Page 244 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

“I’ll let her know. Give Evan our best. We’ll see you on Thursday for Thanksgiving.”

“All right, honey. Bye.”

“Bye.” He hung up and sat back, not liking that Lily sounded so troubled—that Evan still wasn’t well. Picking up his cell phone, he sent off a text to Callie.

Dinner’s canceled. Evan’s not up to visitors.

His phone alerted to her reply. We should pick him up some of Molly’s chicken noodle soup.

He smiled. Good idea.

She responded again. Looks like I get to have you all to myself tonight. She sent him the same heart-eyed smiley face and Growwwl response that he’d sent her last night.

He chuckled, sitting back, feeling a hundred times better. Currently, there weren’t a whole lot of things going right, but everything about Callie was. She was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him. He glanced at the case board in the corner—the blank thirteen-hour timeline he and Sanchez had yet to do much with—then picked up the pink piece of paper on his desk. Silas’s shoebox was an official bust and he couldn’t get at the Miller twins for now. Talking to Neil Durst appeared to be his only shot at garnering some new leads. Grabbing the phone, he dialed.

“Hello?” a man with a gritty smoker’s voice answered after the second ring.

“Good morning. My name is Sheriff Nate Carter with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department. I’m hoping I might be able to speak with Neil Durst.”

“This is Neil. I’ve been expecting your call, Sheriff.”

Nate grabbed a pen and pad of paper. “Mr. Durst, I appreciate you giving me your time. I’m sure you’re busy getting ready to head back out to sea.”

“The wife’s off shopping and I’m drinking a cup of coffee on the deck before I head off to a couple of stores myself. My daughter mentioned you were looking for information about Samantha Fletcher—haven’t heard that name in years.”

“Yes, I’ve been looking into her disappearance.”

“After I checked in with Marnie, last night I did some searching on the Internet—wanted to read more about what was going on. I had no idea that the little girl at the diner was hers—that Sam had gone missing.”

“So, you didn’t find it odd that Samantha never reported to work after the Fourth of July holiday?”

“That was a long time ago, but I’ve been doing some thinking. Sam and I didn’t leave things on the best of terms. She wanted time off and I didn’t want to give it to her. She ended up taking it anyway, whether I liked it or not—didn’t show up for her shifts after that point.”

“Did you try calling her place of residence or stopping by when you didn’t hear from her?”

“I have to imagine we called, but when Sam didn’t get in touch with me, I figured she went and got herself a job somewhere else. Wouldn’t be the first time someone flaked out on me.”

“Was it normal for her to blow things off—not show up?”

“No. She was always on time—only called in sick once or twice when her daughter was ill. Sam was a good bartender—quiet and a little shy, but she had a hell of a face and she could make a tasty drink.”

Nate capped and uncapped the pen with his thumb, ready and waiting to write something down. “When you saw Little Girl Lost on the television and in the newspapers back in July of ’95, you didn’t recognize her as Samantha’s child?”

“I never met Sam’s daughter. A bar’s no place for a little girl. Sam talked about her sometimes—told us about an adventure the two of them had at the park or the art museum. I know Sam was obsessed with that damn place. She could paint. Real talented. Apparently her daughter is too.”

He clenched his jaw and set down his pen. So far this interview wasn’t getting him any further than the others had. “Do you remember Samantha having a boyfriend?”

Neil steamed out a breath. “Yeah, he came in sometimes.”

Nate sat up, grabbing the pen again. “You remember him?”

“Some, I guess. I can’t give you his name, nor can I provide you with much of a physical description, but I remember someone coming in to see her every now and again—had a relationship vibe between them.”

“If you tried to describe him, what would you say?”

“Uh, decent looking—clean-cut and solid build—but the ball cap always caught my attention.”

Nate sat up taller. “What about it?”