Monday, well, we freaked out,” she said, laughing a little. “And we know you guys have this whole detective thing, with your book or whatever. So we figured . . .”
“We can do it,” Tracy said, the little professional in her Dr. Martens boots, vintage orange minidress, and black leather coat two sizes too big. “We can find her. And since she’s a friend, there’ll be no fee. Except”—she looked at me and then back to Reena—“I think Claire and Kelly should get the staff discount on clothes at the store. They’ve been totally cool about paying full price while the rest of us pay, like, nothing. And they have like
no
money. It’s only fair.”
“I can’t do staff discount,” Reena said. “Not for anyone anymore. They put the kibosh on that. But I can do twenty percent. Plus my eternal gratitude.”
Tracy looked at me. I nodded. We looked over at Kelly. She agreed. We looked back at Reena.
We had a deal.
We would find Chloe.
“The last time you saw her, that Thursday night,” Tracy said. “Let’s go over that again.”
Reena bit her lip. “Well,” she began, “me and Alex were watching TV. And—”
“What were you watching?” Kelly asked.
Reena looked at Alex.
“
Simon and Simon
,” Alex said.
“So we were watching TV and smoking a J and I think I was eating cereal—”
“Lucky Charms.” Alex broke in. He was getting the hang of this.
“And Chloe walks in and we said hi, hello, normal stuff. She looked a little, well, like maybe she’d been drinking a little. Her eyes were kind of red and . . . what’s the word? Bleary. She was bleary-eyed.”
Bleary-eyed
, I wrote in my book.
Lucky Charms.
“So she got a bowl of cereal and watched TV with us for a few minutes. And then she stands up and says . . . What did she say?”
Reena looked at Alex.
“‘Enough of this shit,’” Alex quoted. “She said, ‘Enough of this shit. I can’t take any more.’ And then she went to bed. Or so we thought.”
“I thought she was talking about the TV show,” Reena said. “Now . . .” She closed her eyes and frowned. “I don’t know. Now I just want to find her. I just really, really want to find her.”
A quivering, shaking look, like crying, passed over her face. She swallowed it away.
“Did she take her keys?” Tracy asked.
Keys
, I wrote in my book. It was a good question.
“Uh, I, yeah,” Reena said. “She did. I noticed that when I was looking through her stuff. Her keys weren’t there.”
Next to keys I wrote,
Took them.
Tracy looked in the notebook. She took the pen out of my hand and wrote,
Left, not taken.
It wasn’t until later that I realized she meant Chloe.
I looked through my notes and went back to
Lucky Charms
and wrote down what I remembered from the commercial:
Pink clovers. Green horseshoes. Yellow diamonds. Blue stars. Orange Moons. Purple hearts.
We made plans to come over later—Reena had a staff meeting at the clothing store. Alex went wherever he went. Kelly and Tracy and I stayed in the bar and got another round of dollar glasses of beer.
Kelly and I looked at Tracy. Tracy knew Chloe best.
“Do you think she would . . .” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Tracy said. “I mean.”
She frowned.
“We’ll assume she didn’t,” Tracy said firmly. “We’ll assume she’s alive, and out there somewhere, until proven otherwise. Okay?”
Kelly and I nodded; we agreed.
Kelly stood up.
“I gotta go,” she said. “Jonah’s got a show tonight.”
Jonah.
Tracy and I must have rolled our eyes because Kelly said, “You bitches just wish you had boyfriends.”
Tracy and I each made a face. Maybe we did wish we had boyfriends. Or maybe we just didn’t want anyone else to have them. Jonah didn’t seem like such a prize to me. He was in a band that played at parties and all-ages punk shows. Kid stuff. He almost never talked to me and I’d stopped trying to get along with him. He didn’t seem to be especially nice to
“We can do it,” Tracy said, the little professional in her Dr. Martens boots, vintage orange minidress, and black leather coat two sizes too big. “We can find her. And since she’s a friend, there’ll be no fee. Except”—she looked at me and then back to Reena—“I think Claire and Kelly should get the staff discount on clothes at the store. They’ve been totally cool about paying full price while the rest of us pay, like, nothing. And they have like
no
money. It’s only fair.”
“I can’t do staff discount,” Reena said. “Not for anyone anymore. They put the kibosh on that. But I can do twenty percent. Plus my eternal gratitude.”
Tracy looked at me. I nodded. We looked over at Kelly. She agreed. We looked back at Reena.
We had a deal.
We would find Chloe.
“The last time you saw her, that Thursday night,” Tracy said. “Let’s go over that again.”
Reena bit her lip. “Well,” she began, “me and Alex were watching TV. And—”
“What were you watching?” Kelly asked.
Reena looked at Alex.
“
Simon and Simon
,” Alex said.
“So we were watching TV and smoking a J and I think I was eating cereal—”
“Lucky Charms.” Alex broke in. He was getting the hang of this.
“And Chloe walks in and we said hi, hello, normal stuff. She looked a little, well, like maybe she’d been drinking a little. Her eyes were kind of red and . . . what’s the word? Bleary. She was bleary-eyed.”
Bleary-eyed
, I wrote in my book.
Lucky Charms.
“So she got a bowl of cereal and watched TV with us for a few minutes. And then she stands up and says . . . What did she say?”
Reena looked at Alex.
“‘Enough of this shit,’” Alex quoted. “She said, ‘Enough of this shit. I can’t take any more.’ And then she went to bed. Or so we thought.”
“I thought she was talking about the TV show,” Reena said. “Now . . .” She closed her eyes and frowned. “I don’t know. Now I just want to find her. I just really, really want to find her.”
A quivering, shaking look, like crying, passed over her face. She swallowed it away.
“Did she take her keys?” Tracy asked.
Keys
, I wrote in my book. It was a good question.
“Uh, I, yeah,” Reena said. “She did. I noticed that when I was looking through her stuff. Her keys weren’t there.”
Next to keys I wrote,
Took them.
Tracy looked in the notebook. She took the pen out of my hand and wrote,
Left, not taken.
It wasn’t until later that I realized she meant Chloe.
I looked through my notes and went back to
Lucky Charms
and wrote down what I remembered from the commercial:
Pink clovers. Green horseshoes. Yellow diamonds. Blue stars. Orange Moons. Purple hearts.
We made plans to come over later—Reena had a staff meeting at the clothing store. Alex went wherever he went. Kelly and Tracy and I stayed in the bar and got another round of dollar glasses of beer.
Kelly and I looked at Tracy. Tracy knew Chloe best.
“Do you think she would . . .” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Tracy said. “I mean.”
She frowned.
“We’ll assume she didn’t,” Tracy said firmly. “We’ll assume she’s alive, and out there somewhere, until proven otherwise. Okay?”
Kelly and I nodded; we agreed.
Kelly stood up.
“I gotta go,” she said. “Jonah’s got a show tonight.”
Jonah.
Tracy and I must have rolled our eyes because Kelly said, “You bitches just wish you had boyfriends.”
Tracy and I each made a face. Maybe we did wish we had boyfriends. Or maybe we just didn’t want anyone else to have them. Jonah didn’t seem like such a prize to me. He was in a band that played at parties and all-ages punk shows. Kid stuff. He almost never talked to me and I’d stopped trying to get along with him. He didn’t seem to be especially nice to
Similar Books
