HELENA
Julie, I’m half convinced you’re dying somewhere and I’m about to ask the police to help.
HOUDINI
I’m at the courthouse. I can’t be talking too much, my phone will die.
HELENA
The courthouse? Are you in legal trouble?
HOUDINI
No. I’ll meet you after the mixer, okay?
HELENA
I am not going to be able to focus on the mixer while I’m thinking about you locked up in the courts, Julie.
Will you please answer me?
I just need to see you for a minute. Long enough to know you’re okay.
She didn’t reply. Didn’t even read the messages. She’d probably shut off her phone.
God dammit.
Thankfully, Estelle picked up quickly. If there was one thing I could always count on her for, it was to be two inches from her phone. “Hey, babe,” she said, trying to sound cheerful even though I could tell she was concerned—I never called directly unless it was an emergency. “What’s going on?”
“Cassandra—I mean, Julie—whoever the hell she is—says she won’t be able to come to the mixer, said she’s in adeveloping situationand she can’t tell me about it over text, refused to meet me in person, and when I pressed her on what’s going on, said she’s atthe courthouseand that she’ll explain everything to me after.”
“What?”
“And now she’s ghosting me.”
I heard her putting down a crinkling bag, a chair creaking. “What courthouse? For what? That raises so many more questions.”
“Welcome to my Saturday afternoon. Can you… I don’t know, just…”
“Help you find out which courthouse she’s in so you can show up there anyway and get some answers? Babe, you have but to ask.”
I relaxed, just a little. “Technically I didn’t even have to do that.”
“She’s based in Queens, right? Kate’s out there right now, I’ll tell her to pop into the police department and ask if they’ve seen her around any of the offices, and I’ll call some court offices to ask about our girl.”
I hung my head, breathing out a slow, shaky sigh. “Thanks, Stellie.”
“Let me know what you find on your end. I’ll keep you posted. Uh… what name do you think we should be using?”
Wasn’t that a question? I grimaced, and the thoughts I didn’t want to acknowledge won out, because I said, “Julie Branch.”
She sighed. “I’m gonna shake this girl down for answers once this is settled.”
Yeah, well, she could get in line.
∞∞∞
I should have known Estelle would solve things just like that. It only took half an hour before she got back to me with a police precinct in Queens that had just referred a Julie Branchto the Housing Court last night, although they wouldn’t disclose the matters of her case any further, and I was already on the train out there with no room for second thoughts by the time I got the message.
