by D. S. Butler
A female barista who had pink hair and wore a nose ring asked me what I wanted, and I ordered a latte. She turned away and began to ring up my order on the till, and the coffee shop door opened.
It was Zach.
In real life, he looked even more delicate than he had in the picture on Facebook. A gust of strong wind could blow him over. His hair was too dark to be natural, almost blue-black, and he had dark shadows under his brown eyes. His eyes locked on to me.
Smiling, I asked, “Zach?”
He nodded but didn’t return my smile.
“What would you like to drink?”
He asked for a hot chocolate, and I added it to my order. After I’d paid, I let him lead me to a table at the back of the coffee shop.
I placed the tray on the table and slid into the seat opposite him. I’d bought some miniature muffins along with our drinks and pushed them towards him, hoping they didn’t look like a bribe.
He shook his head almost imperceptibly and cupped his hands around his mug of hot chocolate.
They’d put marshmallows and whipped cream in it. Such a colourful, fun, childlike drink made an odd contrast to the serious young man sitting opposite me.
“I’m worried about Sienna,” I said, not bothering with any preamble. I wanted to see how he would reply. If he didn’t know where she was, he would be worried too.
His long, thin fingers tapped the edge of his mug. “Do they know who was responsible for the shooting?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I spoke to a police officer yesterday, a family liaison officer, who was at the house, and they are still investigating.”
Zach shifted back and his heavy fringe fell across his eyes. He flicked the strands off his face with one hand. “I thought they’d have found out something by now.”
“I suppose these sorts of things take time.” It was a weak comment, but I didn’t know how else to answer.
He shrugged.
“Have the police spoken to you?” I asked.
“Yes, they’ve been speaking to all of Sienna’s friends. It’s really freaked everyone out.”
I wondered whether he meant they were freaked out by the police or by the fact Sienna was missing.
“Do you know where she is, Zach?”
He didn’t reply, so I pressed on, “Everyone is really worried.”
“Who is everyone?”
He sounded angry. I didn’t want to rile him, but I did want answers.
“Her grandmother, her stepfather… Me.”
He raised an eyebrow and looked at me in such a cold, calculating way it was easy to forget he was just a teenage boy.
“Sienna said she hasn’t seen you in years.”
I took a moment before answering and sipped my latte. His words made me feel guilty and defensive. But what did he know about it?
“That’s true. I’ve been working abroad so haven’t had much time to get back to the UK.”
He looked at his hot chocolate rather than me and gave the impression I was boring him.
“If you know where she is, and don’t want to tell me, then just please tell me that she is safe.”
His features tightened. “I didn’t say I knew where she was. I didn’t say anything.”
“I’m not trying to catch you out, Zach. I’m scared.”
That got his attention and he looked directly at me. “Scared?”
“Of course. I heard what happened to Nicole and got the first flight back. When I turned up at the house, and they told me Sienna was missing… I didn’t know what to think. I’m scared something has happened to her.”
Zach chewed on his lower lip and looked at me through his thick, angled fringe.
He quickly looked back down at the table. He didn’t trust me, and why should he? Maybe I’d be better off gaining his trust before I launched into an interrogation.
“So, how long have you and Sienna been dating?”
From the look of horror on his face, I realised I’d said the wrong thing. For one thing, I’d asked another question. I was still in interrogation mode. Why was this so hard?
“Dating?” he repeated, his voice hoarse.
“Yes.” Was that not the term teenagers used these days? “You know, going out… Boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Zach swallowed hard and shook his head. “It isn’t like that.”
He spoke in almost a whisper, and it was hard to hear him over the din of the coffee shop. Cups crashing together, the coffee machine roaring into life and the chatter of people around us made it hard to have a conversation with this softly-spoken young man who’d made it clear he was not comfortable talking to me.
His skin was so pale it was almost translucent. A thin blue vein was visible at his temple. I thought desperately for some way to connect with him. It would have been easier if I’d spoken to Sienna about her friends. I should have made more of an effort to keep up-to-date with her life.
A group of kids walked into the coffee shop. There were only five of them, and they looked unthreatening to me. One boy and four girls. But Zach obviously knew something I didn’t, he sank down low in his chair.
“Do you know them?” I asked, wondering if he didn’t want to be seen talking to me.
Zach shrugged.
The girls wore typical summer clothes that could only be carried off by teenagers, shorts that were cut so high on the leg they couldn’t have been comfortable to wear and skin tight T-shirts that didn’t quite meet the waistband of their shorts, displaying strips of white skin.
The boy wore a surfer-style T-shirt and a pair of long blue shorts that finished just below his knee, together with a set of bright green flip-flops. He wore his light brown hair long, so long, I imagined he got into trouble over the length at school.
They were determined to dress to make the most of the few hot days an English summer provided. But here in the coffee shop with the air conditioning blasting out frigid air, they shivered, goose bumps appearing on their skin.
“Oh look,” one of the girls said. “It’s sad sack Zach.” She pointed at Zach and giggled.
“Cheer up, Zach. It might never happen.” That came from the only male in the group and made all the girls laugh.
Zach stonily ignored them but the faint flush of his cheeks showed their words affected him.
One of the other girls stepped forward, grinning. “Are you out with your mummy today, Zach?”
These kids weren’t physical bullies, but they knew their words were hurting the boy sitting in front of me, and they carried on regardless. They enjoyed humiliating him in front of everyone in the coffee shop, including me.
It wasn’t my place to intervene. I didn’t know the history between this group of kids and Zach, but I did know that Zach wasn’t enjoying it. Any normal, decent person would stop.
I knew the type though. If confronted, these children would say, “It was just a bit of a laugh.” “We were only messing about.”
But were they completely oblivious to the harm they could do just by making Zach feel like an outsider?
I turned to the girl who had spoken and snapped, “Stop it.”
The smile slid from her face, and she shot an uncertain look at her friends who looked equally shocked. Perhaps they hadn’t expected an adult to respond to them, but to be honest, considering the mood I was in right now, they were lucky that was all I said.
Predictably, the girl raised her hands and shrugged. “Lighten up. It was just a joke. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just teasing him.”
“No, you weren’t. You were trying to embarrass him. Now go away. We’ve got more important things to talk about than you.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms over her chest, covering up her tight T-shirt.
A moment of silence followed, and I hoped they would just buy their drinks and move to another table, but the boy decided to try again.
“We’ve got more important things to do,” he said in a high-pitched voice apparently meant
to mimic my own. He pulled a silly face and waited for the others to laugh, but they didn’t.
“Now you’re putting on a high voice and repeating what I say? You’re clearly a comic genius.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to Zach. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
The one girl in the group that hadn’t spoken yet said, “Come on guys, let’s just order our drinks.”
There was something vaguely familiar about her. She had long wavy hair, very similar to Sienna’s. But what struck me most about her was her large, green eyes. Where did I recognise her from? Was she one of Sienna’s friends?
I didn’t have much time to mull it over.
Zack straightened in his chair and pushed his hot chocolate away from him. “I need to go.”
“Wait, I’ll come with you.”
Zach shook his head. “No.”
What did he mean no? I was sure he must know something about Sienna’s disappearance. His behaviour was just plain odd.
I reached out and grabbed his forearm. “Wait,” I said more firmly this time. “I’m sure you know something, Zach. You need to tell me.”
He shot a glance to the group of school kids, standing by the till and paying for their drinks. The smoothie maker roared into life.
I leaned closer to him. “Either you are a terrible friend and don’t care about Sienna at all, or you know she’s safe.”
Zach’s eyes grew guarded, and he pulled his arm away roughly. “I didn’t say anything. I only came here because I knew you would be worried. Sienna said you were very close to her mum and you’d probably be freaking out.”
“When did Sienna say that?”
I was hoping to trick him and get him to say last night, so I’d at least know Sienna was alive, safe somewhere, but Zach wasn’t that stupid.
“I didn’t tell you anything,” he repeated again.
“Anything you tell me will be in confidence,” I said as a desperate last resort because I knew he was about to walk away.
He shook his head. “I know you’re worried, but I’m sorry. I can’t say any more.”
I clenched my fists as he walked away. He definitely knew something. I had to tell the police. They’d know how to get him to talk. And that’s what we needed.
I watched Zach leave. His tall, thin frame hunched over as he crossed the traffic lights outside the coffee shop and walked past the town hall.
I’d blown it. Conversations with teenagers obviously weren’t my strong suit. But at least I had something to tell the police. Despite what he said, Zach definitely knew something about Sienna’s disappearance.
Chapter Eleven
I put our used cups back on the tray. I intended to take them back to the counter but it was surrounded by people. I left the tray on the table and exited the coffee shop.
Zach was long gone.
After the chilly air conditioning, the sun was warm on my skin, and I stood there for a few moments soaking it up and wondering what to do next. Should I try more of Sienna’s friends or should I go straight to the family liaison officer and let the police know Zach was hiding something?
A sign in the window of the shop next door – Superdrug – was advertising phones, and although I didn’t want to fork out for a brand new mobile, I guessed they would probably sell Sim cards that I could put into my small Nokia.
Superdrug was busy and smelled of perfume and body sprays. I picked up a small basket. Since I was there, I decided to pick up a few toiletries, so I wouldn’t have to struggle with the tiny bottle of hotel shampoo every morning.
I grabbed a few essentials and when I was rounding the last aisle, heading towards the phone counter to ask for a Sim card, I had the sensation I was being watched.
I turned slowly and saw one of the girls from the coffee shop standing a few feet away, staring at me.
It was the girl that had urged the others to get on with buying their drinks and stop teasing Zach. Her wavy hair fell down past her shoulders. She continued to watch me. Her green eyes were bright and were accentuated by the thick, black eyeliner she’d applied above her upper lashes.
“Abbie,” she said. “Do you have a minute?”
I realised then who she was. Jessica Richardson. She’d been Sienna’s friend since the girls went to nursery. I wondered how close they were now.
“Jess? I didn’t recognise you in the coffee shop.” I put the wire shopping basket on the floor and moved closer to her.
“Is there any news about Sienna?” she asked.
Her eyes were hopeful, and she looked genuinely upset. She probably wouldn’t be able to tell me where Sienna was. If she knew, she wouldn’t be asking me for news.
“Not yet. Her grandmother is really worried. When did you last see her?”
Jess licked her lips. “About a week ago. We’ve been doing drama classes during the summer holidays. A bunch of us from school have been taking them.”
“But you haven’t spoken to her since her mother…died?”
I hesitated over my word choice. Died sounded less violent than murdered.
Jess shook her head. “No, and no one I know has spoken to her.”
“That’s why I was talking to Zach. I hoped he might be able to tell me something.”
Jess pulled a face. “They’ve been close recently. Did he tell you anything?”
I shook my head and leaned down to pick up the basket. “Unfortunately not. It was nice to see you, Jess. Let me know if you hear from Sienna. I’m on Facebook.”
I turned to walk away, but Jess stepped in front of me. “There’s something else,” she said.
“Yes?”
Her big eyes widened a little and she looked around us to make sure no one else was listening.
“Last week, Sienna had this big blowup in drama class. She was really upset about something.”
“Why was she upset?”
Jess’s face crumpled, and she looked as though she might cry. “I don’t know really. Some people were talking and laughing when she was practising her part, and she screamed at them. She swore and called them all sorts of names. I mean, they were being annoying but it wasn’t like her to overreact like that. I followed her outside and asked what was wrong but she wouldn’t talk to me.” Jess frowned. “We haven’t been very close over the past few months.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m not really sure. We used to do everything together, but now she hangs around with Zach Ryan.” Jess pulled a face.
“The things your friends said in there to Zach weren’t very nice, Jess.”
“I know. But you don’t know Zach. He asks for it most of the time.”
Although I failed to see how Zach was asking to be bullied, I didn’t want to derail the conversation. “So Sienna was upset about something last week, but you don’t know what?”
I couldn’t see how this was relevant to Nicole’s murder or to getting Sienna back home, but I filed the information away just in case.
“Where do you go for these drama classes?” I asked, thinking I could perhaps talk to some of the other students or maybe even the teacher.
“They’re in Finchampstead, in the Memorial Hall. We go three days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Ten ’til two. There are only twelve of us, and the class is taken by Mr Owens.” She rolled her eyes. “There are only two boys in the class. Most of the girls are there because they fancy Mr Owens.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why are the classes held in Finchampstead and not Wokingham?”
Jess shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose a lot of the kids come from Finchampstead, and Mr Owens lives there, too, I think.”
We both shuffled out of the way of a large metal trolley loaded with toiletries pushed by a shop assistant.
“I wondered if maybe Sienna had tried to find her real father,” Jess said quietly.
My hand tightened around the handle of the shopping basket. That wouldn’t have gone down too well with Nicole. She’d had a one-night stand at university and always insi
sted she couldn’t remember the name of Sienna’s father.
If Nicole had admitted that to Sienna, I could understand how she’d be upset.
“Did she tell you she wanted to look for her father?”
“She’s wanted to look for him for ages. She used to talk about it all the time, but I don’t think she ever did anything about it. It was just with her being so upset I wondered if she’d finally tried to track him down.”
I looked into Jess’s bright green eyes and was sure the girl was telling the truth.
Jess, once one of Sienna’s closest friends, couldn’t tell me where to find my missing goddaughter, and Zach was refusing to tell me what he knew.
I wasn’t getting very far with this.
I thanked Jess for her help, bought a new Sim card for my phone. After I’d put my purchases on the back seat of the car, I inserted the new SIM card in my phone and called Janet. I still had her mobile number from two years ago when I was organising the delivery of a birthday present for Nicole.
Janet answered the phone with an impatient, “Yes.”
“Janet, it’s Abbie. This is my new UK number.”
“Marvellous, thanks for letting me know. Bye.”
“Wait! I need to talk to you.”
“Now?”
“Yes, unless you’re busy…”
A few seconds passed before she answered. “No, it’s fine. What do you want?”
“I’ve spoken to Zach Ryan. I’m pretty sure he’s hiding something.”
I imagined Janet rolling her eyes on the other end of the line.
“Look, are you with your mum or at home? I’m in Wokingham now,” I said. “I can be with you in five minutes.”
“I can hardly wait. I’m at the flat.”
She hung up. It would be kind of me to think this was just Janet’s way of reacting to her sister’s death, but truthfully this was how Janet acted normally. Her prickly exterior was generated from years of insecurity. It was better not to engage.
I left my car in the car park and walked back towards the High Street, heading for Janet’s flat. She lived above the bookstore on Peach Street.