“Not to be cold and all, but your mom is gone.”
Angie’s gaze went to the large jade plant resting on the mantel by the window. She had taken the plant from her parents’ home with a solemn vow to keep it alive, not an easy assignment given her work schedule. Angie had made arrangements with her neighbor to water the plant if necessary. It was her mother’s favorite plant. She had tended it with loving care like she did all the green things in the house. Angie felt an obligation to the plant, and in a way, it echoed the obligation she felt toward her mother’s history. Both had to be respected.
“My mom was adamant about having no contact with her family. Not ever. What they did to my father, what they said to her, was beyond awful. I can’t just go opening doors to the past because my mother’s not here to guard them. I respect her too much to do that.”
“Then you may never know.”
Angie gave this only a moment’s thought. “There are other ways of finding out.”
“Like?”
“I’ll go to NCMEC and get the girl aged using age progression technology. Then I’ll put the photo online. This girl would be in her thirties by now. Her friends would be on Facebook. Someone will recognize her and contact me. That way I honor my mother’s wishes and still get the answers I need. And you can get that skateboard.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m still working on cracking the code.” Bao turned over the picture so they could both see the cipher IC12843488 written on the back. “Maybe there’s an answer hidden inside that sequence.”
Three days passed and no hidden answers were found. In fact, nothing had changed, which meant Nadine was still missing.
Angie was back home, having visited with her father after work. She had another bag of takeout with her. Her phone rang. It was Mike Webb calling.
“Hey, Mike. What’s going on?”
“A security guard at Union Station saw our poster and called NCMEC, and they just called me. Nadine was there. He’s sure of it. The guy’s name is Sean Musgrave. Good thing I canvassed with new posters. There weren’t any at Union Station when I went there.”
Angie’s heart revved. “Where are your kids?”
“It’s Thursday. They go to their mother’s.”
“Good. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
“What? To go to DC? Musgrave won’t be back at work until morning.”
“Then we’ll be the first ones to greet him,” Angie said. “We can do a scouting expedition in the meantime. Hit up bus stations with the posters. Ask around. Maybe somebody has seen her or bought a ticket in her name. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Fine, if Katie can keep the kids. But this can’t turn into an extended stay. I’ve got to be back for a party on Saturday. It’s a bounce house plus an obstacle course. Big job.”
“Yeah, so is finding a missing girl. Be ready when I get there.”
CHAPTER 15
Exhibit D: Excerpts from the journal of Nadine Jessup, pages 31-33
Mandy was a girl who showed up at the studio one afternoon and left with Ricardo. I don’t know where they went, what they did, or where she came from. She was tall and thin with mocha colored skin and pretty long black hair. She wore tight jeans and had on a low cut top that left her boobs basically hanging out. Ricardo said she was another client of Macan Entertainment. I asked Mandy if she’d been in any movies and she said plenty and gave a laugh. I didn’t know what that meant. I went to the bathroom and when I came out I saw Ricardo kissing Mandy. Like real kissing. He had his hands all over her ass. I don’t know if he saw me, but I didn’t talk after that. I went into my room and sat on the futon and looked out the window at the cloudy sky and dirty street. I had on jeans and a scoop neck sweater, clothes Ricardo bought for me because he hated everything I wore. I looked in the mirror, but I didn’t look anything like Mandy. She was exotic and beautiful. Ricardo came into my room and asked what was wrong. I told him that I saw him kissing Mandy. He said so what if he did? He’s an adult and he can do what he wants. I told him it made me feel jealous. He told me to grow up and then he left with her.