“Are you drunk?”
“Yes, I believe I am. I believe you would be too if you went through everything I have.” Then he started to sob.
Cindy listened patiently as, in between bouts of crying, Eric tried to explain how desperate he felt.
Cindy wanted to get some direction in this conversation. She said, “Tell me about Jason Cortlandt. I interviewed him and I’m curious to get your opinion about how you guys fell out.”
There was a long sigh on the other end of the phone. Slowly, Eric said, “He didn’t work at the facility for that long. Maybe a year at most. He was sloppy and inattentive. A disaster waiting to happen.” He had stumbled over the word “disaster.” “I don’t even know why the guy worked there. He didn’t seem to care about kids.”
Eric took a moment to gather his thoughts. “But I let all that slide for a while. It’s hard finding people to work at a youth center like ours. Until I found out he had started living with a girl from the facility. She’d already graduated. But it was still wrong. I reported it and he decided to quit instead of answer touchy questions.”
“And you think that’s enough of a reason for him to take Nicole?”
“I’m not saying hekidnappedher. He just… got into her head. He introduced her to a fast crowd. She got a little wild.” It was the first time Eric had admitted that his daughter wasn’t a perfect, straight-A student.
He continued. “Nicole never seemed satisfied in high school. She was always looking ahead to something else. When I saw Jason Cortlandt had called Nicole on her cell phone, I asked her about it.” He just stopped talking.
Cindy waited and finally had to prompt him. “What was her answer?”
“Nicole’s answer was to buy a burner phone on her own. It was really a first sign she was shutting me out of her life.” He was quiet again.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Cindy told him.
Eric said, “What about something drastic?”
CHAPTER77
ALAIN CREASY ANDI sat down on the low wall that surrounded the Garden Spot’s empty garden plot. I could’ve called it a large planter. But I liked Alain’s description of it as apotager. The atmosphere around us was almost festive. Mostly young people with some competing music blasting from two different directions. We tried to fit in. Before leaving my car, I’d grabbed my oversized Giants zip-up sweatshirt, which covered the Glock in my shoulder holster. Alain was wearing another colorful shirt today, this time short-sleeved. He hadn’t yet seemed bothered by the growing nip in the evening air.
I nodded hello to the blond girl seated next to me and we started to chat comfortably. Her name was Valerie. She had a very pretty face, with crystal-clear green eyes. Wearing a blue windbreaker over a party dress, she looked like a high school girl after prom, wearing her date’s jacket. It was apparently a little too chilly to be showing off the goods tonight.
When I asked her what she was doing here, her response was “You guys cops?”
I cocked my head to the side and said, “Do we look like cops?”
She studied both of us. Alain was sitting on my other side, but she could still see him plainly. He gave her a charming smile as she eyed his floral-print shirt and said, “I probably do.”
Valerie returned his smile and leaned across me. She literally pinched Alain’s cheek and said, “You aresocute. I love that accent.”
Alain actually blushed. I got a kick out of that. Then I looked at Valerie and said, “What’s with the crowd?”
She shrugged. “You know. It’s a party. We’re all ready to party.”
I wasn’t sure how to phrase it, so I just said, “Are some of these girls escorts?”
“Some are escorts. Some have product.”
Alain asked, “Product?”
“You know, H, Molly, pot, ZsaZsa.”
“ZsaZsa?” he repeated.
I had to jump in and prove I knew something. “Synthetic marijuana.”
Valerie looked at me and said, “You’re on top of things.”
I was so happy she hadn’t addedfor someone your age. I said to Valerie, “You seem way too smart to be out here.”
