Page 37 of Little Child Gone (Nikki Hunt #10)
TWENTY-TWO
Nikki left before Rory and Lacey woke up, leaving the house when it was still dark and cold. She’d only slept a few hours, her mind racing with the information from Christy Hall’s former attorney.
She texted Liam to meet her at the sheriff’s. He lived with Caitlin and Zach in downtown Stillwater, only a few minutes from the sheriff’s station. Despite the early hour, both he and Miller were waiting for her in his office.
Nikki took a donut from the box on Liam’s lap and sat down. “Thanks for meeting me here. And for the donut.”
He and Miller sat in silence as she told them what Kelsey had said.
“Logan’s mother picked up on that, too,” she reminded Miller after she’d finished.
“She did,” he agreed. “Let’s say this is all true. Is there any indication that Taylor somehow knew? Did he run away?”
“I don’t think he’d leave his sisters in that situation if he did,” Nikki said.
“Is it possible he could have confronted Jared?” Liam asked. “Taylor is close to Jared, right? The guy’s his hero. Finding out the truth would shatter him.”
“And if he confronted Jared, who knows how he would have reacted?” Nikki said. “I asked hospital security to go through all of their footage from the day, every entrance, in search of Taylor. They hope to get back to me today.”
“But Jared was at the hospital,” Miller said. “We confirmed his shift started in the morning. He stayed because they were short-staffed in the ER.” He looked at Nikki.
“The charge nurse did confirm it before I left,” Nikki agreed. “She seemed a little miffed that I would dare question Doctor Hall, but he told her that I needed to know so we could cross him off the list.”
Miller drummed his fingers on his cluttered desk. “It’s not implausible. The guy hurting himself to frame her is pretty extreme, but it’s happened before. Problem is, there’s no evidence, right? And Christy herself admitted to the domestic violence.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Liam said. “We know she lied about when she came home, too.”
“In front of Jared,” Nikki reminded him. “Maybe she didn’t want him to know she’d driven around searching for Taylor.”
“Or she didn’t want Jared to know she’d had an issue with Taylor, and she overreacted,” Miller said. “She could have panicked.”
“And done what?” Now that she’d spoken to Kelsey, a lot of things began to add up.
“She seems so meek. If she is a battered woman and she’s allowed her son to think Jared is the good guy, is she really going to snap?
” She looked at Miller. “Any luck on finding the car Taylor got into at Culver’s on CCTV? ”
“Adrian only saw the make and model,” Miller reminded her.
“Chevy Malibu is one of the most popular cars on the market. He said it was a dark-ish color. We watched the CCTV at the nearest intersection and saw two at a light that we’ve confirmed weren’t the car that picked Taylor up.
But two of the same model cars at the intersection doesn’t bode well for us finding him that way. ”
“No one saw him after that,” Liam said. “For all we know, this isn’t related to the abuse allegations at all. He could have met someone online and got into trouble.”
“They only have Instagram, according to Jared,” Miller said. “Taylor didn’t post much. We can’t track his phone because it’s an older model and shut off.”
“School computers, friends’ computers,” Liam answered. “The library. It’s pretty easy for kids to get around those kind of rules.”
Nikki thought back to Logan’s twitch when she asked about additional social media for Taylor. “I’ll talk to Logan again. I felt like he knew a little more.”
“What about Taylor’s siblings?” Liam asked.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “If that’s the rule in the house and he didn’t follow it, would he trust them not to rat him out?
Even if they get along, siblings fight and use stuff like that against each other all the time.
But if Logan can’t tell me, we’ll look at talking to them. ” She gestured to Miller.
“I never noticed any signs of controlling issues other than how Jared spoke to Christy,” Miller said. “No locks on the cabinets or refrigerator. In every domestic case I’ve seen that involves complete control, stuff in the house is restricted.”
“Christy restricts it.” Nikki remembered something Neena had said.
“She doesn’t let them get snacks out of the cupboard, they have to drink water or milk.
” Her heartbeat accelerated the way it always did when her instincts were spot on.
“He controls her completely, and she controls them. That way, he’s the good guy.
It’s a lot easier not to get caught for abuse when the children don’t realize you’re behind it.
” Nikki looked at her vibrating phone. Matt Kline had already called twice this morning. “I have to take this.”
She stepped into the hall. “Hi, Matt, sorry I haven’t called back.”
“I know you’re busy.” Excitement colored his deep voice. “But we just found birth certificates.”