Page 85 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)
EIGHTY-FOUR
Athens
Ellie, Derrick and the detective silently agreed to give Cameron a moment to compose himself. They stepped from the room and returned a few minutes later with a wet paper towel and a soda for Cameron and coffee in hand for themselves.
Cameron sat slumped with his head in his hands, tears streaming down his gaunt, sunken cheeks. The kid couldn’t be faking it. He was honestly surprised and grief-stricken by the news that Jacey was dead.
She and Derrick claimed their seats again, the air charged with questions.
Cameron wiped his face with the paper towel, popped open the soda and took a long drink. Finally he wiped his mouth and looked at them with glassy, haunted eyes. “W… what happened?”
Ellie licked her dry lips. “We were hoping you’d help us figure that out.”
He stared at them blankly. “I… don’t know,” he mumbled. “Like I said, she left and I… thought she was coming back.”
“You didn’t follow her?” Derrick asked.
Cameron squeezed his eyes shut as if struggling to remember. Then he shook his head. “I told you no. I was too wasted.”
At least his voice held remorse. Guilt, too. That he would have to live with.
“Had she been acting strangely the last few days?” Ellie asked.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ellie cradled her coffee. “Had she been seeing someone else? Another guy maybe?”
His brows shot up. “No… I mean not that I know of. We… didn’t have much money so sometimes she went out and…”
“And what?” Derrick said, his voice cold.
“And lifted food, you know, at the little stores.” He traced a finger over the rim of his soda can, averting his eyes as if he was ashamed.
“And you didn’t go with her?” Derrick pushed.
“Sometimes,” he said. “But… not that day. I was…”
“Wasted,” Ellie finished, unable to hide the disgust from her voice. “Tell me this, when she went out, did she meet up with someone? Maybe a man?”
Cameron jerked his head back toward them. “You mean like for money?”
“For that or just as a way to escape her situation?”
A small shrug lifted his bony shoulders. “She wouldn’t do that,” he said. “In fact she said she saw girls out there turning tricks but she refused to stoop that low.”
Anger raged in Derrick’s eyes. “But you wanted her to?”
His cheeks reddened. “Look, I was in a bad way.”
Ellie wanted to knock the crap out of him. She sensed Derrick felt the same way because he stood and paced, his footsteps heavy. The officer’s icy stare bored holes in Cameron’s back.
Ellie reined in her temper. The boy obviously had a drug problem. It didn’t condone his behavior, but addicts often crossed the line and made choices they’d never make if they were clean. “Did she mention going home to her mother?”
His face crinkled. “I… don’t know. Maybe. We… weren’t talking much in those last days we were together.”
“Well, this is what we know, Cameron,” Ellie said, striving for patience. At least they had a general timeline now. “After Jacey left you that day, she ran to a convenience store, borrowed the clerk’s phone and called her mother. She left a message saying she was coming home.”
“She did?”
Ellie nodded. “But she never made it. She ended up catching a ride with a man driving an older model black pick-up.”
Derrick returned, pulled his phone and the CCTV footage from the store parking lot. “This is her getting in that truck. Look at the vehicle and the man.”
Pain contorted the boy’s face as he watched, and he rocked back on his heels and cursed.
“Do you recognize him or the truck?” Derrick asked.
Cameron shook his head. “No, but… I should have gone after her. I… it’s my fault she’s dead.”
Derrick sat down. “Cameron, look at me. Yeah, you made mistakes, son. You ran away, you’ve gotten mixed up with drugs.
And you should have taken better care of your girlfriend, especially since she was a minor.
” He hesitated, breathing slightly heavy.
“But you aren’t responsible for her death.
The man who abducted her and killed her is. And we’re going to find him.”
The guilt Derrick had harbored from his own little sister’s disappearance years ago laced his voice. Derrick had only been a young teen then, but it had weighed him down for years.
He would be a great father one day. He probably already was to his godchildren.
“What’s going to happen now?” Cameron asked, fear darkening his voice.
“That’s up to you, son.” Derrick folded his hands in front of him. “But we talked to your mother and we know she loves you. This might be your chance to get clean and make amends.”
Doubts flashed in Cameron’s eyes. “You think she’ll talk to me?”
Derrick gave a noncommittal shrug. “There’s only one way to find out. But if you call her and really want help, you’ll have to play by her rules and commit to treatment.”
“But it won’t bring Jacey back.” He choked out the words, guilt hitting him hard.
“No,” Derrick said gently. “But you can turn your life around and make Jacey’s death count for something.”
“We’ll find the guy who killed her,” Ellie promised. “And make sure he goes to prison and never sees the light of day again.”