First Girl Gone(68)

“The pills. You’re the one that found ’em in the Escalade, right? Even if I clear my name on this kidnapping shit, avoid getting railroaded and snuffed by some ambitious deputy or something, I’ll still get six to eight years for the pills. Intent to distribute or some garbage. Plus there’s the stolen SUV.” He groaned. “Maybe I can get out early for good behavior or some shit. I don’t know.”

Charlie remained quiet. Follow the ecstasy. That was what the anonymous email had been trying to tell her. Well, she had followed it, and it led her to Robbie. So now what?

“So the ecstasy. That’s White Rabbit?”

“Yeah. They got all different names for the different production runs or some shit. Had some Green Nintendo a while back. Orange Pineapple. Blue Dolphin. Shit like that. Mostly named after the color of the tablet, I guess. Sometimes the shape, too. The little pineapples were cool. Or, like, funny, you know? More funny than cool maybe, but yeah.”

“OK,” Charlie said. “One more question. How is it that you know Sharon Ritter in the first place?”

Robbie ran a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable. “She… wanted to buy some stuff.”

“Sharon Ritter bought ecstasy from you?”

He nodded and flung himself backward in his seat. “I know how this looks, OK? But here’s the thing: I got an alibi. When Amber went missing, I was locked up over in Livingston County for two days. Public intoxication and assault. Spent the first night in the drunk tank.” Robbie sat forward again, clinging to the headrest of Charlie’s seat. “Look that shit up, and you’ll see. I couldn’ta done it. It’s, like… what do you call it? Airtight.”





Chapter Fifty-Four





To Charlie’s surprise, Robbie agreed to turn himself in to the authorities, but only if she’d come with him to the sheriff’s department to speak on his behalf.

“You gotta be my advocate,” he kept saying, latching onto a word she’d used. “You have the words to do it, to make ’em listen. They’d never listen to me. Buncha cops? No way.”

She drove slowly and carefully as though any jolt might spook him into bolting. Even as they pulled into a parking space in the lot, she half-expected him to run for it. Instead, he blubbered softly in the backseat with his head down—a broken thing. Once the levee broke and he let those tears flow freely, he was done for. Charlie had seen it happen before, even to hardened criminals, let alone a kid mixed up in trouble bigger than himself.

They climbed out of the car, her and then him. She started toward the glass door, but he didn’t follow. He stood next to the car, frozen in place. When she turned back, the look in his eye reminded her of a startled rabbit. She decided she better buoy her efforts to reassure him, just to be safe.

“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, trying to match her reassuring words to the most recent worry he’d expressed. “I have friends here. I’ll make sure this all gets straightened out. You’ll have a chance to tell your side of the story.”

He followed after a second, walking slowly. They pushed through the door and in.

The deputy behind the desk gave them a look, lips pursed, eyebrows shooting straight up—but Charlie shook her head discreetly, and the mustached officer picked up her meaning. His face went blank.

“I’ll get Deputy Wyatt for you, then. You can wait here.”

As he disappeared around a corner, Charlie aimed a reassuring smile at Robbie. He could only stare at her, dazed.

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” he said a moment later.

Charlie took his arm and steered him toward a row of chairs along one wall of the waiting area. There were beads of sweat on his upper lip, and his face looked pale.

“Sit here. You’re going to be OK.”

When Zoe came out, Charlie darted forward to intercept her.

Zoe hissed, “Where’d you find him?”

“He found me, is more like it. Look, can we put him in an interview room for a minute so we can talk?”

Zoe nodded, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Yeah, sure. Is he gonna come willingly? He looks pretty cagey.”

Charlie glanced over at him.

“He’ll come. He’s just scared.” She bent down next to where he was sitting and spoke softly. “Robbie? This is my friend, Deputy Wyatt.”

His eyes flicked from Charlie over to Zoe then back to Charlie.

“We’re going to take you back to an interview room, where you can give a statement. Is that alright?”

She watched his chest rise and fall once, twice, three times before he answered with a nod.

“Follow me, then,” Zoe said.

With Robbie deposited securely in an interview room, Charlie had a chance to bring Zoe up to speed on everything he’d told her. When she finished, Zoe crossed her arms.

“You’re not buying his sob story, are you? I mean, come on. He admits to having a relationship with Kara Dawkins and Amber Spadafore’s mother, not to mention the drugs.”

“Depends on whether or not his alibi checks out,” Charlie said, looking through the window at the slumped figure in the interview room. “Do you still have that printout of his criminal history from this morning?”

“Well, if the arrest was that recent, it probably isn’t on there.” Zoe squinted, thinking. “But I can pull up the arrest record manually if you know which department.”