Fresh Ice (22 page)

Finally, when Dwight was ready to throw in the towel, he hit pay dirt. An acquaintance of his from the west side said he’d seen Sarah coming out of a fancy beauty school on more than one occasion.

Freshly showered and shaved, Dwight strode up to the brick building with the hot pink
“Lee Beauty Academy” sign above the door. The bus ticket receipt was folded in his pocket, a reminder of his mission. Despite the dark circles under his eyes and the creases in his face he actually passed for a human being.

That morning, he had to wash with dish soap because Troy had used the last of the bar soap. At least it was lemon fresh. He hoped the ladies inside would appreciate his lemon freshness and tell him exactly what he needed to know about his precious little Sarah.

He would have preferred to skip the shower, but Troy told him the girls at a beauty school probably wouldn’t give him the time of day if he showed up smelling like booze and cigarettes. Dwight hated to admit it but his idiot son was probably right.

Dwight tugged at the sleeves of his shirt. It felt like he was wearing a
freakin’ sausage casing. His collar felt too tight and his jeans too damn snug. Last night, he’d done the first load of laundry of his life and it hadn’t been successful. Now that Sarah had fallen off the face of the earth he and Troy were doing a lot of things they weren’t used to. Trekking to the Laundromat was one of them.

And now his clothes didn’t feel right. Troy hadn’t been any help at the Laundromat
either. No big surprise there. His own son didn’t even know the difference between a washing machine and a dryer for Christ’s sake. It was already bad enough that Sarah had skipped out on him and Troy, but she’d also abandoned her chores and responsibilities. If she thought she could just traipse around Las Vegas, she had another thing coming.

After a few squats to stretch out his jeans, Dwight was good to go. He would have just worn whatever he could find at the bottom of his closet, but Troy insisted he wear clean clothes. Troy might be a moron, but Dwight hated to admit his son was probably right
about that too. At least about the shower and clothes anyway.

These were a different caliber of people than the druggies and junkies Dwight was used to dealing with. These people actually took their cars to car washes and drank water out of a bottle. They paid outrageous amounts of money to drink coffee out of those cups with the stupid little lids with the stupid little strips of paper wrapped around them. And worst of all, they paid to have someone else dye their hair a different color than what was
growin’ out of their heads. Idiots.

Hopefully these idiots could shed some light on Sarah’s whereabouts.

Somehow, some freakin’ way, Dwight would find Sarah and bring her back. Even if he had to drag her by the hair. Oh yes. He’d bring her back if it was the last thing he did.

Dwight gritted his teeth and pasted a smile on his face. It was rough, this Being Nice to People thing. He was so used to pushing people around and demanding drugs or money that a smile felt as foreign to him as a shower. Oh well, if a smile got him Sarah back, it was worth it.

The inside of the beauty school smelled like froo froo hairspray and perm solution chemicals. Off to the side, a group of girls were watching a woman demonstrate something with scissors. Dwight wanted to gag at the sound of their annoying cheerful chitchat.

A pretty dark-haired, gothic looking girl caught his eye but she quickly sauntered outside before he could ask her if she knew Sarah. She did tap her pack of cigarettes and gave him a nice view of her backside on the way out though.

Dwight shrugged and approached the front desk where he was greeted by a bouncy young blonde.

“Hi, can I help you?” she asked around a wad of neon green gum.

He forced his lips to smile wider until it felt like his face might crack. “Yes, I sure hope so. I’m looking for Sarah Hammond. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where she is.”

Bouncy Blonde blinked and a tiny wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. The gum popped loudly and she swallowed. “Sarah?” She put her index finger up as a signal for him to wait.
“Just a sec, okay?”

Before he could protest, Bouncy Blonde bounced off to the noisy group of women.

Dwight reached out and gripped the edge of the counter. Jesus Christ! Was this how the other half operated? All these smiling faces and perky…bouncing? The only bouncing he’d like to see from the blonde was her bouncing on his coc—

“Good morning. I’m Miriam Lee, the owner.”

“Good morning,” Dwight replied and then remembered to smile again.

“Is there something I can help you with,” Miriam asked.

Despite her polite tone, Dwight could hear the apprehension in her voice. He hoped she wouldn’t give him any trouble. If she did, she looked like she could use a good smack on the ass anyway.

“Yes,” he answered calmly to keep his anger in check. “I’m looking for Sarah Hammond. She’s been missing for a few days and we’re
gettin’ awfully worried about her. I thought you might be able to help me locate her.”

“Oh, I see.” She looked concerned but he suspected it was all an act for his benefit. “I’m sorry,
Mr.…I didn’t get your name.”

“Dwight, ma’am.
Dwight Hammond.”

“Well, Mr. Hammond, the last we heard Sarah left for Las Vegas to
live with a friend.”

She doesn’t have any friends in Vegas
ya dumb bitch!

Dwight reminded himself to breath. This woman would be no help to him if she was in a heap
on the floor. “Any idea where ‘bouts in Vegas?” he asked, his patience wearing as thin as his smile.

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. That’s all I know.”

“Well, thank you for time, Miss Lee. You’ve been very helpful,” he lied.

The lies came easily to Dwight. If only he could get someone to tell him the truth about Sarah. She might as well be a needle in a damn haystack in a place like Las Vegas.

* * *

Shortly after
Sarah walked into the salon she was surprised to hear her cell phone ringing inside her purse. Miri & Peach were the only people who had the number and Miri usually called in the evenings so as not to interrupt Sarah at work.

When Sarah answered
, Miri’s voice sounded anxious. Sarah slipped into the shampoo area for some privacy.

“How
are you doing, hon?” Miri asked.

“
Fine,” she answered cautiously. “Is something wrong?”

“Look, Sarah, I don’t want to alarm you but your
uncle came into the school today.”

Sarah felt like she’d just been punched in the gut. “
Wha…” She swallowed and forced herself to take a deep breath. Everything started to spin and she couldn’t get enough air. “What…what did he say?”

“He said he was looking for you because you’d been missing and wanted to know if I knew anything.”

“
And
?”

“
And I did exactly what we planned.”

“You did?”

“Of course,” Miri said with a laugh. “I told him you’d gone to Vegas to live with a friend.”

Sarah breathed a little easier.
“Do you think he believed you?”

“Definitely.
Between that and the phony bus ticket receipt you left behind, I don’t see any reason why he’d believe otherwise.”

“Oh,
Miri, you have no idea how much that helps me.”

“Relax, Sarah. He’s not going to find you.”

A huge weight lifted from Sarah’s shoulders. Yes, Dwight was out there looking for her, but he was headed in the wrong direction. There was no telling how long it would take him to turn over every poker chip in Vegas looking for her.

Sarah exhaled.
Now she could finally start enjoying her freedom.

* * *

The phony smile slipped from Dwight’s face as soon as he exited the front door of Lee Beauty Academy. A young woman smoking a cigarette leaned against the front of the building but he didn’t pay any attention to her. He took a deep breath and was relieved when the smell of smog replaced the froo froo smell of the beauty school.

“You
lookin’ for Sarah?” a voice from behind him asked.

Dwight stopped in his tracks, whirled around to face the voice and tried with all his might to contain his excitement.
“Yeah.”

The woman leaning against the building was the same
gothic looking girl who’d given him a nice view of her backside a few minutes ago. Dwight took a step toward her and she took a long drag from her cigarette.

“Who’s
askin’?”

He decided to leave out the phony sob story about
bein’ real worried about her. “I’m her uncle,” he answered simply.

She looked around as if someone might be listening and then pushed away from the wall to stub out her cigarette. “She went north,” she said with a flick of her chin.  After another quick glance to make sure no one was within earshot, she added softly, “To Red Valley.”

“Is
that
right?”

“Yeah.
Some place called Peach’s Salon. I overheard her and Miri talking about it.”

“Is that in Oregon?” he asked with a frown.

“No. It’s in California.”

“Any reason your boss told me Vegas?”

She lifted her shoulder in a lazy shrug. “To throw you off course, I guess.”

He eased up on the smile but tried not to lose it completely. “How do I know you’re not trying to do the same?”

She shrugged again and squinted into the sun. “I wasn’t a big fan of Sarah. The girls here are trying to protect her, but I couldn’t care less one way or another.”

Dwight could hear the hatred in her voice and knew she was telling the truth.
“Fair enough. Well, thank ya, darlin’.”

She nodded and he watched her backside sway as she sauntered back into the building. Today was his lucky day.

Well, well, well. So, his sweet, innocent Sarah thought she could double-cross her dear Uncle Dwight. Well, she had another thing coming if she thought he’d let her get away with it.

As he walked back to his truck, he had a bounce to his step. Sarah was going to regret ever being born.

His face spread into a big, fat genuine smile.

* * *

Ever since Sarah had stepped through the door of Peach’s Salon, Kim had been a constant thorn in her side. Between the glares and the way she looked down her nose at her, Sarah just couldn’t take it anymore. When Sarah started this new life, she promised herself she’d confront these kinds of issues head on.

Meeting Kayla and hearing how much her story mirrored her own, Sarah was in
spired to stick up for herself. And now that Dwight was out of the picture, Sarah didn’t have the question of her future hanging over her any more.

Sarah’s stomach flip-flopped as she walked down the hall to where Kim was in the
break room. As much as she hated confrontation, Sarah had to get to the bottom of Kim’s attitude problem.

Dahlia, one of the students at Miri’s school, had behaved the same way toward Sarah and she never did anything about it. S
arah just hung her head and pretended it didn’t bother her. Well, not anymore. Sarah hadn’t moved six hundred miles away to start a new life and have a girl just like Dahlia be snippety with her every day.

Wait
…this was just too nerve-wracking. Sarah couldn’t possibly go through with it. She turned back down the hall in the other direction. What if Kim yelled and screamed at her? Sarah couldn’t bear it.

N
o, wait just a minute. Sarah was not going to let the other girl intimidate her anymore. If Felicity Johns’ characters could face their fears then, by golly, so could she.

Sarah spun back around and marched toward the
break room. She wasn’t going to let this dark cloud hang over her any longer. No siree.

“Kim, can I speak to you for a minute?” The words flew out of
Sarah’s mouth in a rush before she could have second thoughts.

“Sure,” Kim answered without looking up from her phone.

Sarah cleared her throat but Kim’s eyes remained glued on the phone. Sarah forged ahead anyway. “Have I…have I
done
something to you?” she asked carefully.

“Huh?” Kim’s head snapped up, the image
s on her phone forgotten.

“I overheard you talking about me the other day and I was just wondering if I did something to cause this
…” Resentment? Hostility? Animosity? “…
awkwardness
between us.”

Kim’s face scrunched up like she’d just been force-fed a lemon.
“Nuh-oh,” she drew out her disagreement with a shake of her head. In fact, she seemed absolutely flabbergasted at the idea.

Sarah looked down at her feet and twisted her hands together.
“It just seems like you have an attitude toward me and I’d really like to clear things up.”