Ava

AVA

There’s a little motor lodge down the street, so I go down and check in. The prices are ridiculously low, and when I open the door to my room, I realize why. They haven’t redecorated since the early sixties, and it looks like the set from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” complete with big stylized floral prints in white, avocado green, and harvest gold. And shag carpet. It’s for sure I won’t be walking around in here barefoot. I’d take my chances with the parking lot over this.

Once I’ve unpacked everything, I put on a tight novelty tee, a pair of tight flared jeans, and some athletic shoes. My makeup gets beefed up, and after I braid my hair, I slip on a ball cap. I have to look just glamorous enough that they’ll want to talk to me, and just casual enough that they’re not intimidated. Then I head out.

A walk down to the nearby high school takes me to a park, so I take a seat and pull out my phone. It’s a pleasant day and a pretty park, and I’m betting there’ll be kids around when school is out. Sure enough, I’ve been there about forty-five minutes when I hear a bell ring, and the first round of students comes streaming out the front doors. Unlike at the schools in Asheville, there are virtually no cars waiting to pick up kids, so they either ride the buses or they walk, apparently. My second guess seems correct since there are clusters of kids dispersing in every direction, and about forty of them head toward my location. I’ll get more cooperation from the boys than the girls, so I wait until about ten of them have walked past, and I get up and pull down a Missing poster from a nearby tree. On it is a picture of Cameron, and I turn with it in my hand and ask the boy nearest me, “Hey, do you know this kid?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“What happened to him?”

Another boy walking with him says, “We don’t know. That’s what everybody’s trying to find out.”

“Is he a friend of yours?”

They both shake their heads. “I mean, we know him, but no. We’re not friends,” the first one says. He’s a tall kid, blond, probably fifteen.

“Oh. Know anybody who knows him? I’d really like to help look for him.”

“Yeah. Bobby does. Hey, Bobby!” the second kid yells, and a ginger boy who’d already walked past us turns around. “Come here!” When he jogs up to us, I’m struck by the kid’s eyes. They’re without a doubt the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. “Hey, this lady wants to know if you know Cameron, and I told her y’all are friends.”

I see something change on his face. “Why?”

“I heard about the missing kids and I’d like to help find them. I used to be in the service, and I’m pretty good at tracking people down. You know anything about him going missing?”

“Nah. I don’t know anything about any of them.” That’s odd. I didn’t ask him about the others, just the Cameron kid.

“Oh. So do you know any friends of the girls? Um, Kinsey—” I say, intentionally using the wrong name.

“Kelsey. And Isla. And yeah, I know some of their friends, but they don’t know anything either.” That’s really odd. Now he’s answering for other kids. What’s going on here?

“Uh, okay. Well, if you find anybody who wouldn’t mind talking to me, I’ll be here again tomorrow too. And thanks, Bobby.”

“What’s your name?” he asks.

“Ava.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ava.” Wow. That makes me feel old. Then I chuckle. Haven’t these kids’ parents ever taught them not to talk to strangers? No wonder they’re disappearing.

I’ve got to find somebody who knows something about these children but isn’t affiliated with law enforcement. Working with one cop is enough. More and they’ll shut me down so I won’t be able to do my job.

And I have a job to do.