Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(33)

“I understand you were with Kaylin the morning she disappeared,” Sara said. “Did anything seem unusual to you?”

“No.”

“Did she seem upset about anything? Any recent problems?”

Maisy sighed. “They asked me all this back when it happened. No. Kaylin was fine. Normal. She hadn’t had a blow-up with her parents or anything. I mean, they disapproved of her, but that was nothing new.”

“What did they disapprove of?”

Maisy snorted. “Everything. Her friends, her boyfriend. All the nights she spent camped out here. They wouldn’t let her move out, but she may as well have. She spent all her time here anyway.”

“What about Luke? Do you know why they didn’t like him?”

Maisy didn’t answer for a moment, and Sara wondered if she was protecting him.

“He got her into climbing, for one thing. And they didn’t like that at all. They wanted her to go to college, but then she got into all this and decided she wasn’t interested.”

“On the day of her disappearance, I understand Kaylin went off on her own. You have any idea why?”

“I don’t know. I’ve answered this question a hundred times. She just wanted to be by herself, you know, explore.”

“Had she been in a fight with Luke?”

Maisy bit her lip, and Sara’s pulse picked up.

“Not a fight.” She stopped and looked at Sara. “I told Hess, they weren’t fighting or anything. Not openly.”

“But . . . ?”

“But there was friction.” She shrugged. “There always was with those two.”

“What was the friction about?”

She sighed. “Kaylin was independent. And she was better than him.”

“At climbing.”

“Yeah, she was the better athlete. I mean, yes, he taught her to climb, but she surpassed him. She’d entered a few competitions, won a few awards. She’d started making plans. She was headed to El Cap.”

“El Cap?”

“El Capitan in Yosemite. She wanted to free-climb the Zodiac. That’s the southeast side.”

“Kaylin told you this?”

“It’s all she talked about. She was planning to spend the summer training, maybe hit some of the walls in West Texas, and then take a trip up to Yosemite in the fall.”

“What did Luke think of this?”

“I don’t know. He was probably jealous. He’s good and all, but he’s not up to something like that. And anyway, I doubt he could scrape together enough bank to make the trip. He spent all his money on pot. Kaylin wasn’t like that. She’d been saving up tip money for months and months. She really wanted to do it.”

They neared the campsite, and Sara stopped, not wanting the conversation to end yet.

“What was Kaylin’s favorite place to climb in White Falls Park?”

Maisy thought for a moment. “Sangria. That’s a wall on the east side of the park, the only thirteen in the area.”

“What’s a thirteen?”

“A five-thirteen. It’s a difficulty rating. But they searched Sangria last year. They searched every inch of that park.” Maisy looked away.

Sara waited, sensing she had more to say.

“I dream about her all the time.”

Sara didn’t respond. A breeze wafted through the trees, making the dappled shadows shift on the dirt path.

Maisy turned to Sara. “You think she’s dead, don’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

Maisy shook her head. “There were rumors she ran away. Or she got kidnapped and forced into sex slavery. I even heard someone say she was doing porn. It’s all bogus, though.” A tear trickled down Maisy’s cheek, and she brushed it away. “I think someone killed her.”

Sara’s heart squeezed. She wanted to hug the girl, but she sensed she might clam up.

“You mentioned the problems with her parents,” Sara said. “Do you think there’s any chance she ran away?”

Maisy shook her head. Another tear slid down. “Kaylin didn’t run away from anything. No way. It wasn’t her style.”

? ? ?

It was almost sunset as they left the camp, and Sara relayed her conversation with Maisy.

“Anything new?” she asked hopefully.

“The rivalry,” Nolan said. “I hadn’t heard about that before. But Luke’s alibi is airtight, so I’m not sure it helps us.”

She thought of what Maisy had said about the friction between Kaylin and her boyfriend. Sara could relate. Sara’s job had been a battleground between her and Patrick. He routinely canceled plans when he got “tied up at work” or had a “very important meeting,” but if Sara’s work ever infringed on their personal time, he would get pissy and lay guilt trips. It was not only exhausting to deal with but worrisome, too, in terms of their pattern together. Why was his career more important than hers? And why did he always expect her to cater to him and never the other way around? Their relationship had a major disequilibrium that Sara hadn’t fully recognized until she was free of it.

Nolan dug his phone out of his pocket as they pulled onto the highway.

“Hey, it’s me,” he said as he put the phone on speaker and dropped it into the cupholder. “What’s happening there?”