“No CCTV cameras in this vicinity?” she asked Remi.
“No. If we follow Grace’s route, the last cameras were the traffic cams back at the seawall. We’re trying to get access to them now.”
Laurie had studied the girl’s training routes on the way over, and never before had Grace taken this turn inland. It was this anomaly that was maintaining Laurie’s interest. If Grace hadn’t gone up 25th Street, then Laurie wouldn’t have escalated the case. As it was, she was invested enough to begin a full investigation and called Lieutenant Filmore with her decision before heading back to the Harrington household.
A young woman Laurie recognized from a photograph on Grace’s laptop greeted her at the front door. “You must be Tilly?” she said.
An oversized hoodie went to the girl’s knees, her bare legs giving the impression she had nothing on beneath. She was shorter than Grace, her squat, tough body shape reminding Laurie of the way she’d looked after Milly’s birth.
Tilly frowned, tilting her head. “How do you know that?”
“Detective Laurie Campbell. Can I come in?”
Tilly opened the door for her, silent as if still in a state of shock. From another room came the sound of people arguing. “Glen is back,” said the girl, sheepish as she led Laurie through the lobby area.
“Mr. Harrington?” said Laurie.
Tilly sucked in her cheeks as the noise level rose. “Just got back from Houston. He’s worried, obviously.”
Laurie wasted no time heading to the kitchen area, where the Harringtons were in heated debate. The last words she heard before both fell into silence were from Sandra: “Maybe if you didn’t spend every single minute of your life away from your family, you would know a bit more about what was going on,” she said, her face reddening as she saw Laurie arrive, Tilly on her heels.
“Detective Campbell, I didn’t know you were back. This is my husband, Glen Harrington.”
“Mr. Harrington, Laurie Campbell.”
Mr. Harrington smiled, the gesture well practiced. He was a handsome man, six-two, short brown hair, and green eyes. He was a little too good-looking for Laurie’s taste, too picture perfect, and the way he smiled instinctively put her on the defensive. “You can call me Glen. Where are we, Detective?”
Laurie ushered the pair to the kitchen table. “Tilly, please join us as well,” she said, Glen’s smile fading as his hand drifted toward, but didn’t quite touch, his wife’s.
Laurie explained what she had discovered about Grace’s running pattern, and how the signal for the run had stopped at Sealy Avenue.
“You don’t let her run there in the dark?” said Glen, turning to Sandra.
“I wasn’t aware she went that way, no,” said Sandra, struggling to keep her temper. “Tilly,” she said, softening her tone, “did you know Grace took that route?”
“No, I . . . no, I had no idea,” said Tilly, glancing at Laurie with wide eyes.
“According to her records,” Laurie said, “it’s the first time Grace ever went that way. At least, in the last six months. Can you think of any reason she would change routes?”
Glen Harrington planted his elbows on the kitchen table. “I was under the impression that she changed her routes on a daily basis.”
“And how in the hell would you know that?” said Sandra, scratching her nose as if she’d smelled something distasteful.
Laurie wasn’t surprised by the tension between the couple. Their daughter was missing and that brought with it a unique type of stress. But the Harringtons’ body language suggested that the disharmony was present long before today. When Glen had moved toward Sandra’s hand, Laurie had noted a stiffness in the wife’s body and neither of them seemed to be willing to offer much support to the other. In every dream home, a nightmare, she thought. “Grace’s tracking device suggests she did take different routes—different distances, inclines etc.—but her route never went up 25th Street. Chances are she just fancied a change, but is there anything you can think of that would make her run that way? Any friends in the area, perhaps?”
“Tilly?” said Glen.
Tilly had her feet up on the chair, the oversized hoodie riding down over her knees to her shins. She looked back at the three of them, wide-eyed. She looked so young that Laurie found it hard to believe she could be in a serious relationship with Grace, whatever a serious relationship for an eighteen-year-old looked like. She seemed out of place, and at that moment much younger than the glamourous figure of Grace that Laurie had seen in photographs. “We had an argument,” said Tilly, her eyes watering. “It was so stupid. I’d seen her talking to Mia Washington in the cafeteria. I overreacted, and Grace accused me of being possessive.”
“Mia Washington?” said Laurie, noticing the strained look on the Harringtons’ faces as Tilly began to cry.
“Grace’s ex,” said Sandra, as Glen winced.
“And Mia lives in that area?”
“Around there, yes,” said Sandra, “but I’ve already called her mother.”
“You called her mom?” said Tilly. “Why?”
“Not now, Tilly,” said Sandra.
Laurie looked from Tilly to Sandra, wondering at the strange dynamic between the missing girl’s mother and girlfriend. “I think everyone needs to cool down,” she said. “First things first. You talked to Mia’s mother today, Sandra?”
“That’s right. She said Mia hasn’t seen Grace.”
“Did you speak to Mia herself?”
“No, but Jane assured me.”
“OK, I will speak to Mia. And I appreciate this is difficult for you, Tilly, but when did Grace date Mia?”
“They split up six months ago. They were together for about a year,” said Tilly, oscillating between sadness and fury.
Laurie glanced at the parents, who nodded in confirmation. “And the split? Acrimonious?” said Laurie, as if talking about a divorce rather than a high school romance.
“Mia can be a little bitch,” said Tilly, showing a different side of herself. “She spread some horrible rumors about Grace when they split.”
“Rumors?”
“You know, sexual stuff,” said Tilly, this time causing both parents to wince.
“I see. But they were still friends? You saw them speaking together?”
“That’s why I couldn’t understand it. Why would Grace ever want to talk to her again after what Mia had done?”
“Did you ask what they talked about? Did they appear to be getting along?”
The fury had overtaken the sadness in Tilly. “Mia brushed a strand of Grace’s hair from her face, if that helps?”
Laurie took the address from Sandra and instructed the trio to await her return. In her car, she updated Remi. “I feel like I’m in that movie, Mean Girls.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Well, you’re not that long out of high school yourself, I suppose.”
“Very funny. What did you think of Mr. Harrington?”
“They are a very attractive family, I’ll say that much.”
“Very high net value family too. During the week, Mr. Harrington spends his time in a penthouse apartment in downtown Houston.”