Page 43 of Did You See Evie

“I heard about the prayer circle in the news,” she says. “I’ve been following the case.”

I wasn’t expecting this reaction. Part of me thought I’d never hear from Nadia again after leaving her apartment. She insists the botched burglary had nothing to do with Evie’s disappearance, so why would she care?

“You said this girl grew up the way we did,” she says, answering my silent question. “I told you I want to help.”

“I think I might have a lead,” I say, nodding in the direction of my car. “Want to take a ride?”

“Let’s go.”

TWENTY-THREE

Nadia slides into the passenger seat, eager to hear about updates related to Evie’s case. Despite my initial suspicions of her, some of which still remain, I believe she’s connected to Evie’s disappearance for the same reasons I am; we both know what it’s like to be one of the forgotten girls from the wrong side of the tracks.

There aren’t many new developments, but I tell her what Tara told me at the prayer circle about the new boyfriend recently moving into the house. As I speak, I watch as her face mimics the same level of disgust and mistrust I felt when I heard about the news.

“It’s not a good situation,” she says, at last. “Especially if all this happened in the same week Evie went missing.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“So, what do you want me to do about it?”

“The police say they’re looking into that, but there’s always a part of me that doesn’t trust them. It doesn’t feel like enough. You have more connections with this side of town than I do these days. I thought maybe if you looked into it, you might uncover more than the police can.”

“Do you have a name?”

“No.”

“It’ll be hard to do some digging without that.”

“I thought we’d go see them ourselves.”

Nadia’s face turns still. “Who are we going to see?”

“Evie’s mother.”

“And how do you expect us to get away with that?” Nadia says, crossing her arms over her chest. “We can’t just roll up at the house and accuse her family of being involved.”

“I wouldn’t be that direct about it,” I say. “Given the circumstances, it wouldn’t be that strange for me to visit the family. Evie and I are close.”

“They’re going to be defensive if you show up with a complete stranger,” she says, already reaching for the car door. “If you’re going to do this, you don’t need me involved.”

I’m tempted to put the car into drive before she keeps coming up with excuses to help me, but I reluctantly keep still. “Fine. I’ll handle the conversation by myself, but can you at least watch my back?”

Nadia scoffs, pressing her head against the backrest. She let’s go of the door handle. “You think we’re hosting a stakeout?”

“You can keep lookout for a bunch of computer thieves, but not me? I thought you said you wanted to help.”

“That’s business. And there’s a plan involved,” she says, all humor absent from her tone. “Sounds to me like you’re just winging this as you go.”

My frustration is mounting, as is my helplessness over the fact Nadia might be right. I’m not equipped to find Evie, but sitting back and waiting for others to act has never been my style.

I look into my lap and exhale. “I know what it’s like living with an abuser. You know that. If something serious is going on inside that house, I might be able to pick up on it, and I need someone who can help keep me grounded.”

Nadia looks at me now, a mix of hurt and skepticism in her eyes. “And I’m the person you think can help you keep your cool?”

“You’re the only other person I know that’s dealt with a situation like this personally.” I pause, debating over what I should say next. “You were willing to help me last time.”

“We were kids,” she says, plainly. “Too young to realize we were in over our heads.”

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