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“I may be an old fool, girlie, but I’m not a blind one.” Harvey crossed his arms. “I don’t understand why you kids like to play these silly games. In my day, we just parked up at Mountain Goat Lookout, knocked boots in the back seat, and then tied the knot when the baby started to show.”
“Listen, Doc is my client, that’s all. Now let’s just go look for Addy.”
Harvey shook his head. “Nope. Not without Doc.”
“Damn it, Harvey. We don’t have time for this shit.”
“Time for what?” Doc said from the Men’s locker room doorway.
I growled in my throat. “Happy now?” I shot at Harvey.
“Hey, Doc.” Harvey grinned at Doc as he joined our little party at the desk. “We were just talking about you.”
“Really.” Doc’s gaze searched my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Violet’s daughter is missing.” Harvey blurted out.
“How long?” Doc asked.
I looked away, my eyes blurring, my throat too tight to speak.
“She took off on her bike this morning,” Harvey answered for me. “Should have been home a couple of hours ago. I’m gonna take a gander at the pool, make sure she’s not there.”
The cacophony of children’s laughter and screams waxed and waned as he shoved through the double doors leading to the pool.
“Where have you looked so far?”
Swallowing the lump of fear and worry trying to choke me, I faced him. “This is our first stop. The library is next, then Kelly Wymonds’ place. After that, I don’t know where to look.”
“I’ll cruise around town, see if I can find her.” He dug his car keys from the pocket of his navy cargo shorts.
I pointed at his fingerless, weight-lifting gloves. “You’re busy. Harvey and I can take care of this.”
“Shut up, Violet.” He cupped my face, his leather-covered palms smooth against my cheeks. He leaned close enough for me to see little gold sparkles in his irises.
“Um, sure.” My voice sounded husky, tears dammed behind it.
“Now listen to me. Addy is okay. We’ll find her.”
The dam cracked. My eyes welled up again. I glanced down, trying to blink away the tears. Why did I have to be hard-wired like my mother, all damp and melty when I needed to be sturdy and strong?
The pool doors whooshed open.
“She’s not in there,” Harvey said, his eyebrows raised as he approached us.
Doc dropped his hands and stepped back. He jangled his keys between us. “Keep your cell phone on.”
I nodded and he pushed out the front door.
Harvey stared at me, his grin banana-split wide. “Nothing going on between you two, huh?”
“Oh, stuff a sock in it.” I grabbed him by one of his suspenders and tugged. “Let’s go.”
Almost two hours later, Harvey and I sat in the parking lot of the century-old Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad Station. A call to Aunt Zoe left me chewing on my fingernails, an old habit that usually reared up after the shit had already passed through the fan blades and shot out the other side.
Still no Addy. No sight, no word, no call, nothing.
Harvey and I had scoured the library, pummeling Miss Plum, the young librarian, with questions and pictures. She admitted to knowing Addy by sight, but said she hadn’t seen her in days.
