Wanting by Calle J. Brookes Read Free Book Online Page A

them had turned out to be Irene. They’d joined
her as she supervised a small cleanup crew. She’d easily made them
for cops. “Scared kid. I knew she wasn’t no boy. I’ve been doing
this job long enough to know some of the tricks of this world.
Despite the hair and clothes this was no boy. Too feminine and
refined for that. I asked her if she had a place to stay and if she
needed help. Could tell she’d not been out here that
long.”
    Sebastian had quickly
explained their purpose, and asked several questions about the
shelter. Enough to make the woman comfortable enough to know they
weren’t there to pry information or hassle the shelter’s residents
or the kitchen’s daily visitors. “What was her
response?”
    “ Evasive. But so, so
scared. I wanted to press the issue, but I was afraid, too. Didn’t
want her to get too scared and not come back. I haven’t seen her
since. That was two or three days ago. I hope you can find her, but
I’m not sure I can be much help.”
    “ Was there anything that
stood out? Would help pinpoint where she was camping?” Carrie
asked.
    Irene shook her head.
“Nothing that stands out. She did have a McDonalds cup with her
last time I saw her. She filled it with water before she
left.”
    ***
    Ten minutes later they were
back at the SUV. Carrie placed her laptop on the hood and isolated
all the McDonalds restaurants within easy walking distance of the
New Hope Shelter.
    “ What are the chances the
cup was one she found and reused?”
    “ Not high.” Carrie focused
on the screen, trying to put herself in Ashleigh’s shoes once
again. She would have wanted to stay close to her home base—less of
a chance of getting lost or running into trouble. “Those cups only
last so long. And most people don’t empty them before tossing them.
They are good if you are really thirsty and don’t have access to a
readily available water supply. People are wasteful. The cups would
have liquid in them—usually soda—that eats at the material of the
cups. The soda is acidic, so the cups don’t last too long. She
probably bought it, drank it, and rinsed the cup out—”
    Sebastian held up a hand,
cutting her off. “I get it. She bought it. So we’ll start with the
restaurant closest to the shelter and work from there.”

Chapter 11
    *****
     
    They’d taken it better than
Kevin had expected, but he knew his girls didn’t fully understand.
How could they? He barely understood it himself.
    He’d always taught his
girls to face their mistakes, to take responsibility for their
actions. The fact that he hadn’t known about Caroline until she was
nine hadn’t helped his case.
    It had only partially
mollified the girls when he’d explained how Caroline’s mother had
run off with a known criminal after he and his partner questioned
her about her involvement in a case he was working. He’d explained
how he’d told his wife immediately the night he’d met Caroline ten
years later and suspected she was his. Told the girls how he and
Susan had went to child services the next day to see about getting
Caroline to live with them. But somehow Caroline had disappeared
into the system and no amount of searching had been able to trace
exactly where the little girl had been taken.
    Kevin had never understood
that. How could a child under the watch of social services just
disappear? Someone on the inside had to have been corrupt, but he’d
never been able to isolate just who. Or why his little girl would
have been of interest.
    Her mother had been a petty
criminal, her step-father, as well. He’d never been able to solve
the murder of Caroline’s mother, but he’d tried.
    Every cop had that one case
he just couldn’t solve. His just happened to be the murder of his
child’s mother.
    The man who was paroled
four days ago. Seventeen years later, and Kevin knew he may finally
have a shot at finding his daughter.
    He wasn’t stopping until he
did.

Chapter 12
    *****
     
    “ That kid? Comes in