“I want to see my dad,” Skylar said. “I don’t need to see a doctor. Dad didn’t kill Mom. I need to see him.”
“First, the paramedics have to check you out,” Zoe said. “Then we’ll arrange for you to see your father.”
“Where is Neil?” the girl demanded. “I want to see Neil.”
Vaughan jerked his thumb over his shoulder, toward the marked cars and the flashing lights. “Sitting in the back of one of the squad cars, waiting for his mother.”
“Why? He didn’t do anything,” Skylar protested. “None of this is his fault. Why are you punishing him?”
Zoe didn’t let the girl maneuver past her. “He should have told us you were here.”
Skylar pushed around Zoe but halted when she came face to face with Vaughan standing in the doorway. “He wanted to call you right away, but I begged him to come to me first! I was scared and hungry and just needed a little time.”
“Neil is going to be fine. For now, let the paramedics check your hand,” he said, undaunted.
She curled the fingers of her right hand into a fist. “And then can I see my dad?”
“We’ll see,” Vaughan said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Wednesday, August 14, 7:00 p.m.
Alexandria, Virginia
Thirty-Six Hours after the 911 Call
The ambulance carrying Skylar Foster whisked away, leaving Vaughan and Spencer standing on the sidewalk outside the motel room. Vaughan had given the forensic team the bag containing Skylar’s clothes and shoes he had retrieved from the dumpster. The forensic team was now also in possession of the burner phone Skylar had used to text Neil. She had not said how she’d obtained it, but the expectation was that once they had analyzed it, they would know more.
Vaughan had spoken to the motel office clerk and had learned a man had appeared yesterday in his office with a ball cap on his head, wearing a thick overcoat. When asked if he had been suspicious about the man, the clerk had shrugged. He got all types of nutcases here.
Neil’s mother had arrived on the scene. She had been upset and had had no idea why her son would keep such secrets from her. Vaughan had advised her that the boy was not facing charges yet. That could all change in the next few minutes.
“Neil doesn’t strike me as the aggressive kind,” Spencer said as she watched Mrs. Bradford’s Volvo drive off. “If anything, he takes his marching orders from Skylar. Did you notice how he kept looking to her, as if for guidance?”
“I did. He just about lost it when I opened the back of the squad car. He kept asking about Skylar, as if he couldn’t function without her.”
“What about Mark Foster?” Spencer asked. “Why would he lie about killing his wife and daughter if he knew the girl was alive? It was a matter of time before we realized he was lying.”
“Maybe that’s all he wanted—time.”
“For what?” Spencer asked.
“I’m not sure yet. First, I want to know if his prints are in that motel room.”
“You think he stashed his daughter there?”
“I do,” Vaughan said.
“Neil said she was groggy. Do you think Foster drugged her?”
“Blood test will tell us that,” he said. “But it would make sense. It would have kept her quiet. Again, he was buying time. We need to get to the hospital. I know the press will be there in force soon, if they aren’t already there.”
“They can’t get to the kid while she’s being looked at, correct?” Spencer asked.
“I’ve posted two uniforms outside her room. That should hold off even Nikki McDonald. We’ve got about twenty minutes. Let’s grab a bite to eat. We’re going to need it.” His phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he had handed his card out so much during his investigations he knew he should answer. “Detective Vaughan.”
Silence crackled over the line, but he could hear breathing.
“This is Detective Vaughan. Who is this?”
Spencer shifted her attention to him, her head cocked as she waited.
“This is Jewel.”
The voice was soft and sounded as if it belonged to a young woman. “What can I do for you, Jewel?”
“I was a friend of Galina’s.”
“Galina.” He watched Spencer’s gaze soften. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“We tried to have each other’s backs. I let her down.”
“How did you get my card, Jewel?”
“One of the girls you talked to knows Galina. We’re friends.”
“What can I do for you, Jewel?” he asked.
“I saw her on Sunday. I saw the car she got into before she vanished.”
Tension rippled through him. “Did you get a good look at the driver?”
“I did.”
He beckoned Spencer forward. “Would you sit down and talk to someone who might draw a picture of him?”
More silence.
“Galina seemed like a sweet kid,” he said. “And she was too damn young to die.”
“I’m working in a motel off of Telegraph Road. There’s a diner across the street.”
“We’ll meet you there right now.”
Another sigh and a sob. “Okay. Fifteen minutes, but I can’t stay more than a half hour, or I’ll get in trouble.”
“We’ll make it work.” As he and Spencer hurried to his car, he explained.
“I have a pad and pencil in my bag. I’ll be able to get some kind of sketch.”
He started the engine and pulled onto the busy side street. The lights of the city passed, and headlights up ahead blurred into a long red line.
Spencer rubbed her eyes. She shifted in her seat. She looked tired, but like him, she would keep going until they had cracked this case.
He found the diner Jewel had described. The lot was crowded, and when they entered, most of the booths were filled.
Spencer nodded toward a lone girl in the far-right corner. “I bet that’s her.”
“She looks like she’s a kid.”
“Most of these girls are in their teens.” She moved down the row of booths to the back of the diner. “Jewel?”
The girl shifted and looked at Spencer and then him. “Detective Vaughan?”
“That’s me. Can we sit?”
“Yeah.”
Spencer flagged a waitress and ordered three burgers and sodas before she slid into the booth next to Vaughan. “I know I could eat, and I bet you could, too, Jewel.”
The girl clasped her hands together and leaned forward a fraction, as if she could bolt out of the booth at any second. “I’m hungry.”
The waitress appeared with the three sodas and set them on the table. “Burgers will be right up.”
Jewel took a long pull of her drink and seemed to relax a fraction. “Thanks.”
“We appreciate you talking to us,” Vaughan said. “We’re going to need help if we’re going to figure out who killed Galina.”
Jewel dropped her gaze to her soda and took another long pull on the straw. “No one is going to remember she was a nice person. They won’t think past what she had to do to live.”
“I want people to know she mattered,” Vaughan said.
Spencer set her untouched glass of soda in front of the girl and then removed a small sketch pad and pencil from her bag. “Maybe if you can talk to me a little about her last customer, I can draw a picture of his face.”
Jewel studied the blank paper. “You can do that?”
“I’m pretty good at it.”
“I don’t remember that many details,” Jewel said. “I only saw him once for just a few seconds.”
“Don’t worry about that. Why don’t I just ask you a few questions. We might be able to figure out what he looked like together. You want to give it a try?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Before Spencer could ask the first question, the burgers arrived, and for several minutes, the three sat at the table, eating. He and Spencer were hungry, and he suspected the girl was starving, as she quickly crammed a handful of french fries in her mouth. He watched as she squirted extra ketchup on her burger and then took a big bite.
Jewel’s plate was empty when she said, “What’s your first question?”
“Tell me about your last moments with Galina,” Spencer said.
Jewel’s brow knotted. “How is that going to help?”
“Trust me,” Spencer said.
“We had been up all night working a party. Not a fancy one, but it was at a hotel that had a conference of insurance men. Galina and I were in a great mood because we’d made good money.”
“Where was the hotel?” Spencer asked.
She rattled off the name and address. “Nothing real fancy.”
“What was it like when you two stepped outside?”
“Hot. But the heat felt good. We’d been inside for over twenty-four hours, and the air-conditioning was on full blast. The bright sun and fresh air was nice.”
“What time of day was this?” Spencer asked.
“About noon on Sunday.”
“What did you two do next?” she asked.
“She wanted to order a pizza. I wanted to go to bed, but we shared a ride to Gino’s. We hugged, and she said she would come back to our room soon.”