Wanting (PAVAD)

by Calle J. Brookes

  She wished she had more money. She wished she had more food. She’d snuck into the motel a few miles away from her dad’s house that morning. They’d advertised a free hot breakfast on their sign out front. She’d hoped that the clerk wouldn’t see her but he had. She’d managed to avoid him yesterday, but today wasn’t that lucky.

  He’d asked her name, obviously thinking she was a boy. She’d told him ‘Lee’, and that her parents were staying in room 209. She’d seen people with kids going in that room yesterday, and their car was still outside.

  It had worked, and she’d been able to at least get some breakfast. But...why hadn’t she thought to put something—even a few biscuits—in her pockets for later?

  Stupid. She’d been stupid.

  It was stupid to come to her dad’s house, too. He would know where to find her, and would hurt her dad. Just like he’d said.

  She couldn’t stay here, but where could she go?

  Ashleigh didn’t know.

  Chapter 6

  *****

  “There he is!” Carrie pointed to the man they were there to find.

  “Carrie, wait…” Sebastian wrapped a hand around her arm, slowed her rush toward the Cavanaugh house. They’d been on a bus bench for over an hour waiting for Aaron Cavanaugh to arrive. The home of Ashleigh’s father was less than fifty feet from the bus pick up and was modest and older, but kept neat.

  “Yes?”

  “He may not know his daughter’s missing.” Sebastian frowned down at his partner. He could feel the resolve running through her body. Determined, eager. Did she do everything so wholeheartedly? “We need to take this carefully.”

  Carrie pulled her arm free and started across the road toward Cavanaugh. “We don’t have much time to waste getting him up to speed if he doesn’t know. Every minute we aren’t out there physically looking for her, she’s slipping farther away—that’s the way it is out there. There are monsters that prey on the girls on the streets and they are damned good at getting what they want. Ashleigh will be a real prize to whoever finds her first. We need to find her before they do.”

  Sebastian followed her across the street. He catalogued Aaron Cavanaugh as the man looked up and saw Carrie striding his way. There was the expected masculine interest. Sebastian was sure she received that interest just about everywhere she went. She’d received it, complete with leers and whistles, at the construction site they’d checked two hours earlier. Cavanaugh was supposed to be at work, so they’d stopped by the job site address Carrie had easily found. Cavanaugh hadn’t been there, so they’d tried his home address next. Cavanaugh hadn’t been there either; so they’d waited.

  Then there was suspicion on the other man’s face when his gaze landed on the holster Carrie wore on her hip.

  Slight recognition when he looked past the redhead to Sebastian. They’d met once or twice. Cavanaugh took an aggressive step in Sebastian’s direction. His own muscles tensed instinctively.

  Carrie stepped in the other man’s way. “Mr. Cavanaugh? Aaron Cavanaugh?”

  Cavanaugh nodded, placing the bag of groceries on the ground to the side of him. Sebastian saw the man’s body tense. His tensed in automatic reaction. “Yes? What’s this about?”

  “Your daughter Ashleigh.” Sebastian started with as calm a tone as he could. Carrying groceries inside was not the mark of a man whose daughter was missing. Was Ashleigh here somewhere? Or did Cavanaugh even know yet? If he hadn’t had much contact with his child over the years, would Sherry have contacted him?

  “What about her?” Cavanaugh’s tone tightened even more. Now his focus was off Carrie and on Sebastian. “Is she all right? Has something happened to her? What about Sherry?”

  “Ashleigh’s been missing for seven days.” Carrie’s words were calm and soft. Cavanaugh shifted toward her. Too close for Sebastian’s liking. His hackles began to rise again. Would they always when in the presence of this woman? He was beginning to think so. He forced himself to calm down a bit as Carrie continued to speak. She didn’t need him going caveman. “We’re here to find her.”

  “What do you mean—Ashleigh’s missing?” Cavanaugh wrapped long fingers around Carrie’s arm and pulled her toward him. She arched away, her face immediately tensing.

  Sebastian grabbed the man’s wrist and put pressure on the nerve. “Let her go. Now.” He stared the other man down, until Cavanaugh released Carrie. Sebastian tried to pull his partner to his side but she side-stepped him.

  “Ashleigh has been missing for seven days.” Carrie blocked the man’s path to the home’s front door. “Are you saying you were unaware? That you haven’t spoken to your daughter or ex-wife in that time?”

  “Who are you people again?” The man ignored Sebastian, focusing instead on Carrie.

  “Cavanaugh, your daughter ran away. We need to know if you’ve spoken to her recently. We also need to know about any communication that occurred between the two of you in the week preceding her disappearance. Any information you can give us may help find your daughter.”

  “You’re crazy. My daughter is fine with her mother in St. Louis.” Cavanaugh grabbed the last bag of his groceries off the top of the car and slammed the door shut. He shouldered past Carrie and stalked to the front door. “Now get off my property.”

  Sebastian was steps behind him. “Don’t you want to at least listen? Ashleigh just took off. You aren’t curious why?”

  “Sherry sent you to cause trouble? Ashleigh wouldn’t run away. Not her. She’s a good kid, she wouldn’t do that. And she emails me almost every week. She’s fine!”

  “She did.” Carrie pushed her body between Cavanaugh and the front porch steps. “Denying it won’t change it. Your daughter ran away. We are trying to find her. You can help us or not. Do you have a reason to not help? Do you know where she is, maybe?”

  “You’re relentless, aren’t you?” Cavanaugh dropped the groceries to the front steps and reached for his back pocket.

  Sebastian stepped closer to Carrie, his hand falling to rest on the weapon at his side. He relaxed some when Cavanaugh removed a cell phone. The man dialed quickly and Sebastian catalogued his expressions as he spoke with Ashleigh’s mother.

  Cavanaugh paled. He cursed. He trembled.

  Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. Cavanaugh hadn’t known. Sherry hadn’t bothered to check with her ex to see if he had their daughter.

  Cavanaugh dropped the phone to the grass at his feet, his anger and disgust more than evident. Sebastian understood it. Why hadn’t Sherry called?

  Cavanaugh’s voice was rough, his face bleak when he spoke. “Please come in. Tell me how we can find my daughter.”

  ***

  Cavanaugh was a complete dead end. The man knew less than they did and they’d wasted several hours going over what they knew compared with what he knew. They’d wasted more time listening to Cavanaugh arguing with his ex-wife. That was the worst part of the job; getting in the middle of personal issues. Sebastian would never get used to it. His hands tightened on the wheel when a blast of lightning flashed just a few minutes after they’d started back toward St. Louis. His companion clenched the door handle, but said nothing.

  The storm picked up around them. When Carrie’s tapping increased, Sebastian turned the car into the parking lot of the nearest motel, ten blocks from Cavanaugh’s street.

  “What are you doing?” Her hands were on the necklace again, a tick he’d noticed she had early in their acquaintance. She touched the necklace when nervous. Every time.

  “I’m not going to drive in this. Not if we don’t have to. I think we should get rooms, then get something to eat. Take the time to reevaluate. I was certain Cavanaugh would know something.”

  “Why didn’t Ashleigh’s mother call him? At least to check if she was with him? We’ve seen where Ashleigh does keep in somewhat regular contact with her father. Shouldn’t her mother have known that?”

  “She should have. But Sherry has always bad-mouthed the ex. Has since the divorc
e.”

  “I can never understand that.” Carrie opened her door and stepped out of the car. Sebastian quickly followed, catching the door to the office as Carrie opened it.

  The boy behind the counter looked up when they entered, dropping the handheld video game to the table beside him. “Yo, what can I do for you?”

  Sebastian catalogued him quickly, habit he barely recognized. This guy was young and cocky—typical college kid. “We need a set of rooms for the night. Next to each other.”

  The kid barely resisted a leer at Carrie; Sebastian caught the expression and gave the boy a warning look. The kid straightened and acted more professionally. “I got two rooms on the third level. Will that work?”

  “Yes. That’s fine.” Sebastian paid quickly. Thunder cracked overhead, and Sebastian caught his companion’s worried expression. Saw her left arm jerk toward her head. She caught herself and lowered her arm. She often pulled her hands toward her ears in loud situations—he’d noticed that early on. Most times she caught herself doing it. Behavioral modification training?

  Carrie sat her file on the counter and moved to sign her registration slip. Sebastian tried to catch the photo that slipped out. It landed on the counter.

  The clerk grabbed it before Sebastian could. The boy looked at the photograph then back at the FBI emblem emblazoned on the file folder. He dropped the photo to the counter. “Isn’t this Lee?”

  “You know this person?” Sebastian’s attention focused on the boy.

  “That’s one of the kids from room 209. At least that’s what the kid said when I asked him this morning.” The clerk shrugged. “They checked out this afternoon, though.”

  Carrie glanced at him and Sebastian easily saw the hope in her eyes. She pushed the snapshot toward the clerk. “Are you absolutely sure this is the girl you saw?”

  “She? I thought Lee was a boy.” Confusion was clear in both expression and tone. The clerk picked the photograph back up and studied it for several long moments. “I guess it could be Lee. I mean, the hair is way shorter. But I remember the backpack. And the coat. Lee’s a girl? Wicked.”

  “When you spoke with this girl this morning what exactly did you say?” Carrie asked, pulling the clerk’s attention back toward her.

  “That he...but I guess that would be she wouldn’t it? That she was hungry and waiting for her parents to wake up. That they’d told her last night she could come down and eat whenever she wanted.”

  “When the family checked out, was she with them?” Sebastian asked. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what had most likely happened. This hotel was right beside the interstate and less than a mile from Cavanaugh’s home. She’d obviously been on her way to her dad, but hadn’t arrived for whatever reason. Unless Cavanaugh was lying, but Sebastian didn’t think he was.

  She’d maneuvered her way into the hotel in order to find food. Smart girl.

  “No. Come to think of it, she wasn’t. But they’d told me last night that they had six kids staying with them. When they checked out this morning, they only had four at the counter with them. Really young ones, too. Like eight on down. I just thought maybe the older two were at the car, or something. That happens, you know. So is she in trouble? Did they kidnap her? What’s going on?”

  “We’re just trying to locate her at this point. If the family returns, please give them this card. If you see this girl again, call me immediately. Thank you.” Sebastian handed the kid two cards, one with his cell number circled. He and Carrie would head upstairs and discuss what they would do next.

  One thing was clear—they weren’t leaving Kentucky tonight.

  Chapter 7

  *****

  Sebastian followed Carrie into her room, dropping his bag on the bed beside hers. He thought a moment as the thunder increased outside. “She’s here. If it was Ashleigh. What are the odds?”

  “So was Cavanaugh lying?” Carrie sank onto her bed and opened one laptop and began typing. Sebastian studied her for a minute. Was she using the computer screen to ignore the sounds of the approaching storm?

  “I didn’t see any indicators.”

  “So why would she come to here, but not contact her father?” She sat the computer aside and tapped her foot against the floor.

  “Afraid to, maybe?” Sebastian began pacing over the generic rug. “Something happened, the cause of the running, and now she’s fleeing. But she’s stayed to territory she knows somewhat. She’s frightened and is very insecure. We got that from her blog. We’ve reviewed her school records; none of the trouble she’s been in was too serious—”

  “Not as serious as her mother portrayed in the police report. That is probably why the police haven’t looked too hard. They have a picture of a troubled teen who engages in self-destructive behavior routinely. They aren’t going to look for her for long, not with all else they have on the books.” Carrie’s words held a trace of disgust that Sebastian silently echoed. Sebastian stopped pacing for a moment; Carrie stopped tapping and looked up at him.

  “Sherry has a tendency to exaggerate, but this surprises me.”

  “Do you think she knows more than what she’s said?” Carrie pulled one leg up and tucked it beneath her knee before grabbing her copy of the file and making a quick scan of what he’d compiled of Sherry.

  “No. She was genuinely worried for Ashleigh.” That was something Sebastian could be absolutely certain of. Sherry loved her daughter. So why would she be lying?

  “Yeah. Now that she’s been missing for a week. Why did she wait so long to contact you?”

  “She said she was hoping the police would find her or Ashleigh would come home on her own.” Sebastian didn’t condone it, but he’d seen and understood why some parents would want to hide their heads in the proverbial sand when it came to missing children.

  “Many runaways do. But Ashleigh doesn’t seem to be the typical runaway.” Carrie drummed her pen against her file. Her eyes narrowed and he could almost see her mind working as she thought. She fascinated him. In so many ways.

  “She feels safer in the same city as her father, so I doubt the stressor has anything to do with him. Should we tell him she’s been spotted here?”

  “I have a feeling he’s ready to hit the streets looking for her himself.” Sebastian rocked back on his heels as he thought. “That could be good or bad, depending on why she’s run.”

  “If she wants to be safe, why not contact her father? He’s right here. And we know she’s relatively close to him considering how far apart they live. Despite what her mother told you about minimal contact.”

  “Something is stopping her. Something she’s afraid of. And did Sherry know she was in contact with her father? I’m not so sure.” Sebastian wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt, but evidence was multiplying for that doubt.

  “We need to get out there looking. Are we going to tell Cavanaugh?”

  “Not until we confirm she is here. Come on.”

  ***

  Carrie tried to understand it but failed miserably. What type of mother would lie to the police if it meant threatening her child’s safety? Was there ever any justification for that? She was rapidly forming an opinion of Sebastian’s friend, and it wasn’t a flattering one. Carrie opened photo editing software she’d designed a few years earlier and imported Ashleigh’s photograph. “The clerk said Ashleigh has cut off her hair. She’s probably no longer wearing any earrings or jewelry. Probably pawned or traded them.” Carrie adjusted the picture to reflect the changes. “She’s probably changed into more masculine, non-descript clothing. That’s good. Smart. Shows she’s thinking of survival.”

  “Why? How?” Sebastian sank onto the bed beside her, peering over her shoulder at the image on the screen.

  Carrie’s mind flashed back to her first frightening days on the streets of Houston. “Because she’s smart. Boys are slightly less vulnerable. Paige did it for years. At first I thought she was a boy. Her hair was an inch long and her clothes bagged on her. Hid wha
t little figure she had. She looked like a boy, and acted like one you didn’t want to mess with.”

  Paige had been so tough, so protective back then. Carrie knew she’d been lucky to find the other girl. Ashleigh probably wouldn’t be so lucky.

  “Did you? Become a boy?”

  “No. I was too well-developed at fifteen. I never would have managed it.” Carrie looked over her shoulder at him in time to catch a quick glance of appreciation in his green eyes. Her cheeks warmed. He liked how well developed she was. His eyes told her so. She looked away. “We should get out there before this second storm hits. Start asking questions. Find her.”

  “Yes. I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes. I need to make a phone call.”

  ***

  “You ready?” Sebastian threw the SUV into park and killed the engine.

  “This city has a crime rate worse than the national average, and is one of the worst five percent of cities in the state.”

  “I don’t want us getting separated out here.” She’d be too much of a target. She was young, looked even younger, and beautiful. She’d attract notice, and not all of it good. “Zip up your sweatshirt; the rain is cold, too.”

  She complied, then gave him the once over. “You may want to loosen a few of those buttons, mess up the hair a bit. You look too...clean and neat...to be out here. Too perfect.”

  She looked around for a moment. “I’ve been here before, I think. About ten years ago, I think. Paige and I stayed here for a weekend before heading up to Chicago. It wasn’t a nice town back then, either. At least, not where we were. Indiana was nicer. We stayed in Indianapolis for a few months, even. We left Gary, Indiana really quick, though.”

  Sebastian did the math—she would have been sixteen then.

  “So how are we going to do this?” She tightened the straps of her backpack and pulled her sweatshirt over the holster at her side. Sebastian did the same, hiding his most visible weapon. He carried several others that no one ever saw.

  “As low key as possible. I don’t want to stand out as law enforcement.” He led the way out of the parking garage and to street level. Her shoulder bumped his; her no-nonsense long-legged stride easily matched his. “You know these kids, Carrie, what will make them talk to us the fastest?”