Free Light of Day by Allison van Diepen Page B

of tears. But I was going to keep it together. I had to.
    It was a hard show to get through, but I made it. I talked more about Bree, gave some funny anecdotes about her. Then I talked about violence against women. About how all women needed to plan for their own safety. I ended with, “It’sa beautiful, ugly world out there. This is Gabby Perez wishing you a good, safe night.”
    Caballero actually gave me a hug before I handed off to him. I went into the control room, where Olive said, “They’re retweeting Bree’s picture like crazy.”
    â€œGood.” That was something, at least.
    But I worried that it wouldn’t be enough.
    There he was.
    Through the faint, misty rain, I saw X leaning against my car as I left the station. Something inside me lit up.
    He wore a black shirt under a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers. Tough, sexy, at home in his own skin. I had been aching to see him.
    â€œGood job putting the word out,” X said, bypassing small talk.
    â€œTried my best. I hope it didn’t seem random, texting you about Bree. But if you’re out there anyway, I figured it was worth a shot.”
    â€œDon’t worry. I get it.”
    That put me at ease, and I managed a smile. “How’ve you been? Did you ever catch up with our buddy Raul?”
    â€œI’m almost there.” He cleared his throat, slipping his hands into his pockets. I felt the weight of his pause, and Iknew that something bad was coming. “It’s not going to be easy for you to hear this.”
    My gut tensed. “Hear what?”
    â€œOne of my guys saw Bree around a few times.”
    â€œ What ? He saw her? When?”
    â€œA month ago, before she went missing. He saw her hanging out at clubs with a guy he was keeping tabs on, a pimp named Milo. She was new to his entourage and looked underage. He’s sure it’s the missing girl on TV.”
    I struggled to process this. Bree was hanging out with a pimp ? It didn’t make any sense. “It must’ve been another girl. I’m sure a lot of girls look like her.”
    â€œTrue. But I trust his eye.”
    â€œHe didn’t take pictures of them, did he?” I asked, hopeful.
    â€œNo. If only it were that easy.”
    â€œSo what do you think is happening?”
    â€œYou know her, Gabby. I don’t. Why do you think she’d be hanging around with a pimp?”
    I fumbled for an explanation. “Bree might not know he’s a pimp. Or—” I bit my lip, not wanting to say it. “She might be with him against her will. Maybe she was drugged.”
    I saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes, and hurried on. “Bree’s from a good family. I just can’t picture her running off with some pimp. It doesn’t add up.”
    â€œYou saw her page. All those posts about love. Could be she’s fallen for Milo. It’s too soon to call this one, Gabby. We’ll find her, but we have to do it right. Take it slow.”
    â€œSlow?” It was the last thing I wanted to hear. “If it’s actually her . . . she could be going through hell right now. He could be forcing her to turn tricks. Maybe if you could get a picture of this Milo guy, the press would circulate it.”
    X shook his head. “It wouldn’t help. Pimps are very mobile. We know for a fact that Milo has connections all over the country. If he smells the cops, he’ll skip town. He could send Bree off to another city or trade her with another pimp. We’d probably never see her again.”
    Send Bree away? Trade her off? My head was spinning. I reminded myself that we didn’t know for sure that it was her. We didn’t know anything for sure.
    His expression was gentle. “You gotta keep it in perspective, Gabby. Bree is probably alive. If my guy hadn’t spotted her with that pimp, we’d have no reason to believe that. More likely she’d be lying in an unmarked