Jonelle nodded before Adrienne finished. “Tamora didn’t want to change attorneys.”
“That her name?”
“Yes. And I’ve already had my first interview with her. Didn’t learn much because she’s still upset. There is one thing I need to run by Langford, though. There’s nothing in her file about how the kidnapper got in, except there was no sign of forced entry. Tamora didn’t answer whether or not she took her key with her when she left the building that night.”
“She left that child alone? What the hell for?”
Jonelle sighed. “I know. She said she ran across the street to get milk for Lark’s breakfast and that she only stayed in the convenience store for five minutes. Anyway, my point is, if she didn’t take her key that meant she left the door unlocked. Who does that in an apartment building? I don’t care how long you think you’ll be.”
Gracie yawned, hopped off Jonelle’s lap, and trotted to the cat bed in the corner next to the bookcase. Adrienne’s eyes followed the feline’s every movement. “You better watch she doesn’t try to eat those fish in that aquarium.”
Jonelle rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t bother the fish. Back to Tamora. The maintenance guy in the building said he and Tamora dated and he babysat Lark a few times. In spite of the fact that right across the hall is an older woman who regularly babysat while Tamora worked her second job.”
“Nobody saw or heard anything, right?”
“Not a peep. It’s amazing how many people go blind and deaf when something happens where they live, yet they pull out the phones and start the video when they’re someplace public. More?” Jonelle wiggled the half -empty wine bottle.
Adrienne held out the glass. “I’m serious about that dating thing. When was the last time you saw Burt?”
Jonelle groaned. “Oh, give it a rest why don’t you? He’s a friend, that’s all.”
“All I meant was he could probably help you with this new case.”
“I don’t need his help,” she said, a little too loudly. “I know what I have to do. I need to prod Miss Maxine about what she really saw that night and check out the convenience store. If I’m right, the same people tend to hang out at the same time. So, the plan for this evening is to go back there at around ten and ask a few questions.”
Adrienne sat up straighter. “By yourself? What’s Furr Ball gonna think, you leaving her alone and all.”
“For the last time, her name’s Gracie, and she’ll be fine.”
“What time do you want me to pick you up? And don’t argue. I don’t want . . . Gracie here to become an orphan so soon.”
As a way of not showing too much enthusiasm for Adrienne’s suggestion, she gave a flippant, “Nine thirty is good.”
• • •
Three young men slouched next to the store’s “No Loitering” sign, laughing and smoking, illuminated by the bright interior lighting spilling outside.
A police car approached.
The young men’s heads followed the vehicle as it drove slowly past without stopping.
Jonelle checked her watch. “It’s a little after ten. That’s about when Tamora arrived.” She indicated for Adrienne to follow as she entered the store.
“Should we buy something?” Adrienne asked.
Jonelle scanned the aisles. Men outnumbered women in the store. “Good idea.” She headed toward the heated compartment. “I wanna check something out.”
A young man in his twenties, dressed in a blue security guard uniform, stood next to a rotating container that held slices of pizza.
“You’re not gonna buy that, are you?” Adrienne asked in a shocked voice.
The young man turned at the sound of her voice. Jonelle waited a few beats for him to take in Adrienne’s blue lace top, dark blue capris and, sure enough, he smiled indicating he liked what he saw.
“Hi,” Jonelle said, interrupting his assessment of her friend. “We—my friend here and I—were wondering about something we heard.”
Adrienne chimed in. “Right. We both work for the community newspaper and wanted to know if we could ask you a few questions about the little girl taken from the building across the street.”
Community newspaper? Jonelle scowled. That wasn’t what they discussed on the way over.
The smile on his face faded.
“Off the record, of course,” Jonelle added quickly. “We won’t mention names. We only want to print a story that proves what a good mother Tamora was, is, I mean. How about it?”
“How come I never seen y’all in here before?”
“Because ‘y’all’ don’t live near here,” Adrienne replied, a slight edge to her voice.
Jonelle jumped in before her friend’s attitude spoiled everything.
“What she means is, our beat includes this area, but the office is on the other side of town. Fact is I’m new at this. Trying to make a name for myself as a journalist, if you know what I mean. So. What, if anything, do you know about that night? Were you here when Tamora came in for milk?”
The man’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Yeah. I’m usually here around that time to get a couple Red Bulls. I work night shift, so I come in on the way to work.”
“Did you speak to her?” Jonelle asked.
He shifted from one foot to the other.
“Bet you guys are friends, right?” Adrienne asked.
Jonelle’s eyes flashed a “knock it off.”
Adrienne ignored the look and smiled. “I mean, you guys probably hooked up a time or two. You being good-looking and all.”
Without answering he turned and walked to the far end of the store. Jonelle and Adrienne followed.
After grabbing his drinks from the refrigerated case, he faced the two women.
“You keep asking questions in here, you’re prob’ly gonna find out anyway. Yeah me and Tam dated a while back. We see each other, we speak. Hi, what’s up, that kinda thing.” Stitched in white above the pocket of his shirt was the name “Reggie” followed by “Alpha and Omega Security Company.”
“That short for Reginald?” Jonelle asked. “What’s your last name?”
He hesitated.
“I’ll keep it out of the article.”
He looked from one to the other.
“One thing you should know about her,” Adrienne said, pointing at Jonelle. “She promises something, she doesn’t go back on that promise. Your name’s not gonna appear in the paper.”
Good ole Adrienne.
“No biggie, I guess. So, yeah. Name’s Reginald. Reginald Tobias.”
There was no mention of him in the notes Langford sent.
“So, Reginald. Why’d you guys break up?”
“You can call me Reggie. Ask her. She’s the one who said we didn’t have no future. What the hell does that mean, anyway? Future? All she wants to do is go out and have a good time. Didn’t look to me like she was lookin’ for any kind of ‘future.’ Tam is definitely a minute-by-minute girl, you ask me.”
“What do you know about her relationship with her daughter, Lark?”
He averted his eyes. “Kid had plenty to eat, clean clothes to wear. Tam’s a good mom. Don’t let nobody tell you different.”
Adrienne stepped in closer to Reggie. “So, tell me something, Reg. You ever been alone with her in the apartment? Or was the little one there all the time?”
Reggie scowled and backed away a few feet.
Jonelle cleared her throat. Adrienne’s “get to the bottom of things now” attitude kept getting in the way.
Before she could apologize for her friend’s question, Reggie piped up.
“Sometimes the kid was there, and sometimes she was at that old lady’s place across the hall.”
“How did you and Lark get along?” Jonelle rushed in, a warning to Adrienne to stay out of the questioning.
He shrugged. “The kid’s only four. Most times she didn’t say nothin’ to me and I didn’t say nothin’ to her. Crawlin’ around on the floor playin’ with toys ain’t my style.”
> “What do you know about the other men Tamora might’ve dated?”
“How the hell would I know anything?”
“I’m not saying you knew for sure, but I imagine you heard rumors about who she went out with after you two broke up.”
Reggie headed up to the cashier with two Red Bulls and a long tube of potato crisps.
No one spoke until they left the store.
“Listen, I didn’t keep tabs on her or anything, all right? I heard stuff.”
“Like what?” Adrienne asked, garnering another angry look from Jonelle.
He sighed deeply. “Like, she tended to go for the guy who could do the most for her. Give her the most money, take her to the best places to eat, drive around in the fanciest car. I mean, she’s got the looks for it, but most guys around here don’t have that kinda dough. Hell, I’ve gotta work nights just so’s I can keep up with the rent.”
Yet she still went out with you, Jonelle thought. She pointed to the company name on the shirt. “Where does Alpha and Omega send you?”
“Different places.”
“Around here?”
“Why you wanna know that?” he asked, an edge in his voice.
“Curious is all.”
Reggie pressed his lips together and turned his head, gazing at the other cars in the lot.
Jonelle changed the subject. “Who else was she talking to that night? Was there anybody inside you’d never seen before?”
He took one of the drinks out of the bag and popped the top. After a large swallow, he looked first at Adrienne then back at Jonelle.
“Look. She’s friendly. I don’t pay much attention to who else she talks to.” He looked at his watch. “I gotta get to work.”
“Hold on a minute.”
Reggie stopped and turned around.
Jonelle reached in her bag and handed him a business card. “I’d like you to contact me if you happen to hear anything that would help her case.”
He squinted at the card. “I thought you said you worked for the local newspaper. Says here you’re a private investigator. What gives?”
Damn.
“You’re right. Sorry for the deception but I needed information.” She shot a scathing look at Adrienne who shrugged.
He pocketed the card in his shirt. “Yeah. Well.” He turned to go. “I’m guessing you talked to Lark’s daddy since he’s the one called the cops,” he said over his shoulder as he opened his car door.
Reggie entered a dark sedan, but Jonelle couldn’t swear it was the one that had followed her.
“Anybody have a reason to snatch that child, well, I’d start with him. He coulda called the cops to throw everybody off and get Tam into trouble.”
“Why do you say that? Have you met him?”
Reggie shrugged. “Only know what Tam said. Guy is some kinda control freak.”
“He’s on my list. Before you go, I’d like to ask if you can clear up a major discrepancy. How long would you say Tamora was here in the store?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. Didn’t time it but since she was already here running her mouth with some dude when I walked in, and I know we shot the breeze for fifteen or so, I guess it was about twenty minutes, maybe more.”
CHAPTER 11
“So that five-minute thing is a definite no-go. Wonder why she lied about something so simple?”Adrienne asked as the two rode in Adrienne’s Saab on their way across the street to Tamora’s building.
“Hard to say. Maybe she didn’t want anybody to think she’d leave her child alone for so long and, once she started that line, had to stick with it.” Jonelle suggested Adrienne wait in the car while she went and talked to a few people, but her friend would have none of it. Adrienne promised to keep her mouth shut and let Jonelle do the talking.
“So. Who’re you talking to first?”
“Miss Maxine. There’s something going on with that lady. You know how some older people have a sharp edge to them that only gets sharper the older they get? Well, she’s one of them. She was guarded from the beginning, and I’m curious to find out why.”
A minute later the two of them stood outside the apartment building’s double glass doors. Jonelle pulled at the handle. “What the? I just walked in before. Wonder why it’s locked now?” She pulled again as if thinking maybe the door was just stuck.
A sticker with a drawing of a video camera hung low in one corner.
Adrienne stepped back and looked up. “How many floors in this thing?”
“Ten,” Jonelle replied, trying to figure out which button on the security pad to push.
“So there’s probably a resident manager, right? Those buttons are somewhere on the bottom. Push all those. See what happens.”
“The only manager they’ve got lives elsewhere. When she’s gone the residents call an off-site emergency service. Damnit. I should’ve anticipated this and gotten a few phone numbers when I was here before.”
Adrienne started laughing. “When did you become a ‘woulda-shoulda’ kind of person?”
“Oh, be quiet. Guess we’ll have to wait until someone either walks in or goes out.”
A short while later, as they stood on the sidewalk, staring into the empty lobby, the elevator doors opened and three people exited. The two men and one woman approached, and Jonelle and Adrienne stood aside to let them pass. One of the trio held the door open without so much as a backward look.
“So much for security,” Jonelle muttered under her breath. Once inside the elevator, Jonelle’s fingers lingered over the sixth-and seventh-floor indicator buttons.
“You forget where we’re going?” Adrienne asked.
Jonelle shook her head. “Trying to decide where to start.”
• • •
Knocking on more doors resulted in more people and more answers that no one saw or heard anything the night Lark disappeared. On the seventh floor Jonelle’s face broke into a smile as the door was answered by Red Fred.
“Well, hi there. Is your mom or dad available? I’d like to ask a few questions.”
Fred peered around Jonelle.
“This is my friend Adrienne. She’s along as a, um, silent partner as it were.”
“My mom’s not home. And if she was, she didn’t hear nothing. Or see nothing, either. Never does.”
Adrienne shifted behind Jonelle, but Jonelle kept her eyes focused on Fred. “Are you here alone? It’s almost eleven.”
“I’m not a child,” Fred said loudly.
“Of course not. Do you know if Randy’s in or . . .”
“Nope. Haven’t seen him much. Maybe you scared him off.”
“Me? How?”
Fred shrugged.
“We’re on our way to talk to Miss Maxine again. Did she ever keep an eye out on you and your friends?”
Fred crossed her arms. “Are you kidding me? I’m twelve, not a baby. Besides, she doesn’t like people in her place unless they’re payin’ her. Been in there a couple times when my mom needed somethin’, but the place freaked me out. Everything’s always so closed up. One day I opened a closet, and all these different kids’ clothes were in there. I mean, all types and sizes and stuff. So why’d she need all those clothes, huh? Parents got their own.”
“Who’re you talkin’ to?” yelled a harsh voice from somewhere in the apartment.
“I gotta go.” Fred slammed the door in her face.
“You’re not doing so well tonight,” Adrienne said.
“Wonder what that’s all about? I mean, why say she’s alone when she wasn’t?”
Adrienne headed for the elevator. “I don’t know. What I do know is I’m getting bored hanging around this place of no-nothing and see-nothing people. I wanna go home.”
“In a little while. I have to ask Maxine something. Once you get her going, she likes to talk.”
“Fine. Am I still the silent partner?”
Jonelle almost said yes. “Actually, she’s a tough bird, so a little input from you might not hurt.”
&n
bsp; Spreading her arms out for emphasis, Adrienne said, “Finally!”
Before heading down to Maxine’s, Jonelle crossed the hall and knocked on Randy’s door. No answer. Next they walked to Maxine’s apartment and only had to wait a few seconds until the door opened. Jonelle wondered if someone gave the woman a heads-up she’d stop by.
“Come in. Come in.” A big smile spread across Maxine’s face. In the middle of the coffee table sat a coffeepot and three cups, confirmation Maxine expected their visit.
Jonelle sat on the sofa and waved away the offer of coffee. “This is my friend, Adrienne Roth. I hope you don’t mind if she sits here while I ask a few questions.”
Maxine beamed at Adrienne, who also declined the coffee.
Jonelle zeroed in on the change in Maxine’s mood. “I know it’s late, so I’ll get right to the point. I’d like your opinion on something. Who do you think took Lark?”
Maxine’s hand shook as she poured herself a large mug of strong, thick coffee. The acrid smell hovered in the air while she added four teaspoons of sugar and some milk. She took several sips.
Adrienne gave Jonelle an “are you thinking what I’m thinking” look.
“No idea,” Maxine replied.
“How often would you say Tamora left Lark by herself?”
Maxine shrugged and brought the cup to her mouth.
“I’ll bet you know every time somebody entered and left that apartment. Isn’t that right?” Adrienne asked.
“What’re you trying to say?” Maxine stared at Adrienne.
“What my friend means is that noises from the hallway are probably evident and that when someone closed a door—especially one from across the hall—or even knocked, the sound probably traveled. So you’d check the peephole. Right?”
“Sometimes. That night my favorite program was on so . . .” Her voice faded. “Listen, this is a good building. The people here are friendly and I always feel safe here. Plus, I got a couple friends that give me extra security.”
“Who?”
“Mister Smith and Mister Wesson sleep right next to my bed.” Something in the woman’s tone rankled.
“That’s fine for you, except a small child is missing and no one I’ve talked to saw or heard anything. Did you hear Tamora leave that night?”
Five Minutes Page 6
