Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(230)

His eyes went back to his son. “Go on,” Layne prompted.

“So, it just seemed funny to me but I don’t know how they work so I didn’t think about it much until you told us to go to Giselle’s folks’ house and get the list of her friends. We worked our way through that and none of her friends had much but one of the names on it was Tara Murdoch. I thought that was weird ‘cause Giselle doesn’t hang with Tara, no one hangs with Tara. She’s weird, a goth, loads of piercings, black lipstick, total attitude and not the good kind. She’s fourteen, Dad, and she’s got tattoos.”

Fuck.

Layne looked at Tripp. “Tara Murdoch a goth last year?”

Tripp shook his head.

“She tight with Giselle last year?” Layne continued.

“Yeah, Dad,” Tripp whispered. “They were best friends.”

Fuck!

“Giselle tell you why she’s not Tara’s friend anymore?” Layne went on.

“We never talked about it but Tara went goth, that’s not Giselle’s scene. That kinda thing happens with girls all the time. One day they’re tight, the next day they’re not,” Tripp replied.

“You guys talk to her when you were doin’ the rounds?” Layne asked Jasper.

“No, we went to her house and…” he shook his head, “she was there, standin’ in the front window, watchin’ us with this weird look on her face. Just standin’ there watchin’ us. We rang the bell and knocked but she didn’t move. Just stood there watchin’ us. I thought it was some goth shit and I knew she wasn’t tight with Giselle so I figured she didn’t have anything for us so we walked away.”

Layne nodded at Jasper. “You got anything else?”

Jasper nodded, sucked in breath and replied, “Summer Collins and Hannah Blair. Mitch had clocked both of them at a party, end of school last year. Giselle, Tara, Summer and Hannah were known to be the talent comin’ up from junior high. All the guys knew about them. Giselle was shy. Tara turned goth. Summer is more shy than Giselle, she doesn’t go to games, doesn’t go out for pizza, she just goes to school, doesn’t have any friends that I know of, and she goes home. Sometimes she also doesn’t wash her hair. Just kinda tries to fade, you know?” Jasper asked but didn’t wait for a response, he continued. “But it’s Hannah. Hannah disappeared.”

Layne turned to Merry. “You get a report on Hannah Blair goin’ missin’?”

Merry shook his head but Tripp spoke. “She’s in the hospital Dad. Everyone knows about it, she wigged out this summer. Word is, she’s, like, catatonic. Doesn’t talk to anyone. Not her parents, her friends quit visiting her. She’s just like, gone.”

Fuck, f**k, f**king hell. Devin was right. They’d missed something. Nicolette Towers had already thrown a party.

“They all go to Youth Group?” Layne asked Tripp.

“Don’t know for sure but I think so. I know Tara did,” Tripp answered.

“Brunette, blonde, redhead?” Layne asked.

“Tara was blonde, but now her hair’s black,” Tripp answered. “But yeah, Summer’s got red hair and Hannah was dark.”

Layne looked at Merry but he was already pulling out his phone, muttering, “Got it.”

“I take it, it wasn’t stupid,” Jasper mumbled and Layne’s eyes went to his boy to see he was not looking good. He was looking sick. He thought he f**ked up.

“Jasper, shake that off. You couldn’t save them but now they may be able to save Alexis and Tiffany. Focus on that. Yeah?”

“I should have said something.” He was still mumbling but he was doing it looking sicker.

“Shake that off Jasper, I need you to think,” his eyes cut to Tripp, “I need you both to think. Any other girls? A trio. Blonde, brunette, redhead. They were normal girls last year, attractive girls, and did an about face over the summer. They could be Freshman or Sophomores, they went to Youth Group but they don’t go now.”

Tripp shook his head. Jasper was thinking.

“Jas,” Layne prompted.

“No,” he replied. “But to be sure, I’d need my yearbooks.”

“Where are they, our place or your Mom’s?”

“Mom’s,” Jasper answered.

“You think of someone, you call Merry right away, not me, Merry. Yeah?” Jasper nodded and Layne looked at Devin. “Take the boys to their Mom’s.” Devin nodded, moving to the Calais and Layne looked at Tripp. “You too, Pal. Seventh and eighth grade last year, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tripp muttered and jogged after Jasper and Devin.

Merry and Sully came up to Ryker and Layne.

“Tennessee needs a call, Sul, they need to yank Goulding,” Layne told him. “He held out on us. He delivered at least three girls to a party, maybe more. If he didn’t deliver them, he primed them. We need to find out everything he knows. We need to know if there are more girls. We need him broken.”

Sully nodded and again stepped away, flipping open his phone.

Merry said, “I gotta get to the Station.”

“Right,” Layne replied but Merry was already on the move.

“What’re you thinkin’ you can get from these girls?” Ryker asked low from Layne’s side and Layne looked at him.