Now Bridget turned on Stephanie. “No, I don’t want to hear anything this stranger has to say. He doesn’t know our family.”
Bridget spun around toward the front door, only to find Anna standing in front of it. “Mom, please, for once just listen, because I’ve been too terrified to tell you all these years.”
Bridget’s face went slack.
41
“Are you hungry?” Nick asked, as we got back in his car.
I was, but I was also tired of this case. As much as I enjoyed spending time with Nick, I needed a break. “Not really. You can just drop me off at home on your way.”
Nick didn’t respond, and was quiet for the rest of the drive.
I walked in my house, closed the door and leaned against it. What kind of world did we live in, where men preyed on young teenage girls? I wondered if most parents had any idea how dangerous the Internet could be. Then again, it’s dangerous for adults, too. Being smart was the only way to protect yourself.
I didn’t have the energy to prepare a meal, so grabbed a bottle from the fridge and poured myself a glass of wine. Hair of the dog, so to speak.
And speaking of dogs, I looked in the backyard, sipped my wine, and watched Lola as she slept peacefully in her dog house. I wanted her life at the moment.
I thought about calling Charles to see if he was okay, but I really wanted to be removed from the case for at least a few hours.
Suddenly, my clothes felt dirty, so I went into the bedroom and changed into gray yoga pants, a snug sports bra, and a fitted black workout shirt. Workout clothes, they aren’t just for working out anymore.
Walking back into the living room, I grabbed a novel I’d been reading and curled up in my favorite club chair with a blanket.
Several pages into the novel, I realized I hadn’t comprehended anything I’d read. My mind kept wandering. Sebastian, and why he’d disconnected and not returned my call. Charles, and what had caused him to lose it at the Anderson house. Nick, and what the hell was going on between us.
With Charles, I knew better than to breach the subject of his tirade. When he was ready to talk, he would, but more than likely, he would never bring up the subject again. There were things in Charles’ past that would stay there forever. I was good with that.
Nick, why did he have to keep showing up in my life? He seemed to care, but just how much, I didn’t know. Was the ball in my court? Maybe I needed to be the aggressor and let him know I wanted to take things a step further. How could I when I didn’t know the answer myself?
One thing I did know, Sebastian had approached me. Whether or not I wanted to pursue it was another matter. I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easy.
I put my novel on the table next to my chair and pulled out my cell phone. One deep breath to gather my nerve, then I dialed.
I couldn’t believe it; he’d ignored my call. I know, because it only rang two times before going to voicemail. I hesitated for a split second, contemplated leaving a message, and then hung up. Asshole!
Why did I put myself out there like that? I should have just let it be. Now I felt like dirt for calling, and being so stupid as to believe he was really interested.
I slammed my phone on the table and it rang.
“Sorry, I have a new phone and I accidentally hung up on the call instead of answering.” Sebastian’s voice was low and sexy.
Inside my ego was screaming, “Yes! He called back.” On the outside I was playing it cool.
“No big deal. It’s just that you left so abruptly last night.” Did I sound cool, or desperate?
“Things are nuts at work, too. We just picked up a huge account, and I’ll be leaving for Paris in the morning.” He sounded apologetic.
“Oh.” My sixth sense told me this was the kiss off. I’ll be out of town for the rest of your life, sorry.
“Mimi, it’s not like that. I’ll only be gone a few weeks.”
“Like what?” Lame. “I’m sure you’ll love Paris.”
“No, I hate Paris. I don’t speak the language, and they hate that. I’m just lucky our company hires a translator for the trip.”
I got ready to disconnect. “If you feel like it, and you don’t find a French model to fall in love with, call me when you get home.” I pulled the phone from my ear and was poised to push the little red “goodbye asshole” button when I heard a noise.
“MIMI?”
I put the phone back to my ear. “What?”
“We still have tonight, if I’m not rushing things.”
My heart nearly burst. Yes! “Tell you what, you bring me Chinese, and we can rush things a bit.”
I hung up the phone and sprinted to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and saw dark circles under my eyes, dry lips and hair that looked like rats had nested there.
A quick once over, I dabbed on a bit of concealer for the circles, and some lip stain and a smidgen of gloss on my lips. A quick dusting of blusher on the cheeks made me look a bit fresher.
On closer look, I swear I had more wrinkles than I’d had that morning. Nothing I could do about that in such a short time, so I moved on to see what I could do with my hair.
Ever notice when things aren’t going well in a girl’s life, she tends to make major changes to her hair? I’d almost done the same a few weeks earlier. I thought about it again as I grabbed my long waves at about shoulder length and contemplated cutting it. Then I dropped the length of it and examined the roots. Lifting and sifting through my scalp, I decided I still had a few weeks before I needed a touch up. But this time, I planned to go to my stylist and redo my caramel highlights.
Messy hair seemed to be in, so I just did some finger styling and pulled it up in a high, loose ponytail.
I’d contemplated changing clothes, but I didn’t want to look too anxious or interested. Besides, by the time I’d thought of it, I could hear knocking at the door, and it was a bit too late.
I rushed to the door, but stopped short and did one last check in the mirror before looking in the peephole. God help me, I think ancient karma was coming back to haunt me. It was Charles.
I stepped to the side of the door and waited. Maybe if I didn’t answer, he’d go away. I should’ve known it was too soon for it to be Sebastian. Charles was dead set on ruining my sex life, whether he knew it or not.
Charles knocked again and I jumped. The man had ESP (extra snoopy perception), and he knew I was home.
“Mimi,” he yelled. “Get off the damn toilet and answer the door.”
Because I’ve known Charles for so long, this wouldn’t normally embarrass me, but just after he yelled, I heard another voice.
“Charles, how ya doing?”
It was Sebastian, and now I had to answer the door. I cursed Charles silently and opened the door wide.
“I hope you washed your hands.” Charles pushed past me into the house.
“I wasn’t on the toilet.” I turned to see Sebastian with the classic brown paper bag. He’d bought a lot of food.
I must have been staring at the bags with a weird expression because, he said, “I wasn’t sure what you like.”
My soul smiled, and I’m pretty sure it came through on my face. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m easy. I pretty much like everything when it comes to Chinese.”
“Chinese? I’m starving.” Charles came back to the door and grabbed the bag from Sebastian. “I’ll grab plates.”
Great, so much for rushing things. I ushered Sebastian into the living room and closed the door.
“Did you invite Charles, too?” He looked a bit disappointed.
I looked back toward the kitchen, watching Charles disappear. “Sorry, he just showed up. He’s been known to do that at times.”
“No problem. Maybe it’s for the best. That way we can’t start something we can’t stop.” He winked, and we headed into the kitchen too.
“Am I interrupting something?” Charles feigned innocence.
“Not at
all. Mimi and I were just going to eat Chinese and talk about the French.” Sebastian helped Charles take down plates and dish out the food. Five plates in all: peanut chicken, cashew chicken, General Tso’s chicken, beef with broccoli, and pork fried rice. Charles put the huge helping of white rice in a bowl.
“Sticks or forks?” I reached into the silverware drawer. I heard sticks and forks, so I brought both to the table.
“So Sebastian, what brings you here?” Charles stuffed his mouth full of beef with broccoli while he waited for the answer.
“Mimi invited me. We were going to discuss my trip to France.” Sebastian rivaled Charles in the stuff your mouth contest.
I picked at my delicious plate of cashew chicken and watched the two men. I figured when they were ready, they’d include me.
“I see.” It sounded more like “I shee” as Charles was speaking around his food.
“You?” Even though Sebastian had food in his mouth too, it didn’t sound as bad.
“I just brought something for Mimi to see. I thought she might find it was interesting.” Charles stopped eating for a moment and pulled his iPad out of the messenger bag he’d brought in with him.
I was intrigued, but said, “You couldn’t have called first?”
“It’s not like you’re ever doing anything.” Charles glanced at Sebastian. “Well, it’s not like this is normal.”
I could have strangled him, but then the homicide unit would arrive and… oh my freaking God, there was another knock at the door.
I slammed my fork onto the table and went to go answer. I didn’t even bother to look in the peephole before opening the door wide. Damn, I thought for sure it was going to be Jackie.
“Hello, Nick!” It just couldn’t get any better than this - every man in my life in the same room at the same time. “Come on in, we’re eating Chinese food.”
Nick looked past me into the kitchen. “We?”
“Yeah, Charles and Sebastian are here, too.”
“Sebastian’s here? Charles called and said to meet here. He had something.” Confusion clouded Nick’s expression.
“Oh, the more the merrier. Come on in.” I felt a pulsing headache coming on.
Nick and Sebastian were polite, but barely acknowledged each other.
Once we were seated and Nick’s plate was full, Charles opened the cover on his iPad, and we all scooted closer together to look. Since this wasn’t classified, Sebastian looked, too.
“See that?” Charles pointed at a picture of someone’s backyard.
“What are we looking at? It’s someone’s yard.” Nick squinted and looked closer.
I saw it immediately. “It’s the neighbor.”
Charles pointed to the face just on the other side of the fence. “The neighbor was looking over the fence into William’s yard when this photo was taken.”
Everyone had stopped eating, except Sebastian. It’s not like any of this interested him, and by now I’m sure he wanted the hell out of here.
Curious, I asked, “Do you know who took the photo?”
“I have no way of knowing, but it was on William’s hard drive, along with hundreds of other family photos. Seems they had quite a few backyard picnics. There are at least a dozen BBQ photos. Some with only adults, but most had small children and tweens in them.”
This picture had a slightly younger looking Anna along with four other young girls, all dressed in bathing suits and playing on a Slip-N-Slide™. The neighbor was only visible peering through the fence because Charles had enhanced the photo. I couldn’t identify the other girls with Anna.
We were all silent for a moment, just staring and analyzing. I could hear Sebastian chewing. I looked up and smiled. He smiled back, a bit of sauce running down his lip. I reached across and wiped it.
Suddenly, it seemed all eyes were on me. I wiped my hand on a napkin, and diverted my attention back to the iPad photo.
“So maybe this neighbor knows something about the goings on at the Garrison house.” Nick pulled a pad of paper from his pocket and flipped through the pages.
“Seriously, Nick? Paper? It is 2012.” Charles was appalled that Nick didn’t have any sort of digital device, just a pen and paper.
“Yes, Charles, because I know exactly how to use a pen and paper without needing hours of technical training, and I know where my notepad is at all times. It can never be hacked, and never be accidentally erased. Just ask my old homicide partner about that.” He’d stopped flipping.
Charles coughed out, “Stone age.”
“Here,” Nick pointed to his pad. “The patrol officers canvassed the neighborhood asking questions, and no one seemed to know anything about William Garrison. They said he was quiet and kept to himself. I haven’t heard back from anyone who seemed suspicious. As a matter of fact, everyone seemed shocked that this happened.” He flipped the pad shut.
“So?” If Nick wasn’t going back to William’s neighborhood, I sure as hell was. “What now?”
We’d eaten at least half from each of the plates and most of the steamed rice when Nick stood. “So much for eating. Come on, Mimi, let’s go.”
I looked at Sebastian. I wouldn’t be seeing him again for weeks. He looked at me with a weak smile. He knew he’d lost.
“Go,” he waved me on. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“Don’t mind me,” Charles mumbled, and shoved more rice in his mouth.
I hesitated. This was so rude. “I’ll meet you out in the car. I need to change clothes and say goodbye to Sebastian.”
I was pretty sure I saw the veins in Nick’s tired eyes get even redder. “Make it quick, time is of the essence here,” Nick said, and he was gone.
So said the man who’d just been sitting at my table stuffing his face full of Chinese food Sebastian had paid for.
“Charles, give Sebastian some money for the food we ate. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to be paying for dinner for four.”
I leaned down and kissed Sebastian on the cheek. “I’m so sorry about this, but a teenage girl is missing.”
“Some things just aren’t meant to be, I guess.” He put his hands around my neck and pulled me close. Then he kissed me on the forehead. In my ear, he whispered, “So much for rushing things.”
My heart thumped hard, and I took his hands and kissed them. “Have a safe trip. And if you get lonely, call me.”
I left before I could do anything stupid. Instead of completely changing my clothes, I slipped on black ballet-style shoes and a long blazer to camouflage the yoga pants.
I heard Charles say, “You aren’t really going to Paris, are you?”
I hummed to myself, so I couldn’t hear Sebastian’s response. As I walked out the front door of my house, I knew I’d never hear from him again. I wasn’t sure if I was okay with it.
When I got in the passenger seat of Nick’s car, he said, “Really, what’s up with you two?”
I could honestly say, “Absolutely nothing. Just friends. He was coming over to say goodbye before he leaves for Paris.”
Nick was silent, but I thought I saw a grin on his lips.
“So why am I going with you? You want me to work my feminine wiles on the neighbor?”
Nick flipped his notes open again and called in on his car radio. He asked the dispatcher for the homeowners’ information for the houses on either side of the Garrison home. He gave the dispatcher house numbers, and he waited.
“No, I’ve seen you work your feminine whiles, and we aren’t that desperate yet.”
I smacked him on the shoulder just as the dispatcher came back on the radio. “2304 is Gretchen Miller, and 2300 is Leonard Crowhopper.”
Nick disconnected. “Mr. Crowhopper must be our nosy neighbor. Let’s pay him a visit.”
Not that I was one to look a gift horse in the mouth, since there was no reason for Nick so let me be any part of this case, but I asked, “Why am I coming along?”
“So I can keep an eye on you.” His matter-of-fact tone m
ade me wonder what he was up to.
“Did I do something?”
“I don’t know, but after I get the 411 on this Crowhopper guy, I’ll have time to talk to you. And I want you where I can get in touch without having to track you down.” He pulled the car over in front of Garrison’s house.
I thought I saw the curtains move at Crowhopper’s house, but it could’ve been my imagination.
Nick didn’t get out of the car immediately, but when he did, he said, “Stay here a minute.”
He went to the trunk of his car, came around and opened the passenger door. I noticed he had a black Kevlar vest and a homicide jacket in his hands.
“We can’t be too careful. Put these on.” He handed me the vest first.
I got out of the car and put the vest on, adjusting it to fit snugly. Nick turned me around and made a few more adjustments. After a few more tugs and pulls, he helped me put on the Salinas Police Department jacket. It was a little big, but covered the vest nicely. The ballet slippers were a bit out of place, but how did I know I’d be playing a pretend cop?
“Ready?” Nick asked.
“Do you think this is really necessary?” I shoved my hands in the pockets.
“Just play along for a change.” Nick walked in front of me toward Crowhopper’s house.
We both stood to the side of the front door. Nick knocked and we waited. And waited. He knocked again. “Mr. Crowhopper? Salinas Police Department. Please answer the door.”
I was sure I could hear some noise inside, but no one answered the door. I looked at Nick. “Well?”
“Let’s just wait another minute.” He knocked again.
Finally, a voice said, “Just a minute. I’m coming. Please don’t knock down my door.”
Nick stepped back. I had to admit, the man’s voice didn’t sound very intimidating. We looked at each other, and then both turned to the door when we heard the lock move.
“Leonard Crowhopper?” Nick asked when the man opened the door wide.
“Yes? What can I do for you?”
I’d seen him before. He was the neighbor who came out to talk to Charles and me. He wasn’t at all meek then, and didn’t seem meek now. I wondered why he’d been hesitant to open his door.
Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery Box Set Page 33