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“One. If you’re asking if she speaks Spanish, the answer is no.”
“Tell me about her boyfriend.”
“To me, he looked like a thug. Albeit a handsome one. Suave too, the handful of times I met him.”
“Mexican?”
“At least in descent would be my guess, based on his first name, although he didn’t speak with an accent.”
“Type of clothes? Car he drove?”
“Clothes weren’t anything out of the ordinary. The jeans, shirt, and boots he had on the last time I saw him looked a lot like what you’re wearing now. As far as his car, it was a white truck, American-made. Maybe a Ford.”
“Did she say where she met him?”
“Only that she was out for dinner with friends.” Seraphina turned to face me. “You know something about him you’re not telling me.”
“We believe he had a burner phone. The location we tracked your sister to is a vacant house.”
She put her head in her hands.
“We have people checking with neighbors to see if anyone knew him or knows where he might’ve gone, who he lived there with. That kind of stuff.”
“Are you sure he lived there?” she asked without moving her hands from her face. Her voice sounded shaky.
“Based on what we found in her phone records, she spent a lot of time there.”
“This is a fucking nightmare.” Now more than shaky, it sounded as though Seraphina was crying. I slid closer on the bench and put my arms around her. When she rested her cheek on my chest, I could feel the dampness from her tears.
“You said she met this guy when she was out for dinner with friends. Do you know whom with? If you do, we’d like to talk to them,” I said when she pulled away and wiped her tears.
“I got in touch with them the day my mom told me Luisa hadn’t come home. I asked what they knew about him, but like me, all they said was his name was Jorge.”
“No one spent time with them together?”
“No one I talked to. I’ll put you in contact with them, though. Her best friend’s name is Jada Yáñez.”
“Yáñez?”
Seraphina nodded. “I think she’s related to the Avilas. They met at Cal Poly.”
“If it’s the same Jada, she’s Brix’s cousin.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“When possible, I’d still like to check out her bedroom. It might be better to do it at a time when your mom isn’t home, mainly because I don’t want to upset her more than she already is.”
Something about what I said appeared to worry her, but she nodded. “I’ll ask. Would it be you?”
“It can be.”
The worried look intensified. “Or I can ask Press or Beau to do it. Or both. Moms usually like them. I think it’s the English accent.”
Whether it was because I’d smiled or that I said I didn’t have to be the one looking through her sister’s belongings, her anxiety appeared to lessen a little.
Seraphina stood and walked over to the deck’s railing. “I’ve always believed this is the best view in all the world.”
I stood next to her. “I would have to agree. It’s why I chose this spot for my house.”
