“Fine.” Haley became wet-eyed.
Griffen looked away. “C’mon, Haley. This is crazy.” When she didn’t answer, he said, “C’mon. Pinkie truce?”
“Oh, fine!” Haley huffed. “Pinkie truce.”
He offered her a pinkie. She hooked his little finger with her own. Then they both dropped hands. Haley said, “So who do you know that’s fourteen who’s doing it?”
“Just talking.”
“No, you’re not. Who?”
“Russ Lopez. He’s doing Shawnie Baker. You can’t tell anyone. Russ would kill me.”
“He told you?”
“Maybe it isn’t true. He could be bragging. Don’t say anything.”
Lilly came back. “Okay. I told them we’ll be back in a half hour. Let’s go.”
Haley said, “Did you know that Russ Lopez and Shawnie Baker were doing it?”
“You won’t tell anyone, huh?” Griffen said.
“Lilly doesn’t count.”
“I already knew it.” Lilly hooked one arm with Haley and the other with Griffen. They walked out the door linked together. “Stop being so immature. My father’s first wife was sixteen when they married. She was already knocked up. Sex is just part of life.”
“I like that,” Griffen said.
“Shut up, Griff!” Lilly broke away and linked Haley and Griffen together, hand in hand. “I know the score, guys. I know destiny when I see it.”
Haley blushed and so did Griffen. But they remained holding hands. Lilly grinned. “Let’s get some cappuccinos. I’ll pay.”
“No, I’ll pay,” Haley said.
“No, I’ll pay,” Griffen said. “I’m the guy.”
“No, I’ll pay,” Lilly insisted. “I’m the only one here who can’t trot out the pity card.”
Chapter 19
Ortiz had finally made it back an hour later. He was dirty and exhausted, but for the first time in a long time, hopeful. When he came into the interview room, the kid was sitting near the wall with his father on the left. The man introduced himself as William Vicksburg and hands were shaken all around. The father’s suit was pressed and his shirt was wrinkle-free, but his face looked haggard. Not that he appeared nervous, just worn-out. Kids could do that to you in a heartbeat.
“Are you comfortable?” Ortiz asked Ben and his father.
“Fine.”
“Feel better now that your father’s here?”
“Yes.” Ben was grinding his teeth. He was being given the honor of having two detectives to grill him—Ortiz and McLaren. “Thanks for waiting for my dad.”
“I had no choice.” Ortiz smiled.
“No, you didn’t,” William Vicksburg added. “Not that Ben needs me. He’s pretty independent. But I wanted to be here.”
“No problem with that.” Ortiz focused in on Ben. “Can you just walk me through the day?”
“Okay.” The kid unfolded then refolded his hands and set them on the table. “I left the house around six.”
“With the girl? Can you give me her full name?”
“Dorothy Majors.”
“So, the two of you decided to go hiking together.”
“No, she wasn’t originally part of the plan,” Ben said. “She just showed up at my house at five in the morning. I told her a couple of days ago that I was hiking Mount Baldy. It was meant to discourage her from coming to see me. She’s not a hiker. But she just kind of forced her way in.”
“So why didn’t you just tell her to leave?”
“I should have.” Ben cleared his throat. “But it seemed easier to let her come. Not to deal with the drama.”
“Yeah, girls are like that sometimes. They can make you mad.” Ben didn’t say anything. Ortiz said, “Go on.”
“We left around six.”
“For Mount Baldy?”
“No. I never had any intention of hiking Baldy. I lied to her because I didn’t want her with me. I wanted to be alone.”
“You hike alone often?”
“All the time. It helps me think.”
“What do you think about?”
William said, “That might be getting personal and I don’t see the point in it.”
“Okay,” Ortiz said. “Now, you arrived at the trailhead at what time?”
“Around seven thirty.”
“With Dorothy Majors, the girl.”
“Yes.”
“You decided to hike with her anyway.”
“I didn’t have much choice.”
“Because you didn’t want to deal with her drama. Go on.”
The kid was grinding his teeth again. “We ate something and then we started to hike at Master’s trailhead.”
“But you didn’t hike the trail. You hiked in the backcountry.”
“I hike in the backcountry all the time. It’s more interesting.”
“That’s not a smart thing,” McLaren told him.
“I’m prepared. I can read a compass, Detective. I had bear Mace even though it’s late in the season.”
“Do you carry a gun?”
William said, “He’s not answering that.”
Ortiz said, “If you had this girl with you and she wasn’t an experienced hiker, why would you hike in the backcountry?”
“Okay.” Ben threw up his hands. “I’m done with the dance. I was looking for Katie Doogan.”
“I know you were.”
“Maybe I found her.”
“Maybe.” Ortiz was casual. “It’s an odd thing to do, Ben.”
“If you don’t look for something, you’ll never find it, right?”
“Why are you so interested in finding Katie Doogan?”
“Because I think her abduction might be related to my sister’s case.”
“You’re trying to solve your sister’s case?”
“In a word, yes. I think you know that. And I’ve been about as successful as the police.”
Ortiz paused. The kid was trying to get under his skin. It was working. “Why do you figure that your sister’s case is related to Katie Doogan’s? Katie may even be alive. We don’t have a body.”
“Well, you just might have one now. So how about a thank-you?”
“You like being a hero?”
William put his hand on his son’s arm. “Do you have a point?”
Ben said, “I know you’re in contact with the Doogans. You must know that I went with Bryan almost every weekend for about six months to look for his sister because the police simply gave up.”
Despite himself, Ortiz bristled. “No one gave up, Ben.”
“Excuse me,” Ben said. “You were allocating your resources to other cases.”
“Katie Doogan is still an active case,” McLaren said.
“That depends on your definition of ‘active.’”
“Ben, take a breath,” William said.
Good advice for all of them. Ortiz said, “Detective McLaren is correct. Katie Doogan is still an open and active case. And just like Detective Shanks is in contact with you and your family, I am in contact with the Doogan family. You don’t sweep something like this under the rug, Ben.”
The kid looked away. “Glad to see all of us are on the same page.”
Ortiz said, “Bryan Doogan is in college now.”
“I know. We keep in touch.”
“I know you do. And you’re telling me that you came here to look for Katie Doogan? With the girl.”
“Dorothy Majors. She tagged along. I really wish she hadn’t done that.”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
“No.”
“So, what’s the deal?” McLaren said.
“We’re friends.”
“Would you like her to be more than a friend?”
William said, “This isn’t relevant, Detective.”