“I’d love to see it sometime,” Carson said.
He wanted to see her house. She doubted anything would take him to Florida, but it so happened that she had pictures on her phone. Proud of her home, her sanctuary, she dug out her phone and opened her photos, scrolling to the ones she’d taken after picking up new rugs and throw pillows for her den—yes, she bought things for her house. What woman didn’t?
She handed him the phone. “It’s a three-bedroom condo I rent.”
He began scrolling through the pictures. “I was right. It’s nice.”
The interior was the way she liked it. “I’m saving to buy a cottage someday.”
“A cottage?”
The photos showed how she decorated that way. Simple, fresh, colorful. “With patio doors that open to a beach.” She dreamed of owning a beach house someday. And someday she would. She didn’t need millions to do it, either. Just a big down payment. She tucked away as much as she could each month.
When he didn’t say anything, she turned to look at him. He wore a wry but fond look, and she predicted what he’d say before he said it.
“And you think money is bad.”
“Too much money makes people bad.”
“Just for that, I’m taking you shopping.”
She laughed as a car drove by and pulled in front of one of the row houses with steps going up to a door. All of the houses needed new paint on this street. Most had brick lower levels and wood siding on the second.
An overweight woman with short, curly dark hair and thick glasses got out of the old Honda. Carrying a paper bag and a purse, she waddled up to her steps.
“Penelope Johnson?” Carson called as they approached.
The woman stopped at her door, turning her head to see them, most of her body facing the door. “Can’t you see the no soliciting sign?” She pointed to her door.
“We aren’t here to sell anything.” Carson stopped at the foot of the stairs, Georgia beside him. “We’re here to talk to you about an old kidnapping case. You used to live next door to Ruby and Reginald Adair.” He stopped while the woman searched her memory or seemed to.
“That was a long time ago,” she said. “Cops came by back then and asked about it. I’ll tell you what I told them—I didn’t see nothin’.” She turned to the door and started to stick a key into the lock.
“Please,” Georgia said. “We know you were going through a hard time back then. But maybe there’s something that will help us get a break in the case. Anything at all.”
“What do you know about what I was going through?” The woman straightened from the door and turned her head to see them. She did not take kindly to them poking around in her past.
“Your divorce. Taking your son...it’s public record,” Georgia said.
Still annoyed, Penelope shifted to face them fully. “I haven’t seen my son ever since about the time that child was kidnapped. My ex-husband took him from me, you see. I was a wreck back then, but I cleaned up my life and he never once let me see my boy. Now he’s a grown man and doesn’t want to see me. Do you know what that’s been like?”
Georgia looked down at the paper bag the woman held. It was the kind from liquor stores and she could see the top of one of the bottles inside. Apparently she’d slipped back into old habits; maybe she no longer did drugs, but the loss of her son had driven her to drink.
“I’m sure Ruby does,” Carson said. “She lost a son, too.”
That eased some of the woman’s animosity. “I don’t even remember those people. I took money from my ex-husband to buy that house and I was in it less than a year.”
Then she’d been arrested and lost everything. That’s how she’d ended up here in this low-end neighborhood.
“What were you doing that day?” Carson asked.
The woman adjusted her purse over her shoulder, keys jingling in her hand. She seemed to contemplate something. Georgia didn’t think she would talk to them at all, but something had stopped her.
“I was home with my boy.” The memory softened her further.
Georgia felt a deepening empathy for the woman. She’d paid a high price for the sins of her youth.
“I did see something. I didn’t remember it at the time the police questioned me. I had so much trouble going on. Years later it came to me and by then I thought it was no longer important. I still don’t, but you may feel differently.”
Georgia exchanged a look with Carson. Could they be so lucky?
“I saw Ruby’s friend Loretta the day of the kidnapping. She drove by Ruby’s house, real slow. She might have been leaving at that time or just driving by. I couldn’t tell. But I thought it was strange that she did that because Ruby told me about the conflict between them.”
“Who is Loretta?” Carson asked, exchanging a look with Georgia. This was someone even Reginald hadn’t known about, or left any clues that he had.
But something was odd about Penelope knowing a friend of Ruby’s. They hadn’t been neighbors long. They couldn’t have become very close in so short of a time frame.
“One day I went to the store and I saw the two of them. It was a real spectacle. Yellin’ and accusin’ each other of cheatin’. I asked Ruby if she was all right. Bein’ my neighbor and all. She looked so upset. She told me who the woman was and what happened. She and Loretta used to be best friends. Their argument was just about a week before Jackson went missing. Maybe she went over there to apologize but decided not to and drove by.”
Or she’d taken Jackson for revenge.
“Did you talk to Ruby much?” Georgia asked.
“No, not much. After her boy was taken, I was dealin’ with the courts a lot. Besides, she didn’t seem interested in getting to know the likes of me. I married a wealthy man, but I wasn’t like him. Ruby had all her rich friends and never seemed to want to talk to me.”
“She had rich friends after Jackson was kidnapped?”
“She had weekly gatherings. I got the sense that she was trying to keep up appearances, you see. When no one was around, though, I heard them fighting, she and her husband. Screamin’ matches some of the time.” The big woman shook her head. “Mmm-hmm. They had some whoppers.”
That fell in line with what Ruby had told her. But the social gatherings. Why had she done that? To try to fit in? Hang on to her marriage? In the end, she’d even given up on that.
But more important, why hadn’t she told her about Loretta?
“She probably did better than I did in her divorce. She was always wearing nice clothes, never did see her in jeans. Jewelry. And her hair was always perfect. Girl like that needs maintenance.”
Georgia didn’t say that Ruby had walked away from everything. Reginald had taken his parents’ side and driven her out. Ruby hadn’t taken a thing, and during the divorce, she didn’t take any more than she’d gone into the marriage with as far as money went.
“I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you,” Penelope said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She moved the bag higher on her hip, getting uncomfortable holding the bottles.
Carson thanked her and she turned to the door, slipping the key in and unlocking it, ready to begin another night drowning out memories and the reality of her life, no doubt.
* * *
Loretta, it turned out, didn’t have any children. Carson had gone through his commander to find out where she lived, and a background didn’t produce any suspicion that she might have taken Jackson, unless she’d somehow gotten rid of him right away.
She seemed normal, harmless even. She’d done well for herself. Single after divorcing five years ago, she was ready to start looking for a companion. Carson had learned all this over the hour they’d been here. Loretta’s house was a three-thousand-square-foot bright and modern suburban home. She was a real estate agent and had stacked up respectable savings before the market crashed. Now she was back in the game, planning a trip to Cancún this spring.
His energy sapped by the draining effect of her unending cha
tter, Carson was ready for a nap by the time she said, “What was it you needed to know about Ruby? I haven’t spoken with her in years. I did talk to her once, just before she moved to Florida. Tragic about Jackson.”
“Ruby’s neighbor said she saw you drive by the day he was taken. Do you remember?” Carson asked.
“Oh.” Loretta’s brow scrunched and she looked across her big, white and earthtoned living room. “I remember I had thought about going to talk to her. I ran into her at the market and we had words.” She looked regretful now, her brow still scrunched but softer.
Carson sensed another long-winded dialogue coming. A glance at Georgia and she was bracing for one, too. He almost smiled. Her head angled slightly and her eyes were wary, as though anxious over whether she could tolerate so much needless prattle.
“Ruby and I were inseparable throughout high school,” Loretta said. “We did everything together. Of course, back then, we were into all sorts of trouble. Stealing liquor from our parents. Sneaking out to go to parties. Ruby was a real party girl. I drank but not like she did. She was sure wild.”
“What drove you apart?” Georgia asked, a clear attempt to get her to the point.
“I remember this one time.” Loretta laughed, in her own world and oblivious to them. “Ruby had a crush on this boy who was a year older than us. He was having a field party. A bonfire. Back then it was okay to drink and drive. Can you imagine? People drove with six-packs in their cars and parked at drive-ins or other dark places to party and make out.”
She laughed lightly, slapping her knee to the fond memory. “Anyway, we sneaked out again, and I drove us to this boy’s house. His parents were gone. Music was playing. People were talking and laughing. There were about fifty of us that night. Ruby, oh, my gosh.” She slapped her knee again. “She went right after that boy. Drinking with him and eventually they disappeared. It was more than two hours later she finally came down.” Loretta put her hand up by her mouth as though to whisper a secret. “She slept with him. Ruby was like that. She slept with a lot of boys. I don’t know how she managed to escape a bad reputation.”
“Ruby?” Georgia was taken aback, mouth slack, eyes shocked.
“She’s different now?”
Georgia scoffed. “Uh...yeah. Not promiscuous. At all.”
Loretta sobered. “Well, I imagine losing her son changed her quite a bit. The Ruby I remember was loud and full of rambunctious laughter. She loved the boys. And then she met Reginald.”
“What drove you and Ruby apart?” Carson asked the question again.
“Oh. Yes. Sorry.” She swatted her hand in the air. “I get carried away. Ruby slept with my husband. I married before she did. Mistake, that was.” She wiggled her left fingers. “Divorced twice now.”
“She slept with your husband.” Georgia said it flatly, in total disbelief.
Carson didn’t know Ruby very well, but the few times he had met her, she seemed old-fashioned, but open to flirtation. Maybe it had been the man who’d brought that out in her. Maybe there hadn’t been another man to do that since Georgia’s dad.
“Yes. But I was having an affair with someone. She probably thought I wouldn’t care. Maybe I didn’t. The thing that hurt was that my best friend would do something like that.”
Any normal person would feel that way.
“I can’t see her doing anything like that,” Georgia said. “Innocent flirting is one thing, but...having an affair?”
“Well, she’s a changed woman then. Ruby was not as innocent as you might think. Anything she tried, she tried at full speed. There was no slowing that girl down. I was glad to get married. I couldn’t keep up with her anymore.”
“She is definitely not the same.”
“When she met Reginald, that was the beginning of a new adventure for her. Mostly I think his money attracted her. She’d show off whatever trinket he bought her. After they married, I think she came to truly care for him, and he her.”
“When did the two of you have your falling-out?” Carson asked.
Loretta turned to him. “She slept with my husband before she met Reginald. I didn’t know she’d met him until one of our mutual friends told me. I only heard about her through other friends after I found out about her affair with my husband. People said she was happy. And faithful. I believed she was happy. Ruby was always happy, even when she was sleeping with other women’s husbands. Faithful? I have a hard time buying that. Maybe having a baby changed her.”
“Losing the baby definitely did,” Georgia said.
Loretta fell into somber thought, looking across her living room again.
“Did you take her son out of revenge?” Carson asked. He knew it was blunt. He intended to shock her. He wanted to see her reaction.
Her head whipped toward him, yes, shocked by the question. “No. Never. I was hurt by what she did, but I got over it. My husband and I ended up divorcing anyway. I would never take her baby. Plus, I never had the desire to have any children.”
She seemed to be honest. Carson got no guilty vibes from her. “I had to ask.”
The shock wore off and sorrow took its place. After a moment she looked at Georgia. “Will you tell her that I’d like to hear from her? It’s been so long since my first husband and I were divorced and all of that happened. It’s all in the past now. And if Ruby has changed, I’d like to get to know her again.”
Georgia smiled. “Of course I will.”
She turned to Carson. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. The police came to see me all those years ago. Ruby must have told them about our estrangement. They did a thorough job investigating Jackson’s disappearance.”
“Not thorough enough,” Carson said.
If they had, then Jackson would have been found.
* * *
Long after leaving Loretta’s house, Georgia was distracted by the revelation that her stepmother had been so different as a young woman. It was more than growing up, learning from mistakes. Her mistakes had been huge. Sleeping with her best friend’s husband? Who would do that? Penelope had also hinted to a darker character. Ruby seemed to love the rich life, and having friends in the same class as the one she’d married into. Had she felt she’d hit the jackpot? Was that the kind of woman her stepmother had been when she’d met Reginald?
The Ruby she knew was charitable and loving. Maybe losing Jackson had humbled her. But before that, she seemed to have been the opposite. And she’d never told her about Loretta.
Georgia didn’t like how that made her feel.
“Are you all right?” Carson asked from the backseat of the limo.
“Yes,” she answered halfheartedly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ruby...the way she was when she was young. Loretta. I...” She couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
“So she was a wild woman. Lots of people outgrow that.”
“Yeah, I know, but...it’s almost like she fell for Reginald because he came from an affluent, wealthy family.”
“Did she ever tell you that?”
“No.”
“Why does it upset you so much?” Then he seemed to catch himself. “Never mind. Driver, take us to the Ocean District.”
“Yes, sir.”
What was the Ocean District? Before she could ask, he said, “I have just the thing to cheer you up.”
* * *
Carson got out of the limo in front of a boutique where the lowest price tag was around two thousand dollars. He might be pushing it too soon, but the whole shock over Ruby loving Reginald’s money warranted this foray. Getting out of the limo, he stopped the driver from opening the door for him or Georgia. He walked around to the other side. She hadn’t moved to get out. Opening the door, he leaned down and looked at her profile, waiting for her to turn her head.
“Carson...” She’d protested all the way here.
“Just get out of the limo, Georgia. You need a dress for tonight.”
“I have a dress.”
�
��Not the kind that’s in here.” He thumbed behind him toward the boutique. This was the kind of place that took appointments. He hadn’t had time to do that, but it would be just as good this way. “You’ll be the most beautiful woman at the party.”
“I don’t need to be the most beautiful woman at the party.”
“Just look around. If you don’t see anything you can’t resist in there, we’ll go back to the inn.” All they had to do was get their things. Kate had invited them to stay at her estate tonight.
After a few blinks of her amazing green eyes, she slid her slender legs out of the limo and even gave him her hand. People passing along the sidewalk noticed them. A limo had a way of doing that. He couldn’t be sure she felt lucky to be the one they noticed.
“Haven’t you ever rented a limo with your friends?” he asked.
“We all pitched in to get one for my best friend’s bachelorette party.”
“Did you like it?” He opened the boutique door for her, a light-colored stone building that had been converted to a shop from an old house.
“It was a great night.” She stepped into the shop and then looked back at him. “But not because of the limo.”
He let her get away with that as he watched her grow aware of the boutique. The owner had decorated the shop cottage style, with benches and wicker furniture and pottery here and there. Clothing racks were arranged around the furniture and two dressing rooms hidden by silky drapes swooped up like window coverings. Accessories were displayed strategically by clothes that matched in color. He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d have known the shop would be this way.
Georgia wandered the shop, making a big show of disinterest. But when she came upon a rack of dresses with some eye-catching accessories displayed on the shelf above, she reached out and slid the hanger for a better look.
Hook.
She slid more hangers and removed a dress that was her size. It was a stunning beaded black cocktail dress. A mini. Spaghetti straps. The clear beads swooped beneath the neckline and above the skimpy hem.
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