Angel's Dance

by Heidi Angell

  Tony nodded. “She was very good, once she got the hang of things.”

  The receptionist interrupted. “Tony, this isn’t really appropriate for the reception area. These people want to look around and Mr. Lando says you are to take them wherever they request. Also, he says that he would appreciate if you would cooperate with their investigation as the dance studio has nothing to hide.” Was it just Grant, or was there a momentary look between the receptionist and Tony?

  The boy nodded and turned back to them. “So, where would you like to go first?”

  Clear was casually brushing through the costumes and only half listening to Grant questioning Tony. She was debating whether to ask him about his relationship with Bella. She could feel that he was hoping that question wouldn’t come up. It wasn’t an appropriate level of anxiety, though. He was uncomfortable, not wracked with guilt. She reminded herself that a sociopath would not feel guilt and therefore that mentality was not the best way to judge. The thought brought Mr. Lando back to her mind. She felt a deep chill settle into her chest. It wasn’t often that people made her feel so out of sorts.

  Grant had hit on Clear’s curiosity about Tony’s relationship with Bella, so Clear focused back in on their conversation.

  “So, what was the nature of your relationship?”

  Tony fidgeted a bit. “I told you, we were dance partners.”

  “That’s it? I mean, she was a pretty little thing, wasn’t she? All those hours together… practicing….”

  “She wasn’t like that,” Tony insisted. “Bella was very… focused. Determined. She didn’t have time to play games and she certainly didn’t waste practice time on… silly hormonal urges… yeah, that is what she called it.”

  “When she shot you down?” Grant pried.

  “What? No… it was, nothing… just… we wanted to use the dance room late one night and we… sort of walked in on someone else… using it.” He had gone fifty shades of pink saying this. Clear could feel the embarrassment emanating off of him. The embarrassment was not because of what he saw, but because just thinking about what he saw was turning him on.

  “And you figured, love was in the air, so you suggested that you two could join them?” Grant quirked.

  “NO!” Tony turned away and Clear figured that was probably almost exactly what had happened. “Look… Bella and I were really close, but all she cared about was dance. I thought we were heading into something more, but after the show she probably would’ve been done with me.” He looked abashed and for a moment Clear could truly feel how he had hoped this and it was almost sincere, or at least as sincere as a horny teenage boy could be.

  “So, you had a thing for her? But she was only interested in being your dance partner? Bet that pissed you off a bit,” Grant scoffed. Clear realized this kid was a suspect, but her senses didn’t indicate anything like that. She figured Grant still had to do his thing, so she stayed silent. The clothing was not really giving her anything. Sweat, music, general things, but certainly nothing sinister or even particularly dramatic about Bella.

  “Hey, there are plenty of fish in the sea,” Tony muttered.

  “And you absolutely sound like you believe that,” Grant quipped.

  “Look I’m not like... well, like a lot of these guys. Sue me for getting a little bit emotionally attached. When you spend that many hours with someone as beautiful and amazing as Bella… it happens. But I’m not desperate or anything. There are plenty of girls in this studio who dig what I got to offer.” He spread his arms out, resembling a football jock. “If Bella was too caught up in herself that was her loss, man.”

  Suddenly Clear locked in on something and the conversation between Grant and Tony faded out in the distance.

  Everything was dark and in deep shadow. Clear felt disoriented and tried to place what was happening. There was music coming from somewhere nearby and it was very loud. But she was not near the music. It was hot and humid and… stuffy. She was having trouble breathing, the air was so oppressive. There were voices and people moving about, but Clear was only getting glances. Everything seemed disproportionate.

  All at once Clear realized that whoever she was seeing from was kneeling between the racks of costumes, hiding. The person’s legs began to burn. The nose itched from a feather on a costume nearby. The heart was racing and so loud in her ears, that Clear couldn’t focus on the many conversations going on around her.

  There was a flurry of movement and more light flooded the area, then almost all of the dancers were gone and the bright light snapped out. Clear saw the person’s hands in that brief moment. She was seeing through a girl, probably a young girl. Chipped purple nail polish and nibbled nails, jeans and sneakers. The light shifted again and Clear realized it was the side curtains. Two people came off the stage.

  The girl who was hiding in the clothing rack shifted position, trying to get a better view of the two people.

  “Another fantastic performance.” What sounded like Tony, said to the other person. The biting sarcasm was painful. Tony stomped off the stage. The girl started to rise, then stopped, realizing there was someone else there. She crouched back down and strained to see and hear what was going on between the two.

  “Ahh, mia Bella. That poor boy is so besotted, but that doesn’t make him wrong. Que magnifico….” The accent sounded like a bad Italian job to Clear, but she was no expert on accents. What little she could see of the man, was simply a large looming shadow.

  The shadow moved to Bella and reached for her pulling her out of the limited light and the girl’s heart rate jumped up again. She was scared, but also a little thrilled about what she was hearing.

  “Stop it!” Bella snapped. “I am in the middle of a performance.” The plaintive whine was painful.

  There was heated whispering and the girl once again strained to hear. Her palms were sweating. She knew that if she was caught here, she would be in so much trouble. But she waited, leg muscles screaming, eyes and ears straining.

  “I know I am not the one you truly want,” Bella gasped.

  “Ahh, mia bella…” the rest was lost.

  “She is just a kid. Leave her alone.” Again, more of a plaintive whine.

  “Beauty knows no age or bounds. Bella. Do not be jealous, you are more to me than she… but to think what the two of you could do together….” And more was lost.

  Clear’s stomach flopped at the double entendre in the man’s voice, but obviously the young woman had no idea. The thought excited her, it didn’t make her ill. Clear was almost positive she was seeing through Kat. But what theatre were they in when this happened? She tried to get some sort of bearing, something to give her a clue. Then the vision ended and Clear found herself sitting on her butt with Tony and Grant looking at her.

  Grant had been watching Clear for several minutes and recognized the vacant look on her face. She was into something. He kept the questions going with Tony, waiting for her to come out of it and hoping Tony would not notice. “So, if Bella wasn’t hooking up with you, was there anyone else she was hooking up with?”

  “I doubt it,” Tony scowled. “Like I said, Bella wasn’t that kind of girl.”

  “Well, was there anyone else who wanted to hook up with her?” Grant probed in frustration.

  “Probably. I mean, you saw her, right? She was hot and talented. That kinda hook up is more than just good. It does things for your status around here. Talent rubs off, they say.”

  “Anyone in particular?” Grant asked, half-watching Clear. She had been at this for quite a few minutes. He was hoping she was having more luck than he was.

  Tony shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. Grant almost missed it, focusing on Clear, but the silence dragged on. “Come on man. This place has got to be full of it. Give me some names.”

  “There weren’t really any serious pursuits. Not that I saw. Rumor was… that she was off limits. That she was with someone.”

  “Who? Who would be off-limits in this place?” Grant gr
owled.

  Tony shrugged again. “Someone better than me.”

  “Someone she was dancing with? Or training with?”

  “Mr. Lando… well, I don’t think he is like that. More interested in other pursuits.”

  “Such as?”

  “This place! Can you imagine what a scandal like that would do to his business?” Tony shook his head. “Besides, his wife would rake him over the coals for all he was worth. That woman is… a tiger… and not in a good way… in the rip out your heart to feed her young kinda way.”

  “What about their son? I understand he is a teacher here too.”

  Tony’s eyes wandered away. A good sign that he didn’t really want to talk about this.

  “The son?” Grant pressed.

  “Louis… is a talented dancer. He mostly spotlights talent and then trains individual dancers. That is, when he isn’t working on his own projects. He always has a lot running. And he is almost always the main performer in most of our productions.”

  “Was he in the Chicago performance?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did he dance with Bella?”

  Tony simply nodded.

  “Did they practice alone a lot?”

  “I… I don’t really know.”

  Grant just stared at the kid.

  “Probably.”

  Then their conversation was interrupted by Clear crashing to the ground. They rushed over to her and Tony stood there uncomfortably. Grant offered her his hand. “You ok?”

  The haze and confusion was still over her and Grant hoped Tony didn’t notice. Clear reached for his hand quickly and carefully. She laughed and said in self-deprecation. “Well, now we all know why I’m not a dancer!” Standing and dusting herself off, she ducked her head under the rack. “I tripped,” she muttered, fishing around. She pulled out a backpack, “on this.”

  Grant saw the hello kitty keychain dangling from the zipper and noticed the wear from where a baseball normally sat in the back pouch of the bag. He could feel the world go into tunnel vision as he stared at what he knew was Kat’s back pack.

  Clear was amazed at how quickly Grant began tearing around. She could feel the rage build up and the dam about to burst. She grabbed him by the arm and it took all of her strength to pin him against the wall. She completely ignored the absolutely terrified Tony and she quickly plastered herself against Grant as he started to try and break free. Leaning in close, she whispered harshly in his ear, “Calm down!”

  “You don’t understand!!” he moaned, once again trying to break away. His arms were pinned to either side and although in general he was much stronger than Clear, she had the stronger legs.

  “I absolutely do!” she hissed again. “I do know that is her bag. I know that you think she is here and I also know that she is NOT here, but someone here knows where she is. I am almost positive of that. But if you go tearing about acting like a mad man you will get us kicked out of here and give them a heads up to get rid of her. You do not want that!” She reminded him. As she felt the wave of hysteria beginning to pass, she began gently rubbing his arm to slough off more of the negative energy.

  “Calm down Grant. We are getting closer. This is good, but we have to handle this very carefully. If we do, I promise we will get your daughter back alive. I promise!” She knew even as she said it that she was probably making a big mistake. She knew that Bella was dead and she knew that the person who had taken Bella and Kat had absolutely no compunction against killing. It was only a matter of time when this lunatic would tire of Kat or would dispose of her to keep from getting caught. But she felt her words helping to calm him and that was what mattered right now.

  Once she realized that he had a grip on himself, she turned on Tony. The kid looked more than terrified. She figured Grant was a pretty big guy and seeing him lose control would be intimidating. She walked over to the kid. “Listen to me and listen to me well. You see that bag over there?” He nodded in absolute terror. “That bag belongs to a minor who went missing in Chicago. We believe that she has been kidnapped and this cop is her father. He will do anything to get her back. Whoever did it is here in this dance company.”

  Tony was shaking his head. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it!” he insisted dumbly.

  Clear rolled her eyes. “Well, obviously! But it doesn’t change the fact that if you say one word about this, then that lunatic will kill this man’s daughter to keep from getting caught. You cannot, I repeat, you absolutely cannot tell anyone what we found here today. NO ONE.”

  She noticed the cross on his neck and tapped it. “If you do, that girl’s blood will be on your hands too. You will kill her if you say anything.” She waited a second as he processed what she was saying. “Do you understand me?” she asked. He nodded. She could feel that he meant it, at least for now. He wouldn’t talk. “Now, you two stay right here and calm down. I need to go make a phone call.” She put her hand out for Grant’s phone. He handed it to her numbly.

  “Who… who are you calling?” Tony whispered.

  “Back up.” Clear announced, looking pointedly at Grant. “Bryce.”

  Chapter 12

  Grant wasn’t sure what Clear had said to Bryce, but the ball was rolling. He wondered if it was anything like the talk she had with the sheriff back home. Home. Strange that he now thought of Montana as home. He was surrounded by the local police, looking for his daughter in Illinois. He couldn’t help but think that if she had been living with him in Montana this never would have happened. Then again, look at how he met Clear in the first place. Evil was everywhere, you just had to wait long enough.

  He felt more than a little out of the loop. The world was hopping mad all around him, but he was a still, silent observer in all the chaos. Bryce had gotten here within the hour, but had called the local authorities before and they had mobilized within twenty minutes. Grant was a little impressed. It had been awhile since he had to sit back and watch the police at work. It was frustrating not knowing exactly what was going on, though. The locals felt no need or compunction to talk to him about what they were doing. As far as they were concerned Bryce was bad enough, coming from Chicago and nosing in their business. They had no interest in a cop from Montana who had absolutely no jurisdiction in their case.

  Clear was off with Bryce, questioning Ms. Chofsky further. Tony was talking to another police officer. There was a CSI team in taking samples from the damaged floor and bagging everything from the rack that they had found Kat’s bag on. He was dying to talk to Clear and find out what else she knew. He knew there was more, but without knowing what she had said to Bryce he didn’t dare ask.

  Feeling helpless and useless and a little in the way, Grant walked outside of the studio to call his ex. He didn’t really want to talk to her, but at least he could fill her in. After that he would call and check in with Mrs. Trevor and the kids. He felt a momentary pang of guilt that he had not been in touch with them before now. He knew that they must be ok, or Mrs. Trevor would have called.

  Laura answered on the second ring. “Have you found her?” she gasped.

  “Uh… no. But we found her bag.” Grant answered, feeling stupid even as he said it.

  “I already know that!” Laura snapped. “What else have you found?”

  “Well, I don’t know. I mean…” He was completely flummoxed.

  “Don’t bother calling me unless you have something,” Laura snapped viciously.

  “How was I supposed to know that you already knew about finding her bag?” Grant growled back, trying to push his temper down.

  He could hear the sneer and the venom in her voice. “Some people think about me a little more quickly,” was her only reply. Bryce, of course. He had already called her. He might have done more than call her. The thought twisted Grant’s stomach and he had to remind himself that they were over, had been over for a long time. It was none of his business what kind of relationship she had with Bryce. That only caused his stomach to sour.

  “Obvi
ously you have your own connections, so I won’t bother to call you again until we actually find Kat. Happy?”

  “Don’t be such an ass!” Laura harped. “You shouldn’t have waited so long to call me in the first place! And how can you not know anything else? I mean, how did you find her bag? Where did you find her bag? Why is it so far away?” She began to sound a bit hysterical, so Grant cut her off.

  “We are working on the answers to those questions. Did you know anything about her hanging out with a girl named Belladonna Johnson? She frequently went by Bella, or even Donna?”

  “No.”

  “She was also a dancer. She went missing in Chicago a few weeks ago, but she is from Peoria.”

  “And?” Laura snapped.

  “Did Kat go to any shows lately?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” Grant growled. Was she just trying to be obtuse?

  “Look, you aren’t here, you don’t know how hard it is! I have been working a lot of extra hours to be able to afford everything. My job has become very demanding… I have a career too!”

  Grant cut her off. “So you haven’t been around? You haven’t even asked her about it?”

  “What about you!” she hissed. “Have you been keeping tabs on her? I am sick and tired of always being the bad guy! I hate you for leaving us! I hate you for putting me in this situation! If you had been here, I would have been here and this NEVER would have happened!!” She was gasping for breath by the end of her tirade.

  Grant wanted to scream back, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He couldn’t believe that her sense of reality was so skewed. She was the one who had kicked him out. She was the one who wanted to follow her dreams and get back in the work force. She was blaming him for all of this because that is what she always did. He took a deep breath. “I don’t blame you for what happened, and neither should you. I’ve gotta go.” He cut her tirade off before she could get going again. “I’ll let Bryce be our gatekeeper from now on. You can clearly be more rational with him.” He didn’t even wait for her to say anything, he simply hung up. It hurt, but he knew that he was better for it.