Page 37 of No Ordinary Girl
The Hendersons had two kids; Calvin who was four years old (he was at his daycare), and Haley was eighteen months old. Mason worked as a financial analyst, And Jenna was a home stager, and gathering from her own home, I guessed that she was very good at her job.
They had a very typical (rather boring sounding) routine. Mason was a nine to five guy, and Jenna worked part-time. She took Calvin and Haley to the daycare center, and then she went to yoga class, then did a few hours of work, picked up her children around four or five, and then always had a delicious homemade meal at the dinner table. Once or twice a month, they’d have a date night, and Mischa would sit for them. Really, they were perfection.
Only, they weren’t, and I knew that. And Leo knew that, too. He and I would occasionally glance at each other during the interview, and through unspoken words, we told each other that something was up with them. We just didn’t know what yet.
But most importantly, they had no enemies. No one who would ever want to hurt Haley. Everyone adored Haley, from her grandparents, the caretakers at her daycare, to strangers at the shopping center, to her babysitter, Mischa.
Detective Matt was the one asking most of the questions. He had a very soothing voice. It reminded me a little of Ace’s voice (minus the British accent), the kind of voice you could follow anywhere. “We’ll need to visit Haley’s daycare center tomorrow as well as her babysitter,” he explained.
Jenna nodded quietly. “Yes, we can easily arrange that. Mischa should be available after school.”
Detective Mary nodded as she furiously scribbled in her notebook, a permanent scowl etched across the line of her brows. She was bad cop, and Matt was good cop; the intimidator and the charmer.
The report indicated that Haley did not have much contact with anyone except her maternal grandparents. Jenna was an only child, so there were no uncles or aunties, and she was too busy to have a bestie, so there was no unofficial auntie either. Mason was originally from Boston, so they only got a chance to visit with his family once or twice a year, always traveling to Massachusetts. Mason had some buddies he played baseball and soccer with, and had beer with, but no one he’d bring home to meet his family. They had a few ‘couple’ friends they’d share dinner with occasionally, and they were on the list, too, after the daycare aids, the babysitter, and the grandparents.
Detective Mary looked up from her notepad and her expression softened. “As we discussed before, the RAMS team would like to do a walk-through the house… is this okay with you, Mrs. Henderson? They will do so,onlywith your permission.”
I got the distinct impression that the detectives were not crazy about our presence in their investigation. We were like the annoying little sister who eagerly wants to help. How much can she contribute, really?
Jenna straightened her back. “Of course, they can. I’m the one who contacted them. Anything to help find Haley. I’m willing to try anything.”
Detective Matt cleared his throat. “All right, let’s get at it, then.”
My heart started misbehaving, pounding against my ribcage. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose to calm myself. This was it – show time.
The five of us followed Jenna. Ace right behind her, followed by Brianna (of course), Kendra, and Leo and me. The investigators stayed back in the living area with Simone – I gathered that they’d already investigated the home.
We quickly walked through the main floor. There wasn’t too much evidence of Haley and Calvin there, save for the high chair in the kitchen. Everything was freakishly orderly, nothing like my own house. We continued to the living room; a sleek sectional and wide screen TV on the wall, a little play center in the corner, complete with arts and crafts table. There was a stylish pin board on the wall with a few photos and illustrations the kids had made; Calvin’s masterpieces were quite distinguishable from Haley’s. His were little stories. Hers were nothing more than scribbles, almost undecipherable, yet still pretty impressive for a child her age. I inched closer to study them. One of them almost looked like a woman with long blond hair, and a dark haired baby. Her and her mother perhaps? So adorable.
I picked up a toy, a large glowing, beeping plastic ball. I felt nothing. Then, I picked up another toy. Nothing again. Leo was likewise, picking up toys, struggling to get a feel, a vision, anything... All of us were touching, seeing, struggling to find something.
I turned my gaze to Leo, who had reached out a hand to the pin board. His hand was pressed against one of Haley’s drawings; the one with the baby and mother. His eyes were closed, and he was so beautiful then. I imagined this was what he looked like when he slept. I couldn’t pull my gaze away, but when I finally did, I caught Ace staring at me; he wore that maddening half-smirk, half-frown expression.
I swiftly turned my gaze back to the picture. Leo’s eyes were wide open. “Come here,” he said softly. “Come and feel this.”
I wiggled in, in front of him, and pressed my hand next to his. He was so close behind me, I could feel the heat of his breath on my shoulder. He smelled like fresh soap and thyme, like my mother’s garden. Why did he smell like thyme?
Focus.
The boy was seriously messing with my skills. I closed my eyes. It took me a moment to focus, to transport my mind to another place, to another time. To see what Haley had seen. At first, the vision was a blur, a blond woman playing with her. She was smiling at her. She was handing her a toy, a red-haired doll. She loved her. And slowly, the image came into sharper focus. That’s when I saw a clearer picture. The woman in the picture was not Jenna, it was Mischa, the babysitter. I recognized her from the file photos.
My eyes popped open to find Leo staring at me. “She drew Mischa.”
He nodded. We both stared at the photo for a long moment. “She loves Mischa,” he said. I liked how he used the present tense. He, too, knew that Haley was still out there, somewhere.
“Mischa’s the babysitter, right?” Brianna broke in.
Leo smirked as he shook his head. “Did you even look at the file, Brianna?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah… for sure. I quickly flipped through it. I know all I need to know.”
Ace smiled. “Brianna’s on it.”
Brianna smiled, too. She did have a lovely smile; perfect teeth, like those pictures at the orthodontist’s office. I wore braces for two years, and still my teeth have never looked like that. My canines are a little too pointy, like I’m one-eight vampire, and one tooth just refused to stay in place, despite the fact that I still wear my stupid retainer once a week. I call it my troublemaker tooth.
“I don’t see her,” Kendra told everyone, her voice soft and sweet. She was telling us what Leo and I already knew.
“You don’t see her?” Jenna asked her softly. “Are you sure?”
