Summer's Stolen

Chapter 3

Three

Some habits as a cop were hard to shake like carrying evidence bags. Jacquie slid Adrian’s phone into a clear plastic baggie before heading back down the concourse.

“Where are you going?” Jacquie called after me when I reached the stairs to the first floor.

“To find security. See if we can figure out what time Adrian got here and where he might have gone,” I replied.

“This isn’t an official case, Ezri. We can’t just walk in there without a warrant demanding they show us footage.” She closed the distance between us and put a hand on my shoulder. “I understand you want to help a friend, but we need to go through the appropriate channels.”

I knew she was right, but that meant confirming Belladonna’s fears and I wasn’t sure I was ready to face her yet. “Okay. I’ll go back to headquarters and fill Belladonna in. I’ll get her to come down and file a missing person’s report. Then we get the warrant and try to find this kid.”

We headed back through the station and out to both of our cars sitting in a small lot. I hesitated with my hand on the handle of the driver side door. Jacquie gave me a smile. “You want me to come with you to break the news?’

Heat warmed my cheeks in embarrassment. I was a detective damn it. I should be able to handle this on my own. Yet, I couldn’t deny having my partner there to back me up gave me a huge sense of relief. “You don’t have to,” I said, trying to brush aside her offer.

She shut and locked the door to her own car before rounding to the passenger side of mine. “You may be the Savior, but even saviors need moral support. Come on, get in.”

I exhaled and climbed behind the wheel. The trip back to headquarters in Newton wouldn’t take long at this time of day. As I drove, I glanced at Jacquie preoccupied by her phone. “Everything okay?” I prompted as I eased to a stop at a red light.

“The kids are just getting settled back with Denise. I was checking on them,” she answered without looking up from the screen.

Until a few weeks ago, Jacquie’s niece and nephew had been in her custody while her sister-in-law completed rehab. Even after I’d learned the extent of Jacquie’s involvement in the magical community—Denise’s family had magic and it was highly likely Troy and Neveah had inherited it through her bloodline—my partner still didn’t like to talk about her family. She tried to keep her emotions under wraps, but I knew her well enough to tell losing them hurt. Sure, she was still in their lives, but they’d come to depend on her while she was their guardian. On the rare occasions she did talk about them, she lit up, even if she didn’t realize it.

“That’s got to be a big adjustment for everyone,” I said.

“I know Denise put in the work to get them back … I respect that, but I’d gotten used to having them around.”

“I can’t believe she wouldn’t let you see them whenever you wanted,” I offered as I pressed down on the accelerator.

Jacquie just nodded silently as I pulled into the circular drive of headquarters. I pulled in behind Desmond’s little VW bug and killed the engine. Blowing out a breath, I tried to gather my thoughts. Jacquie was already out of the car before I’d even unbuckled my seatbelt. I followed after her, trying to sort through why Adrian might have taken off. A secret romance was one option, especially if the object of his affection wasn’t someone he thought his mother would approve of. Besides it would fit with him hiding his online activity from her. Once inside, I started toward the staircase to the second floor when the door to the library on my left opened and Belladonna burst through. She zeroed in on me and descended.

“Let’s talk somewhere private,” I said.

Her face turned into a neutral mask, ushering me back into the library. Jacquie stepped in behind us and closed the doors. The last time I’d been in this room, I’d been bodies deep in a case hunting a gargoyle who turned out to be a scapegoat and a kid who got mixed up in things he shouldn’t have. I prayed the same fate hadn’t befallen Adrian.

“The fact you are both here does not inspire me with confidence,” Belladonna said, her voice soft.

“We found Adrian’s phone at South Station, tossed in a trash can at the bus terminal,” I shared.

“What?” Her voice cracked as the word passed her lips.

“It’s possible he got on a bus somewhere. In order for us to keep looking for him, we will need you to make a formal missing person’s report. Then we can file for a warrant and see what we can find on the station’s surveillance cameras,” I explained.

“He wouldn’t run away. Someone must have taken him,” Belladonna insisted. She shook her head vigorously as if it would be enough to make her words a reality.

“We aren’t ruling that out, but I didn’t sense any magical signatures nearby. Now, it’s entirely possible he dumped his phone a couple days ago and I wouldn’t be able to pick up on any signatures at that point,” I said, knowing she didn’t want to hear excuses. Still, I needed to manage her expectations.

She sat unmoving and silent in the chair across from me. Unshed tears sparkled in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. “I’ll file the report. Please, you have to find him.”

“We can’t make any promises, but we will do everything we can,” I replied.

“It would be helpful if you could give us the password for his phone and access to his computer,” Jacquie interjected.

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

Jacquie opened the library door and ushered Belladonna out towards the front of the building. I was halfway down the front hall following after them when I spotted a familiar man wearing an EMT uniform waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. J.T. Somers had been my high school boyfriend. I’d let my own drama push us apart for over a decade. He’d come back into my life—saving it in fact—during my first go around with the Order. Not long after that we’d fallen back into each other’s arms. It was comforting to know he still loved me even after everything I’d put him through.

“Everything okay, Ez? Des said you bailed on the council meeting,” he said, leaning over and planting a kiss on my lips.

“Adrian’s gone missing,” I answered. J.T. was a healer like Belladonna. He might have some insight into what Adrian had been up to lately. “You wouldn’t happen to know if he’d been in contact with anyone he wouldn’t want his mom to know about, do you?”

He stepped off the bottom step and followed me out into the afternoon air. The temperature had risen a few degrees since I’d gone inside and I wiped sweat from the nape of my neck.

“Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?” He said with a small smirk.

“Habit. I get on a case and my brain switches to cop mode without thinking. Seriously though, J.T., if you know anything I could really use it.”

He rubbed his chin in thought. “To be honest I hadn’t seen much of Adrian lately. His mom had been handling most of his training so that wasn’t totally unusual. Although, he used to hang out with some of the other kids when they were getting lessons after school and I can’t say I’ve seen him with them recently. You could check with them.”

It wasn’t what I’d been hoping for, but it was better than nothing. I gave him a kiss of my own. “Thanks. That helps.”

He started to wrap his arms around my waist when I pulled back and took the front steps two at a time. J.T. stood there looking disappointed. “We still on for dinner tonight?” He called.

Shit, I’d forgotten about dinner. “You bet,” I replied and climbed behind the wheel.

The precinct was bustling when Jacquie and I led Belladonna into the bullpen. I didn’t have a chance to ask anyone what the fuss was about before Belladonna pointed to a couple sitting at one of the desks with an officer.

“That’s Carly Ramirez’s parents,” Belladonna said, her voice taking on a higher, more fraught note.

The name didn’t sound familiar. Then again, there was a whole generation of kids I didn’t know given my decade-long estrangement from the Authority. I tried to guide Belladonna away from the couple before she could interrupt them. We had our own issues to deal with. I settled in front of the computer and pulled up the form for a missing person’s report, starting to type without asking for any details.

“I trust you can handle this?” Jacquie said, pulling my focus from the screen in front of me.

I glanced over my shoulder in her direction and I caught sight of her nephew, Troy, standing by the desk sergeant. “Yeah, go ahead.”

That left Belladonna and I alone. “I’m just going to need you to confirm your personal information and the last time you saw Adrian. If you can remember what he was wearing, that would be helpful, too,” I said.

Belladonna’s gaze hadn’t moved from Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez. “You don’t know them, do you?”

“There’s a lot of people in the community I’m not familiar with these days. I’m trying, but sometimes it feels like a losing battle.”

Belladonna diverted her attention long enough to give me the information I needed to finish the report and file it in the system. My brain also filed away the fact that Adrian’s last name was Baptiste and not Montes. Now we could start digging into where he might have gone. “Belladonna, I have to ask, is there anyone in your life you think that might be capable of taking Adrian?”

“A few months ago, he started to ask about his father’s side of the family. He left when Adrian was three.”

I made a note of the possibility of a parental connection. After all, family was often the culprit in kidnappings. “Does he know about the magical community?” My voice lowered to a whisper out of habit.

“Of course. He has magic, but he’s from a different culture. I think that’s part of what led him to leave. He did not like the way we governed ourselves. The Afro-Hispanic community is much less structured. Each family handles their own children’s education.”

This was news to me. I had always assumed that magically inclined practitioners were all just a part of the Authority’s sphere of influence. Although, her words made sense. The Authority’s origins were European, but they weren’t the only culture out there. I’d seen Belladonna train Adrian away from the other kids. Why hadn’t I made that connection before? “Do you have any contact information for your ex?”

“I’ll see what I can find, but I haven’t heard from him in years.”

“We’ve got some starting points now. I think you should just head home and I’ll call if we find anything. In the meantime, it’s entirely possible he’ll come home on his own.”

She gave me a sad smile. “You don’t really believe that … thank you for trying to give me hope.”

I didn’t know how to respond to her words as she got up and left the precinct. I looked around, but Jacquie and her nephew were nowhere to be seen. Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez remained by the other officer’s desk as he headed for the printer. Curiosity got the better of me and I hit print on my own report, giving myself a plausible reason to pry. I got to the printer first and scooped up the pages waiting in the tray. Another missing person’s report for their ten-year-old Carly.

“Detective, I think you’ve got my report there,” the other officer said and reached for the pages.

I tried to commit the address where the girl had last been spotted to memory before handing over the paper. “Sorry about that.”

Just as I got back to my desk, Jacquie reappeared. “Get what you needed for the report?” She made no mention of Troy’s appearance at the precinct and I knew enough not to ask.

“Yeah. That couple over there is part of the magical community. Their ten-year-old daughter just went missing near Park Street Station. I didn’t get a good look at the details, but I have a bad feeling. Up for another trip?”

“Lead the way.”