“We should get back,” Fitzpatrick said, breaking the quiet, but he didn’t sound like he really meant it.
Laura spoke, as if she hadn’t heard him.
“I’m glad the high school cancelled queens and kings from the prom. It makes so many kids feel they aren’t good enough. I hear Eagle Junction did, as well. Mapleton’s the holdout.”
Connor nodded as Laura continued.
“I think I understand why that woman did what she did, but that’s no excuse for murder or selling young girls into sex slavery. Why are some people so nasty that they drive others to drastic actions like that?”
Connor stepped away from the wall and turned toward the door.
“I don’t know. But if you ever find out the answer and the solution, most serious crime will vanish, and there will be no need for me to do this job.”
A twinkle laced Laura’s eyes.
“Then you could take your college degree in international economics and go around saving the world, just as you always planned.”
He pulled the door open and placed a gentle hand on her back.
“Let’s go.”
• • •
The last dance was slow, and everyone was on the floor swaying to it, including the chaperones. Connor made sure Laura would enjoy this dance and twirled her around a few extra times near the end, catching her eye before he dipped her on the final lilting notes.
And he also made sure they ended up near Suzanne and Troy.
On cue, as everyone clapped, Brian approached Suzanne with her wrap.
“No, I told you, Brian, I’m going to Alice Andrade’s house.”
“Sorry, Suzanne. Your father was very clear.”
Her face contorted in anger and frustration, and she actually held up a fist.
“Try and make me.”
Fitzpatrick noted that Troy had stayed out of the kerfuffle. He tipped his head toward Suzanne.
“What’s wrong? Anything I can help with?”
That was when Troy spoke up.
“Do we need the police involved?”
“Do we?” Connor countered, staring the boy down with his best cop face.
“No,” Troy responded in a surly manner and turned to Suzanne. “See you at school on Monday.”
The shock on her face radiated beyond the group as others turned to see what happened. She grabbed her wrap and evening purse and stomped off with Brian.
Also on cue, Patricia appeared next to Troy with her wrap and bag in hand.
“Are we ready?” she asked innocently.
• • •
As Fitzpatrick and Keene threaded their way through teens back to their table and Connor’s parents, Connor leaned toward Laura’s ear.
“The kid’s got a shot at an acting career.”
“Patricia, too,” Laura agreed. “They were perfect. And so were you. You have to teach me how to do that stony cop face thing in case I ever need to use it.”
“I learned it from your father. He scared the crap out of me.”
forty-six
On the way back to Laura’s shop and apartment, the pair discussed the recent arrests.
“You almost became her latest victim. You were very lucky that Kelly and the anonymous man called us right away.”
“I’d rather talk about Eric Williams.”
“No, we can’t talk about Eric Williams. You don’t know anything about him.”
She was silent a moment but not longer than that.
“Let’s talk about how you should have told me about him. I can keep a secret!”
“Nope.”
“I wouldn’t have decked him.”
“He probably deserved it. But any telling is on him. He chose to let you think he sold insurance.”
“You told me he sold insurance.”
“It’s his cover. And he kept showing up in your shop to sell you that insurance. And you bought some.”
She was silent only a few seconds this time.
“Did he sell me real insurance and get a commission on it?”
“Yup.”
“Wow. Holy Moly Wow.”
“No O.M.G.?”
“Holy Moly Wows are bigger, double ones anyway. I think.”
“You have to get past this and forget you know about it.”
“There is no un-knowing something like that. But I can act and I can keep a secret.”
“Rose made you take acting lessons, too?”
“No, Mom. She told me there would be times in my life when I would have to pretend.”
He shot a sideways glance at her.
“To keep someone from being hurt,” Laura clarified. “But I was always encouraged to tell the truth all the time. She explained it as a delicate balance. Mary Wilson or Deirdre Covington as she called herself had no delicate balance. She was an outright liar to get what she wanted and dole out the justice she had the arrogance to think she had the right to do.”
“We agree on that.”
“Is there something we don’t agree on?”
He just grinned, so Laura continued.
“You know it turned out, from my very brief, second interview with Dante Lelanley’s sister, Lillian Leelandelee—oh, I can never get their last name right, why is it so hard?”
“Too many Ls.”
“Why would somebody name their kid that?”
“Maybe they were stoned at the time.”
She nodded agreement.
“Anyway, Lillian told me that Dante never cared about Mary Wilson at all. Barely knew who she was. So no special dress would have made a difference. It was an unfortunate, unrequited love. I’m just glad Mary Wilson has been caught.”
“It’s a good thing she gave up Brittany’s grave location. Now her family can have closure at least.”
“Yes. But I’m so glad she never targeted Jenna.”
“Jenna grew up with you. She was never snobby. And I’ll be honest with you, Laura. The only time I was glad you weren’t here in Minnesota was when all this garbage was going on.”
“I never thought about that, I guess because I didn’t know it was happening. All I could think of was coming back to you. But the coldness of it all is what shocks me.”
“She did her homework on the meeting places, too,” Connor added.
“Right. They would have to be rather remote but not so far the girls couldn’t walk there in dress shoes.”
“Yes and some of the girls Wilson arranged for modeling and film careers overseas were actually sold into sex slavery. So the universe is more than just the seven we know about. With the big demand overseas for these pretty, young girls, they made a boatload of money.”
“I think it will be wonderful if the families of all the missing girls can get closure one way or another.”
“Eric’s team has been after the people in this ring for years, working closely with DHS. Never dreamed of how it all began; they were just interested in stopping it and saving whomever they could.”
“Do we know for sure if other agencies sold girls?”
“There are probably hundreds of other outfits that work like Regal Airs all over the world and will continue to do so as long as the demand is there. Frye’s team works with DHS and investigates everything they hear about. They found some silliness with one of the other talent agencies, Luxe Talent. They were running scams as well, taking money with no promises after making promises, contract switcheroos, stuff like that, which they turned over to Treasury to handle. But Class Divide, the one agency owned by the designer? It’s fine. Just an arrangement to save taxes and keep out the unions.”
Laura smiled as they pulled into the open parking space behind her shop.
Conn
or noticed.
“What’s behind that smile?”
“The red dress. How ironic that if the woman had not included the dress in the bunch of items she dumped out front, we might never have found her out or destroyed her schemes.”
When Connor put the SUV in Park, he turned to Laura.
“You are beautiful, you know that? And you never cease to surprise me with your understanding of human relationships.”
“Tonight with you was magic for me, Connor.”
“It was right.”
“Want to stop in for some coffee or brownies?” she asked, noting he had not turned off the engine.
“Can’t. Mallory called us all back to the station to discuss ‘scheduling.’”
“Why tonight?” Laura asked.
“He and his wife are leaving first thing in the morning to Boston for some event.”
Fitzpatrick felt her silence heavily.
“It was magic for me, too, Laura,” he said, taking her hand and putting it to his lips. “It doesn’t matter that we didn’t get to do this in high school. We got to do it now. And I think I have a better appreciation of it now than I would have had in high school.”
“I’ll thank my friends for making me look like a princess.”
“You are a princess whether anyone changes your hair or your dress. Those are all just ‘things’ on the outside.”
She leaned over to kiss him.
• • •
Laura had trouble falling asleep that night. The prom had been such an amazing experience. Connor had looked so handsome in his tux and she had felt just like a princess—his princess.
Then her thoughts turned once again to the biggest mystery in Raging Ford and the deaths and unexplained disappearances of all the Rage family members. She zeroed in on Lorelei Rage who disappeared from the Old Library on the country road just outside town. She wanted to find out what happened to Lorelei as much as she had wanted to find out what happened to Brittany.
Narrowing down a number of families and people to about two dozen that might be descendants of the Munleys and Dowells in what she and her family believed to have been a conspiracy to wipe out all the Rages for revenge was one thing. It would remain her life’s challenge until she had it all solved and stopped, if possible.
Finally, Laura fell asleep, dreaming about Connor and dancing in his arms. He was right. Kids can have fun, but it takes an adult to appreciate fully the value and importance of a special moment.
When she awoke the next morning, she resumed her focus on Lorelei Rage and found her picture among the historic digital pictures she had. That child was only thirteen when she walked over to the Old Library, her new kitten in her apron pocket, to return two books. Police notes from the time said the librarian remembered taking her books back, but no one saw her check out more books or leave. She was there and then not there.
Laura reviewed the details of the story again, re-reading newspaper stories from multiple newspapers that originally went out in hard copy and were now preserved on the Internet. She was certain that Lorelei was a victim of the conspiracy.
She recalled the words of Mary Poos, the vice principal of Eagle Junction High School.
The answer to a mystery is mostly always in the shadows, and not obvious or sitting on your coffee table where the pretty vase of fresh flowers or big hard-bound travel book sits. You need to look in the shadows where it’s often hard to see things. It’s never obvious. Shed a little more light on it and look a little harder. You’ll find it.
Laura wasn’t sure how to go about shedding more light on this mystery, but she was determined to find out what had happened to thirteen-year-old Lorelei Rage the day she went to the library to return her books and was never seen again.
Available Soon From Margaret Evans!
Deadly Cost of Goods
Second Treasures Mysteries, Vol. 5
Coming Fall 2019
In Vol. 5 of the Second Treasures Mysteries, Deadly Cost of Goods, a box of old books in Laura Keene’s shop draws her to a boarded-up library where a thirteen-year-old girl disappeared decades ago. Where others have given up on this cold case, Laura puts her life on the line to find the connection between the missing child and her murdered parents.
Be ready for the series grand finale…
All Sales Final
Second Treasures Mysteries, Vol. 6
Coming Spring 2020
Fate turns on Laura Keene as she peels apart a far bigger conspiracy during her relentless search for her parents’ killers. All Sales Final concludes this riveting series of Laura’s passionate drive for justice.
Stay updated on the Second Treasures Mysteries series!
Watch for updates on the Moonlight Mystery Press page on Facebook, including reviews, book release schedules, and everything you wanted to know about this series.
For more information about these and other works by Margaret Evans, visit www.margaretevans.com.
“Margaret Evans has a real winner in this series.”
— MyShelf.com
Don’t miss the Maya Earth Trilogy—hailed as “flawlessly plotted mystery thrillers” (Ibbetson Street Review) that will “draw the reader in from the start and never let go.” (Roundtable Reviews).
The Sixth World
Book One of the Maya Earth Trilogy
Experience the thrills and excitement of discovery in the California hills, the secret plots to sabotage the archaeological expedition, and the heart-breaking promises Amy Parrish and Joe Magee have to make to protect the Maya.
Trial In Jade: The Mayan Return
Book Two of the Maya Earth Trilogy
Explore a Mayan past filled with disobedience, banishment and treachery, and watch it collide in the present in a trial in jade to decide the future against a backdrop of the magnetic polar reversal and forbidden love.
Kingdom Come: The Mayan Answer
Book Three of the Maya Earth Trilogy
A boy meets a king. Two women face their destinies. The Maya build their new age. In a world of change and global greed for power, one young Mayan finds the answer.
A Dress to Die For Page 23
