I raised a brow higher than earlier. “Why’s that?”
“Because I’m going to give you what you need. Your name isCurtis Brown. You’re a local HVAC technician, former locksmith, who also volunteers as a handyman for the daycare center across the street, all out of the goodness of his heart. That’s where you should start, and maybe consider looking into the children’s playground at the back.”
I blinked. Church didn’t have a habit of being overly forthcoming with info on my cases. Now he’d practically handed me what I needed. “What gives?”
“Children.”His eyes hardened and, for a second, I could have sworn the light behind them brightened a bit. Storm clouds brewed behind that stare.
I had to look away as I took in what he’d said.
Kids. Both he and I had a particular hard rule about that.
Never mess with children, whether you’re a monster or human. You don’t do that around either of us.
I clenched a fist. “Fair enough.” I looked back to where he’d been standing to find nothing.
Silence. You’d have never known anyone else had been there with me.
I exhaled, reaching for the bag with the doughnut. “That shit gets really tiring, you know?” I paused when I glanced at where I’d set the drink down. It had vanished as cleanly as Church, but the bag remained. “Really, my coffee?” I grumbled, going through countless iterations of what kind of ass Church was as I snatched up my doughnut and headed out of the building.
The place across the street had been painted a shade of taupe that made me fight down a yawn just looking at it. Bright rainbow lettering over the front listed the phone number and the wordsDaycare Center.
I made my way to the front door and pulled on one of the handles. It budged a micro-fraction, clicking in resistance as it refused to open. I squinted at the door, then noticed a buzzer to one side. It chimed before I could jab it with a thumb and I gave the door another pull. It opened and I slipped inside.
The room was more along what I expected out of a kids’ center. Plush carpet, the kind that wouldn’t be too bad to fall on but would still give you a decent rug burn if you weren’t careful. A few building blocks littered a corner to my right. The desk ahead had been peppered in loose sheets of paper filled with crayon scribbles. A young woman sat behind it who looked like she belonged in college.
She wore a pale blue blouse and had her brown hair pulled into a neat and tight bun. Her mouth pulled into a tired smile when she saw me. “Hi, Curt.”
I inclined my head, figuring it best not to speak since I couldn’t recall her name through the muddle of Curtis’s memories.
“You look rough. Bad night?”
“Trashy one, same with the morning, I guess.” I mirrored her strained smile as I tried to navigate the conversation to what I needed. “Anything unusual up? Something need fixing?” It made sense to lump in asking for gossip along with a bit of work questions. I moved closer to her, reaching the edge of the desk and propping my elbows onto it.
She gave me a thin frown and the expression brought out creases in her forehead she was too young to have. “Some of the kids are still missing. A few of the parents told us the police haven’t turned up anything yet. I’ve been trying not to think about it too hard.” Her voice had cracked near the end.
“I’m sure they’ll turn up something.”Or I will, at least.I raised the little paper bag, giving it a shake. “Doughnut?” I hoped the offer would cheer her up even a small bit.
“Oh, God. I can’t—shouldn’t. I’ve been bingeing pizza and beer the last few nights while cramming for midterms.” She shook my offer off.
I drummed a finger against the desk as I looked to the far end of the room, trying to peer through the windows and into the playground outside. “Mind if I go out back and check on the equipment? I want to see if anything’s at risk of falling apart. Don’t want a kid to get hurt.”
She gave me a tense nod.
I moved by her, heading toward the back.
“Curt, wait. You left your keys here two days ago.”
I turned, processing what she’d said. So he’d been missing for a pair of days, and in that time, he’d wound up dead. He couldn’t have gone that far from here to manage that. Meaning the monster had to be close. I flashed her a more sincere smile than before and held out my hands as she stood up, leaning over the desk to plop them into my hands. “Thanks.” I tilted my head, pretending to stifle a yawn as I managed to catch sight of her name tag. “Jeanine. I don’t know how I lost them, guess I’ve been unlucky of late.”
Jeanine blew out a breath as she sank back into her chair. “Yeah, well, people’s luck’s been weird the last week, right?” She’d spoken as if I was supposed to be in on the context.
I arched a brow and waited.
She watched my passive expression and then blinked, mouthing for a moment without words. “Come on, like Tyler’s parents? One moment they’re the perfect couple, then the next”—she clapped her hands—“divorced. She wins the Powerball. He’s lost everything on the stock market? My car broke down yesterday and I was freaking out how I’d get here. My mom offered me a ride and turns out she’d been sitting on a huge birthday checkfrom my grams. You hear about how many people have been winning scratchers over in the strip?” Jeanine hooked a thumb in the direction I’d come from earlier.
I grunted, not bothering to draw out the conversation any more than needed and headed toward the back door.
The playground lived up to what you’d want for your kids. A wide patch filled with wood chips and some swing sets. A solid plastic slide to zip down. Monkey bars and rungs to clamber over the way only little children could. A few rocking horses sitting on heavy-duty coiled springs. Hoops set low enough for kids to have a hope to make them. A mini blacktop area off to one side that had clearly been built for the children to have somewhere to spill paint and scribble chalk over.
