In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(79)

“Because she’s been gone for about ten years, something like that.”

“Is she still alive?”

“I don’t really know.”

“When did you last see her?”

“I don’t really know; I suppose when foster care separated us.”

The picture in the five-by-eight frame indicated otherwise, but Tracy didn’t call Aileen on it. Not yet. It would only upset her. “So you don’t know where she might be living?”

Aileen shook her head. “Nobody does.”

“You’re her older sister?”

“Yeah, so?” Her tone was defiant.

“And you said you were split up in foster care?”

She nodded. “Back then they didn’t keep the siblings together. Tom, our brother, was sixteen and an addict. He didn’t have a chance. Spent much of his time in juvie and had several prison sentences. He was shot in a drug deal. I was fifteen, so my chances of being placed were also not good. Lindsay was twelve. Why are you looking for her?”

“A girl went missing near the Sprague home—”

“How old?” she interjected. Tracy noted Aileen did not ask her who the Spragues were.

“Nineteen.”

Aileen looked like she was biting her lip.

“Did you know the Spragues?”

“No. Who are they?”

The question was not convincing, but Tracy played along. “The parents are dead but the three brothers live together in the parents’ home.”

“You think one of them took this girl?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Seems the obvious reason you’d be here.”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. One of the Spragues’ neighbors said when your sister turned eighteen and became an adult, she moved away, and that no one, not even the Spragues, ever saw or heard from her again.”

“Me neither,” Aileen said.

Tracy noted Aileen wasn’t showing a lot of emotion. “I’m hoping to find her. I’m hoping she’s still alive and may have information helpful to finding the missing young woman.”

“And you thought I might know.”

Tracy reached into her purse and removed a photograph she kept in her wallet. “This is my sister. She went missing when she was eighteen. I was twenty-two. I searched for her for twenty years, until they found her body. But I’ve always kept this photograph.”

Aileen lowered her head. Tracy saw her chest rise and fall. “I’m sorry, Detective. I wish I could help, but I haven’t seen or heard from my sister in years.”

Tracy decided to push her. “You’ve never looked for her?”

Aileen gave a sarcastic laugh. “I had my own problems, Detective.”

“Drugs?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I’m an addict,” she said. “I was offered rehab instead of jail.”

“In Yakima?”

“That’s right. That’s where I met my husband. He’s also a recovering addict. We’ve both been sober eleven years, four months, and twelve days. We’re raising two kids in a sober house. When they graduate, they’ll be the first in the family to go to college.”

“Congratulations. That’s something to be proud of.”

“You have no idea.”

“I do, actually,” Tracy said. “After my sister disappeared, my father took his own life out of despair. My mother never recovered. A psychopath killed my sister. I searched for years to find the person who destroyed my family and I didn’t marry until my forties. We now have a daughter, ten months. So I know family tragedies are hard to put behind you. I just figured maybe you had searched for your sister and got lucky, or had information I could use.”

Aileen didn’t respond. Not right away. She looked somber. Then she said, “I wish I could help.”

“So do I. I’m worried about that missing girl. I was hoping maybe something your sister recalled could help.”

“How long has she been missing?”

“Too long. The chances of her being alive, I’m afraid, are getting less likely every passing hour.” Tracy pulled a business card from her jacket pocket. Aileen Rodriguez didn’t reach for it. Tracy placed the card on the coffee table, facing her.

“Thanks for your time.”



Kinsington Rowe slid from his jacket and hung it in the locker beside his cubicle.

“Kins,” Maria Fernandez said, getting up from her desk.

“Hmm?”

“Listen, before Del and Faz get in I just wanted to say I’m sorry about Nolasco pulling Tracy from this case. I know the two of you worked together for a long time, and I certainly don’t mean to replace her.”

Kins smiled. “Not your fault. The thing between Tracy and Nolasco goes all the way back to the Academy.”

“Did she really kick him in the nuts and break his nose?”

The story had gone around the office and, even all these years later, officers, particularly female officers, knew of the incident. “She really did. Then she beat his score on the shooting range, and not by a little. Her score still stands.”

Fernandez nodded. “A lot of us try to emulate her.”

“Not easy. She’s a pistol.”