she said. “So this club, it’s no more?”

“Poof,” Nate said, lighting his Bic. He put the flame to the tip of his Marlboro. “Gone, just like that.” He released his finger and the flame died.

“But you still follow the stories, right? Missing girls?”

“It’s in my blood, or whatever they call it. You know?”

“DNA.”

“Right. It’s in my DNA. Ain’t my fault, it’s just part of me.”

“You’ve got some sick DNA, Mr. Theros.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“You mind if I come back and ask some more questions if anything else comes up about Casey?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Livia walked off the patio.

“So Casey’s really dead?”

“Afraid so,” Livia said over her shoulder.

“Sorry about Nicole. She was a cool chick.”

Livia lifted her chin and walked across the trash-filled front lawn, a very different picture of her younger sister forming in her mind. Gone was the image of Nicole luggingHarry Potterbooks into her bed, shadowed now by the aura of a girl clad in black, desperate for attention and willing to go to great lengths to find it.

CHAPTER 22

Her ride-along week officially ended Friday afternoon at five p.m., but Livia managed, with a favor from Kent, to finish by noon. After the sequestration and transport of a forty-year-old suicide victim who had started his car in his closed garage and waited for the carbon monoxide to kill him, the morgue van pulled up behind the OCME where Sanj Rashi drew the gurney from the back and wheeled the body through the rear door of the morgue. In all, Livia recovered twelve bodies during ride-along week while learning the intricacies and tricks of scene investigation from Kent and Sanj. Although the past week had been fascinating, Livia found herself aching Friday morning to get back to the morgue. Back to her autopsy table and her tools and the controlled environment of the autopsy suite. What she learned during her first week of ride-alongs would prove invaluable as she continued her training, and she would return Monday morning more knowledgeable than when she left. She would also be refreshed and ready for her next case.

After Sanj wheeled the body inside, Livia stood outside with Kent. He pulled out a cigarette.

“You sure you don’t mind if I take off early today?” Livia asked.

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