Be Mine Forever (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna walked around the pickup. “So, she’d slide out the passenger side and then lock the door?”

“Yeah.” Kane smiled at her. “Way back then, having to unlock your door with the traffic flying past was a safety issue, so they slid across the bench seat and out the passenger side. The roads were narrower those days as well.”

Something crunched under Jenna’s boots and she bent down. “There are pieces of a phone down here and the battery is by the back tire. I’d say she dropped her phone and it smashed.” She straightened and walked back and forth. “Nothing else, she must have taken the case with her.”

“Not something she’d do if she was in trouble.” Kane stood, hands on hips, staring at the pickup. “So, we can assume she got a ride with a friend or walked. It’s only a mile or so from here to her home.” He headed back to the Beast and collected a forensics kit. “I’ll dust for prints.”

Jenna watched, not really surprised when the vehicle came up clean. “Hmm, that’s not good. The car was disabled and wiped clean.” She frowned. “So, she was set up; we need to know who delayed her so she couldn’t get help from one of the other cheerleaders.”

“This isn’t looking good, Jenna.” Kane removed his gloves. “There could be any number of girls and boys in a cheerleading squad and then you can add parents, friends, family members. This is getting out of hand already.” He looked out over the parking lot. “She’s been missing for hours. If she’d smashed her phone, it would be normal for her to go home or failing that to a friend’s house to stay overnight. As none of her friends have seen her and we don’t know if she’s in contact with her mom, we have to assume she’s in trouble.”

Jenna thought for a few seconds. “Okay, we go see the girlfriend and find out what she knows. She’ll be able to tell us the name of the captain of the cheerleading squad. Next we go see her and ask her to contact everyone who she can remember was at practice and ask them to return to the gym at six.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll contact the principal and ask him to open up the hall.” She made the call as she walked back to the Beast.

“That sounds like a plan.” Kane climbed behind the wheel and added the coordinates into the GPS. “The girlfriend lives five minutes from here.”

Vicky Perez lived in a very picturesque wooden ranch house at the end of a long driveway on Pine. Jenna inhaled the scent of flowers and admired the overflowing garden beds on each side of the porch. The neat, well cared for home was nestled among pine trees and seemed to blend in with its surroundings. She went alone to the front door and knocked. When a middle-aged woman opened the door and stared at her with one hand over her mouth, Jenna moved quickly to reassure her. “Mrs. Perez? There’s nothing for you to worry about, I’ve come to speak to Vicky about Laurie Turner.”

“Bob called this morning looking for Laurie, has something happened to her?” Mrs. Perez waved Jenna inside. “Come in, I’ll get Vicky for you.”

Jenna followed her into a clean kitchen. “We’re trying to locate Laurie. She didn’t go home last night.”

“Oh, that’s not good.” Mrs. Perez went out and stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Vicky, come down to the kitchen now, the sheriff wants to speak to you about Laurie.”

A girl appeared at once and came down the stairs at speed. She was dark-haired and exceptionally beautiful. Jenna smiled at her. “Do you recall what happened last night after practice?”

“Yeah, we collected our stuff and left as usual.” Vicky frowned. “I went over this before with Laurie’s dad. You do know he’s the school counselor, don’t you? He grilled me like I’d done something wrong.”

Taken aback, Jenna blinked. “Really? He didn’t mention anything to me at all. Can you just think back to when you last saw Laurie, what she was wearing, who she was with, and what she was doing?”

“We wear our old uniforms for practice. A whole bunch of us walked out to the parking lot and she went to her pickup.” Vicky twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. “There was this almighty clap of thunder and someone bumped into her and she dropped her phone. It smashed.”

Wanting to know who had delayed Laurie, Jenna raised both eyebrows in question. “Who bumped into her?”

“I didn’t see, there was a crowd of us all walking together. One of the girls I think but I’m not sure. Laurie was really upset her dad would find out and then Becky suggested she take it to Cory, he’s the maintenance guy and cleans the gym after practice. He’s real good at fixing things, especially phones. So, she went off to speak to him. Becky went to chase after Wyatt Cooper and then we all went home.”

Jenna took out her notebook and pen and took down the names. “So, what’s Becky’s last name and Cory’s too?”

“Becky Powell and Cory Hughes.” Vicky’s eyebrows met in a frown again. “Becky shouldn’t be chasing after Laurie’s boyfriend, they only just had a fight, I don’t think it’s over. He was there watching her at practice like always.” She sighed. “Although, everyone knows she likes Cory, she’s always drooling over him.”

Ignoring the statement, Jenna nodded. “Did you see her talking at length with anyone else at all that night?”

“Yeah a few people.” Vicky thought for a few minutes. “We went to the refreshments kiosk for a drink, and she chatted to Dale. He was working behind the counter. He’s on the football team but his aunt owns the kiosk and opens it for us during practice. Marlene was there too, Marlene Moore, she’s on the cheerleading squad. She is always hanging around Dale. He’s the quarterback, so everyone wants to be his date at the prom.”

Jenna was having a hard time keeping up with the teenager’s personal life. “Including Laurie?”

“Including everyone.” Vicky grinned. “But he plays it real cool.”

“I see.” Jenna wanted to roll her eyes. “Can you tell me the name of the captain of the cheerleading squad?”

“I am.” Vicky smiled.

Jenna heaved a sigh of relief, at least this part of the investigation was easy. “I’ll need you to call the squad and everyone you can remember was at practice last night. Tell them the sheriff wants them at the gym at six tonight. Laurie is missing and we need to find out her movements. We found her pickup in the school parking lot so she must have taken a ride with someone.”

“She wouldn’t take a ride with someone she didn’t know.” Vicky lifted her chin. “She’s smart, not stupid. I’ve been calling everyone all day and no one has seen her since last night. Are you sure her father hasn’t locked her in the cellar? He threatens her all the time. He tells everyone he doesn’t know where her mom is but she’s still working at the beauty parlor in town. He told her if she tries to take Laurie away from him again, he’ll kill her.”

Jenna stared at the girl. “You heard him threaten her?”

“No, but everyone says so.” Vicky’s brown eyes widened. “What if he’s killed Laurie?”