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Holly studied the girl with compassion, knowing “some other shit” likely meant prostitution. Although they looked nothing alike, when Holly looked at Callie, all she saw was her sister. She felt a strange connection to the woman who’d known Meg and had to resist the urge to wrap the young woman in her arms.
“I ended up in a court-ordered rehab facility, which saved my life. I’ve been clean now for six months. I think of Meg often.” Her voice faltered, and she cleared her throat. “How unfair it was that she died so young.” She dropped her gaze to the floor. “And how that could’ve been me.” She met Holly’s gaze with wide eyes. “I didn’t know her murder was still unsolved until I saw your article. And I might know something that could help.”
“Hey, Holly.” Josh, one of theTribune’ssecondary crime reporters, gave her a nod as he passed through the lobby, heading for the street.
Holly flashed him a curt smile, hoping he’d keep moving. Josh was a known busybody who spent more time bumming leads off other crime reporters than finding his own. Seeing Callie, he slowed as if waiting for Holly to introduce him.
Holly turned her back to him and leaned toward Callie. “There’s a diner across the street.” She lowered her voice. “Why don’t we talk there?”
Callie nodded, and Holly waited for Josh to exit the revolving doors and turn left down the street before leading the way to the diner.
Right after they sat down at a booth, a middle-aged waitress appeared with an order pad and a pencil. “What can I get for you two?”
“Just coffee,” Callie said, sliding into her seat.
“Same.” Holly made sure the waitress was out of earshot before asking Callie what she was dying to know. “So, what is it you know that might be helpful?”
Callie placed her petite hands on the table and interlaced her fingers. “Well, Meg and I were tight, but she didn’t tell me everything. We both came from screwed-up homes and were both acting out because of it.”
Her words hit Holly like a dagger to the heart.I should’ve been a better sister.
“Anyway,” Callie wrapped her fingers around her mug. “Before Meg got pregnant, and during most of her pregnancy, she was hanging out with an older dude.”
“How much older?”
The waitress returned with two white mugs of steaming coffee.
“Thank you,” Holly said after she set them on the table.
Callie grabbed two sugar packets off the condiment tray and poured them into her coffee. “Close to forty, I guess. So, like twice her age. At least.” Callie stirred her coffee with a spoon before taking a sip. “I don’t know that he killed her. Meg died about six months after I last saw him. But there was something about him that gave me the creeps.”
Holly left her coffee untouched. This was the closest thing she’d gotten to a clue since Meg had been murdered. “Like what?”
Callie shrugged. “I can’t really explain it. Just that something was off with him, ya know? He used to pick her up from school sometimes before she dropped out. He wore a wedding ring, and the few times I met him he would whip out a photo of his four-year-old son, like he was trying too hard to make me believe he was a normal guy. Oh.” Callie paused to take another drink of coffee. “And Meg told me he was the one who knocked her up.”
“What?”Meg had gotten pregnant from a forty-year-old man when she was seventeen?
“Yep. But he stopped showing up toward the end of her pregnancy, and I bet that’s why Meg put the baby up for adoption, not that she was in any shape to raise a baby at seventeen anyways.”
Holly took a sip of coffee, hoping the caffeine would help steady her whirling thoughts.Meg might’ve been killed by the father of her child.She took a deep breath.
“You okay?” Callie asked.
“Yes,” Holly lied, spilling coffee onto the table when she set down her mug. “Do you know his name?”
Callie’s gaze drifted out the window at the darkening downtown street. “I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure it was Bobby, or Lou, or maybe Denny.”
Holly frowned, hope draining from her lungs. “Those names don’t sound anything alike.” She studied the woman across fromher.What if she’s making this all up?Holly had seen enough in her years of crime reporting to be careful about trusting people who claimed to have case-breaking information.
Callie covered her eyes with her hands. “I hate that I can’t remember, but I was using back then, and I didn’t know Meg was going to get killed.” Her voice broke. “I should’ve been a better friend.” When she lowered her hands, her eyes were brimming with tears.
Holly reached out and placed a hand on Callie’s. “None of us knew. You can’t blame yourself for that.” Holly choked back the emotion that swelled in her throat.Easier said than done.“You’re helping Meg now.”
Callie sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand.
“What did he look like, this guy?”
“Um. He was white. In good shape. Attractive, I guess, in a hot dad sort of way. Brown hair.”