“Yeah, my mom’s gullible,” the first girl said, her voice still full of humor. “Oh my gosh, I can’t tell you how much. She believes all the shit I tell her.”
“Parents’re easy to manipulate when you know what they want to hear. My dad thinks I walk on water. And my mother might know better, but she’ll never disagree with Daddy Dear’s assessment. She won’t risk losing her cushy life, and mark my words, if she screwed with me, I’d make sure she suffered. So we pretend with each other. I pretend she’s a great mom and she pretends I’m an angel. And why not? She can’t handle the truth.”
“That’s a good one. Us as angels.”
More laughter rang out from their dressing room before the angel with the big butt said, “I may be a virgin, but I’m no angel and I know my worth.” Her snort, along with her next words, added to chills running up Lucy’s back. “I also know how to play adults. Most never look at what’s there. They only see things the way they want to see them, which means as long as we don’t get caught and blow their illusions, we can do whatever the hell we want.”
“You okay in there?” A salesperson knocked on the door.
“Yes,” Lucy croaked out as the two voices instantly died. When they started up again, their whispers were so low, she couldn’t make out anything else. Swallowing disappointment, she threw another quick glance at the dividing wall, wondering what it all meant and how best to proceed. Lucy gathered up the clothes, deciding to buy every piece. She could afford a couple of hundred dollars. Besides, if she lost her job, she’d at least look great while looking for another.
She hustled out of the small booth and up to the register. Lucy smiled at the cashier behind the counter, who’d zeroed in on Jack. The woman appeared annoyed that she, a mere customer, would dare take her away from the hunk once she finally got him to talk to her.
Reluctantly, the lady rang up the sale and handed her the receipt to sign, all while keeping Jack in her scope.
Jack was oblivious to his one-person fan club, which caused a warm, mushy sensation in the pit of Lucy’s stomach. When he unexpectedly leaned in to kiss her cheek a moment later, she almost quit breathing.
“Tell me honestly, Lucy,” he said, sending her a secret smile. “I was right about the clothes, wasn’t I?” He lowered his voice, intensifying the warmth in her belly, and she had to physically restrain herself from reacting further even as more of his silky tone filtered past her ears. “Are you going to model for me as a finder’s fee?”
Lucy laughed. In an effort to keep from self-combusting, she turned her attention to the sales clerk, ignoring his blatant, sexy stare. “Gloating is so unattractive.” Then remembering what she’d overheard, the rest of her common sense returned. “Come on, Lover Boy,” she whispered close to Jack’s ear so Ms. Too Interested couldn’t overhear. “Time to clear out before they come out of the dressing room and spot us.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which one?” Unwilling to regress to her previous quivering state, she reached for the overstuffed bag. Then she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the entrance, watching the changing room doors the entire time.
“What happened in the dressing room?” Jack asked along the way. “Did you hear anything useful?”
Outside the store, she stopped short and spun around. “Did you happen to get a look at who went in there?”
“Yes, I did. I expected one of them to be Marci.” He shrugged. “But hey, Tracy Fulton and Briana Miller are both in your friend’s files, so we still lucked out. What’d they say?”
Her jaw dropped open and she could only stare at him, too stunned over what this meant to speak for a moment. “You recognized them? From the files?” They had to be connected to Cassie’s disappearance. And they mentioned something about another girl named Lindsay. Was she missing too?
“Yeah.” He frowned. “Reconnaissance, remember?” he said, clearly offended. “That’s why we’re here, right?”
She ignored him. “This is getting more and more interesting. I wonder what role Lindsay plays in all this?”
“Lindsay? Who’s Lindsay?”
“I have no idea. But the two mentioned the name.” At least now she had a few leads, but what the hell were the teens into to pull in close to a thou? That had to refer to money. Was it a weekly total or a monthly total? Either way, it was a hell of a lot of cash for kids to legitimately earn. “You were right about dressing rooms. I did hear some interesting stuff.”
“And Marci hasn’t even shown up yet.” Jack looked at her pointedly. “They obviously said something useful judging from your reaction, so fill me in.”
“I’m sure she will at some point,” she said about Marci, then started walking again, deliberately not answering his question. “But it doesn’t matter now.”
“Wait,” he said. Lucy glanced over her shoulder as he stared at her, completely dumbfounded. “Don’t you think we should wait and at least talk to her?”
“No. Not any longer.”
“What? Now I’m more than a little confused.” Jack shook his head. “I thought that’s why we’re here, or have you forgotten our plan?”
“I’m just changing it. I had doubts about it to begin with, if you’ll remember.” Lucy nodded back at the store’s entrance. “Those two sounded too seasoned to be caught off guard by our questions, which means talking to Marci will only alert them and they’ll be wary.”
The comment about not being angels flitted past her brain—as did drug dealing and prostitution—two illegitimate jobs offering large payouts to unskilled teens. She found it hard to believe that rich kids would risk their status with either one. Prostitution seemed even more of a reach than drug dealing, considering one claimed to be a virgin. Of course, they could be into porn. Lucy quickly nixed the idea as too sleazy and not something kids like Marci would be into. Heck, this was Oakmont, Kentucky. Not exactly a mecca for that kind of thing. Selling legal drugs illegally worked, though. “There’s something going on and once we figure it out, I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll find Cassie.”
Was drug dealing the connection to Reecie? After all, Reecie had died of a drug overdose. Lucy wanted another look at the information to discover exactly what drug had killed her.
~~~
“Wait,” Jack yelled, to get Lucy’s attention. “What happened? I still don’t understand why we’re changing plans.”
“No time. I’ll fill you in later. Right now, I want to get into position to follow them without them knowing about it.”
What the hell was churning in Lucy’s brain? What had she heard in that dressing room? Jack wondered, dogging her steps, weaving in and out of passersby in the now busy mall. Moms pushed strollers. Tweens hung out while texting on cell phones. And couples appeared to be shopping together. Saturday was definitely the day the locals came out in droves. As Lucy scurried in front of him, still gripping his hand, Jack kept his eyes on her sexy ass.
Hell, no red-blooded American male could resist ogling her faded, tight jeans despite the oversized old T-shirt she wore on top, tied with a knot at the bottom of her midriff. On anyone else, the look might have shouted frumpy. But on her it somehow worked, not to mention showed off a hot body he’d totally underestimated.
She led him into a store directly across from the one they’d exited. When Lucy let go of his hand, Jack crossed his arms and leaned against a wall a ways from the entrance, watching her hurry to a rounder of women’s blouses near the plate glass window. She positioned herself to appear like a shopper while unobtrusively focusing on Justine’s.
“Why are we here? What are we doing?” he asked, suddenly wishing he hadn’t suggested this trip. The fact that she seemed so intent on this whole stakeout idea began to worry him. Did she really believe teenage girls were responsible for her friend’s disappearance?
Lucy threw him a warning glance. “We’re tailing them to see where they go and who they meet.”
“But what about Marci? I haven’t seen
her yet.”
“Bingo. There she is. Right on schedule.”
“Really?” Straightening, Jack pushed away from the wall. “So, my deduction was right on. Imagine that.” His focus followed to where her nod indicated and he immediately saw her.
“She’s going into the store as we speak,” Lucy said, her eyes bright with excitement.
Jack glanced back at Lucy with eyebrows raised. “So, now what?”
“We continue watching.”
“You don’t think we should talk to them? Discover if they even knew Reecie?” Not that he expected kids to offer much, but talking to them seemed a lot more efficient than playing spy.
“No.”
Her firm denial brought him up short and his gaze narrowed. “Why? Why are you changing the plan?”
“Because of something I overheard during Tracy and Briana’s conversation.”
When she didn’t elaborate, he prodded, “Well, are you going to enlighten me?” unable to keep impatience out of his tone. Now he was positive this hadn’t been such a great idea. The thought escalated into anxiety as he watched Lucy’s absorption on the store across the way, and it hit him. Gerald Duncan had been right about the need to rein her in. She took this entire spying shit much too seriously for his liking.
Eventually she slanted him an annoyed glare. “There’s more going on between those kids than just being mean girls. I’d stake my career on it.”
Jack offered a tight semblance of a smile, reaching deep for patience. “I see.” Lucy had already staked her career on her decision to pursue her friend’s disappearance and now she was staking his, but he didn’t actually verbalize the thought. Instead, he nodded at the window. “I need to know what you’ve discovered. After all, I’m in charge of our mission and I can’t lead properly without all the facts.”
A multitude of different emotions crossed her face, most expressing irritation that he dare remind her of their deal. Well, what did she think? That he’d let her go off half-cocked without giving him some clue as to why? Hopefully she had a damn good reason. “Shit,” he whispered, as reality hit him full force. He was relying on nothing more than her word and a few text messages that her friend was actually missing. Hell, he had no proof of her house being ransacked, other than her say-so.
“You’re going to have to trust me.”
He stiffened. “Trust you?” A confirmed thief and liar? Suddenly, serious doubts filled his mind about going along with this whole crazy scheme to tail teenagers in the first place. Frank’s reaction to his probing about the thumb drive was one thing to question. But this was getting out of hand. He had to rein her in.
“Look, Lucy,” he said in his firmest voice, about to tell her exactly what was on his mind.
Her expression changed right before his eyes and stilled the urge to blurt it all out as she said, “Please?”
Jack wiped his face in frustration. Damn. Trusting her was totally nuts, but after searching that earnest, soul-stealing gaze, he realized he did trust Lucy. His gaze raked the ceiling as he absorbed this sudden revelation. He wasn’t in the habit of doing crazy things that could come back to haunt him, and by association, could hurt Frank.
What if there was a perfectly good explanation for Frank’s behavior? That thought stopped him cold.
Lucy had better have a damned good reason. Without one, if Marci’s mom ever found out what they were up to, the woman could make his life miserable. Hell. That’s all Frank’s campaign needed. His campaign manager getting nailed for stalking teens.
“Here they come now.” Lucy turned to him and her smile was hopeful. “Let’s go. Okay?”
When he nodded, her smile lit up her face. She then darted energetically around the merchandise and seconds later was out the door.
Chapter 8
Jack hurried to keep up, slowing his pace to match Lucy’s when their quarry dawdled in a couple of different stores. Eventually the trio meandered to the food court. Marci sat at a table guarding their purchases while the other two went for food.
Lucy proceeded to pull out a chair a couple of tables away. “They don’t know us, so let’s sit where we can eavesdrop on their conversation.”
Jack shrugged. He could eavesdrop. “As long as we’re discreet,” he said under his breath.
“Duh? Of course we’ll be discreet.” Her tone was almost patronizing. “You know, I do this for a living.”
“Yeah?” Annoyance stiffened his spine. “Well, I don’t.”
“Then maybe you should leave and I’ll meet you at the car,” Lucy hissed in a loud whisper. The grimace she shot him was tame compared to the usual attitude she telegraphed with those huge brown eyes. Yet it was still enough to negate everything sexy he’d found in them in the first place, also causing him to rethink his sanity as her gaze caught and held his. “In say an hour?”
“Oh, no.” How Lucy dug under his skin so easily, Jack didn’t know. All he knew was that she did. He fired a matching irritated stare her way. “I’m staying put. And I’ll be so goddamned discreet, even you won’t know I’m here.”
He sat back, crossed his arms, and took deep breaths, fighting harder to keep his anger at bay as she reached for his hand and said in an all too smug voice, “Good. Just shut up, listen, and learn and leave the investigating to me.”
Her attitude reminded him too much of Ginny. “I’m done.” He yanked his hand out of hers and shoved away from the table to stand. “You act like this a lark.” He didn’t know how she’d talked him into this in the first place.
“W-w-what’s wrong?” Lucy stammered. “Why’re you angry?”
“Because I’m tired of playing games.”
“I can assure you, this is not a game. Not when my best friend’s life is at stake.”
Just as her affronted tone hit his ears, movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he sank back down into the chair. Tamping down irritation and paying Lucy’s annoyed expression no heed, he turned to see Tracy and Briana stroll up to their chairs and set their trays on the table before sitting. Something about the way they all moved had him watching more closely. As Lucy had commented on the way out of Justine’s, all three appeared to be just a bit too seasoned, certainly more self-possessed than any teenager he’d ever seen. Very different from the kids he’d waited on during his stint as a salesperson in Frank’s store. But that wasn’t saying much since that took place almost two decades ago and lately, Jack could count the number of teens he’d actually had daily contact with on one hand. Or one finger.
Marci made a comment that had them all laughing, then shot out of her chair and headed for the McDonald’s on the opposite side of the food court. Maybe Lucy was right, he thought, watching her disappear into the crowd before turning back around. There did seem to be something going on and if she wouldn’t enlighten him, he’d just have to figure it out on his own.
Lucy hurled more attitude his way with her eyes, a glare he purposely ignored while remaining silent and scoping out the girls two tables away. Eventually Lucy relinquished her snit and joined him in his surveillance. The entire time neither spoke, each too absorbed in their quarry. Then right as Marci returned to the table with a burger, fries, and a large drink, another girl joined them.
Shit! Jack leaned forward and put his elbow on the table, his thumb and ring finger rubbing his temple on each side of his eyes. He kept his head down and his arm in place, shielding his face and praying the new arrival wouldn’t recognize him. He breathed in a sigh of relief when she left a minute later, obviously with the intention of buying lunch.
Once she was out of range, Jack wiped all emotion off his face. Unwilling to let recognition show in his features, he nodded at her departing back. “Do you know her?”
“No.” Lucy shook her head, her gaze narrowing curiously. “Do you?”
“She wasn’t mentioned in your friend’s files,” he said, without admitting more. She might not be in any of the files, but she was definitely connected to Frank. Yet
he couldn’t reveal a damned thing until he understood what was behind all the subterfuge and lies. This had to be the connection Lucy was looking for, the one Cassie had obviously discovered.
“I’m going for a drink.” He stood, now more perplexed than ever. And more determined to uncover the truth. He nodded at the McDonald’s, located in the opposite direction of where the girl had headed. “You want one?”
“No, thanks.” She indicated the table of girls with a subtle tilt of her head. “Take your time. I’ll just sit here and listen and learn all their secrets.”
He flashed her a wary smile. That’s what he feared most, and the idea of her finding out about Kimberly Darlinski was more of a threat than her nosiness actually pissing off the kids. Still, leaving her alone had one advantage. If he wasn’t present while she did her stalking, Mrs. Banks wouldn’t be able to tie him to any wrongdoing.
Besides, he now had a bigger problem—figuring out a way to steer Lucy clear of the food court so Kim couldn’t get a good look at his face, while he did more digging. As he walked, his mind churned in overtime, searching for some reason Frank’s niece would be linked to a dead teen. From what he knew about her, she lived in Louisville with her dad, Olivia’s brother. He had no idea where the mother was or if she was even in the picture. According to what he remembered Frank telling him when they’d been introduced at his and Olivia’s wedding two years ago, she wasn’t.
The more Lucy pulled him in, the more this case just seemed to get curiouser and curiouser.
~~~
Lucy watched Jack amble toward the McDonald’s. Thankfully, the long line would give her an opportunity to discover the identity of the new girl without him even knowing she’d made a move. For the last hour, she’d listened to stupid mean-girl talk and was now ready to pull her hair out if she had to listen to any more of their garbage. They obviously had enough sense to keep silent about their earlier mentioned escapades in public. At this point, other than a headache, more listening would yield nothing new. What she needed to do was come up with a plan that worked with her caseload. Follow them to learn exactly what this side job entailed. Maybe Mike could help her with tailing if Jack bowed out, as he seemed about to do just minutes ago. Plus, she wanted to know more about Lindsay, or at least find out if a teen by that name was missing.
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