Two Girls Down(30)

“The fuck you care I got oxy—you said you weren’t cops.”

“We’re not,” said Cap. “But we can call them right now and draw them a little map to your back room.”

“When’s the last time you saw either Kylie or Bailey Brandt?” Vega said, standing over him, very close.

Chaney panted and wiped his mouth.

“Okay,” said Chaney. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I saw Kylie about a month ago. She took a bus here after school. When Jamie and I ran into each other she was in the car and saw me.”

“Why did she come to see you?” said Cap.

Chaney sighed.

“She’s a kid. She said she missed me and wanted me and Jamie to get back together. It’s just ’cause they don’t have a father, you know?”

He looked up at Vega, then at Cap.

“Look, when I heard about it, that someone took them, it broke my heart, okay? They were real cute kids.”



“You got a little scared too, right?” said Cap. “Thought people might come around and ask you questions.”

“I don’t want any trouble.”

“What did you do when Kylie showed up at your door?” said Cap.

“I took her to her grandparents’ place. Drove her myself.”

“And you didn’t think to call Jamie Brandt and let her know her child was here?” said Vega.

Chaney shook out his shoulders.

“Kylie begged me not to tell. And no one knew she was gone. The old man watches her in the afternoon. She made up some story to tell him. And I…”

Chaney paused.

“I had clients here. People get freaked out they see a kid.”

“Makes them less likely to buy illegally obtained opiates,” said Cap.

He shook his head again.

“I didn’t have anything to do with those girls disappearing. Not a fucking thing.”

Cap kept the stern look on his face for Chaney’s sake, glanced at Vega, whose wide, steady eyes confirmed what he already thought, that this asshole was telling them the truth.

Then Cap said, more softly, “Do you remember what you talked about in the car? Did she tell you anything that stands out?”

Chaney leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

“You know, we already had all the drama back here, so I wasn’t going to give her any more shit about running away. She told me she finally decided she wanted to be an actress. Like she’s been thinking about this a long time, right? She’s finally decided on a career.”

He thought about it and laughed. Cap smiled too. How serious they could get.

“I asked her if she told her mom that, and she said no, that it was a secret and she was only telling certain people.”

Chaney paused. He put his hands behind his head as he thought of something.

“She was telling me she and a girlfriend, they had this little club—what she call it? ‘Secrets Club’ or something. They wrote down their secrets together in diaries.”



“You remember the friend’s name?” said Cap.

“Nah, man, it was a month ago. It was like a boy’s name though, I remember that. I asked if it was a boy. She said no and looked at me like I’m crazy.”

He nodded at Cap.

“You know the way a girl looks at you like you’re crazy?”

Cap nodded. Because he knew.

—

In the car Vega was silent, glanced at Cap’s face in profile. She could tell he was trying not to yawn, his lips pinched closed, eyes watering. As soon as they got to the stoplight on the corner of Chaney’s block, and Vega was sure there was no way Chaney could see them through his busted curtains, she spoke.

“We said I was going to talk,” she said quietly.

“What?” said Cap.

She didn’t say it again because she knew he had heard her the first time. It was a bossman thing. They made you say it twice so then you sounded like you were complaining. Even if they weren’t doing it consciously.

He sighed.

“I thought I would jump in. With guys like that you have to keep the pressure on and not give them time to think up a lie.”

Vega didn’t answer. At the next stoplight, she watched him yawn into his fist toward the window, knew she had about one full second.

She reached over, pushed the shift to Park and turned the engine off, let the key dangle.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cap said, looking in his mirrors, disoriented.

“I know guys like that too,” she said, raising her voice just a little. “This is my case, and you’re the special guest star. So when we say I talk first, I fucking talk first.”

“Hey, you know what,” said Cap, starting the car. “You’re used to working alone, I get it. But you have to trust me a little bit. I saw an opening, and I took it. And we still got him to talk. Both of us fishing, you on recon and…gentle assault.”

“Trust doesn’t matter,” she said. “We just have to agree.”



“Fine, then let’s agree on who talks first, but if an opportunity presents itself, the other one should take it.”

“Sure,” said Vega.

“Great,” said Cap.