Page 19 of The Missing Half

“And I didn’t really care about the music. So, I worked the cash register and answered the phone.”

“What did you guys talk about?” Jenna says.

As Lauren had spoken earlier, I was starting to catch glimpses of the girl I used to know. But now, she clears her throat, straightens Thomas’s shirt, and continues in her sweet, airy tone. “Oh, Lord, who knows? School, friends, Channing Tatum or whatever actor was hot that year. We were teenage girls.”

“Did she ever say anything about leaving?” I ask. “Or even just taking a trip? Like, do you have any idea where she could’ve been going the night she went missing?”

“Well, by then, I was working at Mesquite, and we weren’t really seeing each other as much.”

“Yeah, but you were still friends. You talked. She didn’t say anything about where she was headed?”

“I’m sorry,” Lauren says. “No.”

“What about…Did you ever notice that she was scared that summer?” I’m not being methodical about any of this, but I don’t care.

“Scared? I…no. No.”

“What about guys?” Jenna says. “Did she ever talk about who she liked?”

“Kasey was pretty focused on school.”

It’s true. And while my sister might not have mentioned her friend changing jobs, she would have told me if she had a crush. Of that, I’m certain.

“Plus”—Lauren shoots me a look—“she probably would’ve told you before she told me.” It feels like a finger prodding a fresh bruise.Kasey never told you.I can’t tell if it was intentional or not.

“What about the guy who worked at the yogurt shop?” Jenna says before I have the chance to respond.

“Oh. That was nothing. He was just fun to look at.”

“Can you remember his name?”

Lauren’s eyebrows jump. “You think he might’ve had something to do with Kasey’s disappearance?”

“Right now, we’re looking for anything.”

“Oh gosh, I don’t think I can remember. John, maybe? Drew? I don’t know. Something short. Ben? No, that doesn’t sound right.” Thomas suddenly grabs her necklace, a diamond cross on a silver chain, and tugs. “That’s Mommy’s necklace, baby.” To us, she adds, “I should probably get going. He really will get fussy soon.”

“Real quick,” I say, “can you think of anyone who was interested in her that summer? A customer or someone who worked nearby? At Mesquite maybe? The police always said the person we’re looking for wouldn’t have known Kasey well. He probably crossed her path a handful of times and she caught his eye.”

“Well,” Lauren says, “Detective Wyler asked me more or less the same thing back then, and I gave him the name of someone, but it never amounted to anything, so it must’ve not been anything.”

My heart starts thumping hard. “Who?”

“My old boss at Mesquite. He was”—she glances over her shoulder, but the nearest church goers are a good ten feet away—“pretty sleazy. Always staring at the girls’ chests and saying gross stuff. Whenever someone would call him out on it, he’d laugh and say they needed to learn how to take a joke. There was an alley behind the restaurant where a handful of the places shared a dumpster. It was the one we used at the record store too. And all the girls who worked on the strip knew not to take out the trash alone, because sometimes he’d be out there smoking and…you know. You wouldn’t want to get stuck in a back alley with him at night. I guess you could say that about a lot of guys though.”

“What was this guy’s name?” Jenna says.

“Steve McLean. But we all called him Skeevy Steve.”

“And you gave his name to Wyler?”

She nods.

“His full name? You said Steve McLean?”

“Yeah.”

Jenna glances at me, and I can see the unspoken question in her eyes. This was a solid lead. What had Wyler done with it? She looks back to Lauren. “Do you know how long he’d been working there by the time you started?”

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