Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 9 (Startling Developments)

"I would like to know if you two could come into town." Tori was walking the route Trina typically walked, and she decided try and get Holly to come down without directly accusing her over the phone. "I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Oh sweetheart, I'm not sure if I'll be able come down anytime soon." Tori raised an eyebrow and hummed while listening to the background noise. She could hear the clatter of dishes, the television was on, and two men seemed to be arguing.

There was something vaguely familiar about the men in the background, but she didn't think it mattered at the moment. "Why not?" It was odd of Holly to say she didn't want to come for a visit, when for so many years she cried about their estrangement.

"I've just got such a load to take care of right now." She stopped walking and folded her left arm over her abdomen to use it as a rest for her right elbow. "Gary's not feeling well, I'm busy with the animal shelter and the church. Then I'm getting swamped down at the hospital."

"How about Gary? Can he come down?"

Holly gasped as if Tori just said the greatest thing on earth. "You actually want to talk to your stepfather?" She rolled her eyes and looked to the side, wondering why she was the one trying to do this. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with him?"

"Well something has come up." The men in the background grew louder, and she thought for sure she was hearing either Robbie's or Andre's voice, but that was impossible. "Now of course, I am imagining things." The two were still yelling at each other, to the point she was surprised to hear Holly go from this joyful demeanor to virulent when she turned away and shouted for them to quiet down because she had a headache. "So you're not feeling well today, mother?"

"Hm? No, I'm fine sweetheart." She closed her mouth and turned her skeptical gaze onto a nearby tree. In her mind she was questioning the fresh, sweet tone Holly spoke in. "We just have a couple plumbers over to fix the pipes and they are causing quite the ruckus. It seems they cannot decide what tool is right for the job!"

"Uh huh." Tori dropped her left arm and focused on the irritable feeling inside her. "They sound just like Robbie and Andre. You remember them?" Holly's laugh was airy and full of charm.

"You mean Robbie Shapiro and Andre Harris?" Her eyebrows shot up and the left corner of her lips tilted up into a smirk. Holly remembering their full names was the last thing she expected. "God I haven't seen those two children since you graduated high school dear, all your friends were such interesting characters."

"That they were." There was something fishy about the inflection of Holly's voice, but she could see no reason why the woman would bother lying if she had seen the two. "There are a lot of memories I've had with them, good and bad." She snapped her fingers and leaned back against the tree. "In fact, I remember the day Trina went missing, I'd been hanging with Andre earlier that morning. We were playing on the piano."

"He was the pianist in your little group of friends, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. A good guy, too bad he's not around anymore. None of them are, except Jade and Beck, they're the only ones still in LA." She looked up wistfully and closed her eyes as a gentle breeze swept across her face. It was good remembering all of them, even if they were just a memory now.

"I'm sorry to hear your friends all fell apart from you, dear."

Her eyes opened halfway and she dismissed Holly's words with a huff. "No, that's life. People go their own separate ways, it's rare for childhood and teenage friends to still be extremely close after graduation."

"Whatever happened to that one girl, the one with the-was it red hair?"

"Cat. She went away a long time ago. I know Sam still wishes she'd come back, but we're not sure she ever will return." A dish shattered in the background and Holly snapped, screaming at the person for being clumsy and dropping the fine china she'd just bought. "Hey, I'm sure it was an accident."

"That was no fucking accident! The maid is always screwing around. She's lucky I don't fire her." A woman in the background began whimpering as Holly continued to shout. The man who sounded vaguely like Andre spoke up, telling Holly to stop yelling at the girl.

Tori listened and retained her stoic expression, but her heart felt heavy in her chest. This was the first time in a long time she'd seen how easily her mother could go from pleasant to vicious and back in a matter of seconds. She'd almost forgotten how terrified she was of the woman when she was a little girl.

"Now. Where were we, Tori dear? I'm sorry about that."

She caught her breath and shook away the tears forming in her eyes. "Of course you are." Recalling the divorce, it had been her father that filed first. Holly didn't want to take it, from what she could remember, but David pushed. This caused more fights between the two, and Holly had even gone so far as to threaten him for it. "Hey mom, do you remember what you were doing in the guest room when Trina disappeared?"

She listened as the woman sighed and set some cup on the desk with a clinking sound. "Folding clothes, dear." Already there was a discrepancy, because Holly told original investigators that she'd been packing. "Saw Trina leave the back gate too while I was there, assumed she was going for a walk. Why?"

Tori's jaw dropped and her hand moved over her heart. The fact that Holly was so casual was stunning, but then, the woman wasn't being fully questioned. "You mean, you saw Trina leave?"

"She looked angry. Must have been one of those five-ten minute walks that she used to go on."

"You've…never mentioned that before."

"Didn't think it was important."

"Not important?" Her stomach twisted as anger burned through her body. "How could you say that's not important? Mom, Trina was kidnapped that day! Anything you say could have helped the investigators."

"I miss her too sweetheart, but I still think she just walked off. She didn't want to be there anymore. She's a runaway like a lot of girls that go missing." Whether it was due to the anger that Holly just recently displayed, or the years that had gone by, Holly was far too nonchalant.

It was startling.

Recovering her composure and trying to simmer down her own anger, she thought up another answer she hadn't bothered to ask. "Hey mom? How come you don't tell us where you live?"

"You never ask."

"So, would you?"

"Your stepfather's job requires us to be unlisted. I'm not allowed to tell anybody, even you, where I am living. At least not over the phone, sweetheart." Tori cursed under her breath and started to hum. She needed Holly to give her something to work with, she needed a way to question both Holly and Gary in person. "Why?"

"I was thinking since you couldn't come down here, we could go to you."

"We're not allowed visitors, sweetheart."

She leaned sideways and tapped her nails on the tree. Her lips twisted into a sneer and her forehead folded over in the middle as her eyebrows forced a bulge between them. "Okay let me put it this way. We would like for either you, Gary, or both of you to come down to the station." Holly gasped out and Tori's gaze drifted off to the right, where a teenager and her father were standing across the street. "The case regarding Trina has been reopened and we're questioning all the witnesses again to their actions and whereabouts that day."

"Oh my god." Holly choked up and Tori could have sworn she heard the woman sob. "Oh god did they find something new? Did they find her, or her body or something?"

"I can't divulge information about the case, but yes new information has come up. That is usually how cold cases get reopened."

"Gary is in the next room, I can hand the phone to him if you'd like?"

"I'm afraid that's not going to work, Mom." She dusted off her shoulder and stood erect. She couldn't simply question Gary over the phone. Though it was done, she needed to ensure that the two couldn't be able to tell the other what to say.

Holly's weeping ceased and she started to whine. "You don't think we had anything to do with it, dear?"

"You're just a witness, and we want to confirm both of your statements. That's all."

"Oh. Well, let me check the calendar." So it would seem Holly wanted to come in on her own time, Tori would be forced to allow it. "I'm not free until tomorrow, sweetie, but Gary might be able to fly in this evening."

"You two cannot come in together?"

"I'm afraid not, our schedules rarely provide us with time to be together. Even right now, it's rare that we're in the house together. Work conflicts."

"I understand."

"I need to check on the plumbers, dear. Will four work for you?"

"It'll do. I believe Gary knows the way to the police station?" He'd better, since he was a cop back then. "I'll be more than happy to give directions if need be."

"He remembers the way."

"Thank you."

After hanging up the phone, the people across the street made their way over. She was in uniform, so likely if they were approaching a police officer, something was up. "I have a question," the father asked, "I thought I heard you say you were investigating that girl that was kidnapped several years ago?"

"Trina Vega. Yes." She crossed her arms and looked from the man to the teenager, then back. "Do you know something?" If they remembered anything, then it would explain why the name was familiar to them. "I believe she was walking through this neighborhood, if you have any information to help with the case…"

"I don't." The father put his hand to his chest and Tori's heart sank. The man moved his hand to his daughter's shoulder and she glanced to the girl. "Lucy was seven at the time. She was in the yard, she told me she saw something and when the news came out about that woman's disappearance…"

Tori smiled and turned to the teenager. Lucy was looked younger than her age, and she appeared quiet and shy. "I get nervous around police officers," Lucy admitted, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She laughed and moved her hand up to her chest. "I was nervous around them too when I was really young. Even though my dad was an officer, I used to always look up to them like a celebrity so I was nervous when I got to talk to them." Lucy started to smile and she shrugged.

"Yeah, well, they always seem too busy to talk to. I can understand why, with all the work you guys do."

"Yep. So, did you see something that day, Miss?" Back in the day investigators might have ignored the word of a seven year old, but now that she was older, whatever she saw could be crucial to the case.

Lucy pointed across the street, to the sidewalk in front of a gap between two homes. "That woman was walking and she stopped right there. There was a dark car following her." Tori looked over and tried to visualize the scene in her mind. "We used to have a tire swing in the front yard here, so that's where I was."

"Okay." She held her breath and narrowed her eyes at the scene across the street. "You saw a dark car following? Do you remember anything about the vehicle or the person driving it?"

"I'm not sure, I think the car was either dark blue or black. A jeep, and I think it only had two doors." Lucy scratched her cheek and furrowed her brow. "I remember a tall man with black hair, and I remember thinking it was odd that he was following her." Her heart began to pound and she fought against her growing anxiety.

"Was there any exchange between the two?"

"Yes. She stopped and started talking to him. When he got out of the car, she looked like she didn't want him anywhere near." She could picture this man walking towards Trina, and of course Trina's already on the defensive. "She walked away and he pulled something from his pocket, I think it might have been a rag."

"A rag?" She tucked her thumbs over her belt as the left corner of her lips sank into her cheek. Lucy dipped her head and hummed thoughtfully.

"Yes, yes it was a rag. I remember thinking it was odd that he had one with him. I thought he was going to wipe his mouth or something, but he approached the girl." Taking Trina with her back turned, this man could not have been a stranger because Trina would never have turned her back to him and walked away if it was a stranger.

Granted if it were a stranger that was following her in a car, she never would have stopped to talk to him-she would have gone to one of the houses on the neighborhood. Everyone knew who she was, so they would have let her inside if they thought she needed help.

"I went inside to get dad, because I thought she might be in trouble. When we came outside, they were both gone."

"Can you describe her actions in more detail, Lucy? Her body language or anything that might tell us if she was afraid of this man? I know it might be hard to remember, but I'd like you to try."

Lucy's face scrunched and she shook her head. "Afraid, not so much." Her lips parted as Lucy walked over to the sidewalk. "I remember her like it was yesterday, I've got a really good memory."

"Okay."

"When she was talking to the man in the car, and when he got out she was standing like this." Lucy leaned her upper body to the right and crossed her arms. Her lips stretched into an annoyed scowl and her eyes narrowed. "And she said to him 'why are you following me'?"

"What else?"

"He got out of the car and looked really nervous. I thought he'd been swimming or something, because his shirt was soaked. He kept apologizing to her and asking her to get in the car, and that's when she started walking away."

"So definitely more annoyed than terrified." She rubbed her chin and looked towards the area Lucy mentioned. "And you saw no one else? Could there have been someone else in the jeep?"

"I'm not sure. The front windows were down, but the back windows were up. You know how cars have those window tints? These were like that, they were black, so if there was anyone in the back seat-I didn't see them."

"Got it. Thank you very much Lucy, you've been a great help." She took a deep breath and her nostrils flared. She was more annoyed now with this information, because it meant someone else had to have been involved that she hadn't yet thought of. "Will you be willing to testify in court?" Lucy looked up to her father and the man nodded.

"We're willing to help out any way we can," the man replied, "More than willing."

"Thank you for your cooperation." There was only person she could think of that she knew had a dark colored jeep around that time that would be someone nervous around Trina, and could cause her any amount of nervousness. That person was Robbie, and he'd already pissed Trina off earlier that day.

She'd have to look into any friends or other acquaintances that Trina knew back then, to see if there was anyone else matching Lucy's description. Primarily, she could see no reason why Robbie would possibly kidnap Trina. He was, however, the first of her friends to move away and disappear, and it was only months after Trina vanished.

"It can't be him." She pinched the skin above her nose and her shoulders fell. "Think like a cop, Tori, not like a sister or a friend." She dropped her hand and looked to Lucy one last time. "One more question."

"Yes?"

"You said you remember the man was tall, had black hair. Is there anything else you can remember about his description?" Lucy pursed her lips and was silent for the longest time. Then her eyes lit up and she shouted out as though she just remembered something vitally important.

"When he was driving up-and you know how when you're a kid you're always making judgments about people?"

"Everyone does that."

"Right, but I remember saying to myself that the guy had these ugly glasses. I mean, they seemed to be the only thing on his face, really. They were huge and bulky."

"Great. Got it." She turned away and felt a painful ache spreading across her chest. "Goddamn it Robbie. What the hell did you do?" Robbie told the original investigators he was at Beck's place all day, and Beck confirmed that he'd been there. It had been mentioned Robbie got a phone call and left because his grandmother needed something.

On instinct Tori thought there had to be something more to this. If indeed Robbie could be placed as the abductor, he was too much of a coward and weakling at the time to go through with such a crime on his own will. Especially if it was Trina.

He had to have been forced into it, but then, she could be wrong about that theory. Regardless, she'd have to locate him and try her best not to kill him for having any part in her sister's abduction.

Some new developments, shocking indeed