A Tiger's Tale (A Call of the Wilde Mystery) by Laura Morrigan Page B

stopping before the noisy food court made it impossible to hear.
    “I heard back from my contact at the DJJ. Brooke was on probation for stealing and drugs.”
    Not what I wanted to hear. “Okay.”
    “The good news is, it looks like she’s not so much a real user as a victim of bad timing and poor taste in boyfriends.”
    “You mean Stefan?”
    “AKA Butter. Last name’s Nebb. Seventeen. And he’s not a wangster. He’s a dealer. Nothing hard-core, yet, but he seems to be going that way. He’s been in a lot more trouble than Brooke.”
    I glanced around. “What kind of trouble?”
    “Mostly drugs, but he’s been involved in altercations with some other baby thugs.”
    “So he could have something to do with Brooke’s disappearance.”
    “Anything’s possible.” He paused. “I’ve got to run; I just wanted to let you know.”
    “Thanks.”
    I hung up wondering if going on a hunt for Stefan was really the best plan. Then I reminded myself the mall was crowded, I wasn’t a cop, and all I wanted to do was talk to him.
    A few minutes later, I’d found my preferred vantage point and was scanning groups of teens as they filtered past.
    I spotted Sonja easily in the busy food court. Tall and striking, she had a flair for color. Sonja knew how to play up the warm tones of her dark skin with bold hues and chunky, gold jewelry.
    Seeing my eyes were scanning people and not much else, Sonja sidled up next to me and asked, “So, who are we spying on?”
    “No one. Yet. I’m looking for a kid who looks like the bad boy from
Pretty Little Liars
.”
    “Caleb.”
    I glanced at her, surprised. “You know who I’m talking about?”
    “My niece is obsessed with that show.” Sonja joined me in my search and after a few moments asked, “Why are we looking for him?”
    I sighed. Sonja was one of the few people who knew about my ability, so I explained the situation as briefly as I could.
    “And you think Brooke’s boyfriend, the Caleb look-alike, might have done something to her?”
    “I don’t know. Someone took her. Kai said I should come up with a timeline. I’ve got most of her day at work figured out. And I know she had a fight with her mom the day before. I’m not sure what happened in between.”
    “Maybe Brooke contacted her boyfriend. What’s his name?”
    “Stefan.”
    “Maybe she called Stefan after the fight with her mother.”
    “That’s what I was thinking. Also, according to Kai’s contact, Stefan is bad news. So it’s possible he could have done something to her.”
    “What kind of bad news?”
    “Drugs, mostly. And he’s been in some fights.”
    “But why hurt Brooke?”
    “I don’t know—when we find him, I’ll ask.”
    We didn’t find him.
    After almost an hour, Sonja finally insisted we take a break and actually shop. It was more fun than I thought it would be. Sonja wasn’t as bent on forcing me to try on impractical outfits as Emma, who was usually my shopping partner. Though
partner
wasn’t really the right word.
    Dictator
was probably more accurate.
    We’d made our way into a hip store with thrumming music and dim lighting. But despite my reservations and the fact that the staff seemed to be an average age of seventeen, I found a pair of ladies’ cargo pants that were both stylish and had enough pockets to house the menagerie of animal-related stuff I had a tendency to carry. While I was in the dressing room tugging off the pants, Sonja tossed a sweater over the door.
    “Here—try on this sweaterdress. It will look amazing with your eyes.”
    The sweater was a deep royal blue. The color did look good on me. The only problem was it did not qualify as a dress.
    “Um . . . it’s a little short.”
    “You’re supposed to wear it with jeggings.”
    “Jeggings?”
    “You know, jean leggings.”
    “Uh—no.”
    She sighed. “Hang on.”
    I waited. After a few minutes, it seemed like she’d been on a quest for jeggings for longer than