by Marion Myles
“More like out-of-town family members and friends. I see you’ve moved on to the random stranger theory?”
“Not really. She knew him,” Mia said, thinking of her vision. “There was a kind of shocked disbelief in her head the whole time.” She shook herself as though coming out of a trance. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re so matter of fact about everything, for a moment I forgot she was your sister.”
Roman sighed. “You can’t be worrying about my feelings. Don’t hold anything back. Not ever. I need to know what you know.” He paused and raked his fingers through his dark hair. “What if we go back to the woods by the park. Do you think you’ll see more?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. When I took you and Detective Latterly there to show you the spot, I saw it again, same as the first time. That was weird for me because it’s normally a once only kind of thing. It could be that’ll happen again, and I might notice something I missed before or could be the vision will last longer. It’s worth a shot, I guess.”
“Okay. That’s something. It’s late now, so let’s do it tomorrow. Unless I catch something hot, I’ll be off shift at six. I’ll meet you there.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Or you could phrase it like this…Mia, would you be available to meet me at Carlton Park tomorrow at six?” she said in an overly sweet voice.
“Yeah, that,” Roman said impatiently. “You’ll be there?”
“I’ll be there,” she huffed. “You know something? You’re really bossy, and I’m not so good with orders. I guess we’re going to have to work on that.”
“Sure, Sugar, anything you say.” Roman rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, too. “Okay, given that it’s almost nine o’clock, I’m going to call it. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He pushed back from the table and got to his feet. Layla was right beside him again, staring up in adoration.
“I think someone wants to say goodbye,” Mia observed.
Roman crouched down and rubbed Layla’s face. “She sure is an awesome dog. Good night, Layla. Thanks for hanging with me.”
“Be careful, you’ll make the others jealous.”
“Not him.” Roman pointed to Mac. “He’s a mama’s boy if I ever saw one. And the two little ones seem to be more attached to the big dogs than anyone, so I’m hardly causing any trouble here.”
Mia stared at him and shook her head. “Wow, I’d say you pretty much nailed the dynamics of the pack in one go.”
“That’s why I’m a detective,” he said, winking at her and giving Layla one last pat. “Okay, I’m out of here. Thanks for…well, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Spending the evening with Mia hadn’t been so bad, Roman thought on the drive back to town. Sure, she was sometimes as prickly as a cactus, but she was smart and compassionate, and it was refreshing to be with a woman who pushed back a little. Not that he was looking at her as dating material because it was so not happening, but still, she was intriguing.
And it didn’t hurt she had those big, soft, hazel eyes and all that long, thick, auburn hair with hints of fire running through it. The way the shades of brown and gold and red mixed together reminded him of a deer pelt. Her body wasn’t bad either. Inviting to look at and plenty of curves. Almost begging a man to imagine exploring all the peaks and valleys of her.
He made a scoffing noise in his throat. And that was enough of that, he decided. Roman liked women, and especially sex, as much as the next guy, but he wasn’t into complications. The kind of relationships—he thought the term was really too formal for what was essentially a series of sex-based companions—that suited him best were loose and uncomplicated. He knew damned well Mia was the polar opposite of uncomplicated.
Starting with the fact she wasn’t really Mia Reeves. Oh, yeah, he knew the real Mia had died eight years ago. He found the obit for her in a Cleveland newspaper. Except he couldn’t find a record of her death certificate. He’d even called around to a few of her friends. They’d confirmed she OD’d a month after graduating college.
Then five years ago, the Mia he knew had obviously taken on her identity. It was good, solid, black-market work. No doubt she’d paid a premium for the papers. If he weren’t a cop and hadn’t been digging so hard, he’d never have found it.
So the question that circled his head like a merry-go-round remained to be solved. Who the hell was this woman before she became Mia Reeves, and what was she running from?
Chapter Nine
Mia stepped off the asphalt and onto the soft ground at the edge of the woods where Roman stood waiting for her. He turned to face her and smiled. She glanced over his shoulder toward the trees. The sun had started sinking, but it was still plenty bright out. The forest, however, was shrouded in dim light as though determined to hold onto its secrets. She shivered.
“You…um…seeing anything yet?” Roman studied her face.
“Nothing so far. Let’s keep walking.”
They pushed in between the branches with Mia taking the lead. She worked to keep her mind clear and open. As though understanding, Roman remained silent while they walked all the way back to the rotting log. Mia dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged beside it, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Silent minutes ticked by.
“I’m not getting anything,” she said with a sigh.
Roman crouched down beside her. “Well, it was a long shot at best. Still, we had to try.”
“Why didn’t he leave her here?” Mia asked. “It had to be risky moving her body.” Reaching out, she touched his arm. “I still find it tough talking to you about this. You’ll have to tell me if I’m being too blunt.”
“You’re not,” he said, his voice clipped. “This is how we find her. And yeah, I agree with you. It takes balls to move her from here. Remember what she was wearing?”
“Yes, navy cotton skirt and a light blue blouse.”
“Right. Back in those days, Gabriel didn’t have uniforms for his wait staff. The clothes you described are what she was wearing when she worked her shift the night she disappeared. You said it was dark in your vision, right?” He waited for Mia to nod. “If we put it all together, it’s likely she was killed sometime during the night after she left work.”
Mia nodded again, eyes on Roman. “And since she was walking, how the heck did she get here? It’s a long hike from Main Street.”
“More likely someone picked her up. All the stores on the street were closed by then. The coffee shop and Pizza Hut were open, of course, but no one remembers seeing her.”
“Meaning she probably got in the car or was forced into one close to the diner. Are there any alleys around there? I should walk the route myself,” Mia decided.
“Let’s go now.” Noticing her posture stiffen, he paused. “What I mean to say is, do you have time to do it now?”
“Why yes, Roman, as a matter of fact, this time suits me perfectly.” She smiled at him and got to her feet. “See, it’s not so hard, is it?”
“Harder than you’ll ever know,” he grumbled, trailing along after her.
When they got back into their separate vehicles, Roman took the lead, accelerating away from the parking lot and down the side street out to the main road. Mia shook her head. Boys will be boys.
He was already parked in a spot in front of Gabe’s Diner and standing on the sidewalk waiting for her by the time she turned onto Main Street. An elderly woman stopped to speak to him, and Roman nodded and smiled, but his eyes were on Mia as she approached.
“Absolutely, Mrs. Smithers. I’ll look into it first thing tomorrow. You have a nice night now.”
Mia arched a brow. “Trouble?”
“Big trouble,” he said, eyes solemn. “Those dang neighborhood thugs keep ripping off the lids of her garbage cans and throwing her garbage out on the street.” He paused. “And by thugs, I have to assume she means the Jenkins boys, who are all of eight and ten, and the neighbor’s child across the street, Gavin, who’s at the dangerous age of eleven. According
to Mrs. Smithers, he’s on the cusp of committing his first felony.” Roman’s lips quirked up into a genuine smile. “There’s no way it could be raccoons because Mrs. Smithers swears up and down there hasn’t been a raccoon spotted in Dalton since the eighties.”
“I guess she hasn’t been to the park or looked in a tree or read the newspaper since then?”
“Probably thinks it’s propaganda spread by possum lovers or maybe something even more sinister.”
“Looks like you’re going to have a busy day tomorrow,” Mia said.
“Yep. But don’t worry about me. I’ve run up against Gavin and the Jenkins’s before. They’re not as dangerous as everyone thinks.”
She was caught by surprise when the laugh fell out of her. “You’re funny.”
“Everyone says so.” His smile was huge, and they stood there grinning at one another.
Mia had a sudden awareness of him. He was a seriously hot guy with a tough, athletic body and dark Italian looks. His rich chocolate eyes were so deep, they seemed bottomless, and his skin looked as though it had been kissed by the sun. Though his smile was a little crooked, it was seriously sexy, and the way the skin creased at the side of his mouth made it seem as though it was not used to being pressed into that position.
No, she warned herself, when the warm, melty feeling rose up from her core. No, no, no. She absolutely could not allow herself to fall for Roman Mancini. Looking quickly away, she glanced over at the diner.
“Okay, Anita came out the front door, walked by the window right here, and disappeared?”
“That about sums it up.” His eyes had gone cop flat again. “She’d have either gone down to the light and crossed at the end of the street or jaywalked over at some point. Up Oak Street four blocks then probably onto Drury or maybe Rebecca and then back over.”
“If she’d gone to the end of Main to the lights, wouldn’t someone in Bean Time have seen her?”
“Maybe. Especially as it was busy that night. According to the manager at the time, the tables by the window were full. Officially, we lean toward Anita disappearing from right here or crossing around here and then…”
“There’s a variety store over there. Mia pointed to the other side of the street. “Plus, people in the café could still have looked out and seen her. I know it was about dark by then, but the street is well lit.”
“We also have a witness who went jogging down that side of Main Street about nine thirty. It was a little after Anita left, but he still could have seen her. He claimed the street was empty. Then there’s Alan Peterson who owns the third house along on Oak. He was out with his dog around nine fifteen. Said he hung outside for a time because it was such a nice night and his beagle likes sniffing around. He didn’t see anyone go by. Grace Anderson on the other side and down a bit was smoking on her porch and said she saw a lady walking two dogs, but no one who looked like Anita. I don’t think my sister went down Oak.”
“Okay. If she didn’t go that way then she didn’t make it off Main Street on foot, right? What about this side street up here?” Mia pointed. She and Roman walked half a block north, stopping at the corner to look down the narrow street.
“It’s an access road. See, it feeds into this alley that runs along the back of all the buildings on Main then keeps going a bit until it tees into Wellington. The police searched back here. I saw it in the report, but they didn’t find any trace of Anita.”
“But that doesn’t mean she didn’t get into a car. Once she was in, the driver could have kept going out to Wellington and then over and up a couple of blocks onto Cressley where it’s a straight shot to the park.”
“Yeah, I know. So the person calls out to her as she’s walking along the sidewalk. She hops in the car and is gone in seconds.”
“Or he grabs her and tosses her in the car and disappears in seconds.”
Roman pointed his index finger at her. “Except you don’t believe that.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Hey, Cuz, what’re you doing?”
They turned to find Tony Mancini on the sidewalk. He winked at Mia and smiled broadly. The man was such a contrast to Roman with his streaky blond hair and light blue eyes. She wondered, then, if maybe he’d been adopted. But, no, as she continued studying his face, she realized his mouth was exactly the same shape as Roman’s, and they both had an unruly cowlick on their hairline slightly left of center.
“We’re poking around,” Roman said. “Mia and I are going over what might have happened after Anita left work the night she disappeared.”
Tony shut his eyes and shook his head. “I hate thinking about that night.”
“I forgot. You were in town, weren’t you?” Roman said.
“Sort of. I’d gone up to the cottage that morning. At least I had cell service, unlike you on your wilderness camping trip. If I hadn’t left my phone in the car, I’d have come back straight away. As it was, the minute I checked my messages the next morning, I was in Dalton within the hour. We walked the streets all that day looking for her.” Tony shook his head again, his expression bleak. “Even though it wasn’t the required twenty-four hours on a missing person, the police took it seriously right off, but she was gone.”
“I shoulda been here,” Roman mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“And what? You’d have come down to the diner to walk Anita home because you had some psychic flash and knew something bad was gonna happen to her? No offense,” Tony said, turning to Mia.
“None taken,” she said lightly.
Not true, thought Roman, seeing the tiny vertical crease that had dug in between Mia’s brows and the way she fought to keep her mouth soft when it really wanted to tighten into a hard line over her teeth. It shocked him to realize he knew even this much about the woman after spending only a handful of hours in her company.
“Anyway, even if I couldn’t have saved her, at least it would’ve been easier for my parents if I’d been around.”
“They had Lina and me. And the whole town was out looking for her.” He paused, and his eyes flicked between Roman and Mia. “You really doing this thing with her?” he asked Roman.
Roman shrugged. “Sort of. We’re going over old ground to see if anything pops out. I figure it can’t hurt and has the added benefit of making Ma feel better.”
“I’m guessing by the fact you’re both standing in an alley looking frustrated that you haven’t found anything?”
“Not so far, but early days yet,” Roman said.
“You should talk to Luke,” Tony said, turning to Mia. “I never liked the guy.”
“What’s wrong with Luke?” Roman asked before Mia had a chance to say anything.
“He was never good enough for Anita. And then to top it off, he was with Mandy months after Anita goes missing. It still seems off to me.”
“But he’s a doctor, and everyone in town has nothing but good things to say about him,” Mia said.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t smart, but Anita was…special. She had this kind of light about her. You know what I mean?” Tony cocked his head at Roman who nodded in response.
“She sounds wonderful,” Mia said.
“Yeah, she really was. I miss her like crazy.”
Roman patted his shoulder. “I know, man. Me, too.”
“Talking to Luke seems like a good idea,” Mia said. “Are any of her other friends still around?”
“There’s Brooke. She took over the dance studio on Wellington. Too bad Ashley doesn’t live here anymore. After college, she got a job in Nashville. It’s not that long of a hike to go see her,” Tony said.
“I think we can start with Luke and Brooke before we go planning a road trip. How come you’re on board with this all of a sudden?” Roman asked Tony.
“I don’t know. It sounded crazy when Uncle Frank called us, but now I’ve met the psychic…” He flashed a thousand watt smile at Mia.” I kinda like her.”
“Gee, I hardly know what to do with all this flat
tery,” Mia said fluttering her eyelashes at the two men.
Tony shifted to the side, glancing past Mia to the diner. “Okay, folks, I gotta eat. Either of you want to join me?”
“I’d better get home,” Mia said.
“I’ll walk you to your car. See ya, Tony.”
“Sure. If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word. And Cuz, make sure to let me know if you two find anything.”
“He seems really nice,” Mia said as they walked along the sidewalk.
“Yeah, he’s a good guy. His mom left when he was around twelve. Then his dad died, so he’s been living with us ever since. I basically think of him as my brother.”
“Where’s his mom now?”
“I assume she’s still in Beverly Hills with her second husband and their kids. Don’t get me started on Candice. As far as I’m concerned she’s a stone cold bitch.”
“Oh, poor Tony. Being rejected like that by a parent can cut anyone off at the knees.”
“You can say that again. The first few years with us were tough, but then he turned it around. Anita was the one he really bonded with. They were close. I was worried he’d go right off the rails when she disappeared. Don’t get me wrong, he was a total wreck just like the rest of us, but he also found his focus. Started working hard in college, getting ahead. He told me once Anita was the reason. She would have wanted him to do well. It made me feel better when he said that.”
“It sounds like he’s had a tough life, and now with me bringing the Anita thing back, it can’t be easy on him.”
“It ain’t easy on any of us, but it’s better to know, I think.” Roman shook his head. “Sorry for dumping all that on you. Has anyone ever told you you’re real easy to talk to?”
She snorted. “Not exactly.”
“Well, you are. Anyway. We should make a plan. Tony was right about you talking to the players involved. Would you be comfortable if I set something up with Luke and Brooke?”
She nodded slowly. “I guess so. But don’t say anything about what I can do, okay? People tend to get pretty weirded out.”