Page 70 of Love From the Ashes
CHAPTER 25
A Welcome Lead
Reid’s cell phonerang, waking him as he dozed in the rocking chair in the nursery. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen. It was Keith. Reid hoped he had good news to share since, so far, there’d been no sign of Sofie in the eighteen days she’d been gone. He answered his phone. “Keith, any news?”
“Yes, some good news, in fact. We received a lead on Sofie.”
“What did you find out?” Reid straightened in the chair, eagerly waiting to hear what Keith had to say. It was the first glimmer of hope he’d had since Sofie left.
“I was contacted a half hour ago by one of the transit police officers. He’d been on vacation and returned to work this morning to find the flyer we’d left at their office. He saw Sofie the morning she disappeared.”
“Where?”
“The Fields Corner T station, south of here in Dorchester. The officer said he’d noticed her right away because of her appearance. She had a suitcase with her, and her eyes were badly swollen. He was concerned about her and asked if she needed help, but she wouldn’t answer. According to him, she walked down the busway toward the Target store on Geneva Avenue. Since she got off the transit line at that station and was walking, I assume she’s staying somewhere in that general area. I did some checking, and there’s a hostel on Park Street about a block away from the shopping center next to the transit station, and there’s a women’s shelter a few miles west of there. I’m leaving my office in thirty minutes to check it out. I thought you’d want to come with me.”
“Absolutely. Can I meet you down there?”
“Sure, meet me in the southwest corner of the parking lot on Geneva and Park. But don’t do anything until I get there. And Reid, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve received reports that a man is hanging around the downtown transit centers pretending to be with my company. He’s flashing around a photo of Sofie and asking questions. Two of my investigators encountered the guy at the Park Street station yesterday, and he took off when they tried to talk to him. His description matches what we have on file for Sofie’s brother Nick Stevens. At this point, I’m assuming he’d been at one of the transit centers when my investigators passed Sofie’s photo around and asked the transit police if they’d seen her. He must have heard and seen enough to know we’re looking for her and is pretending to be part of my team to get information on Sofie.”
“Do you know if he found out anything?”
“The lady Nick had been talking to when my guys approached said she’d told him she had seen Sofie on the T line but couldn’t remember which day or the station Sofie had gotten off. But she was pretty sure it had been one of the stations before Ashmont.”
“Fuck. We have to find Sofie.”
“I know, and we’re doing the best we can. Meet me at the shopping center in Dorchester, and we’ll go from there.”
“All right. I’ll meet you there.” Reid jumped up from the chair and hurried into his room to dress. He’d woken up at four this morning from a bad dream and gone into the nursery. It was now nine o’clock, and Reid had been there ever since. He was out the door in less than ten minutes.
Reid pulled into the lot and parked as instructed. Unable to sit still, he got out of his car and paced back and forth, impatient to get going since the hostel was so close. Curious, Reid pulled his cell phone from his pocket and searched the internet for the hostel’s address. He was heading down the street on foot a few minutes later, no longer willing to wait for Keith. After finding the building, Reid climbed the front steps and entered the lobby, briskly making his way to the small reception desk.
The young man sitting at the desk looked up as Reid approached. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Sofie Fletcher,” Reid said, trying to stay calm.
“I’m sorry. We have no guests staying here by that name.” The man’s hands shook as he shuffled a stack of papers and quickly looked away.
“Are you sure? She asked me to meet her here.” Reid eyed the man, thinking he was acting strangely.
“Look, she’s not here. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“All right. Fine. If Sofie does show up, can you tell her Reid was here looking for her?”
“Sure, man. I’ll do that.”
“Thanks.” Reid walked away, the feeling in his gut telling him something wasn’t right. He’d reached the sidewalk when he heard someone behind him.
“Mister. He’s lying to you.”
Reid turned around to find a young dark-haired woman in a pair of tattered jeans standing at the bottom of the stairs. “Excuse me?”
The woman walked toward Reid. “Paul’s lying. Sofie is here. She’s sharing a dorm room with me. Two guys were here looking for her about fifteen minutes or so ago. They looked rough, and the scary one threatened to hurt Paul if he told anyone they were looking for her.”
“Shit. What did the men look like?”