Page 26 of Traces of Kara

“You didn’t know?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t know. Don’t you think I would have done something? I thought she was just messed up from, well, you know, from when she was a kid. You said she didn’t trust anyone because of her father, so I just thought…”

Mimi wiped her eyes. “But…you don’t really…you have issues with Kara.”

“No, I just have issues with how she acts sometimes, and with picking up the pieces of her life all the time. You’re always taking up her slack.”

“Oh, God, Ted, I’m the worst mother. I thought you just didn’t like who she was, and I didn’t believe her about Daryl, either. No wonder Kara hates me.”

He pulled her close again. “She doesn’t hate you, Mimi. She’s upset. Jesus, no one believed her. That son of a bitch.” Ted pushed off the couch, heading for the door.

“Ted, where are you going?”

He put his arm through the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m going to talk to that piece of shit, Daryl.”

“No, Ted, that won’t help. I have to find Kara. No one’s seen her. She didn’t go to class, or to work.”

“She probably went for a drive. Hell, she probably left town.”

Mimi shook her head. “Her car’s in the shop.”

“So?” He set his keys on the coffee table. “Then she can’t have gone very far. Did you check her apartment?”

She nodded.

“The canal?”

“I’ve checked everywhere and I just don’t know what to think.”

Ted’s face pinched. He lowered himself onto the couch. “Dean.”

“Dean?”

“Dean. You know, that slug who’s always hanging around her apartment complex? I never told you, but I’d heard…something about the two of them. It was a while ago.”

“Kara and Dean? Come on.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you. Murphy told me. He heard it from Kyle, and—”

Mimi held up her palm. “Okay, okay. I get it. The Williamsport hotline. Whatever happened between them happened. He has nothing to do with her now, right?”

“Not that I know of, but where is she? Who else would she be with?” Ted pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna have a talk with him, too. When’s the last time you saw her?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to her since before she went to work yesterday.”

“Okay, so did you talk to Jackson?”

“Yes, and I spoke to Betty. She clocked in and out, but missed the changing of the shifts. And no one’s heard from her since.”

Ted paced. “Okay, so she’s been gone since when? Last night? This morning?”

“They changed shifts at midnight last night. I went to her apartment this afternoon and her bed was perfectly made, as if it hadn’t been slept in.”

“So we have no idea how long she’s been missing, or if she really is missing. She’s probably holed up somewhere. Did you check the library? She’s always studying.”

“This morning.”

“Where else could she be? She has no friends to call.”