“Unfortunately, I don’t have any more information to give you,” Maisie Blackwell tells me. “Like I said, she disappeared weeks ago. Didn’t leave a note or anything.”
I look around and my eyes land on a slight woman loitering in the corner of the room. She’s got a shaved head and scars that line her scalp.
She looks young, but she has the worn-down expression of someone much older. She’s looking at me with narrowed eyes, but it’s not suspicious.
More like she’s trying to figure out who I am.
Maisie notices who I’m staring at. “That’s Tonya,” she says. “She and Emily used to eat their meals together sometimes. Maybe Emily told her something before she left.”
Someone calls for Maisie’s attention. “If you’ll excuse me, Officer,” she says. “I’ll be up front if you need me.”
I wince at her use of the title. I didn’t have much of a choice besides lying.
It’s a battered women’s shelter—she wasn’t about to give up information about a former tenant to a tattooed mob boss who came charging through her door with a vengeance.
A fake badge and an air of authority opened the door, though.
I nod at her. “I appreciate your cooperation, madam.”
Then I turn my attention back to Tonya.
She stares back at me, matching my intensity for a little while. But soon she starts to squirm with self-consciousness.
“What?” she asks. All bold challenge with nothing to back it up.
I move into the room. She backs up against the wall. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here,” she says. “You sure as hell don’t look like a cop, neither.”
I take another step closer. A few women perk up, wondering what’s happening.
I ignore them all and keep my attention fixed on Tonya.
“What do you want from me?” she asks.
“You knew Es… Emily?” I ask, correcting myself at the last moment.
Her eyes go wide. “You’re her man,” she says.
My silence is confirmation.
“Fuck,” she breathes, but her expression changes instantly. “You came for her.”
“Where is she?”
Her brow furrows and she looks angry—really angry. “Fuck if I know. Bitch didn’t exactly tell me before she fled the coop. Didn’t even say goodbye.”
“When did she leave?”
She shrugs. “Few weeks ago, I guess,” she replies. “Can’t have gone far, with the little brat in tow.”
Goddammit. Another dead end. I’m sick of this. Sick of coming so close and missing again and again and again.
I need to get out of this shithole now. Before I lose my temper.
I turn and start walking out of the shelter.
“Hey, where are you going?” Tonya asks.
“To find my woman.”