“On the other hand, it’s not good to be a dishrag, either, especially because you’re a girl. Guys are going to try to push you around and talk you into things. Don’t get sucked into their bullshit. Choose what’s important to you and go for it. If anyone gives you a hard time, you tell me. I’m not your father. I will never be your father. Furthermore, I don’t want to be your father. But you are Mommy’s daughter, and because of that, I will take care of you forever.”

“Thank you.” Juleen dried her eyes on her yellow top. “And you’ll take care of Sanjay?”

“Once he’s here, of course I will.”

“And Mommy too.”

“Especially Mommy.”

Tears overflowed from her eyes. “She needs protection.”

“Yes, she does.” Donatti nodded. “I’ve got it covered.”

CHAPTER 16

McADAMS TRIED THE doorknob of Micky Anderson’s Bar and Grill. Discovering it locked, he knocked on the door. When there was no response, he peeked through the window. All seemed quiet, chairs upside down on tabletops and the ceiling lights off. He called Decker. “I’m not having any luck. Anything nice is closed until four in the afternoon. I’ve gone into two coffee places, both of them to-go. One of the baristas recognized Pauline, but he didn’t know Brock Baer. The other was blank on both.”

“The one you got a hit on … What did he say?”

“He said that Pauline would come in and buy a cup of coffee—a mochaccino, I think. Pauline was friendly, but it was like a thirty-second interaction. Did you get anything?”

“Like you said, the nicer places aren’t open. I went to a bakery/coffeehouse. No one remembered Pauline. Then I went to a sandwich shop in the supermarket. The person behind the counter remembered Pauline’s face, but that was about it. There was a seventeen-year-old stock boy in the market who definitely remembered her. He said she was flirtatious.”

“Wow. She’s picking them a little young.”

“He didn’t mind,” Decker said. “But then he told me that she stopped showing up, which was consistent with the checkout cashiers that I talked to. A few remembered her, but they hadn’t seen her for a while—months more than weeks. And that would jibe with her moving in with Elsie Schulung.”

“Is there a grocery store that’s closer to Elsie’s house?”

“Don’t know for sure, but I seem to remember an independent grocery store about five minutes away. I never bothered talking to anyone because it wasn’t our case and Quay made it clear that we should stay away.”

McAdams said, “How far is Elsie’s house from town?”

Decker said, “Walkable. Fifteen to twenty minutes, I’d say.”

“Are there restaurants near there?”