KILLER DATE (SCANDALS) (2 page)

Yeah, been there, done that.  I certainly knew my way around the happy hours and cheap buffets in Vegas.  Becoming a professional magician wasn’t like getting a job as a dentist.  You didn’t just get a degree and open an office.  You had to learn, mostly on the job and usually without pay.  I worked any odd job I could find, including bartending for the casinos and private parties.  On my desperate weekends,
I even worked as a waiter for a catering company and sometimes even parking cars for events.  You wouldn’t believe the kinds of offers those gigs generated…some for pay, some legitimate, but most would have made it hard for me to look at myself in the mirror the next morning.  I’ve done lots of things that I regretted, but none that I was ashamed of.

“How about a boyfriend?
” Tulsa was blunt.   “Maybe they decided to spend the weekend at South Padre Island.”

“No boyfriend.  Angie was serious about school and her art.  She has classes Monday through Thursday,
then works at her shop all day Friday and Saturday.”

“Her shop?
” I echoed.

“She makes money painting portraits, designing signage and doing tattoos out of a little hole in the wall studio a couple blocks from the campus.”

“
Longhorn Tattoos
” Dallas asked.  When Jenny nodded, he said, “I know where that is.  I park in a lot a couple blocks away and pass that shop when I go to classes.”

“Oh
, you’re a student?”  Jenny’s question was more out of politeness than curiosity.  She clearly couldn’t think of anything other than her sister’s safety.

“Yeah…law school,” Dallas told her.  “So, she missed her classes today?”

“Yes, and she just wouldn’t do that…unless she was in trouble.  She knows I worry about her.”

“Does she have a cell phone?” Tulsa asked.

Again Jenny nodded.  “I tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail.”

“Did you try to calibrate her cell phone location…you know using GPS?” Tulsa asked.

Jenny shook her head and her eyes widened.  “I didn’t think...  You can do that?”  A glimmer of hope chased the despair from her expression.

“If she has it turned on, it will.  Give me your phone, and I’ll check it out.”

Jenny pulled her cell phone out of the side pocket of her purse and handed it to Tulsa.  “It’s under her first name.”

Tulsa nodded, already focused on flipping through screens and clicking buttons.

“Have you gone to the police?” Dallas asked.

“Two days ago.  But they blew it off.”  Jenny snorted her disgust.  “They kind of came to the same conclusions you did…
kids
, they said,
go missing all the time.  Boyfriend, party, long weekend trip to Cabo
.  He was doing some paperwork…he barely looked up at me.”

“APD is pretty good at what they do, but they’ve had a lot
of financial pressures,” Dallas offered.

I frowned at Dallas’ total lack of empathy.  Sure, what he said was true, but it wasn’t what Jenny needed to hear right now.  Dallas could use a little help with his stage presence.  “Any luck, Tulsa?”

“No…I’m not getting any ping at all.”  She handed the phone back to Jenny.  “The battery could be dead, her phone may be turned off or she could be out of range.  We can try again later.”

Jenny’s shoulders slumped.  She stared at the phone in her hand as if her best friend had betrayed her.  It was
the last tenuous thread with her sister, and now that, too, was broken.  Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, “Thanks for trying.”

I wished desperately that I could tell her everything was going to be alright, and her sister would show up, probably with
a sunburn and an STD.  But I couldn’t.  I’d seen the dramatic emotional swing she’d had when she thought they could find Angela using GPS and then the disappointment.  She had no one else to turn to for help.  Just Scandals…and me.  Impulsively, I leaned toward her and covered her hand with my own.  Hers was much smaller than mine and so cold. “We’re going to do all we can to find her.  Did you check out her studio for any notes or phone numbers?”

“Sort of
, but I didn’t notice anything unusual.”

“I think we should start there.  Maybe she has an appointment book or an address scribbled on something,” I suggested, trying to remember all the cop and investigation shows I’d seen.

She brightened slightly at the hint of a positive plan.  “Listen…I only have $400.”  She reached into her purse, took out four well-worn hundred dollar bills and placed them on the table.

I took the money, examined it, turned it over,
then counted aloud as I transferred the bills from my right hand to my left.  It was a move I’d learned when I was twelve and trying to make money for lunch…except this was a reverse version.  “One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred.  You must have made a mistake.”

Jenny stared at the stack of bills in my hand.  “But I’m sure I gave you only $400!”

I put the money on the table and pushed the five hundred dollar bills back to her.  “First things first.  Don’t worry about the money until we solve the case.  If you have some time right now, let’s go look at her shop.”

A little confused, she picked up the $500 and placed in her wallet.  “I took the day off, so I’m ready…let’s
go.”  She stood up and began to walk to the door.

“Dallas?  Tulsa?” I asked.  “Are you coming?”

Dallas shrugged.  “I’m in.”

“I’d better get back to the website,” Tulsa said.  “It’s vintage…I mean, like a time capsule from the ‘90s.  No
focus on mobiles, no video in the hero area, no scrolling and the color scheme makes me epileptic.”

“You’re talking Greek again.  I swear
, the only time I see you smile is when you’re talking about computers.”  I turned and followed Jenny who was already in the lobby, her foot tapping impatiently. 

Christopher and Killeen entered from the warehouse doors.  He was over six f
eet tall, and Killeen was only a couple inches shorter.  They made a stunning couple and even Jenny, who could think of little other than her sister, stopped and stared. 

“Good morning,” Christopher said as soon as he saw Jenny.  “I’m Christopher and this is Killeen.  We’re…”

“Let me guess…another brother and sister,” Jenny interrupted.

“Uh…brother, no.
  Yes to the sister,” Christopher answered with a smile.  “It’s sort of complicated.”

“Jenny’s our newest client.  We’re going to see if we can find some clues about where her sister might be,” I explained.

“Glad you two finally decided to show up for work,” Dallas said, only partially joking.  As a law student, only two years short of his degree, he valued commitment and punctuality.  He was struggling to adjust to the wildly disparate habits and quirks of his new-found family.

Killeen blushed, but Christopher just laughed.  “The alarm didn’t go off.  Did you hear it?” he asked Killeen.

“No, I didn’t hear a thing,” she answered, her big blue eyes trying to look blankly innocent, but failing miserably.  “Must have slept right through it.”

“All I can say is, I’m glad the walls at the mansion are so thick,” Dallas commented, “Or none of us would be getting any sleep.”

“Speaking of mansion, can you meet us there around two?” Christopher asked.

“Why?” I asked.

“Our landlord wants to meet all of us this afternoon,” Killeen explained.

“Our landlord?
” Dallas echoed. 

None of them had any idea who
that mysterious entity was.  It was one of the unknowns that we were all trying not to think about.  Apparently, Roger had done the person a favor and had been given the use of the mansion for an unspecified time for only $1.00 a year.  That had been great for Roger, but now that he was gone, there was the distinct possibility that we would be kicked out.  My portion of the inheritance and my salary at Scandals meant I could afford something pretty nice on my own.  But the mansion was huge and luxurious with a live-in cook named John and a house manager named Gerald who took great care of us.  Besides, I was just getting to know my new brothers and sisters, and separation would slow down that process.

“Are you going to tell us his name or is it a surprise?”
I asked.

Christopher glanced over at Jenny, then back at Dallas.  “I don’t actually know.  His agent called and set up the appointment.”

“Unless we stumble on something urgent, we should be back by then,” I told them.  To be honest, I didn’t think we were going to turn anything up at Angie’s shop, but it was a great excuse to spend more time with Jenny.  And maybe we could find something that would reassure her that her sister was merely careless and not actually in danger.

“
He insisted on meeting at the house,” Christopher added.  “I tried to set it up somewhere else, but no luck.  They’re still making repairs from the fire, and I was hoping it would be finished before he found out.  The kitchen looks pretty rough.”

“It was all over the internet, so I doubt it’s a secret,” Dallas pointed out.

“That might be why he’s coming to see us.  Maybe he’s going to tell us to move out,” Killeen suggested.  “I’ve kind of gotten attached to my Beatles room.”

“Beatles?”
Jenny looked confused.

“Yeah, every bedroom in the mansion is decorated with memorabilia about a famous musician or band,” Killeen explained.  “It’s pretty cool.”

“Sounds like it.” Jenny agreed.

“We’ll make it if we can,” I promised.  Jenny was being polite, but I saw her glancing surreptitiously at her phone, probably hoping for a message…or maybe just anxious to get on with the investigation.  As much as I doubted we were going to find something, I wanted to give it my best shot.  Jenny didn’t deserve to be put through this aggravation, especially by a clueless younger sister.  “Dallas, can you follow us?  I’ll ride with Jenny.”

“Sure.”  Dallas pulled the keys for his black Range Rover out of his pocket and headed toward the warehouse’s side lot where the employees and customers who were trying not be seen parked behind a high wall with an electronic gate.

“Nice to meet you, Jenny.”
  Killeen gave her a friendly smile and Jenny nodded.

“You, too,” she said and headed toward the front door.  I had to hurry to keep up.  This was a woman with a mission.

There was only one car in the front lot, a silver ten-year-old Honda Accord that was obviously hers.

“They seem nice,” Jenny commented after we were settled in the front seat of her
car.

“They are.  Remind me to tell you how Killeen saved our lives last weekend.”

Angela’s tattoo studio was in an older area of downtown that hadn’t yet been transformed by urban renewal.  Of course, there was a Starbucks on one corner and a neighborhood grocery store on the other.  Crammed between the Starbucks and a trendy used furniture store was a narrow shop barely wide enough for a single door and a 3’ x 5’ plate-glass window that had been painted over so you couldn’t see inside. 
Longhorn Tattoo
was neatly hand-painted on the outside, along with a phone number and
Open Saturday, Sunday and By Appointment
.  A large thick padlock hung on the commercial grade zinc plate latch post hasp.

“I’m not familiar with Austin,” I said as I watched her struggle to get the padlock off of the shiny new hasp, “
but this doesn’t strike me as a particularly safe area.”

She frowned as she concentrated on getting the key to turn…without success.  “It’s all she could afford.  Being so close to the university, it has a lot of foot traffic.”

One of the first tricks I had learned as a child was how to pick locks, and I knew that in spite of its size and quality, I could open
this one in less than fifteen seconds.   However, I didn’t want to freak Jenny out by showing her how easy it would be to breech the front door, so I stood back and let her use her key.

Dallas
added.  “During the day, it’s okay.  At night, it can be a little sketchy.”

Jenny didn’t seem surprised by that information.  “She was only here during daylight hours.  I insisted on that.  Besides, I know how she loses herself in her art, and I wanted to make sure she had time to do her homework.”