A tremor ran through Carina’s arm, but she didn’t break. Didn’t cry. Just nodded, jaw clenched so hard Ghost could see the muscle jumping from where he stood.
Finally, Naomi shifted, pulling a notepad from her jacket pocket. “When we spoke on the phone yesterday, you mentioned Leelee’s boyfriend, Taren Finch. How long were they together?”
Carina’s mouth twisted. “Too long, if you ask me. They got together in high school. He’s… useless. Drinks too much, gambles, never kept a job more than a month. Leelee thought she could fix him. I told her that’s not how it works.”
Ghost made a mental note. Finch: instability, substance issues, financial stress. He’d seen a hundred like him, and none ever ended well. “He ever get rough with her?” he asked, voice low.
Carina shook her head. “No, not that I ever saw. He was just… selfish. Jealous, too. Didn’t like when she went out with her friends. Used to sit outside the casino waiting for her to finish her shift. Sometimes he’d show up here. Sampson hated him on sight.”
“What about your husband? How does he feel about this boyfriend?”
She gave a shaky laugh. “Eddie’s a pragmatist. He didn’t like Taren but he also knows our girls are going to date some duds before they find their princes. He knew it wouldn’t last and he was right. Leelee finally broke it off with Taren last week. Sampson thinks he took her.”
Probably a good bet. Jealous ex-boyfriend was always a good place to start.
“But Eddie and I aren’t so sure,” she added when she saw Ghost and Naomi exchange glances.
“Why not?” Naomi asked.
“Taren is… lazy. We just don’t think he’d be motivated enough to hurt her.”
“Okay,” Naomi said and made a note. “What about at work? Did she say anyone was bothering her at work?”
Carina hesitated. “She said sometimes the men at the casino made her uncomfortable. Especially some of the regulars. She didn’t want to make a fuss, but a couple nights before she disappeared, she told me someone was following her car. She said it was probably nothing.”
Ghost felt every hair on the back of his neck go rigid. “What kind of car?”
“A black pickup. Big one, newer. Tinted windows.”
There it was. Pattern confirmed. The same truck all four missing women had mentioned in witness statements.
He caught Naomi’s gaze, saw her register it.
“Did she say anything else?” Naomi asked. “Did she get a look at the driver?”
Carina blinked, hands twisting hard in the rag she’d brought from the shop floor. “No… she said she tried, but the windows were so dark she couldn’t see a thing. She got scared, though. Called me one night and made me stay on the phone until she got home.” Her voice quivered but she didn’t let it break. “That’s how I knew it was serious.”
Ghost tracked every detail. The way Carina’s left hand trembled, the way her gaze kept darting to the photo wall, like she expected Leelee to step out from the frame and say it was all some bad joke.
He scanned the room. No listening devices, no hidden cameras. Just the smell of grief and gasoline and the faint whine of a compressor somewhere deeper in the shop.
Naomi leaned in, elbows braced on her knees. “Did Leelee tell you if the truck ever followed her beyond the highway? Did it ever come here, or to your house?”
Carina hesitated, thinking it over. “I… I don’t think so. She always said it started up by the casino, or sometimes on her way home. That stretch of County Road 12, just past Dead Horse curve.”
Pattern, again. Ghost felt the pieces slotting into place. Whoever was running the truck had a preferred hunting ground, and he stuck to it. Smart. Careful. Never doubled back toward the victim’s safe zones.
He made a note of that. Would need to check traffic cams, if any still worked out here, but he wasn’t holding his breath. The county barely replaced stop signs, let alone funded surveillance.
“Let’s talk about that last night,” Naomi said, gentle but relentless. “Did you see Leelee when she left for work? Anything unusual about her mood, her clothes, the way she acted?”
Carina stared past them, memory flickering behind her eyes. “She usually wore her uniform, but that night there was a costume contest at the casino for 90s night. She was excited, actually. Said there was a cash prize for best costume and she wanted it for her school fund. She had on that awful yellow plaid outfit from Clueless, you know? The blazer, the little skirt, the knee-high white tights?”
Ghost didn’t know, but Naomi was nodding, a smile playing over her lips. “Classic.”
“Taya Finley—she’s Leelee’s direct manager over at the casino—she said Leelee won the contest and was so happy when she left—” Carina stopped, pressed her lips together.
Naomi didn’t rush her. Just waited, letting the silence do the work.
