On Deadline & Under Fire

by Amanda M. Lee

  “We’ll add her to the list,” Eliot agreed. “We need to start figuring out patterns and relationship chains. I think that’s what Russell was trying to point us toward in that file. That’s where we need to focus.”

  “We will.” I polished off my prime rib, drank the rest of my tomato juice and then eagerly rubbed my hands together. “I need dessert and more juice first.”

  Eliot’s smile was indulgent. “You’d better get it now because there’s a very good chance you’ll be going vegan before the end of the month.”

  I kicked his shin under the table. He was prepared and didn’t flinch. “You and I are going to fight if you keep threatening me with that.”

  “It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”

  “It feels like a threat.”

  “Good. Maybe now you’ll think twice about lying to me.”

  “Oh, I’m definitely going to think twice.”

  “Then my work is already done.”

  27 Twenty-Seven

  I was full enough that when we hit the parking lot I wanted to head home and change into stretchy pants — or at least unbutton my shorts. That changed when I realized Kendra and Serafina hadn’t yet left the restaurant.

  “Look.”

  Eliot followed where I pointed and frowned. Kendra was still dressing down the little girl, who was in tears, and she showed no signs of letting up. “Do you think we should say something?”

  That was a good question. “What? She’s not technically hurting the kid.”

  “No, but she’s acting like a jerk, and I feel bad for that kid.”

  I felt bad for the kid, too. I wasn’t generally a fan of any member of the munchkin brigade, but I’d never seen the kid act obnoxious to the point she deserved to be verbally abused. The problem was, it wasn’t as if Kendra was slapping her around ... or locking her in a hot car. If I said something, what would happen to the kid once she wasn’t in front of witnesses?

  “I think we should follow them,” Maggie announced as Kendra motioned for Serafina to get into a vehicle. “That way we can watch and make sure nothing happens to that little girl.”

  That was a thought. “She’s not going to attack her while driving,” I pointed out.

  “No,” Eliot agreed, jangling his keys, “but she might lead us to where she lives, and that information might come in handy down the road. We can watch the kid and glean information. I don’t see the harm in that.”

  I was glad he spoke up because I was trying to figure out a way to motivate him to do just that. “Yeah. Let’s follow her.” I moved toward Eliot’s truck, but Maggie stopped me when she reached for the passenger-side door.

  “Shotgun,” Maggie said automatically, causing me to scowl.

  “I don’t want to be in the back,” I whined. “I don’t like being locked in. What if I have to get out in a hurry?”

  “If you don’t get in right now, it won’t matter,” Eliot countered. “We won’t be able to follow.”

  “Fine.” My mood turned foul as I climbed into the back seat and fastened my seatbelt. “I won’t forget this. It’s like being trapped in a cage.”

  “I like it.” Eliot grinned as he slid his key into the ignition and met my furious gaze in the rear-view mirror. “I can’t remember the last time I had this much control over you.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “Too late.”

  That was exactly what I was afraid of.

  IT TURNED OUT THAT Kendra didn’t lead us to her apartment complex, which was a mild disappointment. Instead, she parked in front of a large house that boasted a sign on the front lawn. She had Serafina out of the car and was dragging her toward the front door before we even took up position on a side street a block over. Eliot found a spot where we could watch without being obvious.

  “Little Adventurers Daycare,” Maggie read the sign. “I didn’t know daycare centers were open Sundays.”

  “I think you can find just about any service you’re looking for these days if you pay the right price,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I waited for Kendra to return. “It seems weird to me.”

  “A lot about this seems weird,” Eliot said. “What are you thinking?”

  “When I interviewed Kendra right after the fire she seemed like a worried mother who didn’t have a lot of money to throw around,” I replied. “In fact, one of her biggest concerns was getting furniture for the new apartment.”

  “Maybe that’s what she’s doing today, Eliot said. “Maybe it’s easier to pay for daycare than worry about the kid if she has a lot of things to do. I can’t imagine that shopping after a fire is all that different from shopping after a move. You know firsthand how daunting that can be.”

  “Yeah, but I had the money to do it even though I was lacking the desire. She doesn’t have the money. So, my question is, why is she paying for daycare on a Sunday — which must be more expensive than a normal day — if she doesn’t have the money to spare?”

  “I don’t know,” Eliot answered, shifting in his seat. “She’s coming out. Let’s see where she goes. It could be completely innocent. Maybe she’s so upset because she can’t afford the things she needs and she took it out on the kid.”

  “That is a travesty of justice,” Maggie commented.

  “It’s definitely not fair,” Eliot agreed. “I seem to remember a certain mother sending me to bed early for eating all her cookies once.”

  Maggie was incensed. “I ... you ... that was different.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s your mother and she probably had PMS or something,” I answered for Maggie as Eliot carefully pulled into traffic and followed Kendra. He made sure to keep another car between us as he focused on not being seen. “Why do you think I’m so charitable to those Girl Scouts? It’s for the cookies ... which ease the terrible trauma of PMS.”

  Eliot scowled. “I hate it when you talk about PMS.”

  “Why do you think I do it? It’s not as if I’m all that fond of you talking about carburetors and whatever other doohickeys you have under the hood of your truck. You still do it, even though you know it bores me to tears.”

  “You have a point, but let’s focus on Kendra. If she goes to a store, I think we have our answer. If she goes someplace else, well ... maybe she’ll give us a lead we weren’t expecting. Stranger things have happened.”

  IT TURNED OUT THAT Kendra was not going furniture shopping. She didn’t visit a grocery store. She didn’t stop at a thrift shop. She didn’t even race inside Starbucks to gather herself under the umbrella of caffeine and hate herself for being mean to her daughter.

  No, Kendra didn’t do any of those things. Instead, she headed straight to The Domino Club, and my mind became even more jumbled than it was before.

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Eliot shifted so he could meet my gaze over the seat. We were parked on the street one block over, although we had a clear view of the back door to the house. “This is where you were last night, right?”

  I nodded. “This is it.”

  Maggie pressed her forehead to the window and stared out. “Are you saying that’s a bar? It looks like a really big house.”

  “It’s definitely a bar.” I was grim. “What is she doing here?”

  “We could go inside and find out,” Maggie suggested. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the inside of a bar that doesn’t look like a bar.”

  “We could do that,” Eliot agreed, although he didn’t look happy at the prospect. “The thing is, there are only five cars on the closest streets. I counted. I don’t think very many people are inside. It’s not as if we can hide in plain sight.”

  “I don’t understand why we have to hide,” Maggie said. “It’s not as if we’re doing anything illegal. Avery has been inside twice now, right? Maybe she simply wanted to show the place to her friends.”

  “That’s the excuse I used last night. Phil wasn’t thrilled with it,” I said. “In fact, he looked downright dist
ressed that I’d come back at all. While I don’t particularly care about his feelings, if he is as dangerous as Russell made it sound, then dragging my boyfriend in for another visit will set him off. I can guarantee he did research on me after our initial meeting. He knows who Eliot is.”

  “He probably knew before that, but you’re right,” Eliot conceded. “Going in as a group is a bad idea. Maybe I should go in alone.”

  The suggestion rankled. “Why you?”

  “I have a built-in excuse,” Eliot replied, matter-of-fact. “I can say that I’m not happy about my girlfriend visiting and that I wanted to check out the place. As a fellow man, he’ll understand my worry when it comes to your safety in an underground atmosphere. He’ll simply think I’m being alpha and let it go.”

  “Unless he thinks you’re being a busybody and doesn’t like it,” I argued. “What if he wants to send me a message and does it through you because there aren’t any witnesses? I don’t like the idea of that one bit. You’re staying here.”

  Instead of continuing the argument, Eliot merely smirked. “It’s not fun to worry about someone, is it?”

  Oh, geez. He was trying to build a lesson into our morning. I didn’t have the patience for that, especially with my shorts cutting off my circulation. I really shouldn’t have eaten so much.

  “I think I should go in,” I said after a beat.

  Eliot immediately started shaking his head. “Absolutely not.”

  “Hear me out.”

  “No, you hear me out.” He wagged a finger to let me know he meant business. “You said that Keane was not happy about you showing up last night. You believe he let you stay because it would’ve caused a stir to kick you out. You recognized a few people in the building, and he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that you probably shouldn’t have been there.”

  “I don’t believe that’s exactly how I phrased it,” I grumbled.

  “That’s how it went down,” Eliot pressed. “If he was that bad last night, how do you think he’ll be today?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he’ll have thought better about his rude reaction and want to make it up to me.”

  “Or maybe he’ll try to kill you.”

  That was quite the leap. While I didn’t doubt Phil could turn dangerous at any given moment, I didn’t see him killing me for dropping in unannounced on a Sunday morning. He was more the type to lay in wait along the side of the road rather than risk taking me down on his home turf. I wisely kept that to myself.

  “Well, one of us has to go in,” I said finally. “I think it’s a mistake for it to be you. I think it should be me.”

  “Give me one good reason why I should agree to this.”

  “Because it’s my story.”

  “Give me a better reason.”

  “Because I’ve already been here and know the layout.” I chose my words carefully. “Also, you can move up close to the walkway over there once I’m inside, keep the motor running. If I come tearing out of there, you’ll be ready.”

  “Avery ... .”

  “It’s the best plan and you know it.” I refused to back down. “I won’t be inside long. I just have to see who she’s talking to. I’ll bet it’s Phil, but I need to see with my own eyes in case it’s someone else.” Like Russell, I silently added. Maybe they were working together the entire time and I was the doofus who fell for their act.

  Eliot was resigned. “I don’t like this.”

  “Compromise,” I reminded him. “If I can’t lie, you have to at least be open to hearing the truth and not going G.I. Joe on me when I suggest a plan of attack. There are things we both need in this relationship. I need to know what Kendra is doing in there. I also need to know you’ll be here when I come running out.”

  “How do you know you’ll be running?”

  “It’s me.”

  Eliot slowly nodded. “Okay. But if you’re in there more than five minutes I’m coming after you.”

  “I just need to see them together. I don’t know what it will mean if they’re talking, but it’s ... something.”

  Eliot leaned over the back seat and grabbed my chin. “You be careful. If this backfires on you, that compromise thing is going right out the window and I’m going to keep you locked in the back of this truck for the rest of our lives.”

  “That’s going to be quite the waste now that we’ve bought that big house.”

  “I’m willing to sacrifice it to keep you.”

  My heart warmed at his words. “It’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll be right back.”

  I KNEW WHERE I was going, so I adopted a quick pace and breezed down the sidewalk. There was no one by the back door or in the lobby when I entered, and I headed straight for the bar. It looked empty. The double doors were open, and I was about to turn around and search in another direction when I heard the low murmur of voices.

  I slowed my pace, making sure that my reflection didn’t show in the doors, and tilted my head to the side as I listened.

  “How long do you expect me to wait?” The voice was female, and although I’d only talked to Kendra twice I knew she was the speaker.

  “I expect you to wait until I say you’re done waiting.” The second voice belonged to Phil. I was certain of that. He talked in a calm and measured way, and that was no different this morning.

  “You said that I would already be settled in my new place. You promised.”

  “That was before you made the mistake of talking to Avery Shaw.”

  Oh, wow! They were talking about me. I didn’t see that coming … although, to be fair, as the center of the known universe I’m often surprised more people don’t talk about me within hearing distance.

  Kendra made a protesting sound in the back of her throat. “How was I supposed to know what would happen? You didn’t prepare me for questions like that. I thought turning her down would be suspicious.”

  “You could’ve begged off,” Phil countered. “You could’ve said you were shaken, given yourself time to recover, and then called me for direction. Instead, you blabbed away and put me in a pickle.”

  “None of this is my fault,” Kendra insisted. “How was I supposed to know that Serafina would take off the way she did. I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Perhaps you should be nicer to her,” Phil suggested. “She might not constantly run if you occasionally gave her a reason to stay.”

  “Oh, now you’re giving me parenting tips? That’s rich.”

  “I’m simply saying that you created this situation and now we have to play it out,” Phil said. “I never thought that Avery Shaw would get involved in this. She has a certain reputation in this county. It’s not good for a man like me.”

  “So ... get rid of her.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I had no idea who Kendra was, what her true motivations were, but she was clearly not the woman I’d initially envisioned. She was something so much worse.

  “I cannot get rid of her,” Phil gritted out. “Don’t you understand? She’s the sheriff’s ex-girlfriend. She has relatives in the department. She lives with a security expert who is apparently very fond of her. He’s a worry all on his own, because if Shaw simply disappears I get the feeling he won’t rest until he finds answers.”

  Kendra turned derisive. “He owns a pawnshop. I can’t believe you’re scared of him.”

  “I am not frightened of anyone. He is more than a pawnshop owner, though. When you put him and the sheriff together, they will go scorched earth to avenge Avery Shaw. We have to be smart about this.”

  “How do you even know she’s aware what’s going on?” Kendra challenged. “I haven’t seen her since the day after the fire. Maybe she let it go.”

  “She was here last night.”

  “Here? Why?”

  “She brought two friends and hung around for a couple of hours. Then she abruptly left. I’m not sure why she was here, but she wouldn’t be hanging around this place without good reason. She definitely knows something.”
r />   “She hasn’t printed it in the newspaper.”

  “And she won’t until she sees the whole picture,” Phil said. “We have to come up with a way to silence her before then.”

  “You know my feelings on the subject.”

  “I do,” Phil agreed. “We have to think of a better way. We don’t have much time. We need to put our heads together.”

  “Fine. I want something to drink. I’m exhausted. Who knew being a mother was so tiring?”

  “Only every mother throughout time,” Phil said dryly. “If I get you a drink, will you stop complaining?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Maybe then we can come up with a plan.”

  I slowly backed away from the door, making sure to check the corridor on the other side of the bathroom to ensure I was still alone. I wanted to stay longer, listen more, but Eliot would come looking for me if I didn’t get back to the truck. Besides that, if they discovered me eavesdropping they would end me on the spot, whether Phil preferred a different course of action or not.

  I had my confirmation. Now I just had to figure out what to do with it.

  28 Twenty-Eight

  Eliot didn’t press me much when I hopped in the truck, instead driving away at a normal speed and occasionally looking in the rearview mirror as he headed out of Mount Clemens and toward home.

  Maggie chatted for the duration of the trip, seemingly oblivious to Eliot’s worry and my obvious distraction. I knew that wasn’t really the case, but I was thankful that she took up the conversational slack. I wasn’t sure what to say about what I’d heard inside The Domino Club. I didn’t understand it. I was rarely the last one to catch on to a plot, and yet this time I was clearly out of my depth.

  Eliot stopped at the grocery store on the way home, catching me by surprise. He opened the back door and helped me out, meeting my gaze as he shut the door and fobbed the truck locks. “What happened?” His voice was low.