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Devon nodded. “Not really. I get close to finding Emma, and then she disappears. I need all the information I can get. She shouldn’t be out on her own. Everyone I’ve talked to who’s met her says she’s very sweet but also terrified and sad. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but I want to help. Her apartment is about the size of one of our living rooms, and it looks like she has gone through dumpsters to furnish it. I met her mom. She’s a piece of work. She lives in this huge house by herself. I asked why Emma didn’t live with her, and she just said the girl was a terrible person and a slut who stole from her, and then she came on to me pretty strongly. Something’s fucked up. From what I’ve found out about the girl, she’s a lot like your Lacey. She shouldn’t be on her own.”
“You’ll find her,” Cason said. “Just tell me if there is anything I can do to help.”
“If I can, I’d like to ask Lacey some questions.”
“Sure.” Cason turned and yelled down the hallway. “Hey, baby, Devon’s here to talk to you.”
Cason glanced at Devon when he chuckled, and then he heard a squeal and running footsteps.
She ran up and hugged Devon. “Hi.
“Hi, yourself. I wanted to talk to you about Emma.”
“You haven’t found her?”
Cason hated to see the worry and disappointment on his little’s face.
Devon shook his head. “Not yet, honey. I get close, and then she disappears. Tell me everything you know again. There might have been something you missed or forgot.”
“She’s the maid I told you about. She was the one who warned me and then had me hide in her trunk to get me out of my mother’s house. She let me out in the back of Cason’s building because she thought she was being followed, and she wanted to draw them away from me. I’m hoping nothing happened to her. She was always so nice to me. I think she would have made a great friend, but it was forbidden for the servants to talk to us unless they asked a question. Isn’t that pitiful?”
“Yes. I think so, too,” Devon told her.
Lacey leaned against Cason’s shoulder. “I just hope she’s okay, but I wouldn’t know how to find out.”
“I’m trying, and I won’t stop,” Devon said. “Can you tell me anything else you know about her?”
“Her car was blue and had two doors, but that’s all I know about that.”
“It’s fine, I’ve got people looking for her car, but no one has found it.”
“She’s about my age, really pretty, with dark hair and eyes. I’m not positive, but her last name could be Hammond. That’s all I know.” She looked up at him. “Isn’t that pitiful, Daddy?”
Cason grinned. Since she had been hanging with the other girls, everything was pitiful. Travis told him it went in phases. Next week it might be something totally different.
“Yes, baby, that is pitiful. Devon’s doing the best he can.”
She nodded. “Good. I worry about her every day.”
“Knowing Devon, he’ll keep looking until he finds her.”
Lacey gave Devon one more hug and walked away.
Cason studied his friend’s uneasy expression. “What’s up?”
“I found a missing person report about an Emma Hammond. Her aunt is her only living relative besides her mother, but the aunt was the one who reported her missing. She told the police that Emma had never missed a day to visit her in a retirement home. She’s in a home because she had a stroke a year ago. That’s why it took me so long to find her. If it wasn’t for the report, I might not have ever found her.”
“Shit.” Cason’s stomach twisted.
“Yeah, it gets worse. Her aunt said she went missing that same day she helped Lacey escape. I’ve talked to people who have seen her, but I haven’t been able to find her yet.”
“So, her chances of surviving much longer on her own are pretty slim?”
Devon nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Cason wiped a hand down his face. “Shit, how the hell am I going to tell Lacey this? It will break her heart.”
“Hold off for a while. I’ll keep looking.” Devon patted his shoulder and left.
Cason sighed. He would definitely be praying for a miracle.
