Page 64 of The Hanging Dolls
Zoe chalked it up to the woman being strung out. But before she could ask why no one was escorting her out of the station, the woman started howling and gasping, as if struggling to breathe.
“Where’s Scott? I want Scott!” Her desperate eyes searched for him. “Scott!” she screamed. “Scott!”
The door to the interrogation room flung open and Scott came out, frowning. But when he saw the woman, he stopped in his tracks.
The woman rushed into his arms and sunk down to the floor. “She’s gone! My Lucy is gone! He took Lucy!”
THIRTY-FIVE
Zoe had been in several tense situations in her life. She had attended briefings with powerful men and women. She had spent nights sleeping next to a predator undercover. But being in Travis’ office with Scott and the woman who she had concluded was Scott’s pseudo ex-girlfriend was the worst situation she had found herself in.
It vexed her how aloof Aiden was. He could probably sense the tension rolling off the townies more than she could. But where she was a sponge, absorbing everything, he was a shiny piece of metal, just reflecting it all.
The silence nicked by the woman’s sniffles was stuffy. Zoe glanced at Scott who was leaning against the wall, his face eclipsed by worry.
The flappy door swung open and Travis entered, his boots squelching and water still dripping from his hat. “Imagine my surprise to get a call that there’s chaos at my stationagainwhen I’m trying to convince Hicks that I got everything under control.” He shed his coat. When he saw the woman next to Zoe, he did a double-take. “Carly?”
Carly.
“Lucy is missing,” Scott said.
Carly sobbed into her hands. “Lucy… L-Lucy…”
Travis’ eyebrows touched his forehead, his face ashen. He almost tripped as he fell into his chair that protested under his weight. But in the last few days, he had thinned to worrying levels. “When did this happen?”
“I was picking her up from her friend’s place,” Carly cried. “I just made a quick detour to buy some cigarettes before I got there so I was running a few minutes late. When I got there, her friend’s mom told me she’d left already. But she never came home.”
“What time did you get there?” Travis asked.
“Around five thirty.”
“So thirty minutes ago. And what time did Lucy leave her friend’s place?”
“F-four thirty.” She lowered her gaze.
Travis paused. “Why the hell did it take you an hour to buy cigarettes?”
Carly’s portly frame shivered. “I ran into one of my customers who hadn’t paid up, we were arguing… I didn’t realize the time.”
Travis’ eyes hardened. His hands gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white. The room felt like it was closing in, the air thick with tension.
“Carly,” Travis said, his voice low and controlled, “why would Lucy leave her friend’s place before you got there?”
Carly’s lip trembled, and she looked down, unable to meet his gaze. “You don’t know her. She’s ten years old but feisty and independent and hardheaded. She… would get upset with me and do things on her own,” she admitted, her voice barely audible.
“Let me guess. You neglect that girl so often that she was used to fending for herself and playing grown up,” Travis said.
A tear rolled down Carly’s face. Her shame hung in the air like a heavy cloud. “Since the murders, I’ve been trying to be a better mom to her.”
Scott, who had been standing silently in the corner, suddenly cursed under his breath. He started pacing back and forth, shaking his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “Classic Carly. Every damn time…”
Zoe wanted to melt into her chair. It’s like they had forgotten she was there. Whatever history they had was now spilling over for everyone to see.
Travis didn’t take his eyes off Carly. “What did Lucy tell her friend’s mom when she left? I doubt she would have let her just leave at a time like this.”
“Lucy said I was outside waiting in the car. Look, you don’t know her. That girl has forged my signature more than a couple of times just to go to field trips.”
“You were running late because of your cigarettes and your… client,” he said, the words dripping with disappointment. “Lucy was supposed to be home over an hour ago, and you were… what? Too busy feeding your addiction and chasing down clientele?”
