by Dale Mayer
“That is one of the odd things. Yes, but not sexually, at least I don’t think. He seemed to have straightened up, and she decided she would spend the weekend at his place. She packed an overnight bag. And, yes, we talked about it all week as to whether she should go or not, if she should stay with him. That first night she texted me, saying they had a rip-roaring fight, and she was leaving, and she’d call me when she got home. I waited and waited, but I never heard from her. I went to her place, and she wasn’t there. I found no sign she’d made it home. I phoned her. I texted her. I drove past Daniel’s place. I searched his building to see if I could find her, but there was just no sign of her.”
“How did she get to Daniel’s?” Saul asked.
“She took public transit,” Rebel said. “She didn’t drive, and San Diego is a big city with lots of ways to get around, so she didn’t bother to learn.”
“So it’s possible she was attacked on the way home?” Stone asked.
“It’s possible.” Rebel stared off in the distance. “I just wish I knew what happened.”
“Did you ask Daniel what the fight was about?” Merk asked.
Again she nodded. “I did. He said it wasn’t a fight. They just had a slight disagreement. According to him, when she left, she was totally fine. She just wanted to return to her place and think some more. He told me how he didn’t want to push her because he wanted her for long-term, not just short-term this time.”
“Did you believe him?” Saul asked.
“Hell no. The man’s a perpetual liar. I can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth.”
Saul studied her. So far she appeared to be very forthcoming and open. “When did you go to the police?”
“I ended up at the police station about four o’clock that morning. I told them what had happened. They said they couldn’t open a missing person’s report for twenty-four hours. But they would see if any attacks were reported anywhere along her route, in case she ended up in the hospital and couldn’t give her name or had no ID on her. I phoned the hospitals and checked myself but found no Jane Does, and nobody with her general description was unidentified.” Rebel raised her coffee cup and took a sip. “I asked them to call if any petite redheads were admitted throughout that night at all.”
“What do you think happened to her?” Stone asked.
She eyed him carefully. For such a big man his voice was very gentle. “Of course I’m afraid she’s been murdered, but thinking that way would paralyze me. I have to consider that she’s okay, that she’s running from him and doesn’t want to contact anybody she cares about because she’s afraid we’ll get drawn into the mess with her—or she’s incapable of contacting any of us or she’s been taken prisoner somehow.”
The men stared at her. She had put a lot of serious thought into this, and, for that, Saul was pleased. “Sounds like you’re a very good friend.” Saul smiled.
“How good a friend am I when she’s not home where she belongs?” Rebel snapped. “I’d do anything to bring her back.”
Just then their food arrived. Saul waited until she started to eat, recognizing her frustration and temper mixed with hunger as she attacked her food with vigor. “You haven’t eaten for a couple days, have you?”
She looked over her fork and shook her head.
He knew the feeling. Nothing like having your whole world fall apart for you to look at life differently. If she wanted to find her friend, she needed to keep her wits about her; otherwise she’d end up in the hospital herself. “What can you tell us about Daniel?” Saul asked as he took a bite of his hash browns.
“At work, he’s the guy who does the least and gets most of the recognition. He’s the guy who somehow just shows up in all the brochures and promo because he’s got that well-put-together face and smile. But it’s kind of smarmy. He’s not my kind of guy. I hadn’t thought he was Tammy’s kind. He is very persuasive. Very much a ladies’ man, very smooth.”
“Why isn’t he your kind of guy?” Saul realized too late that he shouldn’t have asked that question, but it was already out, so he would ignore the men’s stares and wait to hear her answer.
“Loyalty, integrity and honesty. Those will always come above looks, schmoozy mannerisms and sweet talk for me,” she said. “Daniel has none of what matters.”
Saul studied her for a long moment. “You really don’t like him, do you?”
“I didn’t like him before. Now that I believe he’s involved in Tammy’s disappearance, I really hate him.”
So much truth rang through her voice that he believed her. The trouble was, it was the last thing they needed to hear.
“Did you do anything,” Mark asked, “such as threaten him, argue with him, set the cops on him? Anything that would have made him pack up and run?”
She froze, frowned and slowly put down her fork. “On that note, I don’t know. I certainly asked him about her at work, and he said he didn’t know what happened after she left his place. I talked to him, told him how I’d reported her missing, that he was the last person to see her alive, but Daniel said I was wrong about that. The last person to see her alive was the person who had kidnapped her or hurt her, and that hadn’t been him because, when she’d left, she’d been alive. I told him I would find out what happened, if it was the last thing I did on this planet, and, if he was responsible, I’d see he paid for it. His response was kind of odd. He said something about hoping that’s not the way it turned out, but, if it had to be, then it had to be.”
Saul stared at her. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“At the time I didn’t think anything of it,” she confessed. “It just seemed like something he’d say, something to avoid suspicion, and I kind of glossed over it. I even wondered if Tammy would have been so depressed about their relationship failing so soon again that she’d committed suicide, but I dismissed it immediately as I knew she wouldn’t have.”
“So, when you talked to Daniel at his apartment, when he opened the door, could you see inside?” Stone asked.
She shook her head. “I met him in the lobby. I couldn’t go up to his apartment without a reason. And I couldn’t have him call the cops on me. I was hoping he would lead me to her, so I’ve been watching the building ever since.” She raised her hands in surrender at their looks. “I know. I know. But what else could I do?”
Saul leaned over and gently gripped her shoulder. “You did what you could. Now just ease back and let us think about this.”
She picked up her fork and stared at him again.
He said, “We’ll consider other options. Daniel has been missing forty-eight hours. The police have our missing person’s report, but, so far, nothing has shown up.”
“What about his car?” she asked. “He drives one of those muscle cars, all souped up. Black, I think. Like the one in that long-running TV show.”
“Supernatural?”
She nodded. “Looks something like that.”
“When did you last see it?”
“Months ago, when he arrived at work one day.”
“We can get the license plate easily enough.” Saul nodded and sent a text to Ice. Her response came back almost immediately, and he glanced at Stone. “Ice will look for it. She’s searching for any property he owns, in case he’s got a place to go underground.”
“Going underground won’t help him,” Rebel snapped. “Not if he’s done something to Tammy. I’ll make sure of that.”
Chapter 3
As soon as she finished eating, Rebel asked the waitress for a piece of paper. The waitress came back with a small notepad. Rebel thanked her and wrote down all the pertinent information on Tammy. Address, phone number and her mom’s number. That was enough data for these guys to start a search for Tammy for the time being. Then she started in on Daniel. By the time she was done, she was on another cup of coffee, and the men waited for the pieces of paper to come their way.
Rebel put down her pen and said, “That’s what I know.”
> “It’s more than we had.”
She nodded. “How do I get a hold of you guys if I find out anything else?”
“Let us look for Daniel from now on,” Stone said. “We don’t want you to get in any trouble. Possibly both disappeared for completely different reasons. But, most likely, Tammy was taken because of her association with Daniel. If that’s the case, we don’t want you getting involved.”
“Trouble?” She frowned at him. “You don’t think Daniel did something to Tammy?”
“Not at this point. There are a lot of other options, some of which we have not considered yet.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “That may be, but I still need a way to contact you in the event anything comes up.”
Stone glanced at Saul, who pulled out his phone, clicked on his number and held it up for her to see. Rebel grabbed her phone and added him to Contacts.
“And your number is?” Saul asked.
She gave it to him, then stood. “Okay, I’ve done everything I can here. I’m heading home to get some sleep.” When she was halfway across the restaurant, she turned and called back, “Thanks for lunch.” She disappeared out the front door.
On the sidewalk, she stopped and considered her options. She had left her vehicle parked behind Daniel’s apartment. But she had connected with all the neighbors on the same floor as Daniel’s apartment, except for one. She hoped one of those residents might have seen Daniel.
The manager had been no help. He’d refused to give her any information about Daniel or Tammy. She understood his position, but, if Daniel had moved out or not paid his rent for the next month, the manager could’ve said something about that. The more she thought about that, the more it upset her. A sure way to hide yourself, thirty days before anybody came looking for you, was to pay your rent, move out ahead of time and get reestablished somewhere else. Saul and his buddies might think Daniel was innocent, but she wasn’t so sure.
It took her twenty minutes to walk back to the apartment building. She checked that her car was still there; then she went back inside, up to Daniel’s floor. The crime scene tape was new. And gave her a woozy feeling. If something had happened to Daniel how was she going to find Tammy? She knocked again on the one apartment where she hadn’t managed contact with its residents. This time she got a young woman. Rebel asked the same questions, adding the question about seeing Daniel moving.
The woman laughed. “Friday night he was moving boxes out of his place.”
“Oh, you spoke with him?”
“No, I spoke with his friend. His friend said Daniel was pulling a late-night job of it because he was leaving without giving notice.”
“You didn’t actually see him that night though, did you?”
The woman frowned and stared at her. “I’m not sure I did. I saw boxes of stuff coming out of his apartment, but it was his friend who I saw.”
“Any idea what his friend looked like?” asked a male voice behind her.
She spun around and glared at Saul, standing a little too close to be a stranger and a little too far away to be a lover.
The woman smiled at Saul. “Blond, looked like a surfer.” She laughed at that. “Same as almost any male in San Diego. I’d say late twenties, but that’s about as close as I can get. He was strong because he carried several big boxes out at a time, and he moved fast.”
“Like he was in a hurry?” she asked.
The neighbor nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what it looked like.” In the apartment behind her a child screamed. She hurriedly stepped back in. “Sorry, I have to go.” And she shut the door.
Rebel turned to look at Saul and found the other men lined up behind him. “Why are you guys here again?”
“Why are you here again?” Saul laughed.
“I’m here because I’m looking for Tammy.”
“And we’re here looking for Daniel.”
She glared at Saul. “Fine.”
“At least now we know somebody saw Daniel’s apartment being emptied out on Friday night.” Saul looked to Stone. “I suggest we make a quick search. Confirm what Benji saw. See if anything’s different.”
Stone was already on his way over. He pulled something from his back pocket while she watched. Within seconds Daniel’s door was open, crime scene tape hanging off the side. She raced forward. No way they were going in without her. She slipped past Stone and stepped into the apartment first, raising her nose, sniffing. “Bleach.”
Silence followed.
She turned to look at them, voicing the horror of what instantly jumped to her mind. “So did Tammy die here or did Daniel?”
Saul shook his head. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
She wrapped her arms around her chest and surveyed the empty space. The apartment was decent with bright lights. As far as she could see, it was completely empty. The kitchen had tile flooring, and the rest of the apartment had laminate wood flooring throughout. It would probably take forensic testing to prove any blood was left here. She walked to the master bedroom and bathroom. There was nothing left to find, and there was no indication Tammy had even been here or that anybody had met a disastrous fate in this space. She shook her head. “Where the hell has he gone then?”
“We’ll find out. Just give us a little bit of time.”
“How long have you been looking for him?”
Saul looked at his watch and said, “About three hours. That’s when we arrived in California.”
Her jaw dropped. “You came to California to find him?”
All four men nodded. “Benji is our friend. We never leave a friend in need.”
“Lucky Benji.” She shook her head. “I wish I had had someone to help me find Tammy.” She walked in the second bedroom and into the other bathroom. She bent down and opened the bathroom doors underneath the sink. It was clean. She pulled open the drawers on the side, hoping maybe something got missed. But even the garbage cans had been emptied. Though the drawers were empty, they hadn’t been wiped. “If he left in a hurry he did a good basic cleaning job but didn’t get to all the details,” she announced.
She got up and walked over to the kitchen where she opened all the cupboards to find anything left behind. People always seemed to leave things in the back of the kitchen drawers. She pulled them out and, sure enough, found some loose paper clips and staples in one drawer. She studied them for a long moment but knew they’d have absolutely nothing to offer in the way of information.
By the time she was done, she was frustrated and angry. “This was my only hope to find a lead to Tammy. I don’t even know where to look now,” she cried out.
“Any fingerprints of her here won’t help because she stayed here,” Saul said, turning to look at her. “Have you checked Tammy’s apartment to see if there’s any sign of Daniel there?”
She nodded. “Yes, I checked her apartment as soon as she went missing and found nothing there.”
“But what if Daniel has gone there since then? Knowing she was missing, that left her apartment available to hide in for a day or two.”
She liked that idea. “I’ll go now and check.”
“Wait.”
Already on her way to the front door, she spun and looked at him. “What?”
“I’ll come with you,” Saul said. “Let them finish what they’re doing here. Then they can follow us.”
She shrugged. “Whatever. Just don’t slow me down.” And she raced back into the hallway.
Instead of waiting for the elevator, she took the stairs. Downstairs she burst outside, heading toward her car. Before she could get the driver’s door open, Saul was already at the passenger side, waiting for her to unlock it. She shot him a look.
He grinned. “You said, don’t slow you down.”
He seemed awfully good at sticking close. She was a little worried about having him in her vehicle, but, although he was big and muscled, she didn’t feel threatened.
She quickly reversed her car from the parking lot and pulled
into traffic.
“We’re about ten to fifteen minutes away,” she said.
“That’s fine.” He pulled out his phone and spent the rest of the drive on it, instead of socializing with Rebel.
It was kind of a relief and also an irritant. She kept glancing at him as he sent message after message. “So you’re sending a text to your girlfriend that you’ll be out of town?”
“Nope. Got no girlfriend. This is all business.”
That had been cheeky of her to ask about a girlfriend, but getting his answer made her feel much better. Still, that she’d even asked was a surprise. Just because a gorgeous male sat beside her, it didn’t mean he was available in any way, shape or form, or that she was even interested. She had a lot more things on her mind than that. All she had to do was think about what happened to Tammy—who wouldn’t listen to her advice about Daniel—to make Rebel want to stop and kick this man out of her car. But there was absolutely no comparison between Daniel and Saul. At least none that she could tell in the last couple hours that she’d known Saul.
She pulled up in front of Tammy’s apartment and hopped out.
Saul got out, looked at the location and the big trees down the street and smiled. “Nice area.”
“It is. She’s lived here for about six years.”
She led the way inside and up to the top floor. At the first apartment, she knocked with her ear against the door, but no sound came from inside, so Rebel pulled Tammy’s key from her pocket, inserted it and carefully pushed open the door. As she went forward, Saul grabbed her shoulder, placing a finger on her lips. With one eyebrow raised, she stepped back and let him go in first.
*
Saul stepped forward, listening intently to see if they were alone. He couldn’t hear or see anyone, but that didn’t mean somebody wasn’t hiding within. He stepped into the feminine space and smiled to see the purple rubber duck sitting on the mantel. A lot of personality was in this apartment. He did a quick walk-through, making sure it was all empty. He didn’t have any reason to believe there would be an intruder, but, with two people missing, he couldn’t be careful enough. He didn’t want somebody like Rebel to take a walk and for nobody to see her again either.
