MOLLY HAD BEEN missing for three days now. I grabbed some bread and peanut butter and made a quick breakfast before heading out to grab a coffee.
While out, I called the mother and found out that Olivia Stone was Molly’s friend from high school. They both went to a private Catholic school, but Olivia was one of those “bad influences” on Molly. She was currently on a suspension from school and was probably up to no good. According to Mom.
I called Olivia’s number and left a message. She got back to me after an hour and suggested we meet at a local garage where her boyfriend worked. I was immediately suspicious, so I suggested lunch in the park by a hotdog cart. I’d buy. She agreed.
She also brought her boyfriend, which didn’t surprise me. He was a big kid, over six feet tall. Looked like they used him to lift the cars while they changed tires.
“You must be Jack,” I said to him.
He gave me a blank look. “Ethan,” he said, a little unsure of his own name.
“Hi Ethan, I’m Zack.” To Olivia I said, “I’m looking into Molly’s disappearance. Her mother’s very worried about her.”
Olivia laughed. “That cow? She doesn’t care about Molly.”
“She seemed upset. Upset enough to come to me.”
“It’s all for show. Got to keep up appearances. Make the family look healthy and happy.”
“What do you mean by that? Is this a rich person thing?”
Olivia smiled and turned away from me, walking around the corner of a utility shed. It blocked the view of the pond and seemed like a bit of an eyesore. I’m sure it held useful tools for the park utility workers, but you really couldn’t see the swans properly unless you walked around to the open area. Yes, I was distinctly aware the boyfriend was behind me, and I made a note of it.
Olivia kept talking, as if to lure me into a false sense of security. “My parents have money, sure, but nothing like Molly’s family. The dad’s loaded. Mom’s not doing too badly, either. Think Molly’s going to get any of it?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, probably. But only if I can find her.”
“Wrong! No matter what she does, she’s always on the shit list from her daddy. She’s lucky she’s not in jail.” She turned back to me. “You know that’s where she’d be if her parents had any say.”
“I don’t understand. It can’t be that bad. Her sister said she needed money. That she was involved with a couple of guys—”
“Little miss perfect? What a stuck-up bitch. Always trying to keep Molly out of trouble, but always making things worse.”
“I thought they hung out occasionally.”
Olivia laughed. “She’s the reason Molly keeps acting out—you’d think Mom and Dad would notice and do something about it. No, they’ve always got to favor Liz! Liz this, Liz that!”
I knew the blow was coming before it hit. Ethan came in with a sloppy haymaker to the back of my head, but I dodged most of it. The punch glanced off my shoulder. I spun away and used my momentum to deliver a hard slap to the side of his face.
For a big guy, he wasn’t very used to being hit. I guess that makes sense; who hits a big guy? He dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
Olivia looked down at her boyfriend, a shadow of disappointment crossing her face. She seemed unsurprised at the turn of events. But it was clear I’d broken her narrative.
“Fine, you beat up a kid. You happy?”
“In the grand scheme of things? No, I’m not all that happy. Also, why hit me?”
“I wanted to send a message. Leave Molly alone!”
“What are you talking about?”
“She can take care of herself!”
“Sure she can. Where is she?”
And then I saw doubt creep into Olivia’s face. It lingered there.
“You don’t know where she is, do you?”
Olivia crossed her arms. She shook her head.
“Look, I’m just here to help. I’m looking for her. I want to make sure she’s safe. Her mom really does love her.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, finally.
“Sorry?”
“I wasn’t sure I could trust—I thought you were one of them.”
I shrugged. “Who’s them? They? Who are they?”
“The dealers. The assholes who were working Molly.”
“Working?”
“Feeding her drugs. Getting her messed up.”
“Okay, so let me find these guys. What do you know about them?”
“Oh, lots. They keep coming around the school. We see them at the clubs. They can always get you stuff, but there’s always a catch. You know?”
“I can make a guess.”
“Finally, she said she’d had enough. They wanted her for …”
“Tricks?”
“Yeah.”
“And probably not the ‘Is this your card?’ tricks, either.”
“Molly was a party girl, you know? She just kept putting it off, faking sickness, and disappearing. I think they were tiring of it.”
“And they might try to set an example?”
Olivia pulled back the sleeve of her shirt and showed me an enormous bruise. The center of the bruise held what looked like a knife wound. Healing, but still quite fresh.
“This is the example they liked to set.”
“Is that why Ethan’s here?”
“Yeah.”
I looked over at Ethan and helped him to his feet. Now I felt like a jerk.
“Okay, I promised to buy you lunch. Let me get you kids a couple of dogs. Maybe you can give me more information about these assholes, and where to find them.”
Olivia gave me the info on two of the dealers. Alex and Jimmy. Said they sometimes hung out at a dive bar in downtown Kitchener. She also confirmed that Molly knew her mother was monitoring her cell phone. That’s why they wrote in code when they texted. Molly used a burner phone when she went out. She used it to talk to everyone outside her network. She gave me the number and asked me to find Molly and make sure she was safe. I said I’d try.
Together, the two of them ate six hotdogs loaded with toppings. I would have stopped them at one each, but I felt a little bad for hitting Ethan so hard. Honestly, I pulled that punch. I wouldn’t pull the punches on whoever had Molly.