Anonymity (22 page)

SHE HAD serious cramps. In the bathroom at a fast-food joint, she'd neatly folded toilet paper into a thick square and positioned it in her panties, but that wouldn't hold her flow for long.

Elda went into the drugstore with her. Mook went in separately with the intention of creating a diversion so they could rack a box of tampons and some Midol. Lorelei hated to steal, but tampons were expensive.

The feminine hygiene aisle was directly in front of the cash register, but the pimply teen checking out a loud woman didn't seem to be paying attention to them. At the other end of the aisle was a door with a one-way window. Lorelei decided it was too risky and leaned into Elda to whisper this when they heard the crash.

Cans rolled toward the front door, something metal pinged across the hard floor and Mook called out, “Oh, man, I'm so sorry! Oh, man, I'll clean it up. Here, let me clean it up.”

The door on the office flew open and a rotund man with wire-framed glasses and a bad comb-over was on the job.

“Get out of here!” He flapped his arms at Mook. “You kids are nothing but trouble! Get out!”

The girls shoved boxes of tampons and drugs into their packs. When Lorelei turned, the cashier was looking past his customer directly at her.

“Please,” she mouthed.

He nodded only slightly toward the door. Elda pushed her and they ran. Mook was right behind them. They sprinted a couple of blocks and ducked into an alley.

When they were sure nobody was following, they walked on. They passed a few cafés with tables on the sidewalk. At one empty table, Mook snatched an abandoned sandwich off a plate without missing a step. He walked along casually, chewing and talking. Foot traffic parted for them. Parents pulled their children aside to let them pass.

The first person to see it was Mook.

“Shit. Look at that.” He opened the glass door of a newspaper stand and pulled out a copy of
Be Here Now.

“That's Lorelei,” Elda said. “Look, Lorelei. It's you.”

All three stared at the cover.

“I can't believe it. She told me nobody would ever see those pictures. She promised. Open it up. See if there are more.”

Elda took the paper and stood between them. She found the spread on being young and homeless in Austin. There were three color photos on the double truck spread. One was a shot of Mook playing video games.

“She did it to me too,” he said. “That bitch.”

Elda said, “She took pictures of Betsy that day too. I thought you knew.”

“That's
so
fucked up,” he said.

“You're a rock star, Lorelei. Really,” Elda said. “You look amazing.”

“I can't believe she did this to me. She promised,” Lorelei said. “Anybody got any minutes I can use to call her?”

“No, nobody's got any minutes,” Mook said.

“I gotta go,” Lorelei said, but she didn't move.

Then they all realized they were standing by a bus stop.

“I got a bus card with a few bucks left on it,” Elda said. “You're welcome to it.”

Thirty minutes on a swaying city bus siphoned her fury. Lorelei walked from SoCo to Emily's in a stupor. The house was dark when she arrived. She sat on the porch swing, trying to stoke her outrage and sense of betrayal, but part of her softened with the memory that she had been welcome here.

She noticed an open bedroom window, and she thought about climbing inside. She'd done it before, but only at abandoned houses. That's when she saw the box by the door. On the top, in bold letters, was written,
For Lorelei.

Freaky. Had Emily known she was coming?

Inside the lock folded top of the cardboard box, Lorelei found a handful of granola bars, three pairs of jeans, four shirts, a hat, gloves and an awesomely cute jacket. The note read:

These are all for Lorelei. I didn't think you'd mind. Please make sure she gets them. Mom

The jacket was a little tight, but it would do. Lorelei unfurled a wad of dirty clothes from her backpack and filled it with the new things. There were even socks and pretty underwear. Lorelei put a sock to her nose and inhaled the perfume of fabric softener, a luxury that made her mother flash to mind.

She stuffed her old, dirty clothes into the box and carried it around back to the trash. She heard Emily's car approaching and sneaked back to the porch where she hid. There was no way Emily could have seen her. She waited, arms slack at her sides, peering through the front window from the shadows of the porch.

The kitchen light came on. Emily moved into the den and switched on a couple of lamps. She came toward the front door and Lorelei's heart fluttered, but Emily just leaned down and gathered mail from the floor inside the door. The lurking girl's anger simmered as she followed the sounds of movement from room to room through the open window. She waited, contemplating what she would say when she finally had the guts to knock on the door.

Emily came back into the den. Lorelei raised her hand to rap, hesitated, then knocked.

The porch light came on. The front door shuddered as Emily pulled it open.

“Lorelei, thank God,” Emily said as she stepped outside. “I'm so happy to see you.”

“Shut up! I've got something to say.”

“Okay. I'm listening.”

Lorelei hadn't expected that reaction. Emily waited while Lorelei searched for words, but when she saw the girl was unsure what to say, Emily blurted out her story.

“Travis stole your photos off my laptop.”

“How'd he even know they were there? You showed him. I know you did.”

“He saw them when we were looking at other shots for his article. When Fiona's body was found, it kicked his entire story into high gear. It was wrong to let him see your photos. I can't tell you how sorry I am.”

“I said don't talk.”

“Okay.”

“You took photos of Mook too.”

“I did give Travis those shots, but I swear to you, I didn't give him your pictures.”

“I said shut up! I never hurt you. I never did nothing to you. Look what you did to me.”

Emily cast her eyes down.

“I trusted you, and you screwed me. I can't stay in Austin now. There's no way. Did you know that every single person that walks down the street in this town is going to know me now? Those guys, those bum hunters. They have a picture of me now.”

“I know.”

“Yes. Thanks to you I'm now the most recognizable person in Austin.”

Emily's expression changed to puzzled. “Hey, I used to have a jacket just like that.”

“Really. What a coincidence.”

“Where'd you get that?”

“Shut up. You make me sick. You know what you are? You're a poser! You act like you care about somebody, like you want to be somebody's friend, but you don't. You wanted something from me, and when you got it you were like, so screw her.”

“That's not true.”

“It
is
true! You're two-faced. You're all like down on your parents and stuff, and then the first thing that goes wrong you go running right back to Mommy and Daddy. You'll never grow up because you'll always have them. And your buddies down at the bar. They've always got your back. Well, nobody's got my back. Nobody. Especially not you.”

“I'm a good person.”

“You don't even know who you are. You're a poser, even to yourself.”

A different look came over Emily then, a sad resignation, and Lorelei knew that she had hit a nerve. They were at an impasse.

Lorelei said, “I said what I came to say.”

She turned to go when Emily said, “Leo.”

She faced her again. “What about Leo?”

“Leo's in town.”

Lorelei held her breath.

“What?” she whispered. Then louder, “I can't believe you called Leo.”

“No. He found you. You were right. His tattoo buddies here in Austin recognized his work. They contacted him. David and I met him. He's a perv.”

“I told you that. I told you he's a perv. You drew him right to me. What am I supposed to do now that psycho stalker is in Austin looking for me too?”

“You should go to the police. They'll protect you and see that you get home to your family.” She paused, then said, “Rose.”

Nobody had called her Rose in so long that the name shot a burn of dread through Lorelei.

“That's you, isn't it? Rose Kimball?”

“How do you know my name?”

“National Missing Children's Database.”

Lorelei picked up a cacti pot, and without hesitation, she heaved it through the double windows. The pot thudded against an inside wall and smashed to the floor amid tinkling glass.

Then she screamed. No words. Just a guttural explosion of rage.

“Shit,” Emily said when Lorelei caught her breath. “Feel better?”

“No! I do not feel better!”

“I'm just trying to help. Please, just let me help you.”

“Help me? You've done nothing but hurt me since I met you. I don't need your fake concern.”

“You're not as tough as you act.”

“You don't know anything about me.”

“People care about you.
I
care about you.”

Lorelei considered Emily's words. She really wanted to believe Emily was her friend. But Emily had betrayed her. In the end, all adults betrayed her, manipulated her, stifled her.

“Liar,” Lorelei hissed. She slung her heavy pack over a shoulder and stomped down the steps. She snapped around at the sound of Emily's tears.

“Go on! Cry!” she shouted at Emily. “It'll be your fault if those thugs from the park get me or if Leo finds me before I can get out of town. I thought Austin might be the place I could stay for a while, but no. Now I have to move on again. All because of you and your stupid camera. I hate you for this. I really do. I hate your guts.”

AS SHE waited in line for her latte, Emily texted Travis.

LL definitely Rose K. Any luck with parents? She's freaking about tattoo guy.

She grabbed her drink and cursed Travis under her breath.
Coward.
She was sure he would ignore her text when her phone bleeped.

Is she okay?

She thought to leave him hanging. He deserved it. But then she needed him.

For now.

Pause. Bleep.

Pretty sure I found her parents.

He was supposed to tell her things immediately.

She texted:
??????????????

His reply:
Sorry. Double checking. Didn't want to be wrong again.

She found a table and waited. It was nearly midnight when David walked in, his hair plastered to his head from the motorcycle helmet, his eyes red and bleary. Sleep was in his voice when she had called, but he had insisted that he was just watching television.

As usual, David was relaxed, in listening mode. He sipped his black coffee and searched the street outside, always on the lookout for someone in need. How difficult it would be to never turn that off. She could barely handle the drama bomb of one girl. How could he deal with so many desperate young souls?

But something about his calm demeanor rankled her nerves. She wanted him to yell, to call her a bad person for betraying Lorelei, for bringing on such danger.

She should have protected the child. She should have tried to persuade her to go to David for help. But Emily had stood mute on her steps, frozen as Lorelei's words singed her ears. She had watched as the shadows of the yard swallowed the girl and had done nothing. Ineffectual. Once again, Emily had let opportunity pass.

“I hate you,” Lorelei had said. “I hate your guts.”

“So,” Emily said to David. Her legs bounced nervously under the table as she stirred and stirred her drink. “So, how weird is it that I start out trying to help Lorelei, and she ends up being stalked by some muscle-bound, love-sick pedophile and a pack of bum hunters?”

“It's not your fault,” David said.

“But it is. If I hadn't taken those shots of her when she didn't want me to…If I hadn't shown them to Travis.”

“You trusted him.”

“I'm a great judge of character, huh?” Suddenly, Emily disintegrated into tears. People in the coffee shop stole glances her way, then averted their eyes.

David handed her a napkin. She wiped her nose and blew. She tried to stop, but emotion kept seeping out of her.

“You're tired,” David said. “You look exhausted.”

“I'm so worried about Lorelei. What if we never find her?”

“Look. I'll take over now. I'm obligated to contact the authorities if I think anyone is in danger. This definitely qualifies. I'll need that photo of her.”

“I thought you might.” She touched her phone.” I'm sending it to you now. Lord knows, everybody else in the world has seen it by now.”

A couple of scruffy teenagers came in. They raised a hand to David and he nodded recognition. His phone chimed. He checked it.

“Got it.” Then, “What about her parents? Any luck there?”

“Travis found them. At least he thinks it's them. Man, she is going to be so mad.” Emily hated the fevered press of tears flavored with frustration and guilt.

“Hey,” he said. He touched her hand, but she jerked away. The last thing she wanted was for David to think of her as another lost girl in need of his counseling services.

“I'm just concerned about her,” she said. “Is that so wrong?”

“It's not wrong. It's just not productive.” He sighed. “Look, don't underestimate her. She's smart. This will all work out.”

“What if her parents turn out to be total assholes?”

“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Parents are always the first option, but you never know what situations these kids come from. They run away for a reason.”

“Way to make me feel better.”

“Emily, quit beating yourself up over this. You screwed up. So what? In the grand scheme of things that have happened to Lorelei in her short life, you're just a minor blip on her radar.”

“Wow. Again, thanks.”

“Look. At least now we know she's still in town. That's a start. I've got some friends in the Austin police force who'll be on the lookout for her.”

“Will they put out an APB like on cop shows?”

“Something like that.”

“Between you, me, Leo, those bum hunter guys, the cops and her parents, there's no way she can escape.”

“Don't be so sure. These kids can be resourceful. They always surprise you.” David hit a button on his phone. “Hello. Sgt. Jackson, please.”

She was impressed. David had the police on speed dial.