The Touch (10 page)

“Yeah,” Lexi replied, slightly mollified by his proposal.  After all, he could have ignored her and gone about his business, he didn’t have to include her at all.  “Okay
,
shoot.”

“I got most of the basics from Allie already, but you know kids don’t always tell their mothers everything.”

Lexi nodded, “That’s true, but she’s a pretty good kid.”

“And I’m not saying that she’s not,” his hands came up in a supplicating gesture that brought a faint smile to her lips.  “How much do you know about the time she spends on the internet?”

“The only computer they have in the house is in Neil’s office, she has to ask permission to use it, so it’s pretty limited.  She’s not the type to be on there IMing God knows who at all hours of the night.”

“You seem to know her pretty well, if she was scared or intimidated, what do you think she might likely do?  Is she the type to run or hide?  Would she stand her ground and fight back?”

“That’s an interesting question,” Lexi allowed.  “She’s a pretty gutsy little girl, but it’s hard to say.  Nothing really terrible has ever happened to her
before
as far as I know.  If it really was some predator that took her… I think she might huddle up small and bide her time for a chance to escape if it looked like she couldn’t
get away at first.
  Is that what you think happened to her?  Aren’t we overlooking the whole Neil angle?”

“We’re trying not to overlook
any
angle right now, Lexi.  I agree, it’s probably Neil that’s got her, but it’s still important to cover all the bases.  When was the last time you saw her?”

“The other night
,
after Allie reported Neil missing.  I went to pick her up from gymnastics and I stayed for dinner and put her to bed.”

“How did she seem to you?”

Lexi hesitated a long moment, deliberating whether or not to speak up about the ghost thing.  It didn’t seem like it could be related to her disappearance, but it
had
seemed out of character for Chloe at the time. 

“What is it?” Gabriel
prompted
, noting her hesitation.

“Okay
,
I know this sounds nuts… and coming from me that’s not a stretch for you,” she tried for a
smile
.  “But that night I was here with Chloe, she was acting a little off.”

“Off how?”

“She said this place is haunted.”  Lexi waited to see what he thought of that before she embellished any further. 

“Haunted,” he repeated without inflection.  “Would you categorize her mood as afraid?”

“Not exactly afraid… though she did ask if she could spend the night at my house this weekend.”

“You don’t think that she might have run away if she thought the house was haunted?”

“I…” Lexi paused, was it possible?  Could Chloe be making her way across town to her house even as they spoke?  “I can’t imagine she would leave without trying to call me to come get her
,
or telling her mother where she was going.  She didn’t seem
that
upset about it
,
really
.  Chloe
said one of the ghosts was her friend and that the other ones liked to play pranks on her
.  S
he was a little spooked, but I really don’t think she ran away from home over it.  How’s that for a definite maybe?”

“So there are several ghosts in the house?”

“That’s what she said, and she said they’re all children, how creepy is that?”
  That’s what it kept boiling down to for Lexi; it made her feel uneasy as hell to be talking about it in the house itself
,
as if they might be listening.

“That would be pretty
disturbing
,” Gabriel agreed, pen tapping on his notebook. 

“Do you believe in ghosts?” Lexi asked suddenly.  She would give anything to know what he was thinking just then.  Was he convinced they were all a bunch of whackos or was he willing to keep an open mind?

“You know
,
actually I do,” he leaned forward, arms on his knees.  “When I
was a
boy, there was a house down the street that was supposed to be haunted.  We would take turns daring each other to go inside
.  S
eeing as how I always had more bravery than sense
,
as my Ma used to put it, I went up there one day and…”

“And what?” sh
e prompted, unconsciously leaning forward herself.

“And I snuck in there through an open window
,” Gabriel admitted with a sheepish grin.  “
The place was vacant but the whole time I was in there… it felt like there was someone behind me, ju
st out of sight.  Every time I
turn
ed
around
,
there
wasn’t anything
there but I could have sworn… I could have sworn I heard breathing.”

“Jesus… I would have been out of there so fast…”

He gave a half shrug, “More bravery than sense,” he grinned and Lexi felt those last vestiges of annoyance starting to fade away.  Maybe he wasn’t about to write her off as a fruitcake
after all
?

“Okay so the house may or may not be haunted, but we don’t know if that has anything to do with her disappearance.  My best bet is still on Neil.”

Gabriel nodded, tucking away his notebook.  “Me too.  He would know how to enter the house without being seen and she would likely go with him without putting up too much of a fuss.  But we’ll check the
neighborhood;
see if anyone spott
ed her on the road or local bus
es just in case she ran away from home.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lexi nodded, definitely feeling better about the whole thing.  “You said I could go up and touch Chloe’s things if I answered your questions, right?”

“Actually I didn’t say that
, you did
.  We need to wait until her room’s been processed before any of us can go in there.”

“Which means what exactly?”
She
’d
held up her end of the deal, and now he was trying to weasel out of it?

“It needs to be photographed and searched.  Not exactly processed like a crime scene since
its
unlikely anyone broke into the house and took her, but we’ll want to look for her diary, or any indications that she left of her own accord.”

“I can do that, I have my camera in the car,” Lexi offered, glad she’d thought to bring it with her.

Gabriel looked less than convinced.  “I’m sorry, it need
s
to be a department photographer,” he shook his head.

“Oh come on, I’m a professional photographer, I can do this.”  They stared back at each other for a long moment, her eyes pleading and his wrestling with procedure. 

“Not her room, but you can help with the rest of the search,” he agreed finally.

“Like out in the woods?”

“No, we’ll need to search the entire house and photograph everything.  In case she’s hiding or hurt and can’t call out for help.  But first I want to make some calls, get some people checking on the neighborhood and local buses like I said.”

“Okay, I’ll go get my camera out of the car,” she agreed readily, leaving him to his police business while she retrieved her case from outside.  By the time she got everything set, Allison was done with the den and ready to begin the search
. 
Gabriel and Tim stood near the front door talking to the two uniformed cops that had been checking the grounds. 

“Okay
,
I think we’re set.  Ms. Travers you go with Detective Cooper and start on the ground floor, I’ll take Miss Morgan with me and we’ll work from the top down.  Ramirez, when the photographer gets here, take him straight up to the child’s room.  Try not to touch anything until after it’s been photographed
,
but feel free to call out to try and catch Chloe’s attention.  It’s possible she’s just curled up asleep in a closet somewhere and we can all laugh about this over dinner,” he added
,
more for Allison’s benefit but Lexi was grateful for the effort.  Allie nodded and Cooper gave a little two fingered salute to Ryan before they moved off together.  “Is there access to the attic?”

“Yeah
,
there are pull down stairs in the upstairs hallway but I don’t know if she’d ever go up there.”

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Gabriel gave her a genial smile, gesturing for her to accompany him up the stairs. 

“Do you really think we’ll find her curled up in the house somewhere?”

“I’ve seen kids asleep in closets, stuck in a laundry chute, hiding in the attic, trapped underneath a woodpile that caved on top of them
;
it always pays to start with the classics,” he replied.

  It was a comforting thought, but Lexi was more inclined to believe Neil had something to do with Chloe’s disappearance.  It was too much coincidence that he’d gone missing just a couple of days before she did.  “So we’ll start in the attic?”
h
er nose wrinkled with distaste.

“Yep.  Why, do you have something against attics?” Ryan looked vaguely amused by the notion.

“Not attics themselves, just spiders.”

“Don’t you worry
,
Lexi
;
I’ll protect you from any spiders that attack,” Gabriel patted the butt of his gun.

“Very funny.”  He was calling her Lexi again, that was something at least.  The attic stairs were creaky but sound; the string to the overhead light easily accessible.  Gabriel went first, moving cautiously
,
as if he expected something or someone to jump out at him at any time, but she figured that was the way he’d been trained to enter a room, whether he needed it or n
ot.  Once up there, she relaxed;
the attic wasn’t especially spooky or dirty and what cobwebs she saw looked unoccupied.  She should have known Allison would
keep
the attic with as much order as she kept the
rest of the
house.  Neat rows of plastic bins labeled for holiday decorations and Chloe’s baby clothes stood to the immediate right and furniture cast offs were to the left.  The old crib was stacked fla
t against the wall.  Maybe Allie
kept those things around in case th
ey had another child someday?  That scenario looked less and less likely
. 

Against the far wall, a less orderly pile of cardboard boxes were stacked with older furniture, liberally coated with a thick layer of dust.  “Chloe?  Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Lexi called out in a sing song voice but there was no response.  “Do you want me to get shots of all of this?”

“Yes please, of all four angles of the room.”

“You got it,” she agreed easily, walking around to get the best vantage point.  The light hadn’t quite faded from the sky, helping to illuminate the room more than the single naked bulb allowed for, but the corners of the room were still cast in shadows.  Before moving to the next corner, Lexi couldn’t resist snapping a quick picture of Gabriel while he wasn’t looking, a candid shot of him peeking behind a stack of crates.  The last wall held the older boxes and she moved closer to get a better look.  “I don’t think this stuff belongs to them, it looks like it’s been here longer than they have.”

Movement caught her eye but after a quick rush of adrenaline,
Lexi
realized it was her own body moving in front of a very dusty mirror.  “Jesus, I almost gave myself a heart attack…” she muttered, letting out a shaky breath.  That’s when she noticed the mirror was the same one she’d seen when touching the earring Chloe found under the bed.  It was the same dressing table the dark haired woman had been sitting in front of in the vision.  “Whoa…”

“What is it?  Did you find something?” Gabriel asked from across the room.

“Yeah, well not exactly.  It’s just… Chloe said that the ghost likes to leave things under her bed, so I touched an earring she showed me and I saw a woman sitting in front of
this
t
able, brushing her hair.  I
assumed she was a former resident, I guess I was right.”

He joined her in front of the dressing table, “The ghost leaves things under the bed?”
Ryan sounded vaguely disturbed by the notion.

“Yep.  She showed me a collection of little things like a whistle, a penny and the earring.  At the time I wasn’t convinced they
were
left behind by a ghost but she was adamant.  I wonder if I could pick up anything helpful from this table?”

“Maybe you could do that a little later?” Gabriel was starting to look more and more uncomfortable.  “We should really continue with the search for now.  She’s not up here, if you’re done with the pictures, we should move on.”

“Yeah, let me just get this one.”  Lexi changed her angle so the flash wouldn’t be caught in the mirror and took the last shot.  Whether he was uncomfortable with her using her gift in front of him or the idea of staying up in the attic any longer was unclear, but she decided not to push for the moment.