“If you see him, will you let me know?”
Victor smoothed out his stubble. “I will. But then we’re even.”
“Even? For what?”
“It’s a small world, Boy Scout. That lady who got robbed outside Ma Barker’s? She’s my abuela.”
“Abuela?” Jack racked his brain trying to remember his Spanish classes.
“If I hear something, I’ll reach out.” Victor tapped his chest with two fingers. Then he headed back up the hill.
Jack waved Chandler over and started walking away. Chandler jogged up beside him. When they were out of the park and out of Victor’s sight, Chandler punched Jack’s arm.
“Damn!” Jack grimaced.
“I told you those guys were bad news,” Chandler growled in a low whisper.
Jack rubbed his arm. “That hurt like hell.”
“Sorry. It was a little harder than I intended.”
“A little? It’s like you hit me with a telephone pole.”
“Yeah, well, the small guy with the big skull tattoo was packing.”
“So was Victor.”
“I hate being around guns. Who knows when someone’s gonna start shooting? What did Victor say?”
“He kicked Tommy out of his crew for breaking into cars in the parking lot. He hasn’t seen him.”
“And you believe him?”
“Victor’s telling us straight. He doesn’t know anything.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You know the old lady with the handbag?” Jack grinned. “She’s Victor’s abuela.”
“His grandmother? No way.”
Oh yeah, grandmother. I knew it was something like that. “Way.”
“Then we’re back to square one.”
“No, we’re not. I’ve got a plan to flush Two Point out.”
11
You’re Not My Date
Jack held open the door to Tullie’s Café, but Chandler didn’t go in.
“What, you want a coffee now?” Chandler asked.
“No. Nina will be here soon.”
Chandler stepped aside so a woman could exit. “How do you know that?”
“Makayla said that Nina posts every detail of her life on Facebook. So I checked her page. She ‘liked’ Tullie’s milkshake special and commented that she’s getting one after work today.”
“So she might be here. You could have told me that earlier,” Chandler muttered as he walked in.
Inside the café, a few regulars sipped coffee, read, or chatted away. A long counter and stools ran the length of the front window, and six round tables the size of extra-large pizzas dotted the middle of the room. In the back was a counter where three teenagers waited for a customer to interrupt them from whatever they were doing on their phones.
They headed to the back counter. One of the three teenagers glanced up from her texting.
Jack turned to Chandler. “Get what you want. It’s on me.”
“No.”
“I’m dragging you all over the place. The least I can do is get you a coffee.”
Chandler peered into the glass counter and waved his hand. “No. The least you could do is get me an extra-large vanilla milkshake, a chocolate fudge bar…” He straightened up and added with a boyish grin, “And a strawberry-frosted sprinkle donut.”
Jack held up a hand to the teenager. “Don’t get him that.” To Chandler he said, “Why don’t you get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich so you get some protein at least?”
“Because it doesn’t taste as good.”
“You’re not getting all that junk.”
“You’re not my date. I can order for myself.”
Jack leaned back. “Fine. Blow your weigh-in. I’ll send you a postcard from Germany.”
Chandler scowled.
The barista shifted uncomfortably; her eyes moved back and forth between them. She gave them a strained, please-leave-me-out-of-this smile.
Chandler huffed. “Fine.”
Jack pulled out his wallet. “I’m still paying.”
Chandler ordered a coffee and a breakfast sandwich and Jack got a coffee and a biscuit. When they got their drinks and food, they looked around.
“Counter or table?” Chandler asked.
“Table in the far corner,” Jack said. “I want to keep an eye on the door.”
“That’s smart. Where did you learn that neat trick?”
“Clint Eastwood taught it to me.” Jack sat down and did his best High Plains Drifter impersonation. “You don’t put your back to the door; you put your eyes on it.”
They took their seats, and Jack started to take a bite of his biscuit. But Chandler rapped Jack’s knuckles with the handle of a fork.
“Ow.” Jack shook his hand. “What was that for?”
“You didn’t pray.” Chandler bowed his head. “Dear Lord, please watch over our families while we’re serving. Protect them here. Thank you for this food. In Jesus’s name, amen.”
“It’s a biscuit,” Jack said. “You don’t have to pray for a snack.”
“Who says you don’t?” Chandler unwrapped his sandwich.
“You’re not going to do that at every meal when we go overseas though, right?” Jack asked.
“I most certainly am.”
“Why? You’re not going to be a chaplain.”
“I’m just saying thank you. It’s polite.”
As they ate, Jack kept an eye on the door. They were quiet while Chandler finished up his sandwich, but when he was done, he picked up his fork and nervously tapped the table. “What’re we going to do, Jack?”
“What are we going to do about what?” Jack asked.
Chandler used the fork like a hockey stick and flicked a sugar packet. “When we’re overseas. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to anyone at Aunt Haddie’s.”
“I didn’t think about that. I guess the Army would get us home.”
“I can’t even think about it. If something happened to them…”
“Hey.” Jack flicked the sugar packet back, and it hit Chandler in the chest. “Have some faith.”
“Yeah. I suppose.” Chandler took the cover off his coffee and frowned. “You know this isn’t going to taste anywhere near as good as a milkshake.”
“Fifty calories versus a bazillion. Simple math.”
“Speaking of math, you’d better watch out how much money you’re spending.”
“I am.”
“You killed yourself at that hardware store every weekend. Don’t go blowing everything you earned.”
“I won’t. I’ve got more than enough to make it to basic and enjoy the summer.”
“Still, saving some is a good idea.” Chandler ripped open three sugar packets and emptied them into his coffee. As he stirred, he kept his eyes on the cup. “You know… when I called your house, your mom kinda hinted at something.”
“Spit it out.”
“Well, she sorta asked me if I’d ask you…” Chandler hesitated. “Can she bake you a birthday cake?”
“No,” Jack snapped immediately. “I hate Garbage Day.”
“Stop calling it that. Come on, she’d really like to make you one.”
“I know. I get it.” Jack lowered his voice. “But no one seems to get that it’s one of the crappy things about my childhood that I feel guilty about. It’s not my birthday. It’s the date the social workers put down on my file. Sorry, but I just can’t stand the whole day. I hate it. I’m not going to celebrate it.”
Chandler held up a hand. “Okay, okay. I understand. I’ll let it go.”
They waited in silence. Customers came and went, but there was still no sign of Nina.
Jack finished his coffee. “Listen, if something were to happen overseas, you know, to one of us—”
“Nothing’s gonna happen. I’ve got your back.” Chandler drained his coffee and grinned. “That was good.”
Jack stared at his big friend and waited.
“What?” Chandler said.
<
br /> Jack shrugged. “Was it good? Did you get enough to eat?”
“Yeah, that hit the spot. That turkey bacon rocked.”
“That’s good.”
Jack waited again. The pause grew, along with Chandler’s smile.
“You know I paid, right?” Jack said.
Chandler nodded. “Yup. I do.”
Jack waited some more.
Chandler said nothing but continued to smile.
“Well, are you going to say thank you?”
“What?” Chandler angled his head and made a face. “Do you want me to thank you every time you give me something?”
“Oh… I get it. The whole prayer thing,” Jack said.
“It’s polite.”
Jack chucked a sugar packet at his friend. “You don’t have to do it every time.”
“Okay, I won’t thank you now.”
Jack was going to say something more, but just then Nina came through the front door. “She’s here,” he said.
Nina was known for her fashion, and today she didn’t disappoint. She wore cuffed skinny jeans, black peep-toe booties, and a teal cross-front oversized tee. She was a short girl with an angular face and was always in constant motion. If she wasn’t bopping and moving to a music track in her head, her hands were gesturing wildly. And she was pretty much always talking.
Jack waved, and Nina gave a quick nod that sent her large silver hoop earrings jangling. As she headed to the counter, Jack and Chandler got up and joined her.
“Hi, Nina,” Jack said. “How’s it going?”
“Jack, haven’t seen you in a while. What are you guys up to?”
“Actually, we’re looking for Two Point,” Jack said. He leaned one hand on the counter. “His mother is looking for him. Have you seen—”
“Nope,” she answered curtly. “Not since Friday. I’ll have an extra-large vanilla shake,” she said to the clerk.
Chandler frowned. Jack didn’t know whether it was because of Nina’s answer or her order.
“His mom really needs to talk to him, Nina,” Chandler repeated. “She’s worried. Have you heard from him at all?”
“I haven’t heard from him and I don’t want to hear from him. You can tell him that when you see him. Nobody blows me off after a date. Nobody.”
Nina went to pay, but Jack beat her to it. He handed the cash to the clerk and spoke to Nina. “He hasn’t talked to you since Thursday? Hasn’t even texted? What a jerk.”
“Yep.” She popped the P. As she put her cash back into her faux-leather crossbody bag, she gave Jack a polite smile. “Thank you. At least some men know how to treat a lady.”
“No problem. We’ll see you later.” Jack took one step toward the door, then stopped. “Oh, crud. I forgot to call my mom. Give me your phone, Chandler.”
Chandler looked puzzled. “I don’t have a phone.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Jack’s eyes fell on Nina. “Nina… do you mind? I have to call my mom. Can I borrow your phone? Just for a second.”
“Sure, hon.”
As Nina handed Jack the phone, Jack winked at Chandler. A look of understanding spread across Chandler’s face, and he turned to Nina. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Makayla’s birthday is coming up. Do you have any suggestions for where I should shop for her?”
Nina steered Chandler to a table, prattling off a list of shops, malls, and boutiques—and her opinion about each of them—and Jack, grinning, walked toward the back of the café, pretending to make a call. After a minute, he returned to the table to rescue Chandler.
“Thanks for the phone.” Jack handed it back.
“Any time,” Nina said.
“C’mon, Chandler,” Jack said. “We’d better go.”
As they walked outside, Chandler asked, “Where to now?”
“To meet Two Point.” Jack smiled.
Jack and Chandler stood in the doorway of a shuttered nail salon and watched the apartment building across the street. Nina’s apartment building.
“Why would Two Point come here now?” Chandler asked. “Nina’s still at the coffee shop.”
“He’ll be here,” Jack said, leaning against the wall.
“Why are you so sure?”
“Nina asked him to come.” Jack smiled. “When I borrowed Nina’s phone, I texted Two Point: Parents out of house. Want some sugar? Come now.”
Chandler grinned. “Oh, in that case… he’ll be here. You are a smart man, Jack Stratton. I have taught you well.”
Jack grinned.
Ten minutes later, Two Point rounded the corner. He strutted down the street, one hand in his pocket, the other tapping out some beat on his thigh. Jack and Chandler jogged across the street to intercept him, but when Two Point saw them coming, he bolted.
Jack sprinted after him. Two Point was fast, but it was no contest. Two Point’s shorts hung past his knees, limiting his stride, and Jack’s long, powerful legs quickly closed the distance.
Two Point cut down an alley. It was lined with trash bins, but was still littered with garbage. A chain-link fence topped with barbed wire blocked passage about halfway down the alley. It had a gate in it, but it was padlocked shut. Two Point wasn’t getting away.
Jack caught up to Two Point, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him to a stop.
“Why are you running, Two?” Jack pinned him to the wall.
Two Point struggled. “Screw you, Stratton.”
“I asked you a question. Why’d you take off?”
“Stop,” Chandler panted as he ran up, “running.”
Two Point tried to bolt again, but Chandler grabbed his arm.
“What?” Two Point pushed Chandler, who stood immobile. Chandler’s eyes narrowed. Two Point stopped struggling. “What do you guys want?”
“Why’d you run?” Jack asked again.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“So you ran?” Chandler tightened his grip.
“Let go of me. I’ll call the cops.”
“Call them.” Jack got in his face. “Listen, I know you know about J-Dog.”
“What about him?”
“He got arrested,” Jack said.
“For stealing a wallet and using it at the ATM,” Chandler added.
“That’s bull!” Two Point yanked his shirt free. “J-Dog didn’t do nothin’.”
“I know.” Jack crossed his arms. “You did.”
Two Point froze. Then his fake swagger came rushing back. “Me? I wasn’t even there.”
“I have proof,” Jack said.
“What proof?”
“A picture.”
Chandler looked puzzled.
“You’re lying,” Two Point said.
“No. See, girls like to take pictures on dates.” Jack pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Girls also like to post on Facebook. You took Nina to the movies Thursday night, correct?”
“What of it?”
“I figure you wanted to impress Fashionista Nina, so you had to dress up. And since you have no taste or style, you borrowed your older brother’s jacket and shoes.”
Two Point smacked his hands together. “That stupid…” He shifted his weight to his heels and glanced down the alley.
Jack held up the picture he’d printed out. Two Point stood next to a smiling Nina in front of the movie theater. He was wearing a white jacket with red stripes, along with white basketball sneakers. “This jacket is the one I saw the police carrying out in their evidence bag when they arrested J-Dog.”
Two Point looked up and down the alley. Chandler blocked the exit back to the street.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Two Point repeated. “Did J-Dog find a wallet? If he did, it’s nothin’. He’s got no record. They’ll slap his wrist and let him go.”
Jack slowly shook his head. “Did you read that name on the ATM card you tried to use?”
Two Point stared at Jack.
“It belonged to Stacy Shaw.”
Two Point
hiked up his shorts so they didn’t droop anymore. “Who?”
“She’s that lady who’s missing,” Jack said.
Two Point went pale.
“The cops put J-Dog in the Bay because they think he had something to do with it. He got roughed up pretty bad the first night. Your mother is going out of her mind.”
“So?”
Jack grabbed Two Point’s shirt and yanked him forward. “I’m trying to help your brother, and you’re screwing around, lying to me. You borrowed his jacket, and it was you who put the wallet there. The cops found it. J-Dog knew it must have been you who took it, but you’re on probation so J-Dog said he found it to cover for you.”
Two Point looked bored. “So?” he said again.
“Your brother’s in prison because of you!” Chandler stuck a huge finger in Two Point’s face. “What’s wrong with you?” he shouted. “He’s watching out for you, but you’re just going to let him take the blame? He’s your brother. Your father would be so ticked off. You should see how bad your mother looks.”
Two Point’s glare softened. “Okay. I’m not saying I found it… but say I did.”
Jack let go of his shirt. “Say you did.”
“I didn’t, but just say it was me.” Two Point kicked a crushed can down the alley and started to pace. “What good’s it gonna do if I tell the cops that?”
“An innocent guy’s going to get out of prison, for one,” Chandler said.
Two Point tapped his own chest with a long finger. “And I’d be in. They’d put me in the Bay.”
“Not if you tell them the truth,” Jack said. “How did you get the wallet?”
“I found it.” Two Point grabbed the handle of a trash bin and shook it. “And do you think the cops would believe that?”
“Yeah, I do.” Jack looked down at the picture still in his hands.
“They’d believe a lily-white kid like you, Stratton, but there’s no way they’d even hear me out.”
“That’s bull—”
Just then Two Point shoved the trash barrel at Jack, turned, and sprinted toward the locked gate. Jack was taken by surprise for only a moment before he gave chase.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Chandler called out as Two Point ran.
Two Point grabbed the gate and yanked. The padlocked chain was wrapped around it loosely enough that Two Point’s slender frame was able to slip through. Jack’s hand grasped at the air in vain as Two Point scrambled away.
And Then She Was GONE: A riveting new suspense novel that keeps you guessing until the end Page 11
