Page 14 of Child In Jeopardy
Slater turned toward her before he realized that shoulder to shoulder could quickly turn into mouth to mouth. He eased back his chair a little and waited for her to continue.
“After Alicia disappeared,” Lana went on, “Stephanie confessed to me that she’d sneaked out of the house when she’d been grounded and had gone with a friend to a party at Alicia’s. Apparently, Alicia’s parents were out of town so there was no adult supervision.”
That rang an instant bell with Slater. “Yeah, I remember Stephanie calling me and asking me to take her to a party. She didn’t tell me where, only that it was at a friend of a friend’s. I couldn’t go, so I guess she went with someone else.”
“Does that bother you?” Lana came out and asked. “That Stephanie saw other guys when you two were dating?”
“No.” And he didn’t have to think hard about that response. “Stephanie wasn’t exactly the ‘settle down with one guy’ type. And we were teenagers. We had enough on-again, off-again times that I dated other girls during the offs.”
He studied Lana’s face and saw what he always saw simmering there. The heat. The old attraction they’d never acted on because of Stephanie. Lana looked as if she wantedto say something about that, but then she glanced away, visibly regrouping and getting them back on the subject of the investigation.
“From what I can recall, the party happened about a week before Alicia disappeared,” Lana went on. “I remember because it was Stephanie’s sixteenth birthday, and she was grounded. I think that’s why she went. So she’d have a celebration of sorts. But then she got there and said there was a lot of drinking and some drugs, and when some fights broke out, she and her friend left.”
Slater considered that. “Was Alicia involved in the fights?”
“Not that Stephanie said.”
Still, it was something to consider, and Slater made a mental note to try to find out from anyone who’d attended. “Was Buck at the party?” he wanted to know.
He saw the regret in her eyes a split second before she shook her head. “I don’t recall Stephanie mentioning him.”
That would have been a long shot, and Slater was sorry he’d brought this up. It was no doubt a reminder that Stephanie was dead and couldn’t be questioned about the party.
“I’m guessing Stephanie didn’t mention the party to the Weston cops?” Slater asked.
Another shake of her head. “Not a chance. She’d sneaked out of the house when she was grounded and was probably with someone our parents wouldn’t have approved of. She would have been in serious trouble.”
He considered that a moment. “Serious trouble,” he repeated. “Was there anything like physical abuse from your parents?”
It twisted at him that Lana didn’t immediately deny it. Instead, she dragged in a long breath. “My mother slapped Stephanie and me a couple of times when we broke the rules. She didn’t want a whisper of gossip about our behavior, so when the gossip happened, she often flew off the handle.”
Slater wasn’t surprised that this was the first time he was hearing of this. He’d always suspected that Lana’s parents weren’t the sort to air any dirty laundry and would make sure their daughters did the same.
And he wondered if that played into what had happened to Stephanie.
It was hard for him to believe one of them had murdered their own daughter, but it was something he had to consider. After all, Stephanie would have no doubt broken plenty of their rules by having the baby.
Lana tapped something on his father’s notes. It was the date Alicia’s disappearance had been categorized as a murder. “We moved to San Antonio shortly after this,” she said.
He’d known that, but he hadn’t connected the move to anything involving Alicia. And maybe it wasn’t. It was yet another thread, though, that needed to be checked.
“Do you recall your parents ever talking about Alicia?” he asked.
She paused and then went with another headshake. “They rarely discussed anyone who wasn’t in their social circles. You were the exception,” she added. “You must know they didn’t approve of you dating Stephanie.”
“Yeah, I knew, and I think that was part of the appeal for your sister. Being with me was breaking the rules.”
Lana didn’t argue with that. But she did yawn, a reminder that it was already past midnight. She quickly tried to cover the yawn and look back at the notes, but he knew it was time to call it a night.
“Let’s try to get some sleep,” he suggested, glancing at the monitors and then at the sofa. “I can sleep in here and keep an eye on the security cameras. I’m guessing they’ll make some kind of sound if someone comes near the place?”
Lana nodded and held up her phone. “It’ll beep, and the system will alert me, too, on the app.” She motioned toward the adjoining bath. “There are toiletries and even some clothes in there. Not sure any of them will fit you, but my boss tries to keep a wide range of sizes stocked in case he has to move someone here with just the clothes on their back.”
Slater had showered and changed into clean clothes right before Lana had left the baby on his doorstep so he figured he’d be okay, especially since they’d be heading back to Saddle Ridge as soon as her interview was finished.
Lana’s phone dinged with a text, and she frowned when she glanced at the screen.
“One of your parents?” Slater asked.