Scarlett pictured the man she’d met a few hours before. Her chest tightened, her heart feeling as though a giant fist had just grabbed hold of it and had begun to squeeze.
He was sent to prison for protecting his sister from a predator? How does something like that even happen?
“I haven’t seen him in over a month,” Brooke continued. “Last time we talked, we left it with me promising to call if I learned anything new. But…” A slight shrug. “It’s like the answers to where Rose could be died right along with that Valdez creep.”
“I don’t think Olly has any new leads, either,” she mused. “Or if he does have one, he didn’t share it with me.”
“You know, you’d think with today’s technology, authorities would at least havesomethingby now.”
You’d think.
But Scarlett also understood cases like this weren’t solved in an hour like on T.V. She’d seen enough true-crimedocumentaries to know it sometimes took weeks or months…evenyearsbefore some cases were solved.
And sometimes…
Sometimes the missing are never found.
“Speaking of technology.” She reached for her drink as she refocused on the present. “The report said security cameras at La Cocina randomly stopped working that day.” She took a sip. “Did that happen a lot?”
“I honestly have no idea. I was a server, so the building’s security wasn’t anything I was involved with.” Brooke paused but then, “I will say, there seemed to be a high turnover rate there. Especially among the young, single girls.”
Yeah, she’d read that, too. “My P.I. said the cops suspected Dante Valdez of using the restaurant as a front for his trafficking gig.”
From what she’d read in Thomas’s report, news of Valdez’s death had spread like wildfire among his people. Most of them scattered into the wind before they could get caught. When they did, they took their best chances of finding Rose right along with them.
The knot forming in her gut stole what was left of Scarlett’s appetite. Pushing the small saucer holding her barely eaten bagel to the side, she looked Brooke square in the eyes and asked, “Is there anything else you know that might help? Anything at all? Because sometimes even the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing can break a case wide open.”
She’d heard that time and again on all those true-crime documentaries and podcasts she listened to. So it had to be true, right?
“I’m sorry.” Brooke’s pretty gaze filled with remorse. “If there was something more, I promise I’d tell you. All I know is that after Rose and I talked for a bit in the breakroom that day, I wenthome to pack for a family cruise. I didn’t even hear about Rose’s disappearance until two weeks later when I came back to work.”
“You didn’t try to call or text her while you were away?”
“A few times, sure. But even with the ship’s pricey internet package, the service was spotty at best. I tried sending her the occasional text or picture, but since the signal was so shitty, I finally just decided to wait until I got back to show her the rest.” Her face fell. “My first shift back, everyone told me she was gone. Her car had been left at the restaurant, and her purse, wallet, and phone were found in a dumpster two blocks away. Fast-forward two months later, and Valdez gets killed, the restaurant shuts down, and I’m out of a job.”
“I’m sorry.”
Guilt seemed to drown the woman’s baby blues. “No, I’m sorry. Rose is out there somewhere, going through God only knows what, and I’m bitching about having to search for another job.”
“Looks like you found one.” Scarlett motioned to the black scrubs.
A genuine smile lifted Brooke’s full, subtly pink lips. “Yeah, I did. I already worked at the hospital as a tech while also working at La Cocina. But I just finished my last semester of nursing school, and the hospital hired me full-time.”
“That’s great.”
“It is. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s a heck of a lot better than waiting tables. Pays a lot more, too.” Rose’s friend glanced at her watch. “Speaking of which, I really do have to run.”
“Of course.” Scarlett followed the other woman’s lead and pushed herself to her feet. “I appreciate you taking the time to come here. I knew it was a long shot, but I thought…” She released a heavy sigh. “I guess I was just hoping maybe you’d thought of something new or something old that the police may have missed.”
“If the police missed something, you could bet that Olly’s the one who will find it.”
Brooke picked up her cup, but immediately sat it back down onto the table. In a move that took Scarlett by surprise, the other woman pulled her in for a hug.
“Oh!”
“Thank you,” Rose’s sweet friend offered softly. “For not giving up.”
In a belated reaction, Scarlett lifted her arms and returned the gesture. “I’m going to keep looking,” she promised again. “We may not know each other yet, but she’s still my sister.”