‘Sure.’ Vicki, nodded too enthusiastically. ‘That sounds really good.’
Leighton drove on to the exit ramp leading to the parking lot of a small café.
The place was busy for a midweek morning. Inside the red brick building, truck drivers and coach trippers occupied most of the booth seats, eating oversized breakfasts of fried food. Vicki offered to pick up their coffees, if Leighton agreed to secure one of the few free picnic tables outside. He accepted, and made his way to the picnic area, picking up a newspaper from the rack en route.
There was a small grassed area at the back of the diner, where a cluster of chunky wooden tables was scattered around haphazardly. Leighton selected a one furthest away from the dull stench of the garbage bins and the screeching chaos of the kiddies play area.
As he sat down, he dragged his hands over his eyes, then looked to the horizon for a moment. To the north-east, he could see the impressive Marshall Peak against the hazy blue sky. He had managed to avoid driving around this area for several years, but now he was back, as if summoned by his private ghosts. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, agreeing to trip back to his past, especially with a young woman. But, before he could arrive at any conclusion, a shadow passed over him.
‘Here you go.’ Vicki smiled, as she carried the brown tray of coffee and pastries to the table where Leighton was sitting, peering at the back page of the LA Times.
‘Let me help you,’ he said, as he stood awkwardly.
‘It’s okay,’ she said, placing the tray down. Vicki then sat, and handed a crinkled paper coffee cup to Leighton.
‘I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I’d feel bad eating a Danish in front of you, so I got two almond croissants, oh, and two cinnamon whirls.’
‘Vicki, that’s very kind of you, but four?’
‘Yep, it was buy one get one free.’
‘Hmm.’ Leighton looked unconvinced, but he accepted a pastry gracefully and sipped his coffee. The girl seemed calmer than he had seen her at any time, but he was unsure of what was really going on behind her frequent smiles. If, as he suspected, she was desperately latching on to the unlikely disappearance of her friend, it was probably because something was missing elsewhere in her life. God only knew, following the loss of his daughter, Leighton had clung on to enough things himself.
‘So,’ he said softly, ‘about today?’
‘What about it?’ Vicki tore off a fluffy piece of croissant and popped it in her mouth.
‘Well, how are you feeling?’
Vicki looked to the distance for a moment, then turned back to meet Leighton’s gaze.
‘Excited, or something close it, I suppose.’ She exhaled. ‘Though, I don’t know if excited the right word for this experience.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, either way, I’ll get closer to knowing the truth - we find some sign of a break in, and so have something to go to the police with, or we find Laurie hiding in her hometown, just trying to avoid her unstable old college buddy.’
Leighton took a bite of his pastry, washing it down with some coffee, and looking across at Vicki.
‘But, you really don’t expect to find her there, do you?’ Leighton sipped his coffee again, but held Vicki’s gaze.
‘No,’ Vicki said conclusively, and turned her coffee cup around absently. ‘I don’t.’
‘Though, you do accept it is possible,’ he said tentatively.
‘I guess so.’ Vicki shrugged.
‘You see, I think, in life, it’s better to assume the simplest explanation, until you are presented with evidence to the contrary.’
‘But, I have evidence to the contrary.’ It was Vicki’s turn to hold Leighton’s gaze.
‘You have what a court would consider circumstantial evidence.’
‘But, people have gone to jail based on less,’ Vicki responded, her tone more challenging.
‘That’s true.’ Leighton nodded. ‘But, most don’t.’
‘I showed you the phone records. Why would someone suddenly stop using their phone?’
‘Because it was broken, or lost, or stolen - any number of reasons.’
‘Jeez, I hope I never drop off the radar, and have to rely on Oceanside Police to locate my body.’
Leighton chuckled and took another drink.
‘Oceanside PD does a fine job,’ he said. ‘Part of which is discerning whether or not a crime has actually been committed.’
‘Well, Detective - sorry, former Detective - what is your professional opinion, based on the evidence, circumstantial, or otherwise?’
‘Let’s consider what we have…’ He held his hands out to her, palms upturned.
Vick nodded encouragingly.
‘There was once this girl, who, out of the blue, received an invitation from an old college friend, which she apparently accepted.’
‘Okay,’ Vicki agreed in grudging approval.
‘And - assuming she actually did accept the invitation - maybe this girl went as far as taking the bus trip down to meet her old friend. Only, at some point, she realised she couldn’t really afford the trip, or maybe, an old boyfriend or a different friend called up and gave her a better offer. So, feeling embarrassed, she stupidly gets off the bus, before it ever reaches the bus station, probably somewhere like this.’
‘But, I heard her phone ring in the station.’
‘Or - more specifically - you heard a phone ring. Even if it was exactly the same ring tone as your friend had, that is hardly beyond coincidence.’
‘So, how do you explain the fact it was picked up by the cell phone tower in Oceanside?’
Leighton looked at Vicki, gauging how to explain the possible events, without hurting her feelings. ‘It is quite possible she left on the bus intentionally, to avoid any difficult conversation. You did say it didn’t register any more calls.’
‘She'd deliberately lose her own phone?’ Vicki looked at him, incredulous.
‘Yes, that way, if she finally does get back in touch with you, she can justify her silence - the lost phone. That would explain why she missed your calls and lost your number. If you accept that, isn’t it also possible after Laurie got off the bus, somebody picked up her shiny phone?’
‘I suppose.’
‘Therefore,’ Leighton said sagely, ‘even if you did hear it at the bus depot, it is not necessarily evidence of anything suspicious.’
The former detective took a drink of coffee, then arched his hands together in front of his face. He felt confident he had addressed Vicki’s concerns, but then, she threw him a curve-ball.
‘So, how do you explain the fact she hasn’t shown up for work in the last week?’
This seemed to catch Leighton off-guard. His eyes widened slightly, and his mouth opened just a fraction, but he quickly regained his composure.
‘Maybe she planned to stay with you longer, and so left work with no definite plan to return.’
‘She took two weeks of annual holiday – that’s all she was entitled to – and she hasn’t been back, even though she has wages to collect.’
‘You know that for certain?’
Vicki nodded resolutely.
Leighton drunk his coffee and smiled. ‘There could be a number of reasons for that, too, but I guess whatever the truth is, we’ll be better placed to find out when we get to Barstow.’
10
Mark Steinberg had suspected something was wrong after two or three days, but after six weeks, he was certain. As free spirited as she was, Jo would have been in touch. He had told her several times he would accompany her down to Santa Cruz, if she would just hang on for a few more weeks. He had some holiday time due from work, but Jo was unable to hang around; she simply wanted to get playing some gigs, and The Black Cat club in Santa Cruz seemed like the perfect venue. And even though it hurt Mark to admit it, Santa Cruz probably also represented freedom.