Larkey: Hope Springs Eternal - Chapter 4
The Friend
Larkey had passed by the Lava Lounge several times but had never gone inside. During the day, it was full of loud children and at night it was full of loud music and loud adults. Larkey preferred the smoking lounge one level up, which was full of leather chairs and had one bar that served Johnny Walker Black. He stood on the threshold of the Lava Lounge and looked around. About twenty children ranging in age from five to fifteen were painting a large mural that had been stretched over drop paper on the floor. Mermaids and seahorses and tropical islands. Larkey waved at a chaperone, a skinny young man in tiny shorts. He jogged over at once, his face one big smile.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Is there a girl named Annalise here right now?”
The young man rubbed the back of his head. “Are you her father?”
“No.”
“Then I can’t really…”
“I’m a detective,” he said – a white lie.
“This is about Spring, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“Annalise is here, but I’ll need to contact her mother before you speak with her.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Larkey.
The boy swiped through the contacts on his phone and then sent out a text. The reply was immediate. “She’s on her way.”
Five minutes later a woman came through the casino on a bee-line to the Lava Lounge. She was wearing a yellow bikini and a thin, white robe that didn’t reach her knees and even though it was still an hour before noon, she carried a strawberry daiquiri in a whale-bone glass. Her blonde hair was cut straight at the shoulders and there was a weariness in her eyes that Larkey noticed immediately. It was a look that suggested recent struggles.
“You must be Annalise’s mother,” said Larkey.
“Shit. What did she do now?”
“Nothing, nothing. Sorry. I’m Phil Larkey. F.B.I, retired. I’m helping the McFaddens.”
“Spring is still missing?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Jennifer Dalton,” the woman said, shaking Larkey’s hand. “Anna told me that Spring’s parents were looking for her but… shit… she’s really missing? Like, ‘missing’ missing?”
“Seems that way. I was hoping to talk to your daughter. Just a couple questions.”
“Of course. Let me get her.” Larkey watched as Jennifer walked over to a blonde girl with gangly legs. They spoke for a moment then came over to where he stood.
“This is Mr. Larkey. He’s a police officer.”
“No, no. Retired agent. I’m on vacation. But Spring’s parents are worried about their daughter and I’m helping them find her.”
“I don’t know where she is,” said Annalise in a soft voice.
“What can you tell me about Spring? What was she talking about yesterday?”
Annalise shrugged. “Normal stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Just normal stuff.”
“It’s been a long time since I was twelve years old, Anna,” said Larkey, patiently. “What’s ‘normal stuff’ for you girls?”
“I don’t know… her family? School. Her boyfriend. Normal stuff.”
“What about her family?”
“She said her dad was acting weird.”
“Weird how?”
She looked at her mom and shrugged. “Just weird.”
Larkey pulled out his notebook and scribbled shorthand messages to himself, helpful reminders. “What about the boy she was into? Is he here, too?”
Annalise shook her head.
“Where is he?”
“At the pool.”
“At the pool? You know that for sure?”
“Well, he’s the lifeguard, so he should be.”
“Wait,” said Jennifer. “How old is this boy?”
Annalise didn’t say anything.
“You called him Spring’s boyfriend,” said Larkey, a jolt of apprehension traveling down his spine. “Did you mean that she just had a crush on him, maybe?”
“I saw them holding hands,” the girl said. “They were up top, on the long benches, watching the sunset and they were holding hands but they didn’t know I could see them. But he gave her notes and I saw one of them and he said she was the most beautiful girl on the ship which isn’t true at all.”
“Anna!”
“Well, it’s not. Spring was pretty. But come on.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” said Jennifer. “Spring is twelve years old. She can’t be out holding hands with some man. Or getting love letters from him.”
“I did tell you,” said Annalise. “You were drunk.”
Jennifer reacted like she’d been slapped. She set the whale bone glass on a nearby table.
“I need to go,” said Larkey.