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“Wait, what’s the time?” Erin asked. “Is it midnight yet?”
My brows shot up. Erin had a good point. If it was past midnight, the police would be forced to track Kinsey down via her ankle monitor.
The officer glanced at his watch. “It’s 12:02.”
“That means Kinsey’s broken her curfew,” I said, pulse racing. “You have to track her down and get her home.”
“Not necessarily,” the officer said, lifting a palm. “Those curfews aren’t as strict as you might think. I’d say they’re more like loose guidelines to encourage the person to stay on the straight and narrow instead of spending their nights going out and potentially getting into more trouble. We don’t enforce them on people who are just a bit late getting home. We can use our own discretion for matters like that.”
“I’m sorry,what?” Erin looked flabbergasted. “We’re talking about an alleged murderer who’s out on bail, and you’re telling me you aren’t enforcing the ankle monitor rules? Are you crazy, or just completely incompetent?”
“Calm down, please,” the officer replied, narrowing his eyes. “Look at it from the PD’s point of view. Kinsey has been a model citizen since she was released on bail. She hasn’t gotten into any trouble, she hasn’t tried to leave the Crown Point city limits, and she’s attended all her classes at school. We have no reason to think she’s planning to skip town just because she’s missed the curfew by two minutes.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said, voice dripping with acid. “Where the hell were you trained? At a fucking circus?”
“There’s really no need to speak to me like that,” the officer said, lifting a palm. “I’m trying to help.”
“Excuse me,” Ken cut in. “With all due respect, sir, these kids are right. It seems absurd that your department isn’t dropping everything to investigate the whereabouts of this girl. I’m not saying she’s guilty, but the fact of the matter is, shehasbeen charged with murder and is currently out on bail. Most people would agree that that makes her a flight risk. So you really need to have every available unit out looking for her.”
The officer puffed his chest out. “I know how to do my job, thank you very much,” he said. “I don’t need any advice from you.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, eyes narrowing. “Tell me, why the fuck aren’t you taking this seriously? Why aren’t you doing everything you possibly can to find out where Kinsey is when it’s clear something has happened to her? Why are you acting as if it’s more likely that someone came out here and spilled fucking paint on the ground?”
Erin cut in, hands on her hips. “Also, why did the Crown Point PD decide to send justoneofficer to talk to us about Kinsey going missing? She isn’t just a random person who’s wandered off somewhere. She’s the only suspect in the murder case of the century, so her location and welfare should be your top priority,” she snapped. She paused to suck in a breath, slowly shaking her head. “Just wait until the media finds out about all of this. The incompetence is literally staggering.”
“You need to calm down,” the officer replied. “Kinsey is not officially missing. We really don’t need to jump to conclusions.”
“Right,” I said, tone spiked with sarcasm. “So you think it’s normal for someone to ditch their phone in a parking lot, drip blood on the ground, and vanish into thin air. No cause for alarm at all.”
He lifted a palm. “Here’s what I think happened tonight based on what I’ve seen and heard. Kinsey fell asleep in the school while studying, like you told me. When she woke up, she found an unlocked door and let herself out. Then she decided to go for a late-night walk on the beach as her message to you suggests. Her phone could’ve fallen out of her bag when she was leaving, and she simply didn’t notice. Once she got down to the beach, she realized the phone was missing and decided to head home. Because she didn’t have the phone on her, she didn’t know what time it was, so she didn’t realize she was going to miss the curfew. She also wasn’t reachable for anyone attempting to contact her. Like you two.”
“Could you confirm that for us?” I asked, folding my arms. “Can you make a call to whichever department is responsible for monitoring the ankle bracelet data and get them to see if she’s at home?”
“I can do that, yes.” The officer gave me a tight smile. “Give me a minute.”
He stepped away and spent the next few minutes muttering into his cell phone. When he returned, his lips were stretched in a self-satisfied smirk. “Your address is 44 King Albert Parade, isn’t it?” he asked, looking at me.
“Yes.”
“Kinsey’s ankle monitor data shows that her current location is 44 King Albert Parade. According to the data analyst, she arrived there over an hour ago. So she actually didn’t miss her curfew at all.”
I frowned. “Are you sure?”
“The GPS doesn’t lie.” The officer smiled again. I wanted to punch him straight in his smug face. “You should head home now. Kinsey is probably waiting for you.”
“What if she isn’t there?” I asked, heart thudding painfully in my chest. Even though the GPS data from the ankle monitor had confirmed that Kinsey was currently at home, I was still certain something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones.
“I’m sure she will be.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” Erin said in an icy tone. “What if she isn’tthere?”
The officer rubbed his brow and let out an irritated sigh. “I don’t see any reason why she wouldn’t be at home, given the GPS signal. But if she isn’t there for some reason, and she’s still not home by the morning, you can give us another call. We’ll send someone out to look for her then.”
I stared at him, thunderstruck. “Are you kidding? You won’t start looking for her untiltomorrow?”
“Like I said earlier, it doesn’t seem like she’s actually missing,” the officer said. He gestured around the parking lot. “I honestly don’t see any cause for concern here. But I’ll take the phone with me, along with that fluid sample, and we’ll see what happens. For now, the best thing you two can do is go home.”
Erin nudged me. “Let’s go,” she said in a low voice. “He’s never going to listen to us.”
