Page 82

CHAPTER 82

BABY WATCHED THE ROAD ahead as Dave Summerly drove. The cars had thinned out, and steep, rocky mountains in sunset orange crowded the highway on either side of them. She dialed Jamie, her hand sweating as it held the phone.

“Leave me alone,” the hacker said. “I’m deep in the weeds with this Su Lim Marshall chick. Are you offering bonuses for any gold-plated, diamond-encrusted skeletons I manage to scare out of her closet? Because if so — ”

“I don’t have time for that now,” Baby said. “I want you to look up something else.”

“Are you serious?”

“This one should just be a simple record search,” Baby said. “Chelsea Hupp. Little girl, died about thirty years ago.”

She heard tapping. Summerly talked quietly on his cell phone, his big shoulder touching hers across the car’s center console.

“Okay, I got her.”

“Known relatives?”

“None living,” Jamie said. “Dad predeceased her. Died of a heart attack. Mom died of a drug overdose. Looks like Mom never remarried. No known siblings.”

“Come on. Dig deeper.”

“What am I digging for?”

“Someone in her family circle is a cop or a journalist or a goddamn ... missing-persons volunteer.”

“What?”

“The answer is here, Jamie! It’s right here! I just need you to find it!” Baby screamed. Summerly reached over and put a hand on her arm. She shoved him off.

“Jesus.” Jamie’s voice was small. “My fee triples when you lose your shit at me.”

“I’m sorry.” Baby held her throbbing head. “I’m sorry.”

“I, uh — ” Jamie tapped and clicked. “I’m tracing Melanie Hupp’s estate. That’s the mother.”

Baby waited. Precious seconds passed.

“Looks like the guy she left all her shit to was a cop. Does that help?”

“Yes.” Baby sat bolt upright. “What’s his name?”

For a moment, Baby listened so hard that every sound in the car became amplified: The wind rushing by the windows. The tires thrumming on the blacktop. Summerly talking on the phone beside her.

“Do you remember the officer’s name?” Summerly asked.

“William Brogan,” Jamie told Baby.

“William Brogan ?” Summerly took his phone away from his ear for a second and stared at it like it had become a snake in his hand. He looked at Baby and put it back to his ear. “Did I hear that right?”