Revealed

58. Mama Dee

The police are still looking for her. I don't understand where she could have gone. They keep telling me that they are trying their hardest, but from what I can see, nothing is actually being done.

I stomp  into the station with steam practically coming out of my ears. "I need to speak with Detective Joan right now." There's persistence in my voice.

The worker behind the desk tries her hardest to be intimidating. "You are going to have to take a seat and wait just like everyone else ma'am"

"No. I need to speak with her now."

"Ma'am, there's no other way I can tell you this, but you need to sit and wait."

I'm about to lose my temper when Detective Joan appears through a door and says, "The famous Mama Deetra. How great it is to see you again. Please, follow me."

I give the employee at the front desk an evil eye before I speak under my breath "Smh." and walk in the direction of Joan.

We walk down a hallway. I'm few feet behind her. "Where are we in the investigation?"

Joan's head tilts just a bit as she walks with her hands entangled together behind her. "We haven't found her yet. All of the evidence is scattered around and none of it really makes sense on how it's connected. All I can tell you at this point is that she may not have even been kidnapped. She's eighteen. She can legally leave on her own."

I'm appalled at her words. "Excuse me? Why would she just leave? She has nothing out there for her." I raise my voice.

Joan stops and faces me. "Don't you think that's a question you and her friends should probably be answering?"

Running my hands across my face and taking a deep breath, I ask, " What about cameras? You're telling me there was none that caught what happened that night?"

"Deetra. You know we've been friends since college. And what a coincidence it was that we both moved from England to this small city. You know I wouldn't want to harm your future or anything. But the cameras installed in your shop do not cover the whole area. Your security does not show the front of the shop. We can only see the register and into the kitchen."

My heart begins to speed up because I've known that fact for a while now. I've been working on installing another camera, but there had been a time when business was very slow and I just couldn't afford it. I had meant to get it done, but when Solie was kidnapped, or I hate to think that she just up and left, I was not in my right mind to worry about anything else but her.

Joan continues to speak. "The footage of what we have has been reviewed. Solane was walking on her own. She was cleaning by the register and a few minutes later, the front door opened. We heard it. After that, she was not seen on camera again. There were no screams. No signs of forced anything. We even saw her pick up her handbag just before wiping down the register again. From all we have, she must have left on her own. And like I said, she's of age. She can legally do that."

Detective Joan sighs. Here comes the bad part. "Dee, right after Solane left the shop, your cameras froze. Because this interferes with our investigation, we could press charges for your security not being well equipped and for the fact that, if you think about it, your shop was not secured properly with cameras."

It feels like I had just been stabbed in the heart. All my depression is rushing back to the surface. I can feel it. Joan puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Dee. If you accept the fact that Solane might have just walked away herself, you could be saving yourself a lot of trouble."

She turns to walk away, leaving me standing in the middle of the hall alone. Then she says one last thing before heading off. "And if I were you, I'd get that camera problem fixed really quick."

I stand in the hall alone. My knees are weak and everything is falling apart. I had already lost my husband. Now I'm losing my child. Why is the universe going against me? I have no one now. My tears can't be held back.