“I don’t think this is your—” the younger officer started.
“I have reason to believe this is connected to my ongoing investigation. Give me a report.”
Jones looked at me and then at Hennessy, who had stopped next to me. “If you’ll come over here, sir.”
“Right here is fine.”
Was Hennessy trying to help me again?
The young officer looked at me and then shrugged. “Two-car collision, only one victim on the scene when we got here—the driver of the Impala. He’s been taken to a nearby hospital.”
“What about the passenger in the Impala?” I demanded.
Jones didn’t answer the question until Hennessy repeated it. With a huff, he replied, “Passenger door was open, purse on the ground. No sign of the passenger. We figure the female fled the scene.”
“Did you get an ID from the purse?” Hennessy asked.
“Someone else did. I didn’t see the name.”
“Go get it, now.” Hennessy’s tone was authoritative, brooking no refusal.
Jones, looking pissed as hell, stomped off in the direction of the other uniformed officers at the scene. Hennessy took in my attire and looked around. His gaze landed on something, and I turned.
It was my car, parked across the street in a parking lot.
“You just happened to be out driving tonight and saw an accident, and thought it might be the girl you were looking for the other day?”
I cobbled together the best explanation I could under the circumstances, and because I was a terrible liar, I stuck with as much of the truth as I could.
“Trinity got in contact with me, but she was at a party and needed a ride home. I went to pick her up, but someone had already given her a ride.” Pointing at the crushed car, I sucked in a ragged breath. “That was her ride home.” The words came out on a sob.
“Jones said only the driver was on the scene, so she could’ve gotten scared and run.”
I shook my head. “She wouldn’t have left him. He’s her boyfriend. She’s eighteen and head over heels for the guy.”
“D-Rock,” Hennessy said, pulling the name from his memory.
“Yes.”
“I don’t even want to know about the party you went to get her at, do I?”
“No, probably not,” I admitted.
Jones came back, holding up a license. “Trinity Frances Rodgers.”
“Where is she?” I whispered, voice shaking.
“We’ll find her,” Hennessy said. “Jones, call all the hospitals to make sure some passerby didn’t take her to one.”
Once again, Jones looked less than pleased. “I’m on duty. I don’t have time for that.”
“While you’re standing around, you can make phone calls. Let me know immediately if you get any leads.” Hennessy turned his attention back to me. “You need to go home, Valentina. Wait for news. There’s nothing you can do here.”
His words were like jabs to the gut. “But—”
“Go home. I’ll call you when we have something to tell you.”
“She’s a good kid. I swear. And she’s really important to me.”
“I’ll do what I can to find her.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “You need to stand down. This isn’t a joke. Let’s go. I’ll walk you to your car.”
I blanked, thinking of Rix waiting in my car. Although I wasn’t entirely sure if he was or not, but I wasn’t going to take the chance and lead Hennessy right over to it. That would end in way too many questions I didn’t have answers for.
“Thanks, but it’s just across the street. I can make it there myself. And I know I need to be smart, but sometimes your own safety isn’t as important as the person you’re worried about. Trinity’s a good kid. She just got herself caught up in the wrong crowd.”
“She’s not a kid, Valentina. She’s eighteen years old. You can’t protect her from her own decisions. How’s she going to learn?”
I glanced toward my car again, wondering if Rix was inside and what he’d found out. “I’m not debating this with you.” Turning my gaze back to Hennessy for a beat, I forced a smile. “Thank you for your help. If you hear anything . . .”
“I’ve got your number.”
I nodded before turning and checking for traffic. I crossed the street to where my Tesla was parked, and the passenger side door popped open. That answered my question about Rix.
Before I climbed inside, I peeked over my shoulder to see if Hennessy was watching.
He was.
I hoped he realized it was none of his business who was driving my car, and that the tinted windows would prevent him from ever finding out.
When I climbed inside, Rix’s expression was unreadable. I didn’t wait for his prompt before I started rambling.
“They don’t know where she is. Her purse was there, but she was gone when the first responders arrived. I don’t even know what to think. They’re going to call the other hospitals and make sure she wasn’t picked up by some Good Samaritan and taken there. I need to check her house still, but I don’t want to wake her grandmother this late.”
Rix stayed quiet through all of this, but when I paused to take a breath, he held up a hand. Whatever else I was going to say fell away.
“I’m gonna give it to you straight, because I don’t think you’d appreciate me dickin’ you around on something this important.”
My heart hammered against my chest in anticipation of whatever bad news he was about to relay. “What? What do you know?”