Besides, there was a camp who most likely believed Ashlyn had started dabbling in drugs, got mixed up with a local trying to score some and then got herself abducted because everyone but probably this kid knew that a blond American girl would fetch a damn high price in a human trafficking ring. It sickened him to think about a child being used in this way—sold to twisted bastards—but it happened every day. Human trafficking was a global-fucking-epidemic.
He thought about the picture of Ashlyn, the innocence she portrayed. Anger fired through him at the thought of that innocence being taken away, the thought of another kid being damaged or hurt.
“Tell me about the vacation,” Daniel said. He needed to hold onto that anger and channel it into a relentless search. Human traffickers—if that’s what they were dealing with and he could only guess at this point—had sophisticated systems in place. Systems that would be difficult to infiltrate.
A few seconds passed before his passenger cleared her throat and straightened her body, facing forward again.
“They left the weekend before the fourth of July. The DeSanchos family always travels that week and Ashlyn had gone with them before. They used to have a lake house, big place on Lake Travis and would take her there on family trips,” she said. “This was the first time they were traveling out of state let alone out of the country with her. I didn’t like it.”
“How’d you feel about Ashlyn going with them to their lake house?” He wanted to gauge her overall comfort with her niece traveling with the family. Could be that she overreacted about every situation or there could be something deeper with the DeSanchos that she had yet to reveal.
“My sister knew how I felt,” she admitted.
So, she didn’t like it.
“Boats and alcohol don’t mix very well. The lake is downright crowded on a good day. Make it a holiday weekend and forget it,” she blurted out.
“Are the DeSanchos drinkers?”
“Socially. My sister said they never drank around the kids,” Clara said.
“Was Ashlyn a good swimmer?”
“Great. Stella started her young in swimming lessons. Even took her through that survivalist training program where the teacher throws the kids in the water fully clothed at like six-years-old,” she said. “I thought it was too aggressive but my sister reminded me that this is Texas. Home of multiple days of hundred-plus degree summers. Seems like everyone has a swimming pool in the backyard. Ashlyn needed to be prepared for anything in case she fell in by accident.”
“Sounds like something a good mother would think about.” He was too ashamed to admit that he had limited experience dealing with the psychology of mothers. His wife had run the show when it came to their daughter while he was off fighting the enemy. Or so he’d believed. Turned out that in his line of work the enemy wasn’t always as he or she appeared.
“What Ashlyn needed was self-defense class,” Clara admitted and then became a little too quiet. “My sister did her best. She did a much better job than I ever could.”
“Are there any siblings in the picture?” he asked. “Does your sister have other children?”
“No.”
“What about stepdad? He come into the marriage with any kids?”
“None that I know of.” Again, he picked up on the note of dislike in her tone.
“You’re a shrink—”
“Psychologist,” she corrected.
“Same difference.”
“Not at all,” she said.
“My point is that you must have a professional opinion about your sister’s husband. I’d like to hear it,” he said.
“Bottom line is that I just don’t like Timothy Durango,” she said on a sigh. “It’s probably because he and Ashlyn never really got along because God knew he took up all my sister’s time after the two met. He kept her wrapped up in his life, tennis with his boss’s wife, cocktail parties almost every weekend. My sister had quit that game years ago when Ashlyn came along.”
“Your sister seemed to take extra care when it came to her daughter. Extreme swimming lessons, the works. Seems like she was trying to make sure the girl was prepared.”
“I guess I would’ve done things differently with Ashlyn,” she admitted with a shrug.
“How bad did it get between your niece and her stepdad?” he asked.
“Bad enough that Ashlyn started staying with me or her father as much as possible. Stella didn’t like it and it caused friction between us. Ashlyn and I have always been close but when my sister started dating Timothy the two of us bonded even more.”
“Which upset your sister.”
“Stella thought Ashlyn was running away from the situation rather than dealing with it. She wanted the two of them to get along and thought forcing them together would magically fix everything.” Clara pinched the bridge of her nose.
“What beef did the two of them have?”
“Timothy swears Ashlyn had been stealing from his bar, which was extensive. I’m not sure the guy knew how much he had accurately.”
“Are telling me he was a straight-up liar?” He figured this wasn’t the time to share some of his teenage exploits.
“She might’ve been pushing the boundaries.”
“Teenage years are all about pushing back against rules. Trying to figure life out,” he added.
She rocked her head. “Exactly. Was she pulling stuff? Sure. It was pretty typical for her age, though.”
“Someone in your profession would know all about those different phases.”
“I’ve seen rebellious teen angst and families in crisis play out first hand in my office,” she said. “But what’s been going on with Ashlyn and Stella is different.”
“How do you mean?”
“Ashlyn fundamentally is a good kid. Last year, for her birthday rather than ask for presents she had everyone bring a new stuffed animal to be donated to a children’s hospital,” she said.
“Sounds like a good kid.” He didn’t see the need to remind her there was a big difference between a twelve-year-old and a thirteen-year-old. It sounded like a lot had happened to the kid in the past year, as well. “I have to say. There’s
