Page 57 of Last Seen
“Not you, so you can relax. But we have a lot of people we need to talk to. There have to be fifty-odd people who came in and out of Joe’s last night while Kater was there. We need to track down her folks—”
“They moved to Boca Raton last year,” Halley says inanely, because of course the chief knows this; everyone does. It’s a small town, and they made a big fuss about retiring to warmer weather.
“We have the Boca PD reaching out to them right now. But I want to show you some footage from the feedstore, if you wouldn’t mind. Tell me if you see anyone who looks familiar—as in, might be the stranger who talked to you.” He swivels the screen of his desktop. Grainy black-and-white footage, snowy with interference.
“What time did you leave?” he asks.
“Probably around eight forty-five, nine o’clock? No later than nine fifteen. I didn’t look at the clock, but I know I was home and settled before the local news started.” He moves the time bar to 8:40 and hits play. They sit in silence, watching the creeping darkness of the parking lot. She can feel Meredith behind her, watching over her shoulder.
At 8:55 p.m., someone rounds the building and enters the parking lot. They make a beeline to her Jeep. The dome light flashes for a heartbeat, then the door is closed and they’re moving away. There is no sound, but in her mind, Halley hears the motorcycle vroom to life.
“That has to be him,” she says. “Right build, right time. Is there a better shot of his face?”
“No, but we might be able to ask for some help enhancing this video.” Early pauses the video, runs it back. They watch again. It’s really too grainy to see anything for sure. “What’s he doing with your Jeep?”
“I think he took my mother’s file from my bag, and my car keys. He must have thrown the file into the front seat and then dropped the keys so it would seem like I did it in a rush. I know for sure I had the file in my bag when I went in, and I would never not lock my Jeep.” As she says it, there’s another flash of light. The passenger door of her Jeep is opened again, the dome light shining for the briefest of seconds.
“Who’s that?” Early says. He squints at the screen. “It’s a woman. That you?”
“No, it’s not me,” Halley replies. “I was with Aaron and Kater. Whoever that is, she’s alone.”
The door is closed again, and there is darkness, but seconds later, another moment of light, as if a flashlight reflected off the Jeep’s door or a lighter was lit. At that exact moment, the woman glances over her shoulder, and Halley feels the chill shoot through her body. She is a stranger, and there is a look of madness, or desperation, on her face. It’s hard to tell how old she is exactly, but she’s definitely older than Halley. Maybe in her forties?
“Who is that?” she asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Will you play it back? Can you go slow?”
Early fiddles with the mouse, and the screen goes black, then grainy again. He hits play. “Half speed’s the best I can do.”
The flash of light. The hair. The shape of her face. Then her face, looking over her shoulder, as if startled. Determined. Frightened.
Early hits pause, and Halley shakes her head.
“I have no idea who that is.”
“You sure that isn’t your sister, back from the dead?”
“I don’t think so.”
“When did you see your sister last?”
Halley meets Early’s eyes. “When I was six years old. Probably right after she murdered my mother. And tried to kill me.”
“Halley, you’re absolutely sure this isn’t her? Twenty-eight years is a long time. People change.”
“I am ... ninety percent sure? I can give the sketch artist a description of her, just like I did with the man. I don’t know, maybe with age progression ... but I really don’t think it’s her.”
Now that she’s been reminded, Cat’s face comes to her easily. Blond curls, cherub lips, clear china blue eyes. Innocent. Charming. Lovely, when she wasn’t furious and dyeing her hair black and lining her eyes with kohl and sowing hate with her family. Her natural coloring was the opposite of Halley’s; with her dark hair and eyes, Halley was a twin to their mother. Cat took after her deadbeat father, something she never stopped crowing about. A man who disappeared into the fabric of theuniverse after the divorce and never even sent a birthday card or called. Her attachment to a practical ghost was epic.
No, the younger version of Cat, though, that’s what Halley is remembering now. There’s exactly zero chance anyone would look at that innocent girl and think she was capable of murder. But truth is truth.
“Run, Halley. Run.”
Not now.She shakes off the echoes of her past. Who was this person, and why was she here at this particular moment in time? Maybe it was someone Halley contacted who decided to get in touch. Maybe it was Alison Everlane, playing some twisted little game. The age is about right.
“I think we should assume that’s another stranger, Chief. Then the question becomes, Who is she and what was she doing in my car? Is shewiththis guy who was at Joe’s? Or is she after him for something? Maybe a jealous ex, thinking he’s been slinking around with someone else?”
