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“Of course.”
I flipped to the back of my notebook and wrote down my name and phone number on the corner and tore it out. “You can reach me here,” I said, handing her the paper.
She looked it over and stuck it in her jeans pocket.
“Do you think it would be okay if I talk to Casey?” I asked. “I promise to tread lightly.”
“Okay.” She looked worried but also slightly relieved. “She mentioned that Ava wasn’t at school, but she doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. I didn’t want to worry her.”
“I understand.”
“I’ll go get her,” Millie said, then got up and walked toward the front of the house. I heard footsteps on the staircase, and Millie called out, “Casey? Can you come down for a minute?”
I heard footfalls on the hardwood floor and looked up to see Millie coming toward me, her hand on the shoulder of a preteen girl in front of her. Casey was nearly as tall as her mother and had the same shoulder-length cornsilk blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing jeans and a pale pink sweater. She didn’t have on shoes, but her feet were covered in pink fuzzy socks. Her face was pale, and she looked confused.
I stood and offered her a friendly smile. “Hi, Casey. I’m Harper, and I’m a friend of Ava’s mom.”
She stared at me with wide eyes but didn’t speak.
“Where are your manners?” Millie chastised softly, lightly squeezing Casey’s shoulder.
Casey forced a smile. “Hello.”
“I understand that you might be a little nervous to talk to me,” I said, still smiling.
Casey glanced down at the floor and wouldn’t meet my gaze. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her and her shoulders hunched forward.
Casey LaRue wasn’t just nervous. She was hiding something.
Chapter 20
I knew better than to get my hopes up. Casey was a twelve-year-old girl who looked like she was scared to get in trouble. I had no idea what her mother had told her about me, but if she thought I was a cop, she might be scared I was here to bust her for shoplifting gum from a convenience store or throwing a rock in a neighbor’s window. (Both had happened over the course of my career.) I knew better than to expect too much.
Yet I hoped anyway.
Whatever she was hiding, I’d bet the title of my Ford Taurus that she didn’t want her mother to know.
But I doubted Millie would let me question her daughter without her present, not that I blamed her. If I had a kid, I’d probably advise them to not talk to police in an investigation without an attorney present. I hated attorneys, but I also knew a few stupid kids who’d admitted to shit they shouldn’t have. But I wasn’t a cop anymore, so Millie might be more lenient.
For now, I’d play it by ear.
“Why don’t we sit down somewhere to talk,” I said, keeping my voice breezy. “Where would you be most comfortable?”
“The sofa,” the girl said, her voice just above a whisper as she pointed to the family room.
“Great idea,” I said, picking up my notebook and phone and heading over to a love seat.
Casey and her mother sat on the sofa perpendicular to me. Once they got settled, I looked Casey in the eye. “Did your mother tell you why I want to talk to you?”
She glanced down at her lap and nodded. “Ava wasn’t at school today, and Mom says her mom and dad can’t find her.”
I suspected Casey was shy, which explained her lack of eye contact, but I was feeling more confident that she was hiding a secret.
“Miss Vanessa asked me to help her find Ava. You might know something really important that can help me do that.” Her fingers twined together, and she kept her gaze down. “When was the last time you talked to Ava?”
She looked up at me. “Yesterday at school. She was supposed to call me last night about our social studies project, but she never did.”
“TJ monitors Ava’s phone activity,” Millie interjected. “So for her not to call wasn’t all that unusual. Sometimes Vanessa would intervene, or if it was really important, I’d call Vanessa to arrange for them to talk or meet the next day.”
