Mississippi Blues (12 page)

Finding Lindy was top priority.

Ida Baker sat behind her desk, in front of the Chief's office, guarding it like she had for the last twenty years. Nothing, from her cat eye glasses to the sensible shoes she'd always worn had changed.

Trey winked at her. “Hello, Miss Ida. May I go in?”

She blushed and gave him a look of mock anger. “Not just now. Someone's in there. When you do see the Chief, make it snappy, young man. He has a lot on his mind.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He grinned at her, and she fumbled with some papers on her desk.

A minute later, the door swung open and an attractive redhead came out. Without a glance at him or Ida, she hustled by them, slipping on sunglasses. Ida didn't look up, but sniffed. Trey hurried inside.

The Chief sat in his walnut colored leather chair, head in hands.

“Sir, what is it?” Alarmed, Trey hurried to his side. “Did that woman know something about Jace? Has something happened?”

The Chief looked up with bleary eyes. “Huh? Oh, her. No. Forget about that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I said nothing. What is it?”

“Lindy didn't sleep at home last night,” Trey said. “She never came back after she stormed out.”

“You positive about that?”

“Yes, sir. I looked for her last night, but couldn't find her. I thought I saw her headed home, but she wasn't in her bed.”

“Why didn't you wake me?” Accusation filled the Chief's voice.

Trey hesitated for a moment. “I thought she'd be home by this morning.”

“Damn it,” the Chief spat, “your sister is in big trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Trey's mind raced with the possibilities. ‘In trouble' in Juliet, Mississippi usually meant pregnant and unwed, but he didn't think that's what the Chief meant this time.

“Don't you see?” The Chief pounded his desk with his hand. “That Hill boy has got his hands on her.”

“That's quite a jump, sir. Do you know for sure that he even came home?” Trey wondered at his father's mental stability for a moment. “Pardon my saying so, but Lindy seems a little flighty. Maybe she just spent the night with a friend.”

“I should've seen this coming when I got the word that boy was on the loose.” The Chief held his head again. He wasn't making sense.

“I'm not following,” Trey said.

“This.” With an explosive wave of his arm, the Chief scattered a pile of letters to the floor. “Threats, all of them. Jace Hill had promised to get even for years. Now, he's making good on his promise. He's paying me back.”

“You're saying Jace has threatened you from prison?” Trey couldn't believe it. His former friend had sent promises of revenge through the mail? “Why didn't you tell the warden?”

The Chief's complexion was pale and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead. “I figured I was man enough to take a few nasty letters. A thing like this can get a prisoner in the hole for a good long time.”

For a moment, Trey was speechless. This was the closest thing he'd ever heard to the Chief admitting he felt anything but good about Jace's conviction. “Sir, do you think there's any substance behind these threats? Do you believe Jace would come back here and harm one of us?”

“Hell yes, I do.” He slammed his fist on the desk. “That's the last time I make a mistake where Hill's concerned. If he harms a hair on my daughter's head, I'll hunt him down and drag his cold, dead body back to Angola myself.”

“There's no reason to think he has hurt Lindy, is there? I mean it's probably just coincidence she's not home.” Trey tried to remain the voice of reason although his heart was sinking fast. None of this looked good for Lindy. Or Jace. “What are you going to do?”

“What I should've done sooner.” He picked up the phone and bellowed into it. “Ida, get every available body here. We're going on a manhunt.”

“I'm going to keep searching, too. Will you let me know if you find them?” Trey headed for the door. If he didn't beat the Chief to Jace, one of them might die.

• • •

Trey drove across town to Mary-Gray's place. She lived in the older part of town in a large antebellum mansion. Surprisingly, she answered the door herself. She wore tennis whites, her brunette hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. “Trey! Hello! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Afghanistan.”

“May I come in?”

“Of course. Please.” She threw the door open and waved him in. “I was just having lunch on the patio. Won't you join me?”

He followed her to the flagged-rock patio and waited while she sat at a table under an enormous umbrella. The sweet scent of jasmine scented the air. As she poured him a glass of tea he didn't want, he studied her. Bearing no resemblance to the gawky thirteen-year-old he remembered, she had grown into a stunning young woman with a clear, smooth complexion, expertly made up eyes, and shiny hair. Her perfect smile and long legs would drive the boys at Ole Miss or Vanderbilt crazy. For him, she did nothing. All he could think of was Summer. He forced his attention back to Mary-Gray when she spoke.

“When did you get home?”

“Night before last.” He ached to jump all over with questions, but small talk was the polite, southern way. He forced a smile. “Not soon enough.”

“I hadn't heard.” She leaned over and gently tapped his forearm with a perfectly manicured hand. “Naughty of you not to come by and say hello sooner.”

He watched her pink nails on his arm, wishing she'd remove them. “Actually, I'm trying to find out what Lindy's been up to. Naturally I thought of you. You ladies have been friends for forever and a day.”

Her lovely face clouded. “Not anymore. For the last three or four months, since your mama got really sick, Lindy quit talking to me. Becca, too. Instead of turning to us so we could help her, she completely shut us out. We tried to help, but it finally got to the point we realized we weren't wanted. I don't know if she even plans on going to college. You know the kind of grades we've always had? Lindy's are in the toilet. Pardon me, but she seems to have just quit caring about everything. Even herself.”

“Do you know who Lindy hangs around with now?”

“Not a clue.” She took a delicate bite of lettuce then waved her fork. A sour look passed over her face. “I saw her with Candy-Can awhile back. No one I'd ever be seen with.”

“Why's that? And why do you call her that?”

“Oh, you know. Candy can and will do anything any boy wants her to. She's just lowlife. A river rat. Lives in one of those shanties down on the banks of the river that no well-bred young lady is supposed to know about, but we all do.” She made a clicking noise with her tongue. “I've heard her mama … well … does things no lady should for money.”

Trey kept his silence. He'd almost forgotten how sharply the lines were drawn in this small town. Mary-Gray wouldn't think she had a mean bone in her body, but her ignorance of other people's troubles made him cringe. Maybe he had a clearer picture than most because his mother had crossed far over the social line to marry a poor police officer just beginning his career. Or maybe being a Marine had taught Trey early on that people often did things out of sheer desperation. He thought of Katia for a moment before he pushed back his chair and stood. “Thanks, Mary-Gray. I've got to be going.”

“Don't be a stranger, okay?” She followed him to the door and saw him out. “Come by any time. Maybe we could have dinner, talk some more.”

“Sure.” He wouldn't be seeking her out again.

• • •

Pulling into the Curl Up and Dye's parking lot for the second time, Trey ignored the way his pulse sped up. Telling himself he'd come there to talk about Jace, he couldn't help but hope there was more.

Disappointment filled him as he entered the little beauty shop. Summer was nowhere in sight. Only Lilah at her station reading a novel. The radio played a pop tune he didn't know. “Hey, stranger.”

With her face wreathed in smiles, she jumped up and hugged him. “Hey. It's been a long time.”

“Too long.” He stepped back a bit and looked at her. “You look good. Love agrees with you.”

She laughed. “It sure does. What about you? Anyone special in your life?”

“No.” He changed the subject. He glanced around, but saw nothing any different than on his last visit. The stench of perm solution was a little less pungent. “Summer not here?”

She shook her head. “No. She had to run some errands.”

He leaned on her counter. “Got a minute?”

“Sure. What's up?” She twisted her engagement ring. Something was making her nervous.

“I'm trying to help Summer whether she believes it or not. The Chief is organizing a manhunt. If I don't find Jace first, he's going to get hurt or killed. Did Summer tell you if Jace made it home?”

“I haven't heard, Trey.” Her slanted eyes met his straight on and he knew she spoke the truth. “Maybe he ran for the gulf.”

“Anything's possible.” He changed the subject. “I'm wondering if you know anything about a girl named Candy who runs with my sister. Some of the kids call her Candy-Can.”

Lilah shrugged. “Not really. I was with Jody one night and we stopped in at Mugs-n-Jugs to look for some dude he wanted to talk to. I had a drink while I waited.”

“And?” Trey prompted.

She played with the end of her corn rows. “I noticed two girls there who looked too young to hang out in that place. I mentioned it to Jody and he said he'd run them out. By the time he got around to it, they had disappeared. He said one was named Candy.”

“And the other was?” He knew. Lindy.

Lilah confirmed his suspicions. “Your sister.”

Horror filled Trey at the thought of his little sister in that kind of place. If she knew her way around a bar like that, she wasn't the sweet innocent she should've been.

“I didn't recognize Lindy at first. Her hair's real dark, a bad dye job. She also had on a ton of makeup and extremely tight clothes.” This from the woman who didn't wear anything unless it was at least two sizes too small. He shuddered.

“Do you know anything about Candy?” He wondered what hold this girl had on Lindy. Why would his sister dump friends like Mary-Gray and Becca for someone like Candy?

Lilah studied her two-inch nails. “No. But I've heard her mama has one of those massage parlors down on the river. I wouldn't know for sure.”

He hated to press her. Women in Juliet weren't supposed to know about the whores who lived on the riverbanks in a row of rundown shacks called Shantytown. A gentleman didn't bring them up in front of a lady. Somehow, they all seemed to know, however. “Do you know what her mother's last name is?”

“Jolene — no — Carlene, I think is her first. Jody might know more. Why all the questions?” She looked up from her hair.

“Lindy didn't come home last night. I'm worried about her. I think this Candy might have a lead.” He smiled and she relaxed. “Thanks, Lilah. When will Summer be in?”

“Leave it alone, Trey. Her mama wigged out when she heard you were at their place. The past is over and done. Leave things where they fell.”

“I'll keep your advice in mind.” Idly, he lifted a hairbrush and studied it. He had no intention of trying to revive he and Summer's relationship. When the Chief caught Jace and sent him back to Angola, the Hill women would be angrier than ever with his family.

Lilah apparently didn't believe him. “What's the point in it? Stir up her mama and your daddy and everyone in between again? Surely you haven't forgotten how much hurt got spread around the last time your two families were together.”

“I haven't forgotten.” The past was going to bury him alive. He also remembered how good it had felt to make love to Summer.

Lilah reached out and squeezed his hand. “You'll both get hurt if you don't keep your distance.”

“I plan on it. Tell her if she knows anything about her brother's whereabouts, she'd be smart to tell him to turn himself in. Right now, I've got to find my sister before she gets herself into something she can't get out of. I think I'll look up this Carlene and talk to her. Thanks for your help. Let's have dinner soon, okay?”

“It's a date. I'll even bring a friend and we'll double.” She winked at him. “I know a lot of ladies who'd line up to go out with you.”

“I'll call to make plans, but forget the blind date thing, okay?” Romance was the last thing on his mind. He just wasn't interested in anyone. Except the one woman who didn't want him.

She nodded, stretching up to kiss his cheek. “For now.”

He went out the door knowing he'd turn down any woman she suggested.

• • •

Summer came out of the supply room, feeling guilty. “Is Trey gone?”

“Yeah.” Lilah gave her a long look. “I didn't like lying to him.”

“I'm sorry. I take it his sister's not home?” Summer glanced at herself in one of the mirrors. “What's your schedule like? I'm thinking about some pink strands. They'd make me look younger.”

“Pink? Not. He asked a lot of questions about that tramp down on the river and her kid.” She turned to her booth and began disinfecting combs. “I couldn't tell him much.”

“Lindy probably stayed at a friend's house.” Summer picked up a broom and swept around her station. Her mind wasn't fully on the conversation. She couldn't get the image of Jace appearing in her house last night out of her mind. “Nothing about Jace?”

“Just told me to tell you if you know where he is to tell him to turn himself in.” Lilah's eyes sharpened. “You don't, do you?”

Summer held her gaze. She'd lie to the devil himself to protect Jace. “No.”