Page 55 of Another Girl Lost

His easy charm disarmed me a fraction. “I like lots of exits. Where?”

“Ben’s?” He came around the desk, moving slowly toward me but stopping a few feet short.

“I know the place.”

His hand slid in his pocket. “Try for six tonight?”

“I can do that.”

“Meet you there, or do you want me to pick you up?”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“Fair enough. Maybe you can tell me a little something about this PTSD.”

“Better, just google my name. There’s more on the internet about me than you’ll ever want to know. Key in2014.” I fished my phone out of my pocket and held it out to him. “Text yourself a note from my phone. Then we’ll both have each other’s number.”

He typed in a text. “I won’t change my mind.”

“Google me first. I won’t blame you.”

He handed me back the phone. “See you at six.”

I was feeling a tad more optimistic when I left Luke’s. Instead of going home, I swung by a bakery, picked up a dozen doughnuts, and drove to the Judge’s house.

I knocked, and when she opened the front door, I held up the box of doughnuts. The Judge was already dressed, hair done and makeup applied. I’d often joked she slept this way. “You said anytime.”

She motioned me inside. “And I meant it.”

“I’m kind of sweaty. I was out for a run.”

“Ah, something is bothering you.”

“Maybe a little.” I walked down the center hallway and set the doughnuts on the marble countertop next to an open copy of theWashington Post.

The Judge removed china covered in roses, as well as cloth napkins and forks from a drawer. Only the Judge ate a doughnut with a fork. She filled a rose-trimmed cup with coffee for me and topped off her own.

I opened the box and turned it toward her. I’d selected six glazed, two powdered, and four chocolates—all three were her favorites. She selected a glazed.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about Della,” I said.

The Judge opened her napkin as she sat at the barstool by the island. Carefully, she smoothed the napkin over her lap. “Why? That was a decade ago.”

I selected a doughnut and set it on the rose-trimmed plate. “You know a Detective Kevin Dawson?”

She frowned. “I do.”

“That sounds ominous. What does that mean?”

She shrugged. “Let’s say he cut a few corners to help his ex-wife. He’s lucky to have his job. Why are you asking about him?”

“He came to my warehouse.” I explained about his questioning and the discovery of Sandra’s body. “He thinks Tanner might have killed her.”

The Judge nodded slowly, sipping coffee. “I wouldn’t bet against that. What does Sandra Taylor have to do with Della?”

“I searched Sandra on the internet. She went to East Norfolk High School like me. We were there at the same time. She was two years ahead of me. She also worked at Mike’s Diner and vanished about two months before me.”

“And?”

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