Makay shut the file, hardening her resolve. The details didn’t really matter. The targets were all liars, and she would do what she had to do. She was in motion before she knew it, sprinting from the library toward her car. She put the top down and drove fast, letting the wind whip her hair into more of a frenzy and dry the frustrated tears that threatened in her eyes every time she thought about her situation with Lenny. At a stoplight, she dialed his number and put in an earbud.
“Hello?” Lenny said into the phone.
“Put me on a different project.”
He hesitated an unusual second before hesitating. “Why?”
“Because I hate hitting up women.”
“This has you written all over it.”
“Please. I know you have others working for you.” It was worth a shot.
“No.”
“Has she replied to the note?” The light turned green, and Makay moved forward.
“That’s none of your business. Look, I have an appointment that I can’t miss and I still have to take a shower, so go and have your conscience attack by yourself. I’ll contact you in a few days with more information. I’m pretty sure you’ll have to do a phone conversation on this one. The woman is a particular bitch. Now be a good girl and go get a drink or something. You should have enough of my money left to do that.” He hung up, but that was all she’d needed. The shower business meant he was still home.
She made it outside Lenny’s apartment in time to see him drive his Jag from the parking lot. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be going far. She’d put up the convertible top so she’d be less noticeable, but he drove past her without even glancing her way. She snapped a picture and followed him into traffic.
He drove to Life Time Fitness in northeastern Phoenix. She glanced at the time on her phone before following him into the parking lot, leaving several car lengths between them. In the next ten minutes she’d have to leave for IHOP if she wanted to keep her job. Pulling into a parking place closest to the road, she watched as he slowly edged his Jag around to the next row of cars. What was he doing? She took another picture.
He turned down another aisle and finally pulled into a parking spot. Exiting the car, he began striding toward the gym. She studied him through the camera, zooming up so she could see him better. She clicked record. The camera wasn’t top model, but it did well enough.
She almost missed it as he walked by a metallic brown Beetle. His hand went out and took something from the windshield. Continuing on, he disappeared inside the gym.
Had she imagined it? Maybe he had just been stretching. Or stroking the shiny paint. He seemed to like shiny things. Well, there was no time to rewind and watch the recording now. If she didn’t get on the road, she’d be late for her job. As it was, she’d have to change her shirt in the bathroom there. She certainly wasn’t looking forward to acting as if everything in her life was perfect as she cheerily served people their food, but it was a legitimate way to support herself.
She waited another minute to see if Lenny would appear. He didn’t. Maybe he was just going to the gym. But why shower at home before a workout? If he’d been telling the truth about showering.
Sighing, she started the engine. Of course he wouldn’t lead her straight to a target the very first hour she followed him. What had she been thinking? She would have to continue on a different day when she had more time. Maybe if she put enough food and books together for Nate, he wouldn’t mind driving around with her. The only problem was the gas. A big problem.
Feeling cold, she rolled up her window. As she drove from the parking lot, she had the odd sensation that someone was watching her.
<><><>
Hours sped by as Makay tried to remember menu items and customer orders. “You learn pretty quick,” said Peg, her trainer, whose white teeth gleamed brightly between plump red lips. The stocky girl had straightened black hair, smooth skin the color of milk chocolate, and brown eyes framed by bright blue shadow and far too much mascara. Makay thought she was the nicest employee she’d met so far. She’d even given Makay an elastic to hold back her hair.
“Thanks. Maybe you’re just a good trainer.” It was all relatively easy compared to her math problems and accounting classes. Besides, bluffing her way through any situation and thinking on her feet were probably her best talents. No one had seemed to care that she messed up a few orders. Unfortunately, Peg hadn’t shared her tips, though Makay had taken most of the orders and delivered the food. But she couldn’t blame the woman. If she hadn’t been training Makay, the cash would have been hers anyway.
“Well, we’ll see you on Monday morning at nine.” Peg started back into the dining room.
It was well after two, but Makay had an hour to kill before heading over to the school to pick up Nate. She wondered where Lenny was, but resisted the urge to call him. Even if she found out where he was, an hour wouldn’t be enough time. Instead, she stopped off at Winco and picked up some canned fruit that with her coupons was a fourth of its regular price. It was a good backup for when she didn’t have money for fresh fruit, and the old people at the apartments loved it.
She was studying a textbook in the car and waiting outside the school for Nate when a tapping caught her attention. Dread flooded her before she recognized Tessa Braxton outside the window, the red highlights in her hair looking orange under the sunlight. Makay unlocked the door and slid from the car. “Hey, Tessa. What brings you here?”
“You, of course.” Tessa rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’d drive all the way over here for nothing.”
“I thought you said the school was on your way home.”
“When I’m coming from the office. But on Fridays I have class and work from home. Look, the reason I’m here is because I’m worried about you. Both Lily and I are worried.”
“I’m fine. I got a grant you know. Or will soon. Things are looking up.”
“Oh, then why are you sitting here with your car door locked? And why do you keep looking around the parking lot like you’re afraid someone’s following you?”
Makay laughed. “You’re imagining things.” The school bell rang, and she almost jumped.
“Maybe so.” Tessa eyed her doubtfully. “But I tell you what I think it is—stress. When was the last time you did something fun for yourself? When was the last time you went out to a nightclub and danced the night away? Probably last year when we took you out for your birthday.”
“It’s been a busy few months,” Makay said over the joyful shouts of children disgorging from the school.
“You mean a busy few years.” Tessa gazed over Makay’s shoulder, presumably at the crowd of students.
Makay didn’t look around, afraid Tessa would really start to think she was paranoid. “Well, I am in school again.”
“Yeah, I know. At least accounting is a good field.” Again there was that tone of doubt in her voice that had Makay bristling inside.
Not everyone can afford to have fun all the time, Makay wanted to retort, but she didn’t because she knew Tessa’s life hadn’t been exactly easy, despite her wealthy parents, and that after going against their wishes to marry her husband, Gage, she’d returned to school under her own steam precisely so she could complete the psychology degree that would allow her to help others. Besides, Tessa and Lily might be the only real friends she had these days, and she didn’t want to offend either of them. She couldn’t really count the old people at the apartments as friends. She never hung out with them or exchanged invitations to go places. Anyway, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of crunching numbers all day, so Tessa was right about whatever she wasn’t saying regarding Makay’s choice of a career.
“Everyone needs a night out,” Tessa said with a teasing grin. “And since you have all day tomorrow to stick your head in those books or clip coupons or wash Snoop’s slobber off your clothes—or whatever else you customarily do over the weekend, you should come dancing with me tonight. My treat.”
Makay cocked her he
ad to the side. “What? You and me? What about Gage? I don’t think he’d like you dancing with other men.”
“Yeah, well, he’ll be there, too.” Tessa held up a freckled hand. “Now before you go on about being an extra wheel, my friend Brette is coming along.”
“Oh, no. Not a blind date.”
“No, silly.” Tessa threw back her head and laughed. “Brette Silvan’s a friend of ours—well, more Lily’s—and her mom just died last week and she’s having a rough time, so she’s been crashing at Lily’s. She recently broke up with a guy she was dating, and I want to take her out to get her mind off everything.”
Makay remembered the sleeping bag and suitcases next to Lily’s couch. “Sounds tough.”
“She doesn’t have a father, either.” Tessa shook her head, lowering her voice. “There’s something weird about that, a secret her mother apparently took to the grave. I thought you two would hit it off.”
“Because my parents are dead? Is this some of your psycho mumbo jumbo?”
Tessa pursed her lips in a shushing motion, her gaze flicking behind Makay to the right. “Anyway,” she said, her voice loud. “Lily and I thought Nate could come over and play while you and I and Brette went and had a good time with the most handsome man in Arizona. As long as you realize he’s mine, of course.” Her eyes slid completely to the right. “Wouldn’t you like that, Nate? Me taking your sister out for a little grown-up fun while you go over to Jonny’s to play? Lily’s making sugar cookies tonight for a fundraiser we’re having, and she needs help cutting out the shapes. What do you say to that?”
Makay looked down to see Nate staring up at them. “Makay really needs to go,” he said, sounding far too mature for her liking. “All she does is work.” His eyes went to her, looking exactly like Snoop when he was begging for a treat. “Pleeeease, Makay. I really, really want to go to Jonny’s.” Without waiting for an answer, he said to Tessa, “Can I bring Snoop? Because you have a lot of land out there for him to run around. Besides, Jonny doesn’t even remember Snoop, and he wants to see him.”
Tessa laughed. “Snoop can run outside to his heart’s content.” She hesitated. “I mean, if that’s okay with Makay. She might have too much homework.”
Picturing a long night reading her textbooks or following Lenny around in her car suddenly made Makay want to weep. She couldn’t even remember what it was like to go dancing, to be a woman instead of a single “mom” struggling to get an education and pay the bills. She wanted to dance, to talk, to laugh like those little girls in the park yesterday.
“Okay,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You win. I’ll go with you tonight, and Nate and Snoop can go to Lily’s and play with Jonny.” To Nate she added, “Just make sure we remember to feed him or Lily will have a problem on her hands.”
“Yippee!” Nate punched a fist in the air. “I can go, I can go!”
“Hey, what’s up, Nate?” a little girl called from down the sidewalk.
Nate waved. “My mom’s taking me to my friend’s house. There’s a horse there, and we’re making cookies!”
“Cool! I love making cookies.” The girl waved and climbed inside her mother’s car.
Makay stared after the little girl. Had Nate just referred to her as his mother? Tessa’s curious glance testified that he had, but she didn’t comment, and Makay took her cue from her friend to not make a big deal of it.
“Great,” Tessa said, exchanging a high five with Nate. “I’ll see you guys by seven, okay? I have a table already reserved at the Q Lounge, but their buffet is only until eight.”
“Wait.” Makay was already having second thoughts. “Nate’s usually in bed about eight.”
“Not when we watch movies,” Nate protested.
“Well, Jonny’s probably going to bed about then.”
“It’s the weekend,” Tessa said. “He lives in a house full of teenage girls. No one goes to bed early. Sleeping late, yes, but never going to bed early. Kid after my own heart.” Her eyes slid back to Nate. “Hey, I know, why don’t you plan to sleep over? That way it won’t matter what time we get home. Jonny will be thrilled.”
The last time she’d been out with Tessa, Makay had left everyone at the club at twelve thirty because she’d been worried about Nate, who was being watched by old Janice at her apartment. Well, worried about Nate and also ready to drop dead from exhaustion. Not everyone was like Tessa, who was a zombie in the mornings but came alive at night. “I don’t know,” she hedged.
“Pleeeease,” begged Nate. There he went again with the eyes. That child was going to be a heartbreaker one of these days. Makay understood exactly why Tessa had come to the school to ask her in person in front of Nate instead of calling. She either had control issues or she was a really good friend.
Makay ignored the sting of tears behind her eyes. “Okay.”
Tessa grinned. “See you tonight then. Don’t eat before you come because I’m buying, remember, and they have great barbecue.” With a wave, she headed toward her car, which was parked across the street.
“Well,” Makay said. “Guess we’d better get home.”
Nate threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. “This is the best day ever. Thanks!”
She really needed to let him get out more. “How was school?” she asked as she went around and opened the car door for him.
“Awesome. I like school. My teacher’s nice. Can we have the top down?”
“Sure.” Makay started the engine and began retracting the top before saying casually, “So, was that one of your friends you talked to just now?”
“Yeah. She’s really nice and not silly like the other girls.” He hesitated a moment before adding more softly, “Is it okay that I said you were my mom? It’s just . . . well, I know you’re my sister, but you do everything a mom does and sometimes, well, I just feel weird, you know, like I’m different ’cuz I don’t have a mom and all the other kids do. Or most of them.”
Makay took his hand. “Nate, ever since you were born, you were my baby. I went back to Fern’s so I could be with you, and when that didn’t work out, I still went there every day to see you. I took you with me to school when you were only six months old.” Barely eighteen and taking a baby to college. No wonder she’d flunked out that time. “Even if I had my own baby, I couldn’t love it any more than I love you. So, you’re right, I am your mom. Just as much as my mom was my mom.”
“’Cuz you were adopted?”
“That’s right. It’s exactly the same thing.” She wondered now if she should have officially adopted him. It hadn’t seemed necessary when he was younger, but she hadn’t counted on the influence of other children or his own urge to feel connected.
“Okay,” he said and snapped on his safety belt.
She pulled from the curb. “Now, just so you know, I’ll be driving to the club tonight so if you need me, I can come home. Just ask Lily to use her phone if you need me. Okay?”
“Sure, but I’ll probably be having too much fun.”
At least one of them would be. Makay was now into her third round of second thoughts. She should be following Lenny and getting more evidence against him. Or maybe using the details from the manila folder he gave her to research the target herself and find out where she lived. That way maybe she could catch Lenny in the act of putting a blackmail note on a car or watching someone’s house. Lenny had taught her a few researching skills over the years. For all her hatred of Lenny now, he had given her that much.
Tomorrow, I’ll take care of Lenny, she thought. She still had that video of him, and as soon as she had a moment, she’d put it on her computer and see exactly what happened with that Beetle.
Chapter Five
Harrison ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the fogged mirror in his bathroom, a towel around his waist. There was nothing in his face that signaled his frustration, but it raged inside his chest. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should call off his planned outing with his sisters and their husban
ds.
He’d taken time off work this morning and spent two hours at the gym waiting, hoping to catch sight of whoever came to pick up the return note he’d left on his mother’s car, but though he’d spent most of that time in the outdoor pool area that overlooked the parking lot where he’d left the Beetle, he’d been unable to see anything out of the ordinary. No one lurking around. No one stopping near the car and speeding away. Yet when he’d returned to the parking lot, the note he’d left under the windshield wiper was gone.
The only thing interesting he’d witnessed was the vibrant blue Sebring that he was sure belonged to the woman he’d helped at Albertsons yesterday. But he’d only noticed the car as it pulled from its parking space, which was far away from his car, almost out of his view. Phoenix was a large city, but this was one of the best fitness centers, so he shouldn’t be surprised to see her there. Still, she hadn’t dressed like a person who liked to visit a gym. In fact, now that he was thinking about her, she had seemed an exact opposite of the kind of person who would stay indoors. Maybe she liked to hike and bike and that sort of thing.
Why was he thinking about her again? It made no sense. She had a child, and where there was a child, there was usually a daddy close by.
Well, whoever had picked up his note today now knew to deal with him and to leave his mother out of it. What he’d like to do was go to the police, but he would respect her wishes. Truthfully, he didn’t know how Eli would react to the secret, and he wasn’t anxious to find out. For now it was a waiting game to see what this person wanted from his mother and how far he or she was willing to go.
Your Eyes Don't Lie Page 5
