“That was very … perfunctory,” I said. “I’ll have you know I do things for Eliot all of the time, Derrick.”
“Oh, yeah?” Derrick asked. “What do you do for him that’s not related to sex? And when I say that, I really mean don’t you dare tell me about your sex life because I’ll have to kill both of you and then myself.”
“I … crap.” I threw myself on the couch and crossed my arms over my chest, racking my brain for an instance when I did better as a girlfriend than Eliot did as a boyfriend.
“Be careful you don’t accidentally set the house on fire with those gears shifting in your brain,” Derrick said dryly, earning a headshake from Eliot.
“Don’t do that to her,” Eliot chided. “You think it’s funny, but I have to deal with it when you leave.”
Notice he didn’t go off on a tangent about what a great girlfriend I am. “I’m going to be better,” I said, rubbing my chin. “I … will stop being so self-involved. I promise.”
Eliot and Derrick snorted in unison, earning dark looks from me.
“You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t self-involved,” Derrick said.
“I like you self-involved,” Eliot added.
“I’ll have you know that I’m not always self-involved,” I argued.
Derrick arched a challenging eyebrow. “Name one time this past week when everything wasn’t about you.”
“I talked to Jake about his Cara problems yesterday,” I said.
“That’s still technically about you, because Cara is worked up about Jake’s feelings for you,” Derrick pointed out, reaching for another container of food. “What else have you got?”
“I’m not playing this game,” I shot back, embracing my stubborn streak. “You’re trying to rile me up.”
“That’s because you know I’m right,” Derrick said. “What do you have for me?”
“It’s on the computer,” I muttered. “Eliot can show you.”
Derrick turned his expectant eyes toward Eliot, who was having none of our family squabble.
“Wait a second,” Eliot said. “You can’t come into her house and give her crap about being self-involved when she just spent hours coming up with leads on a missing girl for you.”
The fact that Eliot is ready to jump in and defend me at a moment’s notice only proves Derrick’s point. I don’t think he realizes that, though. “It’s fine,” I said. “I’m used to it. It’s part of our … shtick.”
“I don’t care,” Eliot said, shaking his head. “It’s not fair to you.”
“Oh, good grief,” Derrick intoned. “Life isn’t fair and you can’t play on even footing when you have as much information on one another as the two of us have. That’s what happens when you spend time with a co-dependent family and like to mess with people, as we both do.”
“Listen, I don’t want to get in the middle of you two, but you made her feel bad and I’m not going to stand for that,” Eliot said. “She’s been making herself sick trying to figure out what happened to Sierra Jackson. That’s thinking of someone other than herself.”
“Yes, but she wants that story,” Derrick said, smiling as he gleefully dug into a container. “This is really good.”
“She also reserved a special cabin for us this summer to go camping – even though she would rather do just about anything else,” Eliot said. “She did that for me, not herself. She went baby shopping with Carly even though she hates babies. Heck, she went out of her way to threaten Devon to make sure you were treated fairly. What more do you want from her?”
Uh-oh. I made a slashing motion with my hand across my throat to warn Eliot off about expanding on the Devon situation, but I had a feeling it was already too late.
“What do you mean she threatened Devon?” Derrick asked, leaning forward.
“I mean … um … .” Eliot broke off and swallowed hard as I shifted my attention to the ceiling. Someone should really clean that. I was going to put Eliot on it once Derrick left. He now officially owed me a household chore. “I didn’t mean anything. I was only talking to … talk.”
“No, you were talking with a purpose,” Derrick argued. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m not feeling well,” Eliot said, taking a step away from Derrick. “I think I ate too much Chinese food. Avery can show you what we found.”
“Don’t you even think about it,” I hissed, extending a finger in his direction. “You did this. You can’t abandon me now.”
“I’m not abandoning you,” Eliot clarified. “I’m sick. I need to rest. I don’t want to throw up on your shoes.”
“Let him go,” Derrick said, his tone cold and his eyes flat. “I think we should talk … alone.”
Eliot paused near the bedroom doorway and focused on Derrick. “I’m acting cowardly and running away because I don’t want to admit I made a mistake. I know you two forget you’re adults and push each other around sometimes, and I’m okay with that on a general level. If you hurt her, though … .” Eliot left the threat hanging.
“I’m not going to hurt her,” Derrick replied. “I may kill her, but I’ll make it quick. There won’t be any pain.”
“It will be fine,” I said, waving off Eliot’s concern. “Take your cowardly butt to bed and rest.”
“I changed my mind,” Eliot said, returning to the living room. “I made the mess. I’ll clean it up.”
“I think Avery made the mess,” Derrick seethed. “What did you say to Devon?”
I scorched Eliot with a hateful look and rolled my neck until it cracked. “I may have run into Devon yesterday at a news conference,” I started.
“You may have?”
“I’ve been having memory problems,” I said. “Specifics come and go with the changing winds if I’m not careful.”
“Spill, Avery.”
“Fine,” I growled scratching the side of my nose. “When I ran into her words might have been exchanged.”
“Might have?” Derrick’s voice took on a shrill note. He clearly didn’t enjoy my brand of storytelling.
“We often exchange words when you’re not around – although, to be fair, we exchange them when you’re around, too,” I said. “She might have said something snarky and I think I probably said something snarky back.”
Derrick leaned closer and extended his index finger and thumb, leaving a tiny gap between them. “I am this close to choking the life out of you,” he warned. “Eliot might kill me, but I will kill you first if it becomes necessary and then accept my bloody murder at his hands.”
I blew out an exasperated sigh. “This is really your fault,” I said. “You picked her. I just … explained … how things were going to work from here on out. She didn’t like it, but we came to an understanding.”
“And what understanding is that?”
“I told her that she was purposely hurting you and I wasn’t going to stand for it,” I said, opting to go straight for the truth and then duck and cover when Derrick’s temper inevitably exploded all over me. “I told her that she was playing games with you and it was mean and unnecessary. I told her that she’d better tell you what she’s up to or break up with you because it was kinder to be honest than drag it out.
“Then I told her if she didn’t do the right thing by you I would make her pay,” I continued. “I didn’t give specific threats, but I told her I was known for being inventive. She got upset and told me I was being a bitch. That was the extent of it.”
Derrick pushed his lips out and studied me for a moment, his face unreadable. He reached for me and I was ready to slap him away but he surprised me with a quick hug – it was one of those one-armed man hugs so it didn’t risk embarrassing either of us – and shot a stern look in Eliot’s direction before focusing on the floor. “While I don’t appreciate your strong-arm tactics on a regular day, I want to thank you for looking out for me.”
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Eliot muttered, shaking his head as he flopped down on the couch and reac
hed for another eggroll. “You guys know you’re completely screwed up when it comes to expressing your feelings, right?”
“We don’t have feelings,” Derrick said, although he risked a look at me. “Thank you for … having my back. You’ve always been loyal. You’re an idiot most of the time, but you’re always loyal.”
“Eliot is right,” I said. “We are terrible at expressing our feelings. I couldn’t let her hurt you after what you told me the other night. I was terrified that night, too. I thought Eliot was going to break up with me. The not knowing was worse than knowing.”
“Except I wasn’t going to break up with you and you made all of it up in your head,” Eliot pointed out.
“Don’t be mean to my cousin,” Derrick warned. “I like you, but I will thump you if you upset her.”
“You people are crazy,” Eliot said, patting the empty spot on the couch next to him. “Sit.”
“Are you talking to Derrick or me?” I asked.
“Do you think I want to cuddle and share food with Derrick?”
“Probably not,” I said, settling next to Eliot and opening my mouth when he shoved a piece of chicken toward it.
“If you two are about to get freaky and gross I have to leave,” Derrick said. “I can only take so much.”
“We actually called you here because we have something to show you,” I reminded my cousin.
“It’s not in Eliot’s pants, right?”
“I’m going to add to my previous statement. You people are crazy and sick,” Eliot said, although he didn’t make a move to leave and instead turned his laptop in Derrick’s direction. “I put Avery through a mental exercise while we were eating.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Derrick deadpanned.
Eliot ignored the dig. “She remembered a man standing by the door that led outside the store right before Sandy came in and announced the kids were missing,” he said. “He was out of place because he was older and alone. He clearly didn’t belong there.”
“Maybe he was shopping for his grandchild … or a niece or something,” Derrick suggested. “Did you ever think of that?”
“No. We’re so stupid that never crossed our minds,” I said, making a face and causing Eliot to flick my ear to quiet me.
“Avery said that everyone in the store was either pregnant or with someone who was pregnant,” Eliot said. “In this day and age when you can get everything online with free two-day shipping, why go into a store like that if you don’t belong there?”
“I get the point you’re trying to make, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at here,” Derrick said, studying the computer screen. “Yeah. He looks out of place in a baby store. He could be a random pervert. You know there are guys out there turned on by pregnant women, right? There’s a whole aisle for it at the adult video store.”
That was way too much information. “Are you one of them?” I challenged.
“Shut up, Avery,” Derrick snapped. “You must have more than this.”
“We do,” Eliot said, reaching for the manila file folder. “Avery asked me to track down Sandy Jackson’s parents. We saw her brother the other day and he claimed there was a family split because Sandy’s daughter had a mixed-race baby five years ago.”
“We tracked that angle, too,” Derrick said. “The daughter is a stripper in Warren.”
“She also slept with Mario last night,” I offered. “He says he was amazing and awesome, although I have my doubts.”
“I don’t even want to know how that happened,” Derrick said. “I … you … he … you’re both unbelievable.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It wasn’t meant as one,” Derrick said. “What does Sandy Jackson’s family have to do with Sierra’s disappearance?”
Eliot handed the file to Derrick and licked his lips as he locked gazes with me. “The man in the store is Sandy Jackson’s father.”
It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. It took Derrick a moment to realize what we were insinuating. “You think Stanley Newman took Sierra, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Why else would he be there?”
“But … why take only one kid?” Derrick asked, still trying to grapple with the scenario.
“Maybe he could only find one of them,” I said. “Sierra and Danny weren’t supposed to go in opposite directions, but they separated. I’m still working on that.”
“But why?” Derrick said. “Why would Sandy have her father kidnap Sierra? Why would the father do it on his own?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I only know we have to search the Newman house. I know that’s where Sierra is. I can feel it.”
“Avery, there’s only one problem with that,” Derrick said. “No one knows where the Newmans are. We’ve been looking for them since this happened. They fell off the planet after their big falling out with Sandy. We were actually starting to suspect that Sandy might have killed them and discarded their bodies or something.”
“You work for the sheriff’s department,” I said.
“I know that.”
“You have to be able to find them,” I prodded.
“Nonetheless, we haven’t been able to find them,” Derrick said. “Crap! We need to call Jake.”
“Well, great,” I muttered. “This just gets better and better.”
27
“Thanks for coming in.” Jake ushered Eliot and me into his office shortly before seven the next morning.
It was early. No, it was too early. I’m never up this early. It should be illegal to get up this early. Wait, why are we here again?
“Derrick told me what you guys uncovered last night,” Jake said, sitting behind his desk. “That was a really good catch, but it puts us in a bad position because we can’t find the Newmans.”
“Why do you think that is?” Eliot asked. I was glad he was handling the conversation for now because the early hour was making me loopy.
“We were considering the possibility that they were dead and slipped through the cracks,” Jake answered. “We were looking at Sandy with the idea that she killed them, but there was absolutely no motive.”
“No inheritance?”
“The Newmans owed more than they were worth when they disappeared,” Jake answered. “They had a small house in Warren and they let it go to the bank. We questioned the neighbors, but the house has since transferred to another family following foreclosure and the few homeowners in the area who knew them said they had no idea the last time they saw the Newmans.”
“What about the son?” Eliot asked. “I think his name was Boyd.”
“Boyd has disappeared,” Jake said. “We stopped by to ask him about his parents the day before yesterday and his house was empty. It had been cleaned out. The neighbors said they hadn’t seen him since a couple days before. Apparently he was talking to two people on the sidewalk, and then packed up and moved on the spot. We think they might have tipped him off.”
Eliot and I exchanged a worried look.
“Um … .”
Jake missed the exchange. “We’ve questioned Sandy about her parents,” he said. “I haven’t approached her about what you guys found yet because I want to talk to you about that. I have an idea.”
When Eliot and I didn’t immediately respond Jake furrowed his eyebrows. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“We’re the people Boyd talked to on the sidewalk,” Eliot said, shifting in his chair. “At least I think it was us they were talking about. We stopped by because Avery wanted to feel him out. We were arguing in the truck on the street and then we made up and … well … he kind of caught us making up.”
“He thought we were perverts,” I supplied. “When we explained why we were there he was really open. He told us about his falling out with his sister and then he said we were barking up the wrong tree with Sandy.”
“He said that Sandy wasn’t a bad person,” El
iot interjected. “He said that she had big dreams for a happily ever after with Daniel and those dreams were blown out of the water when Daniel moved on after graduation. Boyd made it sound as if Sandy was always looking for a life that she couldn’t have because it never really existed anyplace but in her mind.”
“You guys talked to Boyd,” Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck. I couldn’t tell whether he was really talking to himself or us. “I should’ve realized it was you from the description.”
“Just for curiosity’s sake, how did they describe me?” I asked. I was betting the words “hot” and “well-dressed” were bandied about.
“Loudmouth blonde in ugly shoes,” Jake answered.
I frowned. “Those were my Star Wars Vans. They are not ugly. Although, to be fair, I would be so much happier if Star Wars would partner with Converse. I would go broke if that happened, so maybe it’s not a good idea. I mean, I like Vans. I prefer Converse, though. They were still Star Wars shoes and awesome by virtue of that alone.”
Jake’s mouth dropped open. “That was quite a mouthful.”
“I’ve been told I have the gift of gab.”
“I don’t think he meant it as a compliment, Avery,” Eliot said, his gaze worriedly bouncing between Jake and me. “To be fair, we had no idea what Boyd would do. We were only feeling him out. We couldn’t possibly have known that he had something to do with this.”
“I guess you couldn’t have known that,” Jake conceded. “The fact remains that our one tie to Sierra – our best tie, in fact – has flown the coop and you’re directly responsible.”
“Now wait just a second,” I argued. “I’ve been working my tail off to get answers about Sierra. We weren’t sticking our noses into police business just to do it. We were looking for a young girl.”
“That’s great, Avery,” Jake said. “How do you suggest we find her now? Our two best suspects are gone.”
“Did you forget about Sandy?” I challenged.
“Sandy denies being in contact with her family and swears she had nothing to do with Sierra’s disappearance,” Jake said. “The last time I questioned her she told me I had to arrest her if I returned because she was tired of putting up with my suspicions. There are no phone records or computer trails linking Sandy with her father or brother. I don’t have enough evidence to arrest her.”
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