The photo showed a nice-looking guy, tallish and slender, with dark brown eyes, curly brown hair, and one of those charming crinkly smiles that says “I’m a nice guy who sends his mom flowers on her birthday.” He had an arm around Hayley, who was snuggling into his chest with a happy smile. It was a sweet picture. They looked like the kind of kids you rooted for, the ones who gave you hope for a nicer, kinder generation. My heart sank at the thought that one of them might be in grave danger.
“I’m going to forward this to Bailey’s phone,” I said. “Okay?” Not that I needed her permission, but it felt like the civilized thing to do.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Does this guy go to college? Have a job?”
Mackenzie shrugged. “Don’t know.” But her eyes darted away from mine as she answered. Another possibility entered the equation.
“Is it possible Hayley ran away with Brian? Would she do that without telling you?”
Mackenzie picked up the earbud wire and looped it around her fingers. “I don’t know…I wouldn’t have thought so before. But now…”
The unspoken end of the sentence: Since Brian the Interloper had come between her and Hayley, all bets were off. But that made me consider a less savory possibility.
“What do you think of Brian?”
“He’s okay, I guess.”
“Is he the kind of guy who might hurt Hayley?”
Mackenzie jerked up, her expression stunned, and shook her head vigorously. “Never! No!” She frowned. “I kind of felt like he got between me and Hayley, and she’s my best friend in the world, so, you know…” Mackenzie shrugged, then looked directly at me for the first time. “But there was nothing bad about him. He’s a really good guy. Even to me. I just didn’t like that after he showed up, there was hardly any time for just me and Hayley.”
Pretty forthright and fair-minded of her to admit all that. And the sentiment felt genuine. I’d been considering the possibility that Brian had kidnapped Hayley to make some fast money-and I wasn’t about to let go of that theory just yet. But if Mackenzie’s assessment was accurate, it was a less likely scenario than the alternative I’d been considering: that Hayley had run away with Brian and cooked up the kidnapping scheme to give them some starter money. It was an ugly possibility, and one that spoke to some serious problems between Hayley and her parents. But it did have the virtue of ensuring Hayley’s survival. At least until we brought her home and her father got hold of her.
