Martha said the first step was to secure Sky's own voice in the process. She wanted an independent advocate appointed, copies of the relevant placement records, and a review of the reports concerning personal belongings and staff conduct. She also wanted clear information about any adults asking agencies for the girl's location. "Do not investigate by following people or trying to get into accounts," she warned. "Get the paperwork you are entitled to request, preserve messages you actually receive, and let the appropriate investigators obtain anything restricted." Gregory agreed more readily than Terry expected.
That evening Sky returned for a supervised art session and found the men behaving with unnatural politeness. Jeff offered her a chair twice, Jimmy asked whether she wanted water three times, and Gregory kept looking toward the front gate. She set down her notebook and stared at them. "You know something," she said.
Jimmy made a vague noise that fooled absolutely no one. "I've been in enough houses where adults pretend nothing's wrong. You all look exactly like that."
Lucy stepped into the clean painting area before the argument could begin. She told Sky that they had found documents showing Luther had tried to care for her and that they were asking a lawyer to review them. She also said they had reason to believe somebody from an old dispute involving Luther had been interested in his custody case. Sky went still.
"Is he looking for me?" she asked. Lucy did not say no merely because she wished the answer were no. "We don't know yet, and we're checking through the people responsible for your safety."
Sky considered the information, then opened the back of her notebook. Between two pages she had taped a small business card with a dark blue border. "A man gave me this at a bus station," she said. "He asked my name and whether I knew Luther Holloway.
I thought he was another person who remembered my brother." The card identified a licensed private investigator named Colin Rusk, with a phone number and mailing address. On the back, in hurried handwriting, was the name of a town near the garage.
"What did you tell him?" Lucy asked. "Nothing at first. Then he asked whether I'd ever seen the Iron Jaws place. I left before he finished talking."
Sky glanced toward the open garage door. "He wasn't mean. That was the strange part. He sounded like the kind of man who already knew what I was going to say." Lucy photographed the card, returned it to Sky, and called Natalie with the girl's permission.