Look For Me (Detective D.D. Warren #9)(67)

“You said everyone knew Lola joined the gang. Did that include her mom?”

“I don’t know Lola’s family. I never even met the mom. Just had to listen to them crying for her, night after night after night.” Anya sounded bitter.

“And your mom?” I asked.

“Shut up.” But there was no heat in her voice. Only flatness. I recognized the tone. I heard it often in my own voice, or from other survivors.

We all hurt in our own way, I thought. And whether I liked Anya Seton or not, she clearly had her fair share of scars. She’d do well in New York. Between her exotic looks and iron will, nothing would hold her back.

“Where were you this morning around nine?” D.D. pressed.

“I was with Doug.”

“Already at rehearsal?” I asked in surprise.

Anya shot me a smug look. “Sure,” she said in a tone we all understood. So: from first love Roberto to screwing the theater director. Whatever it took to succeed.

“We’ll be following up with him,” D.D. warned.

“You might want to wait till his wife has gone to work. She doesn’t know about us yet. She just thinks he’s a very . . . diligent . . . director.”

I rolled my eyes, already feeling the bile rise in the back of my throat.

“We’re still looking for Roxy Baez,” D.D. was saying.

“You think she’ll come here? You think she’ll try to hurt me?”

“I don’t know. You tell us.”

“I think if you want her alive, you’d better hope I don’t find her first.”

“I thought Lola was the one who hurt Roberto.”

“Please, those two girls . . . Whatever Lola did, Roxy knew. Lola might be the beauty, but Roxy was the brains. I’m not sorry Lola and her family are dead. I’m only sorry Roxy hasn’t joined them yet.”





Chapter 25


TEN P.M., D.D. AND PHIL sat in her car, talking it through.

“Think your new CI knows something?” Phil asked bluntly, referring to Flora, his tone clearly disapproving.

“No. If she had Roxy, Flora would be hanging with her, and not still chasing after us.”

“Good point. Think you can trust her?”

“Flora? I think as long as her interests align with ours, her efforts can be useful.”

“And what are her interests?”

“Keeping Roxy safe.”

“Meaning, again, she could be hiding Roxy from us.”

D.D. studied Phil. The two of them went way back. In many ways, the older, more experienced detective was like a father figure to her. Definitely, he was comfortable calling her on her bullshit while respecting her workaholic ways. And yet they had their moments when they had to agree to disagree. She had a feeling Flora Dane was about to fall into that category.

“I will admit I don’t always approve of Flora’s methods,” D.D. began. Phil grunted, as if to say that was the understatement of the year. “But as CI material . . . Her reputation gives her access and credibility to entire segments of the population who’d never talk to cops. We need that right now. The more eyes and ears searching for Roxy, the better.”

“I don’t trust her,” Phil said bluntly.

“Okay.”

“What happened to her, I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But for someone who spends all her time talking about surviving . . . she’s broken. In ways I’m not convinced she even understands.”

“That bandage on her hand,” D.D. muttered.

“Exactly. That makes her unpredictable.” Phil regarded her steadily. “Maybe Flora can strike up a faster accord with street kids or gang members, but there’s no substitute for an experienced detective.”

D.D. got what he was saying: There was no substitute for him, Neil, and Carol Manley, her overworked and often underappreciated homicide squad. Phil wasn’t just the voice of reason; he was also her conscience.

“I think Roxy’s gone to ground again,” she said now, getting back to the business at hand. “Another bolt-hole, like the empty space across from the coffee shop. For all we know she has dozens of them sprinkled around Brighton.”

“Nothing like a well-prepared sixteen-year-old.”

D.D. shrugged. “There are a couple of things all our witnesses agree on when it comes to Roxanna Baez: She’d do anything to protect her siblings, and she was under an increasing amount of stress. I think she knew something bad was coming. And maybe the hidey-holes weren’t just for her. But for her and Lola, if it came to that.”

“The gang?” Phil asked.

“Oh, yeah. We’re gonna have to find these Ni?as Diablas. Call me crazy, but I think we should consult the gang task force first. The only thing I know about girl gangs is that they’re considered twice as violent as their male counterparts.”

“Sounds like a perfect job for Flora Dane.”

“Doubt the city could survive the body count.”

Phil nodded his agreement.

“Hector Alvalos?” D.D. asked, having lost track of the man’s status with everything else going on.

“Gonna stay in the hospital overnight. We have officers watching. I’m thinking a unit should sit on his home when he’s discharged.”