by Jaci Burton
“I do.” She kept walking, ignoring the stares they got as they made their way to Paco’s trailer.
“They don’t like strangers here, do they?” Jed asked.
“They grow weed in the woods back there. Of course they don’t like strangers. Try not to look so much like a federal agent.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I’ll try.”
They finally reached the trailer. Graffiti marked up the sides of the small single wide, mostly written in Spanish and various gang symbols. The screen door hung precariously to the side and there were what appeared to be bullet holes above the windows.
Elena couldn’t believe her mother had stayed here.
A rough-looking kid about sixteen leaned against the open door of the trailer, making no attempt to hide the gun tucked in the front of his low-riding pants.
She felt the tension run all the way through Jed’s body. She squeezed his hand and hoped he read her signal to stay calm. She’d hate for him to shoot this kid. She knew kids like him. They were more bravado than skill.
“Whatchootwowant?” he asked, a cigarette dangling from his lower lip.
“Paco around?”
“Who wants to know?”
“Tell him it’s Elena, Carla Madison’s daughter.”
The kid threw a sneer at Jed. “Stay right there. You move, someone around here might kill you.”
The kid disappeared inside.
“That boy has a bright future ahead of him.”
Elena sighed. “I’m afraid not.”
A man appeared at the entrance to the trailer, a trail of smoke and the distinct odor of pot wafting from the end of the joint he smoked. He was skinnier than she remembered, his dark pants hanging off him now. His white tank top hung loosely on his skeletal frame, and his dark greasy hair reached to his shoulders. He also appeared to be missing a few teeth as he grinned at her.
“Elena! It’s been a long time, chica. Como estas?”
Elena grinned. “Bueno, Paco. How are you?”
He nodded. “Pretty fucking good. Who’s the guy?”
“This is my boyfriend, Jed. He’s cool. Jed, this is Paco.”
Jed nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
Paco nodded back. “He looks like a fed.”
Jed coughed. “I get that a lot. My mom makes me cut my hair.”
Paco laughed. “Ah. I understand. Must please the mamas, no?”
“What can you do?”
Jed was good at this.
“What can I do for you, Elena?”
“I’m out of touch with my mother. I was wondering if she’d passed by this way lately.”
Paco frowned. “No, baby, I haven’t seen your mama in a long time. Last time she was here was—hmmm, let me think—probably six months or so. Said she was going legit. Can you believe that shit?”
“No. I can’t. What did she mean by that?”
“No idea. Said something about wanting to go back to school to finally finish up that degree she’d started. You know me, I’m always half buzzed anyway, so in one ear and out the other. But I haven’t seen her since.”
She couldn’t help being disappointed, but Paco had no reason to lie to her. At least she hoped not. “Okay. Thanks, Paco. If you see her, could you tell her to call me?”
“You know I will. But you know what else, two jokers who also looked like feds stopped by here today looking for her.”
She feigned surprise. “Really? What did they look like?”
Paco spat on the ground. “Tried to look like tourists, but I can spot a fed a hundred yards away. I sent them packing. They were lucky I didn’t shoot them.”
“I wonder why they would be looking for her?”
He shrugged. “No clue, baby girl. I hope your mama isn’t in any trouble.”
“God, I hope not, either. I guess I’ll have to find her before they do.”
“You do that. And if you need any help, you come get me. We’ll get a posse out looking for her.”
She climbed up the stairs and kissed his cheek. “Gracias, Paco. You take care of yourself.”
“You, too, chica.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jed said with a nod.
“Take care of this lady,” Paco said. “She’s special.”
Jed slung his arm around Elena. “I know she is. And I will.”
They headed back to the car. Now that they had Paco’s approval, no one watched them.
As they drove toward the next destination, Elena was silent, thinking about what Paco had said.
“What’s wrong?” Jed asked.
“Paco said my mother was thinking of going back to school. I never knew she was in a degree program. She never told me about it.”
“Maybe she didn’t want you to know.”
“It’s possible. She rarely finished anything she started. And who knows, maybe it was just one of those bucket list items. You know, before I die, I want to climb Mount Everest, go to Italy, get a degree, et cetera, et cetera?”
“Or maybe she had a goal in mind and wanted to change her life.”
Elena stared out the window. “Maybe.”
An hour later they were in Cocoa Beach, in a completely different environment than the first location. Mitzie Winfield was a rich woman who’d lived a solitary existence since her third husband died in the eighties. Elena never quite understood how Mitzie and her mother got to be friends since Carla Madison was a no-material-things love child and as far removed from wealth and society as one could get.
But Mitzie and her mother were friends, and occasionally her mom would stay over at Mitzie’s posh private home on the beach. They’d play cards and spend time on Mitzie’s yacht and shop and go to all these parties. Her mother would tell her stories about spending a few weeks with Mitzie and all the wonderful adventures she had. For a while, Elena thought her mother was full of shit, but Carla took her daughter once to meet Mitzie, and Elena had been stunned to find out it was all true.
Mitzie loved Carla, and Elena figured it was the simplicity of her mother’s existence that Mitzie appreciated. Or maybe because her mother didn’t want anything from Mitzie other than her company. Even when they went shopping, Mitzie bought things for herself but her mom never let Mitzie buy anything for her other than lunch.
They arrived at the coral beach house and parked in front. Elena rang the doorbell. A waft of perfume greeted her.
Mitzie, well tanned, her makeup done to perfection as always, was dressed in a flowing beach dress.
“Can I help you?”
“Mitzie, I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Elena Madison, Carla’s daughter.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, of course. Elena. Gosh, I haven’t seen you in so long.” She grasped Elena’s hands in hers. “Where are my manners? Come in, dear.”
Her kitten heels clapped across the polished floor as she led them into the sunken living room. Elena felt like she should take off her shoes when she sank into Mitzie’s carpet, which matched her shoulder-length white hair.
She turned and smiled.
“So tell me, who’s your friend?”
“Mitzie Winfield, this is my boyfriend, Jed Templeton.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Jed said, shaking her hand.
“Aren’t you a handsome devil? Nice catch, Elena.”
Elena couldn’t hold back the warm blush staining her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“I just made some tea. Would you like some?”
“We’d love some,” Elena said.
“I’ll just be a moment. It’s a lovely day outside. We’ll have it on the terrace. Go have a seat out there.”
Elena led Jed outside to the terrace.
“Nice view,” he said.
“Yes, it is.” She took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs.
Mitzi showed up a few minutes later with a tray.
“Let me help you with that,” Jed said, standing to take the tray from her and set it on the table.
“Oh, and he has manners, too,” Mitzi said, watching as Jed poured the tea and served it to them. “I like this young man.”
Elena took the glass from Jed, her body heating as their gazes met. “I do, too.”
She took a sip of the tea. “This is wonderful, tea, Mitzie. Thank you.”
“I’m so glad you like it. So tell me what brings you here. How’s your mother?”
“That’s why I’m here. I was wondering if you’d seen her lately.”
“No, I haven’t. I was hoping she’d get in touch but I haven’t seen her in about six months.”
“I see.”
Mitzi laid her hand over Elena’s. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m just out of touch with her and hoping to reconnect.”
Mitzi waved her hand in the air. “Well, you know how your mother is. Always off on one adventure or another. And she’s terrible about checking in. I always admonish her about that when she comes to see me. I try to call my friends once a week, just to chat. I wish your mother and I could do that.”
“That would be nice.”
“I even invited her to move in with me, you know.”
Now that was a shocker. “You did? When?”
“Last time she was here. I told here she was getting too old to wander around like a vagabond. She needed to set down some roots, and I offered my home here as a place to plant her flag. God knows I have more space here than I know what to do with. And since I never had children, I have no grandchildren to come visit, so it’s just me, all alone here in this rambling house on the beach. Your mother loves the water. I figured it would be a perfect place for her to settle, since she and I get along so well.”
Elena leaned back in the chair with her glass. “And what did she say to that?”
“She thanked me profusely, of course. Your mother is always so incredibly polite. She said she’d give it some thought, but she was considering making other permanent plans with her life.”
Again, more secrets. “Did she mention what those permanent plans were?”
Mitzie laughed. “No, she didn’t. And despite my pressing her, she said she didn’t have everything in place yet, but when she had it all figured out, she’d be sure to come by and tell me all about it. And that was the last time I saw her, the little devil. I’ve been dying of curiosity ever since.”
And now, so was Elena.
Mitzie turned her attention on Jed, scoping him out like one would ripe tomatoes in the produce aisle. “So, Jed Templeton, tell me all about yourself. I need to decide if you’re good enough for my friend Carla’s daughter.”
Elena looked at Jed, who cast a gorgeous smile at Mitzie, then made up a rather dazzling bunch of lies about who he was.
Of course, he was really good at it, but this time she couldn’t fault him.
They finished their tea, visited with Mitzie for a while longer then left, with the promise to her that if they heard from Carla, they’d be sure to have her get in touch with Mitzie.
“Your mother has secrets,” Jed said.
“Yes, she does. I’d like to know what the hell was going on with her and what she was planning to do to change her life.”
Jed pulled onto the highway. “First, we have to find her. And no one seems to have seen her since she’s been missing. It appears you’re the last one to have had contact with her.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s not good.”
The third person they went to see had a story much like the first two. Amanda was a hippie like her mother. She created glass art and Elena bought some of Amanda’s work for her shop. Elena saw Amanda rather regularly, so she had nothing much to offer, and she was kind of an airhead.
“Oh, wow, you know, I haven’t seen your mom for a while. I can’t remember when. I think it was the art fair in November. She helped me with my booth.”
Amanda, though in her fifties and her hair entirely gray, still wore pigtails, Birkenstocks and skirts that dusted the floor of her one-bedroom apartment. Her three cats wound around her ankles. And her voice was so soft Elena had to strain to hear her. Jed stood stoically in Amanda’s colorful kitchen and let Elena ask all the questions.
“Are you sure it was all the way back in November? You haven’t seen her since?” Elena had seen Amanda at least fifteen times since then. She would think Amanda might have mentioned not seeing her mother since then.
Amanda looked up at the ceiling as if she were hard in thought. “Uh, I don’t know. We did a Christmas show, too. She might have been there, but that could have been Veronica with me. I can’t recall.”
How the woman was able to maintain a successful business, Elena didn’t know. After spending a half hour grilling her, Elena knew they’d get nowhere with her. She thanked Amanda and they were off.
“What a ditz,” Jed said as they left.
“She is, but she’s also a brilliant artist.”
“If you say so. Her stuff looked like flea market junk.”
Elena laughed. “Clearly you don’t have a discerning eye for art. There’s a big difference in what she makes and your average crap.”
“Well, you know what they say. I might not know art, but I know what I like.”
They rendezvoused with Grange and Pete back at the restaurant.
“Anything?” Grange asked as they climbed back into the car.
“No solid leads on Carla’s whereabouts. Her friends haven’t seen her.”
“Do you think they were telling the truth?”
Elena noticed he asked the question of Jed, not her.
“Yes. They all know Elena, and seemed to have no reason to lie to her.”
“Hell. We’re back to square one.”
Elena folded her hands together on her lap and stared down at them.
Grange leaned forward in the seat and rubbed her shoulder. “We’ll find her. I promise.”
She nodded, but the more time that went by, the more she realized how she’d allowed her mother to slip away. She’d gotten so wrapped up in her life, in distancing herself from her mom, that she had no idea what her mother had been doing with her life. Her mom had all these secret plans about changing her life that she knew nothing about, because while her mother had been passing in and out of her life, Elena hadn’t taken any time to sit down with her and just ask her what was going on. She couldn’t recall when they’d last had lunch or dinner, or taken a few hours to sit down and talk with each other.
That was her fault. She liked her mother to check in now and then so she could be sure she was okay. Other than that, she really wanted nothing to do with her.
Had she subconsciously tried to push her mother out of her life?
Maybe that was why her mom was making all those changes . . . all those plans. She had no idea. And now she might never have the chance to ask her what those plans were. Even worse, her mom might not have the chance to act on them.
Grange’s phone rang. He picked it up.
“Okay, when? Where? Two locations? That’s not possible. Give me the intel on both.”
Elena turned in her seat to see Grange jotting down notes.
“Got it. Thanks.”
He hung up and instructed Jed to find a spot to pull over. He was on the beach highway, so he pulled over at a lookout point.
“Carla’s credit card is showing usage.”
Elena’s heart rate sped up. “That’s good, right? It’s a lead.”
“Could be. Problem is, it showed simultaneous usage at two different points of origin.”
“You mean the card was used at two different places at the same time?” Elena asked.
Grange nodded.
“Were
they online purchases? She shops online sometimes if she borrows Mitzie’s computer.”
“No. They were in person.”
“It’s a trap,” Pete said.
Grange nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking.”
“We need to get Elena back to the island,” Pete said.
“No,” she said. “We need to follow those leads.”
“Jed and I will follow the leads,” Grange said. “We have to keep you safe.”
“I’ll get her back to the island,” Pete said. “You two track down those credit card leads.”
She cast her gaze at Jed. He knew she wanted to go, wanted to be with him when they found her mother.
“You should go with Pete. The island is the safest place for you right now.”
Her heart sank. “I want to go with you.”
“I know you do, but if either of these leads pans out and we head into danger, being with us is the last place you need to be.”
“Agreed,” Grange said. “And it’s possible whoever has your mother thinks that’s exactly what we’ll do—that we’ll bring you along with us. Which means it’s the last thing we’re going to do. Go with Pete and we’ll report in as soon as we know something.”
Jed started the car and headed back to the helicopter.
Pete got out and the pilot fired up the engine.
Grange held her hands. “This is the best lead we’ve gotten. Even if it’s nothing more than a game someone’s playing, it’s a start, a way to track them and find your mother.”
“Please be careful. I just found out I have an uncle. I’d hate to lose you.”
He hesitated for a second, then pulled Elena into his arms for a hug. “I’m always careful.”
He stepped back, cleared his throat. “Go with Pete. I’ll worry less knowing you’re with him.”
She nodded and he walked away, leaving her with Jed.
She should leave. Pete was waiting for her. But something held her there.
She didn’t want to go.
Jed moved next to her. “I know you want to come along, but it’s not safe for you.”
“I need to be there.”
“Your safety has to come first.”
The logical part of her knew that. She’d be in the way. She wasn’t feeling very logical right now. She laid her hand on his chest. “You stay safe. If it’s a trap . . .”