Missing You(25)
It was more a statement than a question.
“That’s right. What can I do for you?”
“My name is Brandon.” He stuck out his hand. “Brandon Phelps.”
She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Brandon.”
“You too.”
“Is there something I can help you with?”
“It’s about my mom.”
“What about her?”
“She’s missing. I think you can help me find her.”
? ? ?
Kat canceled lunch with Stacy. Then she came back up to her desk and sat across from Brandon Phelps. She asked the first question to come to mind.
“Why me?”
Brandon swallowed hard. “Huh?”
“Why did you come to me specifically? My partner said you wanted to wait for me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Brandon’s eyes darted around the precinct. “I heard you were the best.”
A lie. “From?”
Brandon shrugged like a teenager, somehow both lazy and melodramatic at the same time. “Does it matter? I wanted you, not that other guy.”
“That’s not how it works. You don’t get to choose your investigator.”
He suddenly looked as though he were about to cry. “You won’t help me?”
“I didn’t say that.” Kat didn’t get this, but it didn’t feel right. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“It’s my mom.”
“Right.”
“She’s missing.”
“Okay, first things first.” Kat took out a pen and paper. “Your name is Brandon Phelps?”
“Yes.”
“And your mother’s?”
“Dana.”
“Phelps?”
“Yes.”
“Is she married?”
“No.” He started biting a fingernail. “My dad died three years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, because, well, that was what you said. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No.”
“So it’s just you and your mom?”
“Right.”
“How old are you, Brandon?”
“Nineteen.”
“Where do you live?”
“1279 Third Avenue.”
“Apartment number?”
“Uh, 8J.”
“Phone?”
He gave her his mobile number. She grabbed a few more details and then, seeing his growing impatience, Kat said, “And the problem is?”
“She’s missing.”
“When you say she’s missing, I’m not sure exactly what you mean.”
Brandon raised his eyebrows. “You don’t know what missing means?”
“No, I mean . . .” She shook her head. “Okay, let’s start with this: How long has she been missing?”
“Three days.”
“So why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“Mom said she was going on a trip with her boyfriend.”
“Right.”
“But I don’t think she did. I called her cell. She didn’t answer.”
Kat tried not to frown. For this she was missing lunch at the Carlyle? “Where was she going?”
“Someplace in the Caribbean.”
“Where?”
“She said it was going to be a surprise.”
“Maybe the phone service is bad.”
He frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“Or maybe she’s busy.”
“She said she’d at least text me every day.” Then, seeing the look on her face, Brandon added, “We don’t do that normally. But this was her first time going away since Dad died.”
“Did you try calling the hotel?”
“I told you. She didn’t say where she was staying.”
“And you never asked?”
He shrugged again. “I figured we’d just text or whatever.”
“Have you tried contacting her boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know him. They started dating when I went to college.”
“Where do you go to school?”
“I’m at UConn. What difference does that make?”
Fair point. “I’m just trying to put this together, okay? When did your mom start dating this guy?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t share that kind of stuff with me.”
“But she told you she was going away with him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When did she tell me they were going away?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know. A week ago, I guess. Look, could you just look into it? Please?”
Kat stared at him. He flinched. “Brandon?”
“Yes?”
“What’s going on here?”
His reply surprised her. “You really don’t know?”
“No.”
Brandon looked at her skeptically.
“Yo, Donovan?”