Killer Ambition - [11]

“Was Hayley unhappy? Did she run away?”

Mackenzie bit her lip and blinked rapidly. “I-don’t think so. She never said so. I mean, she’s had her stuff with her mom and dad, but who doesn’t?”

No argument there. “And you have no idea where she might’ve gone? Maybe a friend’s house?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so.” Mackenzie clasped her hands together in her lap and stared down at them. “I-I wouldn’t make her mom suffer like that if I knew where she was. Raynie’s so nice…”

“But not Russell?” I asked, though I knew her answer might not have had anything to do with Russell. Having lost her own mother, it made sense that Mackenzie would focus on Hayley’s mother. But I was trying to find a way to pry her open.

Mackenzie shook her head. “No, no, Russell’s cool. Way cooler than my dad. I mean, he lets us use his house in the hills, his town car, stuff like that. But he’s not around as much as Raynie, you know?”

I did know. Hayley had the cool dad. That he was also a world-famous director was not as important as the fact that he facilitated their lifestyle and partying. I wondered if it had occurred to her yet that Russell’s “coolness” might’ve been what put Hayley in harm’s way. Probably not. No teenager believes there’s such a thing as too much freedom.

The sun had moved since we’d sat down and now threatened to fry the left side of my face. I shifted to the right to get under the shade of a large jacaranda and pondered my next move. I wanted it to be a cold shower. I could feel the sweat beading up under my blouse and my hair sticking to the back of my neck. “What about Hayley’s boyfriend? Could she be with him? Or maybe he knows where she is?”

Her face darkened. “I don’t know if she’s with him, but if she isn’t, he’d probably know where she is. Hayley tells him everything.”

Was that a note of jealousy? “They’re pretty close, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“How long have they been together?”

“Not that long. About two, three months, something like that. At first they were just friends, but then it was like all of a sudden they were joined at the hip. I never got to see her without him.”

Definitely jealousy. “You know where he lives?”

Mackenzie shook her head.

“Do you have his cell?”

“Yeah.” Mackenzie had a guilty look as she pulled out her cell phone and began to scroll. I had a feeling I knew why.

“Do Hayley’s parents know about this guy?”

Mackenzie shook her head. “No one knows about him. Except me and a few of the girls we hang with.” She handed her phone to me.

I looked at the entry. “Brian Shandling.” I handed the phone to Bailey so she could get the information. “I’m guessing you knew him better than the others, am I right?”

“Probably.”

“Because you were closer to Hayley than anyone else.”

Mackenzie nodded. “Pretty much.”

“How old is Brian?”

“Eighteen? Maybe nineteen. Yeah, I think he’s nineteen.”

“You have a picture of him?” I gestured to her cell phone.

Mackenzie picked up her phone and accessed her photos. After a few seconds, she held the phone out. “That’s him.”

The photo showed a nice-looking guy, tallish and slender, with dark brown eyes, curly brown hair, and one of those charming crinkly smiles that says “I’m a nice guy who sends his mom flowers on her birthday.” He had an arm around Hayley, who was snuggling into his chest with a happy smile. It was a sweet picture. They looked like the kind of kids you rooted for, the ones who gave you hope for a nicer, kinder generation. My heart sank at the thought that one of them might be in grave danger.

“I’m going to forward this to Bailey’s phone,” I said. “Okay?” Not that I needed her permission, but it felt like the civilized thing to do.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Does this guy go to college? Have a job?”

Mackenzie shrugged. “Don’t know.” But her eyes darted away from mine as she answered. Another possibility entered the equation.

“Is it possible Hayley ran away with Brian? Would she do that without telling you?”

Mackenzie picked up the earbud wire and looped it around her fingers. “I don’t know…I wouldn’t have thought so before. But now…”

The unspoken end of the sentence: Since Brian the Interloper had come between her and Hayley, all bets were off. But that made me consider a less savory possibility.

“What do you think of Brian?”

“He’s okay, I guess.”

“Is he the kind of guy who might hurt Hayley?”

Mackenzie jerked up, her expression stunned, and shook her head vigorously. “Never! No!” She frowned. “I kind of felt like he got between me and Hayley, and she’s my best friend in the world, so, you know…” Mackenzie shrugged, then looked directly at me for the first time. “But there was nothing bad about him. He’s a really good guy. Even to me. I just didn’t like that after he showed up, there was hardly any time for just me and Hayley.”

Pretty forthright and fair-minded of her to admit all that. And the sentiment felt genuine. I’d been considering the possibility that Brian had kidnapped Hayley to make some fast money-and I wasn’t about to let go of that theory just yet. But if Mackenzie’s assessment was accurate, it was a less likely scenario than the alternative I’d been considering: that Hayley had run away with Brian and cooked up the kidnapping scheme to give them some starter money. It was an ugly possibility, and one that spoke to some serious problems between Hayley and her parents. But it did have the virtue of ensuring Hayley’s survival. At least until we brought her home and her father got hold of her.