Tony shrugged, digging into his own plate. “Don’t think it crossed her mind at the time, but you might want to think up something catchy before we see her tonight.”
“There is no we Tony, I will be going to my parents house tonight for dinner, along with Reese. You are not invited,” I informed him.
Tony gave a wounded look, crossing a hand over his chest. “You hurt me Tace, really you do. After all that I did for you last night for Annie and the girls, helping you out with Manny and camping out for the night I figured you’d be delighted to have me around.”
I frowned. “Who’s Manny?”
Tony grinned. “I gave your admirer a name. Thought Manny fit perfect, you know, he being a mannequin and all.”
Seriously, were all men born with a missing chromosome or just Parsons? I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You’re still not going with us tonight and that’s final.”
Tony shoveled in another mouthful of food, chewing thoughtfully. “Sorry to break it to you kid but I’m going to stick to you like glue whether you like it or not.”
Before I could voice a reply Reese came around the corner, eyes lighting up at the spread on the table.
“Cool, breakfast! Man, you need to come over more often,” he exclaimed, grabbing an empty chair and sitting down. Having finished my plate I pushed away from the table to make room for Reese. I didn’t mind the fact that Tony was only trying to watch out for me, it was something rather enduring if I really thought about it, but I really was beginning to resent his involvement in my life, namely where my job was concerned. Reese’s encouragement was only going to lead to more trouble, mostly for me. As for my traitorous houseguest Reese was too busy shoveling food in his mouth to notice my irritation, making the sudden urge to kick him in the shin all the more enticing.
“Tony was just getting ready to leave actually, sorry he can’t stick around,” I said tightly. Tony made a sound of protest. “Before I finish my first cup of coffee? You wouldn’t really be that cold hearted, would you?”
I arched an eyebrow; obviously I would.
“Well I’m just glad you two finally settled down last night. You were making an awful lot of noise,” Reese remarked, chomping down another bite of food.
That drew my attention. I’d forgotten that Reese might have been home last night when Manny was deposited in my bedroom. I should be horrified by the prospect that my kid brother thought he heard me in my bedroom with someone yet somehow my sense of horror outweighed any thoughts of propriety.
“Sorry ‘bout that, I thought you went out for the night. Hope we didn’t keep you up too late,” I managed to choke out as lightly as possible. Tony met my eyes over the table with a questioning look but said nothing.
Reese shrugged. “I was out but came home around 10:00 to get something. I didn’t stay long when I saw your bedroom door was closed and some noises coming from inside. By the way dude, duct tape works pretty good but you should really try out handcuffs. They come off a lot easier.”
Tony grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
I shook my head, a chill running down my spine. Reese could have been hurt last night, it would have been my fault and the idiots were comparing sexual restraints. Granted, Reese had no idea what really went on in my bedroom but did Tony really have to be so perverted? Ok, stupid question.
“You didn’t notice anything funny did you? Like the front door not being locked when you came home or any unusual cars in the parking lot?” I asked quietly.
Reese gave a nonchalant shrug. “Actually I know for a fact the front door wasn’t locked when I came home because I’d left my key in the apartment and was coming back to pick the lock to get in. When I found the door unlocked I just figured you must have been in a hurry. Why?”
Crap. That wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to hear. Tony stretched his legs under the table then pushed his chair back to stand.
“Looks like we’re going to be hanging out today after all Angel Face. I hope you were planning on showering,” he said with a grin, removing some of the plates from the table and taking them into the kitchen. I scowled at his retreating backside.
“We’re hanging out today? Cool, what are we doing?” Reese asked, grabbing my cup of juice and downing it in two gulps.
“We aren’t going to be doing anything. I’m going to do some research for work then you and I are going to Mom and Dad’s tonight for dinner. Tony is going home,” I said matter-of-factly.
Tony set the plates in the kitchen sink and turned, sauntering lazily back to the table. I couldn’t help but appreciate the way his pants hugged his trim waistline as he moved, as much as it pained me to admit it.
“You know, I’d love to stay and argue this one out with you but I have some errands to run. Be a good little girl and work from home until I come back,” he said.
I stuck out my tongue. Reese gave a salute.
“I’ll make sure she stays put for ya,” he said before shoveling in another mouthful of food. Tony grinned, reaching over to ruffle my hair.
“Knew I could count on you Reese. Keep an eye on her, she’s tricky,” he warned before leaving, shutting the door soundly behind him. Folding my arms across my chest I turned an accusing eye to Reese, who paused midway with a forkful of food to his mouth. “What? Did I say something wrong?” he asked with a shrug.
Men. If you have to spell it out to them then it’s somehow not worth the trouble.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The wind blew in through the open car window, blasting me with warm air. For September the weather was unusually warm today, but I wasn’t about to complain. Defying the laundry Gods for yet another day I pulled out a pair of clean shorts and a t-shirt. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere hanging around the house and, never being one for following orders, I slipped out when Reese was in the shower. There was something that had been bothering me for awhile and I hadn’t been able to place my finger on it until now.
Jason had mentioned Samantha was dating Robbie Tompkins oldest kid Drew and that they’d broken up just before she disappeared. It’d stand to reason Drew would be a little shaken up by her disappearance yet his name was absent from any reports. Seemed kind of odd not to at least interview the ex boyfriend and get his take on things. Unfortunately for me that meant I got to pay a visit to Robbie Tompkins, and since it was 9:00 on a Sunday morning I was pretty sure I could find him camped out at home waiting for football to start.
After a quick call to the office I had Robbie’s address, 1020 South Charter’s Street. Ugh, the south-end of town. Not a great way to spend ones Sunday. I drove past the construction site on my way, my eyes taking in the continuous movement of the trucks carrying piles of dirt across the road. I knew sooner or later I was going to have to get back out here and do some digging around. I also knew I was the queen of procrastination when it came to things I didn’t really want to do and another visit with Kincaid was near the top of that list.
Turning off the bypass I wound my through the back roads of town until reaching Charter’s Street, then turned left and followed it to a dead end. The Tompkins residence was easy enough to find though the house itself gave me a shudder. I guess Robbie didn’t do too well since graduating high school I thought with a grimace, taking in the overgrown front lawn, the white paint peeling from the two story house and a collection of rusted out cars parked in the driveway. A television set blared through an open window and the faint sound of running water was heard from somewhere in the house.
Exiting the car I tossed my purse on my shoulder, gripping the strap firmly before shutting the car door behind me. A group of kids were hanging out at the end of the driveway, all teenagers from the looks of them. Four were hanging out by the rusty cars, obviously the couples of the group, while the rest were tossing a ball around.
“Hey, anyone know if Mr. Tompkins or Drew is home?” I asked cheerfully as I approached. One of the girls giggled, leaning over to whisper to the boy standing next to her. I’d be willing t
o bet by the light brown hair, sharply chiseled features and well muscled body like a linebacker that I was looking at Drew Tompkins. He was the spitting image of his father, poor kid. Hopefully he wasn’t as big of a jerk.
“I’m Drew, what’s it to you?” he called out, remaining where he was leaning against one of the cars.
Smiling I came forward, my hand held out. “Hey, I’m Taci. I went to school with your Dad. I was wondering if I might be able to chat with you.”
Drew shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, eyeing me warily. “That depends on what you want to talk about.”
Ok, so much for trying the easy road. Obviously kids these days weren’t as willing to spill their guts as they used to be. My hand fell back to my side.
“I was hoping we could talk about Samantha McAllister actually; I’m a reporter for the Riverdale Times,” I replied.
The girl standing next to Drew stiffened at the mention of Samantha’s name. Shooting Drew a dirty look she stalked off, leaving Drew shaking his head.
“Great, thanks a lot. Now it’s gonna be a bitch to get her to put out again,” he muttered. My smile never wavered but the urge to club the kid over the head was overwhelming. Yep, he was definitely his father’s Son.
“Gee, I’m really sorry about that. Maybe she’ll come back around. So, do you have a minute?” I replied as apologetically as I could muster.
Drew shrugged. “I got lot’s of time to kill now that she’s PO’d at me. What do you want to know?”
“You and Samantha were dating but you broke up with her just before she disappeared. Did she seem upset by it? How was she the last time you saw her?” I began.
Drew snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to but I didn’t break up with Sam, she broke up with me. Just between you and me the only reason she was dating me in the first place was to piss off her old man. They didn’t exactly get along real well.”
That took me by surprise as I was pretty sure Jason had said Drew broke things off with Samantha. I wasn’t, however, too surprised that Samantha didn’t get along with her father. Fake charm can be deceiving but not everyone is susceptible.
“So I take it she probably wasn’t too upset before she disappeared,” I said aloud.
Drew shrugged. “If she was it wasn’t because of me. Personally I think she took off to prove a point to her old man that she could do whatever she wanted. She was always a spoiled brat, used to getting her own way and throwing fits when she didn’t. Guess she wanted to prove once and for all that she could do whatever she wanted.”
That made some semblance of sense; I knew from my own experience most kids this age were still trying to figure out who they were and rebelling against their parents was an added bonus. Still, something wasn’t right about Samantha’s disappearance and I definitely had the feeling that I was the only one who seemed to care about it.
“Well you seem to be handling things pretty good. I bet you were pretty surprised when they told you she’d disappeared,” I threw out there, hoping to catch him off guard.
He gave a short laugh. “Hardly. She dumped me, remember? I moved on to bigger and better things, namely a chick with bigger tits. Trust me, I don’t lay awake at night and cry that she’s not around if that’s what you’re asking.”
The front door of the house opened up, revealing an older and much pudgier version of the young Drew Tompkins.
“Boy, thought I told you an hour ago to kick these kids outta here and get in the house. This garbage ain’t gonna take itself to the curb,” Robbie yelled from the front porch, his round cheeks flushed with the exertion of coming outside. Noticing me standing there his face slackened and I could tell he was searching the recesses of his drunken brain to put a name with my face.
“Andrews, right? Damn girl, it’s been years since I’ve seen ya. You’re not as scrawny as you were back in high school. What have you been up to?” he called out, shifting off the porch to make his way towards us. The sunlight glinted off the top of what was left of his light brown hair and I inwardly grimaced. To say it mildly the years had not been kind to Robbie Tompkins.
“Uh, thanks. Actually I’m a reporter with the Riverdale Times, just stopped by to ask Drew a few questions about Samantha McAllister since they were dating just before she disappeared,” I replied when he reached us.
Robbie scowled, shooting a dark look in Drew’s direction.
“That girl was no good from the get go, let me tell ya. She chased after Drew here for months then dropped him cold when things weren’t going her way. She was a real piece of work, that one was, but what can you expect coming from parents like that,” he all but spat.
Interesting talk coming from a guy who used to be friends with Jason. What the heck, I decided to push my boundaries a little.
“Sounds like you and Jason had a bit of a falling out. You guys were pretty tight back in high school. What happened?” I asked casually.
Drew gave a low groan, slowly backing away from us.
“If you’re done with me I got things to do,” he said to me before turning on his heel and walking over to his group of friends.
Robbie followed Drew’s movement with his eyes, drawing in a deep sigh. “The kid’s got potential on the field but he’s so damned stubborn. Kind of reminds me of myself when I was that age.” Gee, lucky kid.
“So, what happened with Jason?” I prodded, trying to steer him back to our conversation.
“What happened? What didn’t happen you mean. Jason and I had a plan; we were going to go to law school together and then open up shop together. Well, we went to school together until things fell apart, now he’s a big shot lawyer and I’m just the town drunk. Does that answer your question?” he said angrily.
Yeesh, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed it. Mental note; when interviewing old classmates find out about their backgrounds first. It might just save me a butt chewing in the future. As to it answering my question, hardly; it just opened up a new can of worms for me to dig through. I wonder what fell apart that still has Robbie’s undies in a bunch.
“I’m really sorry to hear that, Robbie. So, I guess it must have been pretty hard on you when Drew started dating Samantha,” I finally said.
“I thought at first Jason had put her up to it, that it was some sort of sick joke they were trying to pull. Then I saw how manipulative she was. Guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree with that one,” he muttered.
“Why would you think he wanted to play a prank like that on you? Seems kind of cruel to use your own kid with something like that,” I said, the words sounding hollow even to me. Jason McAllister was exactly the type of person who’d use just about anyone, family included, to get something he wanted. It wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if he had pushed Samantha towards Drew, but the question was why?
Robbie got an odd look on his face as my words sunk in before he shuttered his gaze.
“I…I don’t know why he’d do something like that but I wouldn’t put it past him. Listen I gotta get going. If I don’t see you at the reunion it was good catchin’ up with ya,” he said offhandedly, turning to head back towards the house before I could even voice a reply.
“You too Robbie,” I called to his retreating backside, flinching when the front door closed with a resounding bang behind him.
Avoiding the kids still at the end of the drive I headed back to my car deep in thought. First and foremost I needed to get a background check on Robbie. Something obviously happened back in law school between Jason and Robbie, something enough that caused a permanent break in their friendship. Something told me Jason wasn’t about to be forthcoming with any information, which left me with opting for a sneakier route. Lucky for me I was good at the sneaky thing. Slumping into the front seat of my car I turned over the motor and drove off in a cloud of dust.
CHAPTER TWELVE
There was something oddly disturbing about the facts I’d just learned from Robbie
, namely that it had been Samantha leading the break up versus Drew. It really was a tiny detail, nothing that seemed all that important, yet it was bugging me all the same. Jason didn’t strike me as the type of person who got his facts wrong which made me wonder if he was lying, and if that were the case what did he have to hide? With a sigh I turned onto the one way leading downtown, heading towards the Times. I needed to do some research on Robbie and try and find out what exactly happened back in school. Sanity told me to just let it alone and stay away from Tompkins altogether. Instincts told me otherwise.
The sound of my cell phone chirping from my purse drew my attention as I turned into the Times parking lot. Easing into a parking spot I dug it out and flipped it open.
“Andrews,” I answered, balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder while I grabbed my purse and exited the car.
“Tony’s gonna be ticked when he gets back and finds you gone. What am I supposed to tell him?” Reese all but whined into the phone.
I sighed as I entered the Times building, proceeding upstairs to my office. “That I had work to do, he’ll know where to find me. Listen I gotta run. Do me a favor and call Mom to let her know we’ll be there around 6:00.”
Not waiting for a response I flipped the phone shut, tossing it carelessly back into the recesses of my purse. The newsroom was quieter than normal with only a few people on staff for the weekend shift. I waved to a few as I passed through, heading towards my office.
Breezing through the door I stopped in the doorway, surveying the room. Gavyn had been doing some renovating in my absence I noted, noticing that my dried up brown plant had been replaced with a brighter, greener one. My office had been tidied up and looked to be newly cleaned, which oddly pleased me. For some reason I’d half expected to return and find a huge mess waiting for me. It was nice to know not all men were slobs.
Tossing my purse on the desk I moved around to the back, slipping into my comfy chair. Flipping the power switch to the computer I drummed my fingernails on the surface of the desk, waiting for the computer to boot up. The screen blinked on, loading on to a background of colorful tropical fish. I should have been annoyed that Gavyn had changed my background page but I grinned despite myself. I didn’t take Gavyn as a fish kind of guy. I’d have to remember that.
Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) Page 11
