“Do you know anything more yet?”
“No, it’s too early to tell.”
Breezy looked at me the way a friend does who’s known you for a lot of years. “You sure nothing else is wrong? You don’t look so good.”
I shrugged. “Anna.”
“Ah.”
“She was over at Will Gruder’s place. We had another argument. Whatever I do, I seem to make things worse between us.”
“That’s not you, Shel. It’s her. You can’t fix what that girl’s been through. Believe me, it’s easy to get screwed up even when you’ve got two parents. I can’t imagine losing your mom as a kid. But hell, why am I telling you that? You never even knew who your mom was. Or your real dad, for that matter.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t suppose you ever get over that.”
“No. You don’t. That’s why I know what she’s going through, feeling angry, feeling abandoned. I thought maybe it would give us some common ground, but it hasn’t worked out that way. We were so close when she was a girl, but not now. I can’t reach her.”
“Well, kids are tough nuts to crack.”
“I know.”
“You’re the best thing in her world. Don’t give up. She’ll come around.”
“I wonder.” My eyes drifted to the volleyball team photograph over her shoulder. I was ready to change the subject. “So I saw Violet today. She was up at the resort with Ellen Sloan.”
“Yeah, I saw the media parade. I figured she was in town.”
“She acted like we hardly knew each other. She kept calling me ‘Deputy.’”
“Still the same stuck-up Queen Vi.”
“That’s her.”
Breezy winked. “You know, I can tell you a juicy story if you want. If you can take off your cop’s hat for a minute.”
“What is it?”
“Vi and I did coke together once in high school.”
My mouth fell open. “Are you kidding? Violet?”
“Yeah. In the locker room.”
“That’s hard to believe. She’s such a straight arrow.”
“Not always. It wasn’t even my idea. It was her stash, not mine.”
“And you never told me?”
“We kept you out of it because of your Dad. Nobody else knew. We didn’t want to get kicked off the team.”
“Where did she get it?”
“I don’t know. If you wanted anything back then, it wasn’t hard to find. Some things never change. Actually, you want to know the real dirt?”
“What?”
“I hear Ellen had a pretty serious drug problem, too. Pills.”
“Who told you that?”
“Dennis.”
“You still see him?”
“Oh, I throw him some pity sex now and then. He’s not a bad guy. Nothing’s really been the same in his world. Losing Jeremiah. Losing Ellen. Leaving his job. I feel sorry for him. Anyway, he swears Ellen was a pill-popper for years. Who knows, maybe she still is.”
“Or it could be a man talking crap about his ex.”
“Yeah, well, it’s hard to say. Vi and Ellen are both pretty tight-assed. I suppose they’ve got to unwind somehow.” Breezy tilted the can to her lips again and then wiped her mouth. “I miss this, you know. You and me dishing.”
“Me too.”
“We should do it more.”
“Yes, we should.”
Breezy slapped her chair down on the floor. “Hey, can I tell you something funny? Since we’re sharing dirty secrets. I’m not exactly proud of it.”
“What?”
“I hooked up with a guy at the Witch’s Brew last week. Out-of-towner. He came over here, and we did it, and he snuck out in the middle of the night. Guy left fifty bucks on the table. Can you believe that? He thought I was a hooker.”
“Oh, crap.”
“Yeah, at first I felt like a slut, but then it made me laugh. It’s not like I didn’t keep the cash, too. I’ll tell you what, it made me think. People always say you should find a way to get paid for doing what you love.”
“Breezy. No.”
She laughed at me. “Kidding. I’m kidding. I love shocking you, Shel.”
I laughed, too. It felt good to laugh. I hadn’t done enough of that lately.
We spent the next half hour making jokes the way we had back in high school. I didn’t think about Anna or Dad for a while, which was a relief. I only had the one drink, but I was relaxed enough to feel a little bit drunk. We were both grinning like teenagers when we saw headlights spray across the front window of the trailer. I heard the growl of a car engine and tires pushing through the slush outside. Breezy got up and peered through the blinds.
“Well, look at me, all popular tonight.”
“Who is it?”
“Adam.” She swung open the door, letting in frozen air that brought goosebumps to my skin. She put up her hands in surrender. “Is this a raid, Sheriff? Two cops showing up at my door in one night?”
Adam climbed the steps, making the trailer shake. He had his hat off, and his face was red with cold. He slid off his brown leather gloves and shoved them in his pocket. “I saw Shelby’s cruiser. I figured I’d better see what the two of you were up to.”
“Girl time,” I explained.
“I’m out of beer,” Breezy told Adam, “but I’ve some got whiskey in a cabinet if you want some.”
“No. Thanks.”
The strain of the day showed in Adam’s tired eyes. He rubbed his hands through his messy brown curls. His boots tracked melting snow on the floor. I squeezed over in the built-in booth to give him room to sit down, but he stood awkwardly where he was.
“Do you need anyone up at the resort tonight?” I asked.
“No, I’ve got it covered.”
“Did you say anything to the press?”
“Yeah, Ellen and I made a statement. She said the usual things, hoping this is the break we’ve waited for, praying for answers, you know the drill.”
“Sorry about the FBI.”
“I saw it coming.”
Breezy put up her feet again and rocked back and forth. “So Jeremiah was over at the Mittel Pines Resort after he disappeared. Wow. You know that means whoever took him had to drive right by my trailer. That’s creepy. If I’d looked out the window, I would have seen him go by.”
“Did you see anyone?” I asked curiously.
“Oh, no.”
“No strange cars coming or going?”
“I doubt I’d remember if I did, Shel. I was barely home for days after Jeremiah disappeared. I was putting in double shifts at the diner. Those first few nights, I didn’t get back here until midnight. Still, it’s weird that the kid was so close to me, and I never knew it. It makes me sad. Like I should have done something to save him.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
“Hey, come on, are you kidding? It was ten years ago.”
“I know, but what about the Gruders? Do you remember anything about them? It’s an interesting coincidence that they live so close to the resort where Jeremiah was taken.”
“Well, yeah, but snatching a kid wasn’t their thing. Look, Shel, I know you’re not happy about Will and Anna, but I can’t see those boys doing anything to Jeremiah. Adam, you talked to them, didn’t you? Did you see anything weird going on?”
Adam shot me an impatient look. “Shelby and I both talked to them at the school that afternoon. They were playing basketball. I can’t see them kidnapping Jeremiah, taking him thirty miles to an abandoned resort near their house, and then coming all the way back to Everywhere to shoot some hoops. It doesn’t make sense.”
He was right. It didn’t make sense. And maybe Breezy was right, too. I was just looking for a reason to pry Anna away from Will Gruder.
I stood up from the booth. “Well, I better get home. Monica’s hanging out with Dad, and I need to rescue her. Thanks for the girl talk, Breezy.”