“Look, lady.” The sneer that had curled his lips just moments ago now hardened into a firm line across his face. “I see a lot of faces and most prefer I pay them no mind, so I don’t. Like I said, she looks familiar.” He pulled out a key. “Room 251. Top of the stairs. If it’s the right one, she paid for a week. In advance. Cash. And goes in and out. I ain’t seen her since early this morning when she left with some guy. Lock the door on your way out.”
Lucy’s jaw dropped open as she stared at the key in her hand. It was connected to an old-fashioned orange key tag with the name of the hotel emblazoned on the front and the address on the back with the request to drop into the nearest mailbox if found. “You’d just give us her room number and key?” This guy couldn’t be for real. “What about security?”
“In case you ain’t noticed, sugar, this ain’t exactly the Ritz. If she’s staying here, she ain’t looking for security. Besides, this looks official. I got no beef with cops or PIs and I don’t want none. I’m only the day manager. Damn sure don’t need no hassles. Don’t get paid enough for hassles, so just do what you came to do and leave me the hell out of it.”
“Come on, Lucy. Let’s go check it out.” Mike grabbed her arm and tugged her in the direction of the dirty double glass doors. “Isn’t that what we came to do?”
“Just bring back the key,” Manny shouted, as Mike reached for the metal handle and shoved the door open. “Owner hates to pay postage when they get dumped in the mailbox.”
“Jeez, you’d think the owner would pay for a little Windex,” she said, stepping out into the parking lot. Lucy glanced back at the wiry little sucker who blew her a kiss when he noticed her attention. On second thought, if the owner hired that guy on as the day manager, he probably didn’t care that Windex existed.
Lucy followed Mike up the stairs, keeping her hands curled by her side, careful not to touch the handrail. It didn’t look any cleaner than the glass, and if those who paid by the hour didn’t wash their hands afterward, no telling what germs lurked on the handrail.
They entered the room. The first thing Lucy noticed was a black suitcase, laid out on the luggage rack. Cassie owned a black suitcase.
“Is that Cassie’s?” Mike asked, heading for the bathroom.
She hurried over to it and opened it, taking a few minutes to inspect the contents.
“Yeah.” She fingered a navy blouse that Cassie had worn before as Mike checked behind the shower curtain. “These are definitely her things.” She recognized several other outfits, along with a monogrammed toiletry bag that she’d seen displayed next to her guest bathroom sink too many times during Cassie’s visits.
“Shower’s been used.” Mike stepped out of the bathroom. “Wet towels are hanging up, so someone’s been staying in this room.” He started opening drawers.
Lucy stared at the grungy furnishings, two faded lime green fake leather chairs and a cheap table overlooking another grimy window. Trying not to think too much about the orange flowered bedspread that made her want to wash her hands, she sat on the edge of the bed and fought to understand.
Why would Cassie’s things be here, in this seedy motel room that someone was obviously using? Had she gone deep undercover? So much so that she couldn’t contact anyone?
Lucy shook her head and said honestly, “Maybe this whole disappearing thing has nothing to do with the judge.”
Mike nodded enthusiastically. “That’s what everyone has been saying all along. I’m sure she’ll call you eventually. She’s probably just out of range.”
“I guess.” Lucy shrugged. “It’s not like Cassie to just disappear. She always calls me, or at least sends a quick text if she’ll be out of range. And heck, with the whole world going cellular, that doesn’t happen very often.”
“There could be a reason for that.” He took out his cell phone and checked the screen, then held it up. “See? No bars. As close as this is to Lexington, it’s in a dead zone.” He spent a moment staring at her face, obviously contemplating something. “How about I drop you off, then come back to stake out this place? The minute she returns, I’ll drive down the road until I’m in range and call you.”
Lucy smiled. “Would you? That way I can go and check out Cassie’s apartment and see if I can find any other clues.” In case this is a dead end, she added mentally.
“Sure. No problem.” His smile matched hers. “Just remember what I heard last night. Stay away from the judge and Finnegan, okay?” When her gaze narrowed in confusion, he frowned and added in a more serious tone, “I’m worried about your job security. Those guys are connected to Duncan and if he figures out that you haven’t dropped this, he will fire your ass. I’m telling you, he’s not happy that you were looking in the first place.”
Her smile died. Lucy knew enough to take Mike’s warning to heart. Gerald never made idle threats. “I’m not a fool. I’ll stay away from them.” Her smile was resurrected, rising from its death as the idea of finding Cassie solidified in her mind. Until then, she’d just steer clear of Jack, and his sex appeal that made her wish for the unattainable. She damn sure didn’t need the complications.
As they exited the motel room, a silver Mercedes pulled into the parking lot. Lucy caught it out of the corner of her eye as Mike grabbed her arm.
“What the hell?” he hissed, nodding to the car as the driver’s door opened.
Lucy turned without having a chance to see who climbed out of the car, but her partner obviously had, judging by the speed with which he pulled her with him into the stairwell.
“What’s Gerald doing here?” he asked, peeking around the corner, staying out of sight.
The blood left Lucy’s head. “I don’t know,” she said. “How could he know about this motel? Do you think he’s following me?”
“Don’t know. Let me handle him, okay? You stay there.” His nod indicated the corner of the stairwell. “If he sees you, you’re screwed. I’ll go find out what he’s doing here.”
Lucy nodded and rubbed her hands up and down her arms to keep from shivering in fear. If Gerald caught her red-handed doing what he’d warned her away from, he would fire her. The thought left her cold from the inside out, despite the warmth from the sun hitting her shoulders. She couldn’t lose her job. She loved her job. Loved the people she worked with. Plus, how would she live if she didn’t have a salary to depend upon?
She’d never even thought of those possibilities when he’d warned her away last night. Well she had, but had dismissed them, thinking he’d never find out. Facing that worst case scenario now, she realized she should have been more cautious. And not quite so naïve.
Lucy paced in the confined space, awaiting Mike’s return, and resisting the urge to peek at what he and Gerald were doing. More than anything, she wanted to gauge her boss’ reaction, but she didn’t dare risk it. She kicked a rock in frustration. She was so close, but in reality, no closer than when she’d begun searching. Cassie’s car might be in the parking lot, but Cassie wasn’t. Anyone could have planted her things to make it appear as if she were here.
The last thought stopped her cold. Had someone done that to throw her off?
But what about the sleazy day manager who’d seen and identified Cassie?
Seconds later Mike returned. “What’s wrong?” she asked, his grim expression derailing her thoughts. “What did he say?”
“I don’t know who warned him, but someone tipped him off that we’d be here. Correction. That you’d be here. He was looking for you.” Mike sighed and wiped his face. “Might be better to steer clear of this motel for a few hours. I’ll swing by later and check it out, but first I have to return the van.”
“Did he say anything about you using it? You’re not in trouble, are you?”
“No. But he asked about your whereabouts.”
Lucy hugged herself. “Rats.”
Mike looked toward the parking lot and nodded. “He’s gone. But just to make sure he doesn’t see you in case he’s lurking nearby, I’ll s
wing the van close to the stairwell and you can climb inside.”
“Thanks, Mike. I owe you.”
The drive back to Lucy’s was made in complete silence. Lucy, too disappointed over not finding Cassie and almost running into Gerald, had nothing to say. She sent up a prayer of thanks that Mike had decided to remain silent too and not irritate her with his usual chitchat.
Lucy wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone.
As he turned onto her street, she murmured, thinking out loud, “At least I have Reecie’s date book. Not a heck of a lot to go on, but it might yield something new.”
Mike looked pointedly at her. “What’re you talking about?”
She brushed his question off with, “It’s a long story.” She tossed out a half laugh, too drained to say more than, “I’ll fill you in later.” Lucy’s focus moved to the tree-lined street with older homes outside the passenger window. “I plan to drive into Louisville to check out Cassie’s apartment. Maybe I missed something.” Then she would come home and read Reecie’s diary to see if it contained anything useful and maybe try to figure out who the initials belonged to.
Her house came into view. The van slowed. After pulling into a spot right in front, Mike shifted into park. A few seconds later, the sound of him clearing his throat drew her notice.
“Are you going to be okay?” He was wearing that puppy-dog look again, his huge brown eyes almost begging. “I can stay, you know, keep you company.”
“I thought you had to take the van back and then you promised to stake out the motel.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll drop off the van before I return to the motel, but I don’t dare stay. I’ll pay that prick fifty dollars to let me know when Cassie shows with the promise of a hundred more if he calls me and I actually see her. That way I can come back and stay with you.”
Lucy smiled and patted his hand resting on the console. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m really beat. I just want to go inside and take a breather.” From him and everyone else in the flipping world who wouldn’t help her find Cassie. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.” Since the idea of paying the sleazy guy seemed a good one, she added, “I’ll reimburse you if the guy takes you up on your offer. That way you don’t have to waste your Saturday night.”
The van door she’d been leaning against suddenly burst open, almost spilling her into the street. “What the hell…” she sputtered, trying to keep her balance.
Chapter 13
“Out,” Jack said in a harsh tone, jerking her arm and practically yanking her out of the vehicle.
Mike exited the driver’s side and stormed over to them in five quick steps, his puffed-up chest shouting his eagerness to go head-to-head with Jack. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he asked, stopping inches from Jack’s face and giving his shoulder a derisive shove. “Back off, buddy.”
“I wouldn’t mess with me, if I were you, buddy,” Jack said, snarling the word buddy as a definite warning and pinning him with a steely-eyed glare. “This is between me and Lucy. The lady has a few questions she needs to clear up.”
Mike stepped back, his fingers curled, ready to hurl another one into him, but he looked to Lucy for direction. He was breathing hard as his eyebrows rose. “Well? It’s your call.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, not wanting either man fighting over her. Not in her front yard for the entire block to see. Small towns were notorious for busybodies who got their thrills by watching and documenting every little detail that took place. Probably to ease boredom, like in Mrs. Thomson’s case, as the lady waltzed out her front door and up to the edge of her porch railing to stand. Clearly eavesdropping with no apparent care that anyone knew she was doing it.
Deciding on the lesser of two evils, she sighed and reached out to squeeze Mike’s hand, offering him a plea-filled smile. “It’s okay. Jack and I need to talk.” She’d rather talk to Jack, whose company she could handle, than deal with trying to get rid of Mike once Jack left, now that Mike had become her knight in shining armor. How the hell that had happened, Lucy had no idea.
“Okay. I’ll call you later.” The stoic nod her partner tendered revealed little as to his thoughts. Mike turned and slowly walked toward the white GD Investigations company van, his head held high and his shoulders back.
Knowing him, it was only an act, Lucy thought, watching him as sadness enveloped her over her inability to return his interest. He always fought too damn hard to win her favor, which really irritated the hell out of her. So much so that if she hadn’t had her no-dating-co-workers policy, she’d put one into place to avoid going out with him. How twisted was that?
She glanced back at Jack, who was about to say something when Mrs. Thomson stepped into her line of vision, having already cut across the street.
“Excuse me, missy,” the lady called out.
Lucy smiled. “Hi, Mrs. Thomson.” She referred to all the women on the block as missy, whether they were young or old. Didn’t matter that most were older than her.
“I think you should know I spotted that same van driving by here before.” She stopped a few feet away and pointed to the van as Mike drove off. “I think he’s watching you.”
Unable to hold it back, Lucy laughed outright. Of course the nosy old biddy had spotted the van before now. Mike had a habit of checking up on her sometimes, a minor annoyance to be sure. But hell, after Jack’s comments had struck an anxious chord, he most likely drove by last night after the party ended, which is how he’d known that Jack had spent the night and also explained his early morning arrival. She couldn’t decide whose actions annoyed her more, Mike’s or Mrs. Thomson’s. “I appreciate your concern, Mrs. Thomson. He’s a good friend and I work with him. He’s only trying to help.”
“Okay, missy. Just wanted you to know. Can’t be too careful these days.”
Lucy’s thoughts shifted to earlier last night during her visit to Jack’s townhouse, when someone had slipped inside her house. Going for some mileage out of the lady’s nosiness, she asked, while trying to nonchalantly ease out of Jack’s reach, “Did you happen to see any other cars or anyone else lurking last night?” But his fingers held her in place like a steel vise. “Around two-ish?”
“Hmmm.” Mrs. Thomson thought for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Not that I recall. I did look out the window a couple of times. Insomnia, you know?” she whispered conspiratorially, glancing at her as if expecting some kind of reaction. At Lucy’s concerned nod, she smiled and patted the side of her eye. “I don’t see as good at night as I do during the day. But I’ll keep my eyes open from now on.”
“Thanks. You do that.” Lucy threw out an apologetic smile as Jack, who’d waited silently while they talked, started leading her away maintaining the same vice-like grip. Like she would really try to escape. “Well.” Shrugging, she waved. “Thanks for your help. We’ve got to get going.”
“Yes,” Jack chimed in, offering a smile that stopped a good six inches from his eyes. “We have to get going. Now.”
Thankfully, the nosy lady took the hint and turned to leave.
“Maybe we should go inside,” she said, once Mrs. Thomson was out of earshot. “You can take better aim and the neighbors won’t have to see you beat me.”
Considering the frown now forming, her jest hadn’t amused him. “Don’t push me,” he said, almost growling. “I’m not the one who stole a girl’s cell phone and then hurried to get rid of me once she did. I thought we were working together.”
Rats. Lucy bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing. Though he acted as if the situation were anything but funny, she found some kind of sick humor in it all. She had to laugh at something or she’d break down in tears when this whole quest to find Cassie seemed to be zooming nowhere except from bad to worse. “I’m sorry I stole it, but I had my reasons.”
“I’m sure you did.” His scowl turned fiercer and his grip tightened, both shouting one fact. Her apology hadn’t placated him. Not one damned bit. “Just as I’m sure you’re going to
enlighten me, not only to your reasoning, but to all you know, starting with exactly what you heard in that dressing room.”
“I guess I owe you,” Lucy admitted, wondering if she even could placate him now. The beast in front of her reminded her too much of the Jack she’d known as a teen, and that Jack had never had the patience to listen to her reasoning, so why would he now? She started walking in the direction of her carport, half dragging him because he hadn’t let go of her. “I want to check out Cassie’s apartment. I’ll fill you in as we drive.”
Jack’s stern voice alerted her to his purpose. “We’re not going anywhere until I get answers. Plus, I’m hungry. You can fill me in while we eat.”
Lucy shook her head, still trying to pull him in the direction of her car. “I don’t have time.”
“Wrong answer.” His momentum slowed and that immobile six-foot-three mass jerked her to a stop in midstep. Lucy spun around and noted the determined set of his jaw. “I’m in charge. Remember?” he said testily. “And I say we take the time. Besides, you need to eat too. You barely touched your lunch.”
“No.”
Jack stiffened and tightened his grip on her elbow. But as angry as he seemed, Lucy wasn’t about to give up her quest without some protest. “I’m driving to Cassie’s place. If you want to ride along, great, I’ll fill you in. Otherwise, I’ll fill you in tomorrow morning.”
“I already told you what we’re doing.” Still gripping her elbow, he exerted pressure, giving her no choice but to allow him to lead her in the opposite direction. He nodded toward his car. “I’ll drive. No sense taking two cars.”
His voice brooked no argument and Lucy realized she had to play this his way. For now. No way would she wait until tomorrow morning to search Cassie’s apartment.
“Where are we going?” Lucy asked, struggling to keep up with his fast gait. Despite feeling as if she were a lamb going to slaughter, she was hungry. And they did need to talk. Also, she could pick his brain to figure out a plan since nothing she’d done so far had helped her find Cassie. This way she could at least accomplish something, which was better than feeling so unproductive and useless.
Killer Romances Page 80
