Beach Town (37 page)

“Maybe we can TP Vanessa's house when this shoot is over,” Greer promised.

“Where are you headed now?” CeeJay asked. “You're not gonna just drive around town looking for the kid, right?”

“No, but I can't just sit in my room, waiting to hear something,” Greer said. “I'm going over to Eb's place to see if he's heard anything.”

“Let me know,” CeeJay said.

*   *   *

When her phone rang again, she snatched it up.

“Have you heard anything?” Eb asked. “Have any of your folks seen her?”

“No and no,” Greer said. “Kregg wasn't on set today, and CeeJay and I just drove over to Bluewater Bay. No sign of her at Kregg's house.… Has Allie ever done anything like this before?”

“No! But then, she's never been this pissed off at us before. God, this is like a nightmare.”

“Did you check her room, to see if there's anything missing? I mean, if she's really run away…”

“Allie's room is your typical teenage rat nest,” he said. “It looks like a bomb went off in there, but that's how it always looks. Damned if I can tell if there's anything missing. Ginny says Allie's suitcase is still in the closet. And her iPod is still on her dresser, if that means anything.”

“How about her purse? And her phone?”

“I took her phone away, remember? Anyway, Allie usually carries a little backpack thing. It's not at Ginny's.”

“How about her computer? Does she have a laptop?”

“Her laptop is at Ginny's.”

“Does Allie have any money? Or a credit card?”

“No credit card. We'd talked about getting her one, once she buys a car, just for emergencies. As for money … yeah, she's been saving her money from waitressing for two years, for a car. I'm cosigner on her bank account, and I went online and checked—she hasn't made any withdrawals. But she also hasn't deposited her last paycheck, which was for about one hundred fifty bucks. She also has tip money, which she usually keeps in a jar and uses for walking-around money.”

“So she's got a little money, but not a lot.” Greer hesitated. “Eb, you don't think … I mean, there's no chance, right, that something really bad has happened?”

“I called Chief Bottoms as soon as we realized Allie was gone,” he said abruptly. “She's got patrol cars out looking for Allie. We've never had anything like this happen around here. This is Cypress Key, for God's sake. Who would take her? And why? We're not the Rockefellers.… I still think she's with that son of a bitch Kregg.”

“She's not with him right now,” Greer said. “CeeJay kind of let herself into Kregg's place. She walked all around the house and checked and didn't see any sign a girl had been there.”

“Breaking and entering? I like her style,” Eb said.

“We also talked to the cop at the guard shack, and he said Kregg left there around nine this morning in the Hummer. Alone, and without his usual posse.”

“If I get my hands on that punk…”

“I don't blame you,” Greer said. “Have you talked to Allie's best friend yet?”

“I just called Gail. Tristin is on the way back from Gainesville, and their bus should be dropping the girls off at the high school any minute now. Which is where I plan to be. I better go. I need to keep this line open, just in case Allie calls.”

“I understand,” Greer said.

 

43

It was nearly seven when she drove alongside Eb's pickup truck in the parking lot at the high school. He stood leaning against the hood, arms folded across his chest. He wore jeans and a collared golf shirt. He raised one eyebrow as she got out of the car and walked over to join him.

“I thought maybe I could help,” Greer said shyly. “I hope you don't mind.”

He shrugged.

“If Allie really has gone off with Kregg, I feel responsible.”

He pushed his glasses off the end of his nose and sighed. “What did you have in mind?”

“Maybe let me talk to Tristin? I mean, you're the mayor, and Allie's uncle, and you can be kind of an imposing authority figure. I was thinking we could play good cop/bad cop.”

“I'm the bad cop?”

“Somebody has to be.” Greer leaned up against the bumper. “Any thoughts about where Allie would have gone? If she actually is with Kregg?”

“I hope to God I'm wrong,” he said grimly. “I think she might have gone to Starke.”

“The prison? Where her dad is?”

“Was. Ginny had the same idea. She checked with the state corrections department. Jared was released at noon today.”

Before Greer had a chance to process that thought, a short yellow school bus rumbled into the parking lot. A few minutes later the doors opened, and two dozen tanned and chattering teenage girls started spilling out into the concrete lot.

Eb pointed to a pretty girl with blond-streaked brown hair worn in a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless white T-shirt and bright green gym shorts that showed off long, lean legs. She had a Cypress Key High School logo gym bag slung over one shoulder and earbuds dangling around her neck. “That's Tristin.”

The girl started walking toward a green VW Beetle.

“Hey, Tristin,” Eb called. “Can we talk to you for a minute?”

Tristin approached slowly. “Hey, Mr. Thibadeaux,” she said, her voice meek. “I, uh, kinda have to get home. My mom's waiting on me.” She adjusted the strap of her gym bag.

“This won't take very long,” Eb said. “I think you know why we wanted to see you. Allie's missing.”

The girl's expressive brown eyes widened. “For reals?”

“She didn't show up for work today. Do you know anything about that? Do you know where she's gone?”

“No sir,” Tristin said quickly. “I've been at soccer camp all week.”

“She didn't call or text you to tell you her plans?”

Tristin stared down at her feet. She wore bright pink Havaiana flip-flops, and her toenails were painted neon green to match her shorts. “Um, no.”

“Tristin, could you look at me, please? This is serious. I need to know where Allie went today. Is she with Kregg?”

“I don't know,” Tristin said. Her eyes darted from Eb to Greer. “Allie doesn't tell me everything.”

“Come on,” Eb said bluntly. “You two talk on the phone ten times a day. You're texting each other constantly. I don't believe she wouldn't tell her best friend if she was planning something like this.”

“Like what?” Tristin flipped a strand of hair behind one ear. Her fingernails were painted green, too, with tiny white smiley faces etched on each one. “Anyway, she couldn't call me, because you took her phone. Right?”

Eb gave a snort of frustration. Greer shot him a warning glance.

“But maybe Allie got a new phone,” Greer said gently. “Maybe Kregg gave her one?”

“No. I mean, I don't know.” Tristin shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I really have to get home, Mr. Thibadeaux.”

Greer decided to take another tack.

“Tristin, we know you're trying to be loyal to Allie. You're her best friend, right? You don't want to rat her out. We get that. But we think she's really in a dangerous place right now. How about this? We'll tell you what we think is going on, and you just tell us if we're right. Okay?”

“I don't know,” Tristin said. “I mean, Allie didn't tell me all that much. We're kinda broken up, you know, as friends, because of him.”

“You mean Kregg?” Eb asked.

Tristin nodded. “He's kind of a douche canoe, you know. And I told her that, too. Which made her all mad at me and stuff.”

“Kregg did give her a phone, right?” Greer asked.

“An iPhone 6!” Tristin said. “It was supposed to be like this big secret.”

“Has Allie talked to you about going to see her dad?” Greer asked.

“Um, yeah. She was kinda obsessed with him, you know?”

“How did she get in contact with him?” Eb asked. “Inmates aren't allowed phones or e-mail.”

Tristin's gaze wandered to a group of three girls standing beside a nearby red Camaro. The girls were whispering among themselves and making no secret of their interest in Tristin's conversation with the adults.

“Tristin?” Greer said.

“Allie got a post office box,” Tristin said. She looked at Eb. “She knew you had this family feud with her dad, and you didn't want her talking to him.” She hesitated a moment. “And sometimes her dad would call her, too. Like you said, guys in prison aren't supposed to have phones, but Al said sometimes a guard would let him use theirs.”

“For a bribe,” Eb said, his tone dripping with disgust. “How long has she been in contact with Jared?”

“Mmm. Not that long. Maybe three months?” Tristin clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God. I totally swore to keep that a secret. Al will kill me.”

“Never mind that,” Eb said. “We figured out most of this already. And we know Allie's dad was released from Starke today. Is that where she's gone?”

Tristin nodded.

“Kregg took her?” Greer asked.

“I told her not to go with him,” she blurted. “Kregg's, like, obsessed with meeting Allie's dad. He thinks it's awesome that he's an ex-con. He says he might want to make a movie about her dad's life.”

“Do you know anything else, Tristin?” Greer asked. “Were they coming right back here?”

The girl shrugged. “Seriously, that's all I know. Allie's pissed at me. Because I told her it was a dumb idea. I mean, she knew you would totally put her on restriction forever, but she said she didn't care.” She shot Eb a sympathetic look. “Because she turns eighteen this month, she gets to decide where she wants to live, and she said her dad wants her to live with him, so that's what she's going to do.”

Eb snorted and stomped away.

Maybe, Greer thought, it was better this way. Now they could talk girl to girl. “Tristin, have you talked to Allie today? Is there anything else you're not telling us? I promise, we won't let her know you talked to us.”

“I texted her, earlier, after my mom called to say Mr. Thibadeaux was looking for her, but she hasn't answered me back,” Tristin said. “I swear, that's everything I know.”

Greer had one more question, and she wasn't at all sure Tristin would tell her the truth. Still, she had to ask.

“Do you think Allie is having sex with Kregg?”

Tristin blushed violently. “No way! Gross! I mean, Al said he was getting kind of … you know—especially after her top came off on the Jet Ski. But she told him no. Allie likes him and all, but one of our other friends at school got pregnant last year and had to drop out. Plus, her mom got pregnant with Allie when she was only eighteen, so Al is like this super virgin.”

Greer realized she'd been holding her breath, waiting for the answer to her last question. Now she exhaled slowly. “Okay, that helps. A lot.” She reached in the pocket of her jeans and brought out one of her business cards. “If you do hear from Allie, no matter when, would you call me and let me know?”

Tristin took the card and studied it, and then studied Greer.

“Can I ask you something now?” Tristin said.

“Of course.”

“Why do you care about any of this? I mean, you're not related to Allie, right?”

Greer had been asking herself the same question. She glanced toward the truck, where Eb was sitting behind the steering wheel with the windows rolled down and the motor running.

“I care because he cares,” she said softly. “And because I like Allie, a lot.”

Tristin nodded. “Mr. Thibadeaux is pretty upset, huh? You know, everybody always thought Allie was so lucky, because her uncle's usually pretty chill, and Aunt Ginny, she's pretty cool for an old lady. Plus, Allie gets to live in such cool places. I totally don't get why she wants to go live with some dude she doesn't even really know.” She hesitated. “Especially somebody who just got out of prison. Allie says her dad only went to prison because some judge had it in for him. But still. Prison. That's hard core.”

“Tell me something, Tristin. Are your parents together?”

Tristin looked taken aback. “Yeah. Sure. Why do you ask?”

“My parents split up when I was about the same age as Allie was when her parents got divorced. And my dad was never really in the picture after that. I used to envy my friends whose parents were still married.” She looked directly at Tristin. “I fantasized what it would be like, you know, if they were still married. Like, if my dad worked in an office and my mom stayed home and baked cookies. Like some television sitcom family.”

Greer patted the teenager's shoulder. “I guess Allie wants to believe her dad is really a good guy. And that he loves her and wants to take care of her. That's probably what we all want. Right? To have somebody love us enough to take care of us?”

“I guess. Okay if I go now?”

“Sure thing.”

*   *   *

Eb was on the phone when she reached the truck. He covered it with his hand. “I'm on hold, waiting for the chief. I want her to put out a warrant for Kregg's arrest.”

“For what?” Greer asked, alarmed.

“Anything she can think of,” Eb said, his expression grim. “Contributing to the delinquency of a minor, you name it.”

“That's kind of drastic, isn't it?”

“Not from where I'm sitting. He's absconded with a seventeen-year-old girl whose guardians forbid him to see her, or her to see him,” Eb said.

“And if the chief agrees to that, and they manage to find Allie, how do you think she'll react to the fact that you sicced the police on her? Come on, Eb. You're upset, and I don't blame you, but get a grip! Putting Kregg behind bars won't solve anything. He'll get a lawyer and bond out in fifteen minutes. And in the meantime you will have alienated Allie for good. She'll hate your guts.”