Page 72 of The Picasso Heist

I WALK AIMLESSLY around the Upper East Side for half an hour or maybe an hour; I have no idea. I’m pondering everything, and yet I’m unable to focus. All I know is that I couldn’t get out of the Echelon building fast enough.

There’s nothing from my office that I really need, and while I definitely want to say goodbye to a few people, that can wait. For now, my phone is on silent, Do Not Disturb, and I’m just walking and thinking.

Suddenly, I’m stopping.

My cell, which isn’t supposed to ring, rings. That happens only if someone’s desperately trying to get through to me, calling multiple times.

It’s Miss D, the woman who runs Michelle’s foster home. Something’s wrong.

“Please tell me she’s with you,” says Miss D, panicked.

“With me? Why would Michelle be with me?” It’s the middle of the week, not Saturday.

“She was in her bed last night but not this morning. We think she ran away. In fact, we’re pretty sure of it.”

Now we’re both panicked. “How? Why?” I ask.

“There’s this new girl here at the house who’s caused some trouble,” Miss D explains. “She apparently told Michelle that her mother would be away a lot longer than six months.”

“Let me guess,” I say. “Janet from Another Planet?”

“Ugh. Yeah, that’s what they call her. Michelle told you about her, huh?”

“Janet said I was only spending time with Michelle because a judge made me.”

“Some of these girls can be so cruel,” says Miss D.

Almost as cruel as life has been to them.

“So, Michelle’s just gone? She didn’t tell anyone anything or leave a note behind?” I ask.

“Nothing. We didn’t find anything but an empty bed. I was hoping, praying, that maybe she went to see you.”

“Did you call the police yet?”

“That’s my next call. I didn’t want to get them involved until I knew for sure she was missing,” she says.

“What about her mother?” I ask. “Michelle doesn’t know which facility she’s at, but that might not stop her from trying to figure it out and go there.”

“The girl has no phone and little to no money on her.”

“All she needs is the internet. That’s as easy as finding an Apple store.”

“If I know Michelle, the last thing she’s doing right now is trying to find her mother.

She’s too mad at her. She thinks she’s been lied to again.

It’s just one more betrayal stacked on all the others, and it’s broken her,” says Miss D.

“Running away from the house is Michelle’s way of running away from her mother.

She’s confused, scared. Nothing in her world makes sense anymore. ”

Her last sentence echoes in my head. That’s it! I think.

“Don’t call the police,” I say. “Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“I think I know where she is.”