Distortion (Moonlighters Series)

by Terri Blackstock

  It didn’t matter, usually, because most of the PI work Juliet did was in an office on a computer. But she was glad to do this one on the street. Following her husband’s mistress, the mother of his baby, might uncover more secrets about the people who had made her a widow. But there was more. Revenge pulsed through her in a way that shamed her. She had never hated anyone before, and had never sought revenge for anything in her life. Vengeance was God’s, and she trusted him with it. This sudden thirst for vengeance was foreign to her, and she knew it needed prayer.

  She sat in the backseat, her zoom lens trained on the house. Holly sat on the bench seat behind her, watching through binoculars.

  They sat there for the next hour, listening to the radio and trying to keep their minds occupied. It was 9:00 a.m. now, and Amber hadn’t come out of the house.

  “This could be a really boring day,” Holly said. “If she doesn’t do something soon, I’m going to have to find a bathroom.”

  Through the zoom lens, Juliet saw the garage door going up. She caught her breath. “She’s coming out!”

  Juliet zoomed in closer and saw Amber with the baby on her hip. She was decked out in a business suit, a short blazer, and a skirt with high heels. The baby wore a onesie, and his feet were bare.

  She snapped pictures, just in case they needed them later, then clicked on her digital voice recorder. “Subject leaving residence at 955 Anchor Boulevard at 9:03 a.m., with baby.” She watched Amber buckle the baby into his car seat in the back then go around to the driver’s side.

  “Why is she so dressed up?” Holly asked, ignoring the tape. “Maybe she has a new job.”

  “If she did, I think the FBI would have mentioned it.”

  “A job interview, then? She could be dropping the baby off at daycare along the way.”

  Amber started her car and backed out, so Juliet handed the camera to Holly and, pulling her baseball cap low over her forehead, got into the driver’s seat. She started the van and turned it around in a driveway, then slowly drove up the street, not wanting to hit the stop sign until Amber had turned and passed them. Then she quickly got to the stop sign, turned left, and followed at a distance behind Amber, dictating every turn as she went.

  “Did you see the baby?” Juliet asked as she drove.

  “Yeah,” Holly said. “Weird. He looks exactly like Abe.”

  “Who looks like Bob.” Tears stung Juliet’s eyes again, but she forced them back. She didn’t have time for that now. Amber turned off the main road, cut across to another highway, turned left. Juliet followed her, allowing two or three cars to get between them. Finally Amber turned into a bank parking lot, the same bank where Juliet and Bob had accounts—Centennial Bank. But Juliet had never used this branch.

  “Quick, just pull over here on the road,” Holly said. “We have a good view without going into the parking lot.”

  Juliet pulled over and slid into the rear seat again. She took the camera from Holly and zoomed in. Amber was out of the car with the back door open, talking to the baby. She closed the door without getting him out and high-heeled in.

  “She’s leaving the baby in the car!” Juliet said. “It’s too hot for that.”

  Holly’s hand went to her stomach. “I wonder if she left the car on for the AC.”

  Juliet looked up at the bank sign that had the temperature. “It’s ninety-five degrees. The baby could bake in there.”

  “What do you think she’s doing?”

  “Maybe she’s got an account.”

  “She could have driven through if she wants to make a withdrawal or deposit. She’d only go in if she had to talk to a loan officer. I’m going in.”

  Juliet glanced back at her. Holly grabbed the bag she always carried on surveillance and pulled out a blonde wig. Pink hair didn’t blend in well, but usually it didn’t matter. She rarely needed to cover it up.

  She pulled the wig on over her ponytail.

  Juliet gave her a worried look. “Cover your tattoos.”

  Holly unrolled her sleeves, covered them. “Anything showing?”

  “No, you’re good. Be careful.”

  “Here we go.” Holly shoved on sunglasses, got out of the car, and trotted through the parking lot and into the bank. As she waited, Juliet prayed that Amber wouldn’t recognize her. She didn’t think Amber had ever seen Holly, but she couldn’t be sure.

  Juliet began to get hot, and that was with her air conditioner running. Her gaze strayed to Amber’s car and she watched it through her zoom lens. The sun was beating down on the car’s windows. That poor baby was probably right in the sunlight.

  What if Amber had underestimated the heat? What if something happened to the child?

  Juliet knew she should stay here, out of sight, but she couldn’t. She had to check on the baby.

  She shoved on her sunglasses and adjusted her cap. Too bad she didn’t have a wig.

  She got out of the car, stuffing the camera into her big purse. She went around the back of the parking lot, the camera making her bag feel like it weighed a ton. She came up behind Amber’s car on the side away from the bank. She looked in the window. The baby was crying and kicking, his red little face shining with sweat.

  At least Amber could’ve cracked the window a little to allow some air to get in or the hot air to get out. She could’ve parked at an angle where there was shade for the baby, or left the car running with the air on. Or she could have taken the baby in with her. What kind of mother was she?

  The bank doors opened and a customer came out. This was dangerous, but Juliet couldn’t just leave the baby. She tried the handle on the car’s back door.

  It was unlocked. Amber hadn’t even bothered to lock her child in! She opened the door and tried to lower the power windows, but couldn’t without the key. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she said to the screaming baby. He had a bottle with water, but he had dropped it on the seat. She handed it to him, and he took it greedily and began sucking.

  She touched his forehead. He was burning up with fever. Snot crusted under his nose. “You’re going to be all right,” she said. She glanced around inside the car and saw a cell phone sitting on the console. Amber’s phone!

  She thought of taking it, but she hadn’t turned into a thief overnight. No, she could watch her, but she wasn’t going to steal from her. Heart pounding, she straightened up and shut the car door, praying that the child would be all right, and quickly went back the long way around to her van. She got into the backseat and put the camera to her eye.

  Holly came out the side of the bank, strolling slowly. She made her way back to the van and jumped in. “She’s talking to a loan officer,” she said.

  “You think she’s trying to get a loan?”

  “Either that or she’s trying to get access to one of Bob’s accounts. You bank here, right?”

  “Yes. You couldn’t hear what she was saying?”

  “No, I tried to get close, but they were inside a glass office.”

  Juliet’s gaze drifted back to Amber’s car. “I went over to the car.”

  Holly gasped. “Juliet, you didn’t!”

  “I had to. That baby’s in the sun. She didn’t leave the window cracked. He’s crying and kicking and screaming, and he’s burning with fever.”

  “You got that close?”

  “Yes. The door was unlocked. I got in the car and tried to calm him down.”

  “Juliet, that was unbelievably stupid!”

  “I know, but she’s a sorry mother, leaving her child in the car like that. She could’ve taken him in with her or gotten a babysitter. She probably couldn’t take him to daycare, because he’s sick.” She swept her lens back to the bank door. “Her phone was sitting on the console. I thought about taking it.”

  “Wait a minute. You saw her phone and didn’t grab it?”

  “I’m not a thief, Holly.”

  Holly breathed a laugh. “Well, I am.” She got out of the car and cut through the parking lot, came up behind Amber’s car.
Juliet watched through the camera, making sure no one was watching.

  Was Holly seriously going to steal Amber’s phone?

  She watched Holly open the car door, lean in, then quickly back out. She walked back rapidly but nonchalantly. She jumped into the van with a victorious smile. “Got it.”

  “I’m going to kill you,” Juliet said. “You cannot do that!”

  “I’ll bet she’s in there right now trying to steal from you.”

  “I don’t care. It’s not right.”

  “Deal with it. I can’t put it back now,” Holly said.

  The bank door opened, and Amber strutted out. “There she is.” Juliet couldn’t breathe. She put the camera back to her eye and watched as Amber opened her car door, tossed her purse in, then opened the back door to soothe the baby.

  Juliet hoped she would turn the air conditioner on quickly. “Cool your baby off, lady,” she muttered. “Better yet, take him to the doctor!”

  Holly clicked Amber’s phone on. A picture of Bob holding the baby popped up as Amber’s wallpaper. Juliet turned away.

  “I’m writing down her phone numbers and contacts to see who she’s talked to lately. Then I’ll read her e-mails. This thing is a gold mine.”

  “Holly, this is wrong!”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. Get over it. It was a gift. She left her door unlocked. It was sitting on the console in plain sight.”

  “Just because something is accessible doesn’t mean we’re supposed to take it! You weren’t raised by wolves!”

  “You want to solve this or not? I might get some valuable information that will crack this whole case wide open.”

  Juliet could do nothing about it now—Amber was pulling out of the parking lot, and she had no choice but to follow. She quickly slipped back into the driver’s seat, waited for Amber to get a couple of blocks up the road before pulling into traffic. Holly was already going through the phone, taking notes on the back of a drugstore bag.

  Juliet whispered a prayer that the phone would lead to Leonard Miller, or anyone else involved in Bob’s crimes. But they would have to give it back at the next opportunity. Taking it broke one of Michael’s biggest rules: “Never commit your own crime to investigate another one.”

  Not to mention the whole “Do Not Steal” rule in the Bible.

  She brooded as she followed Amber, more nervous now than she’d been before.

  CHAPTER 34

  Juliet glanced in her rearview mirror at Holly in the backseat, writing feverishly. “Holly, it won’t take her long to figure out it’s missing,” she said. “And not having it could interfere with everything she does.”

  Suddenly Amber’s phone rang, and Juliet caught her breath.

  “Answer it,” Holly said, thrusting it at her. “Act like you’re Amber.”

  Juliet couldn’t do it. She looked at the screen. Only a number showed on the caller ID.

  “Answer it!” Holly cried.

  Juliet didn’t, and the phone quit ringing.

  Holly let out a loud grunt. “Juliet, think about this. Amber’s in on all this. She’s communicating with the others. That could have been a call from one of them.”

  “Then why didn’t you answer it?”

  “Because . . . you talked to her. You know how she sounds.”

  “I can’t believe you got us into this position!”

  The phone rang again, and the caller ID showed it was from the same person as before.

  Holly just about came out of her seat. “Answer it, Juliet! Come on!”

  Juliet’s heart almost exploded, but she banished her guilt and clicked it on. “Hello?”

  “Amber, this is Jack. I know I’m only supposed to e-mail you in code, but you weren’t answering.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “Go ahead.”

  “I need to know if we can fish at the same dock.”

  “Yes,” Juliet said, trying to give her voice the same haughty edge as Amber’s.

  “You’re sure the sharks aren’t circling there?”

  It was code. And whatever they were talking about, Juliet wanted the sharks to bite.

  “It’s fine. The place is still clear.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Had she just given herself away?

  “Great. Tomorrow, twenty-three thirty. We’ll need to bring the fish right in to clean them. You’re sure we can do that?”

  Juliet’s throat almost closed up. She looked at Holly in the mirror, terror in her eyes. Ahead, she could see Amber turning. Where were they talking about?

  Holly sent her a prodding look. What fish?

  Juliet swallowed. “I told you. We’re clear.”

  “Okay. Give me a heads-up immediately if anything changes.”

  Juliet hung up and let out a pent-up breath. “I’m sweating.”

  Holly handed her the voice recorder. “Before you forget, dictate every single thing he said.”

  “It was code. Fish, dock, twenty-three thirty. Could that be an address?”

  “Exact words, Juliet. Start with Hello.”

  Juliet followed Amber to another turnoff. She dictated the conversation into the recorder as she drove, praying she hadn’t left anything out.

  When she was finished, Holly almost came over the seat. “Twenty-three thirty. That’s eleven thirty tomorrow night. It has to be a delivery.”

  “But where? What dock? I couldn’t ask without giving myself away.”

  “We’ll figure it out. Maybe Amber will lead us there.”

  Juliet turned the AC up and directed the vent to blow on her. Amber was turning again. “Where is she going? We’re backtracking.”

  Holly winced. “She’s probably realized her phone is gone. Going back to look for it?”

  “Great. Now what do we do? I can’t call the FBI and tell them we stole her phone.”

  “They’ll understand why we took it,” Holly said.

  “Are you crazy? They have to go by the law, Holly!”

  “So what do we do? We have critical information they need to know. We wouldn’t have it if I hadn’t done that.”

  “I don’t know. But I don’t want to do this!” Juliet slammed the steering wheel. “Look at me! I’m following my husband’s mistress and talking to drug traffickers and stealing phones. I won’t be like them!”

  “PIs have to be deceptive sometimes.”

  Juliet let a car get in front of her, hoping Amber still hadn’t seen her. She had to focus. “It’s not the same. I uncover lies by following the rules. But you . . . you never follow rules, Holly! That’s why this whole PI thing is too much temptation for you.”

  “Juliet, we have a time for a delivery now! We have her entire contact list. You’re totally missing that.”

  Juliet didn’t know what to do. If they put the phone back in Amber’s car, would that be enough?

  And it wasn’t just Holly. She had gotten into Amber’s car and touched her baby. She had pretended to be Amber on the phone. Darren and his partner would be livid. But how could the FBI help her if she lied to them?

  “I’m calling Michael,” she said. “He’ll know what to do.” She pressed speed dial for him as she followed Amber. The woman turned into another bank parking lot. “She’s not looking for her phone. She’s turning in there. Here, tell Michael what you did.”

  Holly took the phone and put it on speaker.

  “Maybe she hasn’t realized the phone is gone yet,” Juliet whispered.

  Juliet heard Michael answering. “What’s up?”

  “We got something big,” Holly said. “We’re following Amber, and we got her phone.”

  “She stole it out of her car!” Juliet called out so Michael would hear.

  “We’ll deal with my criminal behavior later,” Holly said. “For now, you need to know that we just intercepted a call from someone who talked about a delivery tomorrow night at eleven thirty.” She repeated the call to him.

  “Okay,” he said, “we have to figure out where it’s going to be. Maybe it’s the place w
ired by the security company I’ve been trying to get in touch with. If Sid, the owner, calls, maybe I can convince him to give us the address. Did you see a listing for Miller on her phone?”

  “No, nothing. Not under L or M.”

  Juliet could hear the disappointment in Michael’s voice. “Too bad.”

  “It could still be here. She has a lot of nicknames and initials in here, but nothing that sounds like him.”

  Juliet watched Amber pull into a handicapped space. “So what do we do now, Michael? Do I call the FBI and confess that we took the phone? Call Max? What should I do?”

  “Let me handle it,” Michael said. “I’ll call the feds and let them know. They already have a wiretap on that phone, so they probably already know.”

  Juliet sucked in a breath. “So you think they heard the call?”

  “Probably. But they might not have realized you were the one talking.”

  “How come they can do that and I can’t do what I did?” Holly asked.

  “Because they have a court order from a US judge. They don’t give those to PIs. Where are you now?”

  “We’re watching Amber go into the Bay Bank and Trust on Krieger Avenue,” Juliet said. “Ironic name, huh?”

  “Yes, kind of.”

  “I just pulled into the parking lot at the Zaxby’s. Two parking lots away.” Juliet pulled her camera to her eye and through the lens saw that Amber had left the baby in the car again and was heading inside.

  “I’m about to call the police on her for leaving that baby in a hot car,” Juliet said. “We have a tiny window where we can put the phone back.”

  “Yeah, you should probably put it back before she realizes it’s gone. And Holly . . . never do that again.”

  Holly blew out a heavy sigh. “Okay.”

  “But don’t put it where you found it,” Michael said. “Put it under the seat so she’ll think she dropped it, in case she’s already noticed it’s missing. Take the battery out. She’ll think it fell out when she dropped it.”