Dog Park, the sun was truly breaking over the eastern sky, making the fall colors of the trees shimmer in reds and golds like some beautifully mixed up rainbow. A few early risers had already brought their canine buddies out to play, and I watched a fat beagle chase a poodle in circles until Kenny knocked on my window.
I unlocked the door, and he jumped into the passenger seat, bringing with him the delicious, honey-sweet smell of hot donuts. I licked my lips.
“Goose!” He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. “Old-fashioned chocolate donuts just for you.” Kenny still called me by the same stupid nickname he gave me during our short months of dating in high school. The romance fizzled, but the friendship never wavered.
“Kenny G.” I snagged a donut, moaning when the sugary goodness melted in my mouth.
He laughed at the old joke, and I noticed the laugh lines around his face had deepened. With his short, wavy hair gelled into an artful swirl, he looked more like a college kid than drug dealer.
“So what’s new?”
“Same old, same old,” he said. Kenny was one of those rare people who never let anything get him down and managed to see life through magic glasses. “Working the day job, staying careful in my side business like I promised. I started volunteering at a shelter in Spring Garden, trying to help out some of the kids.”
“Good for you,” I said between mouthfuls of donut.
Kenny was an enigma. He made a living as a mechanic, but selling pot was too lucrative for him to give up. He insisted he’d retire early and move somewhere warm.
“So, you said you were searching for that little girl who disappeared out of Poplar?”
“Kailey Richardson.”
“No news on her?”
A wave of tiredness rushed over me. “We know the older girls ditched her, and she walked home alone. Beyond that, nothing. She’s vanished.”
Kenny scowled. He had a soft spot for kids. His own father was a mean drunk, and he often said he wouldn’t have made it through high school without me. “Doesn’t that mean she probably knew the person who took her? Trusted them?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to say.”
“You said Justin Beckett might be involved. You think he took her?”
“I think he’s a damned good suspect. But his brother’s involved in the investigation. Claims to be unbiased but…” I spread my hands wide.
“Right.” Kenny nodded. “What a shitty position to be in.”
“Police did get a warrant after seeing the emails, and they came up empty. Have you heard anything?”
Kenny had amassed a pretty wide network as a dealer, his contacts stretching beyond Poplar and into the north and west sides of the city. He was the type of guy people wanted to confide all their secrets in. “None of my connections know him. I mean, some of them remember the coverage, but I asked all around, and no one remembered him.”
It was a stretch. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “What about the other thing I asked you to check on? The Harrison brothers?”
Kenny started in on his second donut. “I told you about Cody a few months ago. He lived near one of my main clients, and he’d been released for molesting a girlfriend’s kid. Soon as he got out, he found a new girl, with a kid the same age, of course. I called you about him, and you said you were going to send someone over.” Kenny knew I still had contact with Child Protective Services, and he was good about giving me leads. He just didn’t realize what I sometimes used them for.
“That’s right,” I played dumb. “I’d have to check with my old boss to see–”
“Don’t bother. He overdosed a couple of months ago, not long after I called you. Good riddance, cause you know he was probably messing with that other kid.”
Yes, he was. Cody Harrison fell into the dumb class of pedophiles, using his own I.P. address to post on a forum dedicated to the love between men and special little girls. His overdose had been a carefully administered
I unlocked the door, and he jumped into the passenger seat, bringing with him the delicious, honey-sweet smell of hot donuts. I licked my lips.
“Goose!” He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. “Old-fashioned chocolate donuts just for you.” Kenny still called me by the same stupid nickname he gave me during our short months of dating in high school. The romance fizzled, but the friendship never wavered.
“Kenny G.” I snagged a donut, moaning when the sugary goodness melted in my mouth.
He laughed at the old joke, and I noticed the laugh lines around his face had deepened. With his short, wavy hair gelled into an artful swirl, he looked more like a college kid than drug dealer.
“So what’s new?”
“Same old, same old,” he said. Kenny was one of those rare people who never let anything get him down and managed to see life through magic glasses. “Working the day job, staying careful in my side business like I promised. I started volunteering at a shelter in Spring Garden, trying to help out some of the kids.”
“Good for you,” I said between mouthfuls of donut.
Kenny was an enigma. He made a living as a mechanic, but selling pot was too lucrative for him to give up. He insisted he’d retire early and move somewhere warm.
“So, you said you were searching for that little girl who disappeared out of Poplar?”
“Kailey Richardson.”
“No news on her?”
A wave of tiredness rushed over me. “We know the older girls ditched her, and she walked home alone. Beyond that, nothing. She’s vanished.”
Kenny scowled. He had a soft spot for kids. His own father was a mean drunk, and he often said he wouldn’t have made it through high school without me. “Doesn’t that mean she probably knew the person who took her? Trusted them?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to say.”
“You said Justin Beckett might be involved. You think he took her?”
“I think he’s a damned good suspect. But his brother’s involved in the investigation. Claims to be unbiased but…” I spread my hands wide.
“Right.” Kenny nodded. “What a shitty position to be in.”
“Police did get a warrant after seeing the emails, and they came up empty. Have you heard anything?”
Kenny had amassed a pretty wide network as a dealer, his contacts stretching beyond Poplar and into the north and west sides of the city. He was the type of guy people wanted to confide all their secrets in. “None of my connections know him. I mean, some of them remember the coverage, but I asked all around, and no one remembered him.”
It was a stretch. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “What about the other thing I asked you to check on? The Harrison brothers?”
Kenny started in on his second donut. “I told you about Cody a few months ago. He lived near one of my main clients, and he’d been released for molesting a girlfriend’s kid. Soon as he got out, he found a new girl, with a kid the same age, of course. I called you about him, and you said you were going to send someone over.” Kenny knew I still had contact with Child Protective Services, and he was good about giving me leads. He just didn’t realize what I sometimes used them for.
“That’s right,” I played dumb. “I’d have to check with my old boss to see–”
“Don’t bother. He overdosed a couple of months ago, not long after I called you. Good riddance, cause you know he was probably messing with that other kid.”
Yes, he was. Cody Harrison fell into the dumb class of pedophiles, using his own I.P. address to post on a forum dedicated to the love between men and special little girls. His overdose had been a carefully administered
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