by Rose Pressey
“What are you doing over here by the slot machines? Unless you had been looking at her Snapchat too, which means that you came here without telling me,” Derek said.
I placed my hand on my hip. “I just happened to look and see that she was at the same casino as I was going to be for the gig, so I decided to come over here.”
“Okay, we can talk in circles all evening about this. Let’s forget it and just find her,” Derek said.
“You got it.”
Derek and I ran over to where we thought she might be, but we couldn’t find her there either. It was getting late and I had to start the gig.
“Do you mind if I watch?” Derek asked, as I stepped into the room.
“Yes, I really do mind. It’ll be too embarrassing.”
“Okay, how about I wait outside until you’re done and then we can look for her some more?”
I sighed. “I guess, but no peeking, all right?”
“Why are you so embarrassed, Cece? I’m sure you do a great job.”
“You already found out that I do this. I don’t want to make it even harder with you watching me right now. Maybe someday, okay?”
He smiled. “Okay… someday.”
After singing a little, smiling, and taking photos with people, I finished the gig and I went to find Derek. He was waiting right outside the door, leaning against the wall. He looked so cool and self-confident.
“Have you been waiting right here this whole time?” I asked.
“Well, not the whole time. I did play the slot machines just a little bit.” He pulled out a couple chips.
“That’s what I figured.”
He’d probably spied on me after all, even though he’d said he wouldn’t. Of course I had no way to prove that. He would probably slip up eventually and tell me if that was the case. He never listened to me anyway.
Since Regina hadn’t posted any more to Snapchat, we figured she wasn’t here anymore, so we would have to leave. Derek and I stepped out into the front entrance of the casino. Derek was going to walk me to my car. I couldn’t wait to get out of the dress and change into some comfortable clothing. We walked out across the way toward the parking lot.
That was when I glanced over and saw something out of the corner of my eye. Derek grabbed me and shoved me to the ground, lying on top of me.
Thank goodness in a split second I realized what was going on, so I pulled out my phone and managed to take a photo of the car that had almost run over us.
“Are you okay?” Derek asked as he rolled off me.
“Yeah, I did manage to get a picture,” I said, proud of myself.
I might have had scrapes and bruises, but at least I’d gotten a photo of the dirtbag who’d tried to hit us.
“I think he did that on purpose,” I said.
Derek helped me to my feet. “If not then he is a lousy driver.”
I brushed off my clothing and let out a deep breath. A few people ran over to us.
“Are you guys all right?” one man asked.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Thanks for asking.”
“Do you need an ambulance?” the woman beside him asked.
“No, I think we’re good. Other than a few scrapes.” Derek wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“Well, if you’re sure. Did you see who did it?” the woman asked.
“I think I got a picture,” I said, pulling out my phone to take a look.
I’d captured a photo of the car, but unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten the license plate number in the photo. It was blurry. The car was a black Mercedes S550. Who was driving it remained to be seen.
Derek walked me to my car. The whole drive home I couldn’t stop thinking about who had been responsible for almost running us over. I just knew they’d done it on purpose, but why, I had no idea.
***
The next morning someone woke me by pounding on my front door. I groaned and tried to ignore it, but then when I finally woke up enough I knew that I had to answer. I shoved my feet into my pink bunny slippers and trudged across the floor to the front door.
Peeking out the hole in the door, I saw Derek standing in front. I groaned. What was he doing here, and so early? It was only seven thirty. I wasn’t going to be in the office until nine. I’d thought I would stop and have a leisurely coffee, enjoy the walk into the office. Now I had to deal with this.
“Let me in, Cece. I can sense your presence on the other side of the door,” Derek called out.
I released a deep breath and then opened the door, forgetting to even attempt to do anything with my hair. I was wearing my pink pajamas with the bunnies on them and a white tank top.
Derek eyed me up and down.
“You can quit looking at me like that,” I said.
He smiled.
I was sure my hair was a mess.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “It’s seven thirty.”
“Why are you still in bed?” he asked.
“You should be in bed. I’m sure you probably didn’t even get any sleep last night.”
“I’m here because I have an idea and I couldn’t wait to tell you, so I thought I would stop over before we got to the office.”
“Since it looks as if you’re not leaving, do you want breakfast?” I said as I turned and walked toward the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”
“What do you have?” Derek asked, following me.
“Toast and cereal.” I said around a yawn.
“That’s not good. No bacon? No thanks.”
“What do I look like, a diner?” I pulled out the loaf of bread.
“All right, I’ll take toast, but put lots of butter on mine.” He pulled out a chair from the table.
“Is it okay if it’s not real butter?” I asked.
“It just keeps getting worse,” he said, plopping down at the kitchen table. “Why don’t you just let me make that toast?”
I waved the butter knife. “I can handle this. I’m not that bad of a cook.”
“If you say so,” he said.
I pulled out the orange juice from the refrigerator. “What’s this great big plan of yours?” I took the bread from the plastic bag and shoved it into the toaster.
“Well, if Regina is a part-time fashion blogger in the YouTube world, then maybe you should try to get into that too. That way you can friend her.”
I snorted as I leaned against the counter. “As if it’s that easy. These people put in a lot of hours doing that stuff. Plus, they’ve been doing it for years. I can’t just start doing it like that.”
Derek leaned back in the chair, looking defeated. I was only being honest with him.
“You could at least try, Cece.”
I pulled the toast from the toaster. “I suppose I could try.”
I knew it wouldn’t work, but to humor him, I’d say that I would try.
“Where do we even start?” I placed the toast on the plate.
“Well, you have to set up a Snapchat account and an Instagram account. Then maybe do some YouTube videos.”
“That sounds like a lot of work on top of my other private investigating cases and Marilyn Monroe gigs.”
Not to mention the witchcraft.
“You’ve never been afraid of hard work, Cece.”
“You’re right, and as a matter of fact…” I leaned closer. “You’re going to help me with all of this.”
“I’m going to help?” He gestured with a slice of toast. “How can I do that? Nobody wants to see beauty tips from me.”
“Nonsense, there are plenty of couples on YouTube, so we’ll just be one of those.”
“Oh, so now we’re a couple?’
“I didn’t say in real life. I just said pretend. We’re going undercover,” I said.
He took another bite of his toast. “I suppose. Can I have some more It’s Not Butter?”
I handed him the knife. “Knock yourself out.”
Just then my doorbell rang again. It was now almost e
ight o’clock. What was going on? Why was everyone up so early? I went over to the door and cracked it open. I looked down and spotted a package. When I picked it up and turned around, Derek was right behind me.
“What do you have there? Something from Amazon?”
“No, it’s a present,” I said, realizing he might think it was for him. “For my mother.”
I hurried across the room with the box held tightly in my arms.
“Well, let me see what’s in the box.” Derek followed me.
“You’re being nosy. Go away.” I brushed him off.
Derek managed to get the box from my arms. “Mystic Emporium? That’s an awfully big box. You must have place a big order. Enough for several people.”
What did he mean by that?
“None of your business.” I reached for the box. “I told you it was a gift. Why are you so suspicious?”
“Because you’re being so secretive. I’ve got to tell you, Cece Cash, you’re kind of strange.”
“Well, thank you very much, Derek North.” I finally got the box from him.
“But you know what? I like it,” he said with a smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back. My insides did a little dance. He always knew just the right thing to say. That was what made him so charismatic, and I hated it. Okay, secretly I loved it, but whatever.
“Enough of this. We have to get back on topic.” I stuffed the box into the closet.
“Okay, first of all you’re going to have to do some shopping,” he said.
“What kind of shopping?”
“You’re going to need some beauty supplies.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Is there something wrong with the way I look?”
He looked me up and down. “Just the opposite.”
That was the thing. Sometimes Derek would say the wrong thing, then he’d turn around and say just the perfect thing.
“What I mean is that you will have to talk about makeup and stuff.”
“This is a bad plan. I say we abandon this idea and start over,” I said.
Chapter 12
While I went out for lunch I decided to visit the house where Brianna lived. Not that I was actually going to go up and talk to her. I had to plan out what I would say first. I figured this visit I could get a feel for the place and then go from there. I pulled up in front of the place and cut the engine. It was a quiet palm tree-lined street. No one was out, not in their driveways or yards.
I casually walked up and down the sidewalk, glancing over at the house. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so casual, since I was looking over in that direction. Anyone who was paying attention to me probably knew what I was doing.
Just then I noticed someone was actually watching me. A neighbor was in his driveway watering the flowers. When he noticed me watching him he tossed up his hand. What the heck. I could go over and talk to him.
He obviously knew that I was looking for someone. I walked over to the man. He put down the water hose and turned it off.
“Can I help you find someone?” he asked.
“I was told about the woman who lives here.” I pointed. “Do you know much about her?”
I figured that at any moment he was going to ask me who I was and why I was asking, but he didn’t.
Instead he said, “I know some about her. I guess you’re with the police. It doesn’t surprise me at all.”
I wasn’t expecting that.
“They have parties over there all the time and it drives me crazy. I called the police, but they just continue doing it. Makes it hard to sleep.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.
He nodded.
“What can you tell me about her?” I asked.
“I guess there’s not really much to tell, but she is dating that guy.”
“Dating what guy?” I asked.
I wondered if he was talking about my client’s brother, Paul.
“I get a bad vibe from him. He’s just up to no good.”
“What did he do?” I asked.
“There he goes now,” the neighbor said with a tilt of his head.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a guy leaving the house. He wore jeans with holes in the legs, a gray t-shirt with something written on the front, and his blond hair looked as if he’d just gotten out of bed. With his head down and hurried steps, he didn’t look all that friendly. My guess was he didn’t chat with the neighbors often. He didn’t even look over our way. I contemplated going and talking to him now, but like I said, I didn’t have a plan. I wouldn’t even know what I would ask. The guy got into a car and was ready to leave. It was too late to talk to him now even if I wanted to.
“I think he borrowed that car from friend. I’m not sure why,” the man said.
“He has a different car?” I asked.
“Unless he traded it in, yes.”
When the guy pulled away from the curb, I noticed there was another car following behind him. That was when I realized the person driving that car was Derek.
“What the heck does he think he’s doing?” I yelled out.
“What do you mean?” the neighbor asked.
I took off in a sprint toward my car without answering him. I jumped in the driver’s seat and cranked the engine, shoved it into drive, and pulled away from the curb with a squeal of the tires. Derek had better think again if he thought he was following him like that without telling me.
I would follow the guy too. If Derek could do it, then I could do it too. Within seconds I fell in behind Derek’s car. I was pretty sure he noticed me back there now. I wondered if the other guy knew that Derek was following him? We had a whole train thing going here. Every time they made a turn, I did too. We weaved in and out of traffic. Thank goodness the guy wasn’t going too fast. I assumed by that he didn’t know Derek was back there. Either that or he just didn’t care.
That was when the guy punched it and took the next left onto Flamingo Road. So I guessed he knew after all. Maybe he’d just noticed. Derek didn’t make the turn and neither did I. Now we would have to go down to the next turn and try to catch up with him. But with traffic it might not go well. I tried to pass Derek as we turned onto Decatur Blvd., but he sped up so that I couldn’t. I was still behind when we made the next turn. We ended up back behind the guy.
That was a lucky break, until the guy made a sharp right and we had to quickly go that way too. I had a feeling I knew where this guy was going. The good thing was I might know a shortcut to cut him off at the pass. It would be risky, but I was going to go for it. I made a quick right turn and sped down the road, making another left. So far I was pretty confident that I would catch him. Too bad I didn’t know what I’d do after that. There was no time to think of a plan. I would just have to wing it.
I sped down the road and then a car merged in front of me. I had to slam on my brakes to keep from smashing into the trunk. It wasn’t the guy we were pursuing. Instead it was Derek. Now the other guy had zoomed down the road away from us. There was no way we would catch up to him. I pulled over to the side of the road. I shoved the car into park and got out, slamming my door. What did Derek think he was doing?
I marched to his car. I placed my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Exactly what do you think you’re doing? You cut me off.”
“What are you doing? You were trying to take a shortcut around.”
“You were the one trailing the guy in the first place without telling me,” I said.
“You came to the house without telling me,” Derek said.
“This is going nowhere. We could talk in circles all day. I thought we put this all behind us.”
“I suppose that happened,” he said with a smile.
He was only doing this to get at me. We stood at the front of his car for several seconds staring each other. Did his eyes always sparkle in the sunshine like that?
“So what did you learn?” Derek said.
“Not much. What about you?” I tucked a strand of hair beh
ind my ear.
“Not much either. You talked to the neighbor?”
I nodded. “He was telling me that they had a lot of parties. I wasn’t able to get any other information. That was when I saw you and knew that I had to chase you.”
“I didn’t know you could run so fast.” Derek cracked a smile. “You kind of looked like an injured duck waddling toward the water.”
I glared at him. “Like I said, I had to chase you.”
“You didn’t have to, Cece. I had it all under control. You could have stayed and talked to that guy.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “I don’t think he had anything important to say anyway. And by the way, I don’t run like a duck.”
“So now what do we do?” Derek asked as he leaned against the hood of his car.
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “I’m not sure. You know what? I did notice something on his car.”
“What?”
“It was a sticker for the university. If he had one then that means there’s a good chance that’s where he was going. He was headed in that direction.”
“You know what, Cece, you might be onto something.”
We stared at each other for a moment and I knew what he was thinking. He would get there first. Why was it such a competition? We were supposed to be working together, not against each other.
Our eyes met for a moment and then I ran to jump in my car. At least I was in front of Derek. I cranked the engine, but Derek had already pulled out and was now in front of me. Darn it. I needed to get a better car. We sped down the road, but not too fast. We didn’t want to get tickets from the police. I couldn’t believe we were in a race to get there.
When I arrived at the university, I thought I’d beat Derek. Then I spotted his car just ahead of mine. The trip there had been easy, but finding parking was a totally different story. This made that car chase seem like a piece of cake. I finally found a spot, parked, and then jumped out. No one seemed to notice as I hurried toward campus. I had no idea where Derek had parked. I hoped he hadn’t gotten a closer spot. Where would I even look for this guy? Did he have classes today? Was he taking engineering? Maybe some sort of English class? There were a lot of possibilities.
