“I had to do it, Joe.”
“No, you didn’t. But you thought you did. What you really want to know is am I angry with you. Yes, I’m no saint, and I hate being thwarted.” He added, “Keep safe, and you may get your way … for a little while.” He was silent for a moment. “But those two girls pose interesting questions. Why? Where? What? I’m keeping myself occupied trying to work up some scenarios. I believe I’m getting there. Good-bye, Eve.” He hung up.
He was angry, Eve thought. He had been absentminded, almost cool, and that was something Joe had seldom been with her.
Too bad.
She had done what she had thought necessary and would have done it again.
“Trouble?” Margaret asked.
“Some.” Eve started the car. “Nothing we can’t work out. At any rate, I can’t think of it now. Do me a favor and call Nalchek and have him pave the way with the school administration before we get there.” She looked down at the GPS. “We should get there before school is out. I’ll go to the administration office and see what information I can gather before I speak to Cara.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Margaret said. “Not a bad start for a day. I’m excited.” She smiled. “We thought that we were going to find out so much from the reconstruction article but it turned out differently. You can never tell, can you?”
“No, you can’t,” Eve said. “But I’ll take it.”
She could still see that little girl in the photo. Jenny, but alive and well and not threatened by monsters. No, not Jenny. She kept thinking of that little girl who had exploded into her mind and life, but this was another child.
Cara, who was almost certainly Jenny’s kin.
Cara, who loved music as much as Jenny.
Cara, who was also threatened by monsters.
CHAPTER
13
“Cara Delaney.” Mrs. Karpel looked down at the transcript on her desk. “Eleven years old. Her parents were killed in an automobile accident, and she’s in the custody of her aunt, Elena Delaney.”
“How long has she attended this school?” Eve asked.
“Two years. She transferred from Fresno Elementary.”
“Any problems with attendance or grades?”
“No, she’s a good student and always obeys the rules. In the entire two years she’s been with us, she’s had only one absence, and she brought a doctor’s excuse.”
“We saw a photo of her in the choir. Did she belong to any other groups?”
“Just the band. She’s an amazing violinist. Mr. Donavan, the band director, wanted to give her a solo in the spring festival, but her aunt refused to sign the permission slip.”
“Have you had any contact with her aunt?”
She shook her head. “But that’s not unusual. The school is overcrowded, and unless the student causes a disturbance, there isn’t a lot of reaching out from the teachers. There just isn’t time. Sad, but true.” She tilted her head. “What’s all this about? Is Cara in trouble?”
“I hope not,” Eve said. “But I’d like to have her aunt’s address and phone number. And I’d like to talk to Cara before she leaves school today.”
“Certainly. Elena Delaney works as a waitress at a local Waffle House, and I’ll give you her work number, too.” The administrator was already writing out the information. “I’ll have Cara paged to come to the office.” She tore off a Post-it with Cara’s name, got up, and moved toward the front desk.
“No photos. No problems that would draw attention,” Margaret said.
Eve nodded. “Cara faded into the background. And her aunt Elena appears to also be very elusive. I definitely have to speak to that aunt.”
“I’m sorry.” The administrator was back. “Cara became ill in her English class this morning and ran out of the room.” She was frowning. “I spoke too soon about her obeying the rules. She should have reported to the nurse’s office, but evidently she called her aunt to pick her up instead.”