Page 34 of Five
She canceled her date with Oliver, and my brother is bummed but still hopeful they can rearrange.
I’m surprised at how dejected I feel, too, even though she wasn’t even my date. Still, there were always implications for all five of us, however each of us felt about it, and I can’t help wondering if we’ve lost our chance. She’s got so much going on right now that I’m sure a relationship with one man is too much to think about, let alone potentially five.
I’m pulled out of my rather morose thoughts by Stan Oberman knocking on the frame of my open door. He’s a welcome diversion from the monotony of the camera footage.
“Hey, Oz. There’s a woman outside looking for you.”
For a moment I think it might be Neve and my pulse picks up, until I remember that Stan knows her from the daycare and would have mentioned her by name. “Who is it?” I ask instead, shoving the disappointment aside.
Stan merely shrugs. “No clue.”
Climbing off my chair, I stretch to ease the stiffness in my knee and decide to chance my luck at pushing my menial task onto someone else. “If you’ve got a few minutes, perhaps you could take over and carry on viewing this footage. I’m just checking the security cameras from other businesses regarding that attempted abduction at the daycare. You know what to look for as well as I do… just anything that looks out of place.” I nod at the images up on my screen, Stan looks pained and opens his mouth to say something, but I hurry past him and head off before he can argue.
Pulling open the precinct’s double doors, I screw up my eyes at the bright sunlight and scan the vicinity until I spot a young woman with bright red hair and a whole lot of freckles.
Yeah, definitely not Neve. Somehow, I’m still disappointed, even though I hadn’t been expecting her to begin with.
Whoever the woman is, she’s clearly agitated, tapping her foot against the sidewalk, holding a straw between her index and middle finger, and sucking on it. I raise my eyebrows, wondering if I’ve got some crackhead wanting to turn informant before I realize she’s using it as a placebo. “How long has it been since you quit smoking?”
She looks at the straw in disgust. “Too damn long.”
Shoving it in her pocket, she eyes me with renewed interest. “So, you’re Oscar?”
I nod my head, still cautious, even though she looks harmless. “That’s me. How can I help?”
The girl drags her fingers through her hair, making it flash copper in the sunlight, and huffs out a breath. She’s rattled about something, I can tell. “I’m Caroline, a friend of Neve Murray’s… from the daycare? I was told you’re working on her case.”
My heart races at the mention of Neve’s name and I already know that I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear. Cop’s intuition. “How can I help you?” I say.
Caroline bites her lip and looks away like she’s second-guessing herself, and I have to stop myself from snapping at her to tell me what brought her here. “I’m probably crazy…” she murmurs.
“Maybe, maybe not,” I offer, trying to prod her along. “I’ll never know if you don’t tell me.”
She visibly straightens her spine and throws me a stubborn look. I have a feeling this girl’s a handful at the best of times. She’s trying to rein it in, but she’s got attitude.
“The thing is, Neve was upset yesterday when I last spoke to her, and she as good as hung up on me.” She raises her hand before I can speak. “And before you go telling me I’m wasting police time and that’s not any reason to worry, and she probably just wanted some peace and quiet, you need to know that she’s stopped answering her calls. And I’ve made dozens, let me tell you.”
She pauses as if realizing she’s been running off at the mouth, then shrugs. “Anyway, I know she hasn’t been unreachable long enough for anyone but me to worry about it, but I’m heading on over to her place to check on her.” She shrugs. “I mean I’d have done that anyway, but with everything that’s been happening, I thought I should let someone know first, and maybe…” She looks away, a veil of unease clinging to her.
“Hmm.” Taking a moment, I attempt to sort through everything she’s telling. On the one hand, she’s absolutely right—we don’t generally charge in, guns blazing, for someone who’s avoiding phone calls. On the other hand, there’s enough going on with the daycare break-in and attempted abduction that her anxiety is contagious. And I have a feeling that Neve’s friend won’t take no for an answer to whatever it is she’s working up the courage to ask. In just a few minutes, I know as surely as I know Stan drinks his coffee with three spoons of sugar that this woman is a bulldog as far as tenacity is concerned.
Neve’s lucky to have someone like Caroline looking out for her.
Lifting her head, Caroline looks at me, her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling. Her next words are a strangled whisper. “And maybe get you to come with me. Because I know no one else would be concerned yet, but it’s not like Nevee to ignore her phone like this.”
It’s the fear in her eyes that has me gripping her elbow and hurrying her to my car. The way her voice broke after all her initial bluster shows just how worried Caroline is, and that has my own concerns escalating.
“Get in,” I order, propelling her towards the passenger door of my unassuming steel gray Charger before jogging around to tear my own open. She barely has her seat belt on before I let the red lights flare and the sirens scream as we tear out of the car park.
“Give me the address.” Caroline answers, but she’s quiet and wide-eyed after that, holding on to the oh-shit handle for dear life and sucking on her straw like she was once a thirty-a-day chain-smoker. I’m not sure if that’s due to concern for her friend or a reaction to my driving as we careen through the streets at breakneck speed. My unmarked car blends when it needs to, but it’s damn fast.
The car has barely rocked to a stop before Neve’s apartment building when I jump out, leaving the vehicle double parked with the lights still flashing. Neve’s car is outside the unit, the back window busted in, and my heart sinks.
Shit.
“What number?” I yell over my shoulder.
“2C,” she calls, opening her car door. I don’t wait on her to keep up as I sprint up the stairs for the second floor.
