The Siren (12 page)

He smiled down at me. “You gonna wear that bathing suit again?”
 

“Maybe,” I answered. "Do you think it looks bad with my hideous scars?"

He stopped walking so suddenly that I stumbled backward when his hand jerked mine to a stop. "Are you serious?" he asked.

I turned and looked at him. "Of course I'm serious." I held out my arms and then pulled up the hem of my skirt to show him my leg. “I promise I’m not feigning modesty here. I look like I lost a death match with a cheese grater."

He pulled me close to him. “Sloan, you looked so hot last night, I was a little pissed off you were in the pool with Nate." He tucked my hair behind my ear. "You have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about."

I blushed. "OK. I'll wear it then. Thank you.”

He smiled and draped his arm across my shoulders. "We will definitely go to the pool."

Later at the hotel, as Warren and I left our room, I realized worrying about what I looked like really didn't matter. Warren didn’t wear a shirt to the pool, so no one was looking at me anyway. On our walk through the building, he caused an old lady to drop her purse and a cleaning woman to run her cart into a wall. When we reached the top floor, every head on the rooftop turned in our direction.

I noticed two college-age girls pointing and giggling near the bar. I shook my head and looked up at him. “I’m about to make you cover up.”
 

He laughed and smacked me on the butt.

Nathan waved from a table between the water and the bar. He was shirtless again, a detail I refused to focus on, and Shannon was wearing her enormous hat and sunglasses. Her face was pale, and she was leaning on her elbow for support.
 

“Is someone having a rough day?” I teased as I put my towel down on the chair next to her.

“I feel like I was run over by a bus.” She groaned. “All I wanna do is sleep, and Nathan dragged me up here.”

Nathan pointed at Warren’s chest. “Nice ink, man. What is it?”

Warren turned to show the rest on his back. “It’s a dragon’s claw.”
 

I laughed. “I always thought it was a bird.”

Warren sat down and shook his head. “Nope. It’s a dragon. Why the hell would I get a bird?”

Shannon looked over the top of her glasses with bloodshot eyes. “Why would you get a dragon?” she mumbled.

Warren smiled and wiggled his fingers in front of my face. “Maybe it’s a demon trying to carry me away.”

I slapped his hand down. “Ugh. Given our present circumstance, that’s not very funny.”

“How was church?” Nathan asked Warren.
 

Warren shook his head. “Confusing.”
 

“Did you find out anything?” Nathan asked.

I nodded and stripped off Warren’s t-shirt that I had worn again. “Yeah. We found this adorable old priest outside, and he talked to us for a little while.”

“And?” Nathan asked.

“And we still don’t know anything for sure, but a lot of what he said made sense,” I answered.
 

Warren looked around toward the bar. “I’m going to go up there and order some food. What do you want?”
 

I looked at Nathan’s grilled sandwich. “Bring me something like that,” I said. “I’d like kettle chips instead of fries if they have them. Thank you.”

Warren nodded and walked off toward the bar.

There was a file folder on the table in front of Nathan. I tapped my finger on it. “What’s this?”

“Oh, it’s that list I told you about. Female child protective services caseworkers in San Antonio named Smith,” he said. “It has the addresses where they work.”

I shook my head. “The government is a scary beast.”

He laughed. “No kidding. You should see what pops up when I run your name through the computer.”

Rolling my eyes, I opened the folder. Quickly, I skimmed down the list. It was a total of two pages long. “This isn’t as bad as I feared it would be.”

He stuck a french fry in his mouth. “It’s not too bad
if
she’s still going by Smith.” He pointed at me. “And if she’s still a caseworker.”

I groaned. “Good point. Well, there are two Rachel Smiths on this list, so I guess that’s our starting point.”

“Why would a social worker do anything under a fake name?” Shannon asked.

She’d been so quiet, I had forgotten she was still at the table. “That’s actually a good question.”

Nathan shrugged. “She’s hiding.”

“From what?” I asked.

“Could be anything. An abusive spouse, criminal charges, the IRS. Who knows?” he said.

I pulled off my sunglasses and chewed on the tip. “How would you get a job, multiple jobs for that matter, in the government with a fake name? That seems like it would be a hard thing to do.”

He nodded. “It’s impossible to do. I’m sure they fingerprint and do background searches and everything for those kinds of positions.”

“So how could she be getting away with it?” I asked. “You can change your name, but you can’t change your fingerprints.”

He shrugged again. “That’s a good question. My guess is she doesn’t work for the government anymore. Maybe she’s working for a private company or a non-profit. Hell, she could be working at McDonalds for all we know.”

I looked at the list. “There has to be a better way of doing this.”

“Can’t you find her?” Nathan asked.

I looked at Shannon and then gave Nathan a warning with my eyes.
 

He held up his hands and mouthed the word “sorry.”

I flipped through the file and found Rachel’s picture. I stared at it for a long time and wondered if there was any way I could find her with my ability. I closed my eyes and pictured her face. “Where are you Rachel Smith?”

When I opened my eyes, Nathan was scanning the roof expectantly.
 

I shook my head. “That’s not how it works.” Just in case, I glanced around the roof as well.
 

The two college girls were talking to Warren at the bar. Both were in bikinis and both were spilling out of their tops. The blonde was tracing her finger along the tattooed lines on his shoulder. He waved to get my attention, then pointed at me and spoke to them. Judging by their suddenly smug expressions, he was turning down some sort of proposition.

I frowned. “He’s such a chick magnet.”

“Yes, he is,” Shannon agreed, unable to suppress a weak smile.

Nathan balled up his napkin and threw it at her. “Not you, too!”

She just shrugged her shoulders.
 

By the time Warren returned to the table with our plates, Shannon had found a nearby empty lounge chair and appeared to be asleep with a white towel completely covering her head. Every now and then she would moan in pain. Nathan was on his cell phone.
 

I looked over at Warren. “Thanks for lunch.”

“Of course,” he replied, unrolling his silverware.

I jerked my thumb in the direction of the bar. “Did you enjoy your little fan club over there?”

He blinked with surprise. “My fan club?”

I smirked. “Don’t play dumb with me, Warren Parish. You may not have a lot of relationship experience, but you know those talking breasts over there were flirting with you.”

He chuckled. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

I threw a potato chip at him.

He caught the chip in his mouth. “It’s your fault,” he said as he chewed.

“My fault?”

He held his hands up. “If you weren’t here, they’d run from me.”

I scowled. “I doubt that.”

He held up two fingers in front of my face. “That’s twice in two days you’ve gotten jealous. I like it.”

I pushed his hand away. “Shut up.”

Across the table, Nathan ended his call and put the phone down along with the pen he was holding. “That was my buddy in Charlotte.”
 

Warren straightened in his seat.

Nathan leaned on his elbows. “He found the guy from last night and is emailing me his rap sheet.” He looked down at the paper in front of him. “The guy’s name is Larry Mendez. He’s a convicted felon on robbery, assault, and drug charges. He’s out on parole.”

I was shocked. “That’s it?”
 

Warren caught my eye. “That’s just all he’s been convicted of. That’s certainly not all he’s done.”

I crunched on a potato chip and nodded my head. “Yeah. There’s way more than robbery, assault, and drugs going on with that guy.”
 

“Definitely,” Warren agreed. “I’m going to go back out there tonight and look for him again. I want to see if he’s at home.”

“What are you going to do?” Nathan asked.

“I don’t know. See what he’s up to for now,” Warren said.
 

Nathan’s brow wrinkled with concern. “Don’t go and get yourself arrested on stalking charges while we’re down here. I really don’t want to have to come and bail your ass out of jail.”

Warren smirked. “I’ll do my best.”
 

“What time should we leave?” I asked.

Warren waved his fork at me. “I want you to stay here,” he said. “You can hang out with Nathan and Shannon. We both know how dangerous this guy is.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Yes. We both
do
know how dangerous this guy is, and because of that, I don’t want you going out there alone.”

He looked insulted. “Have you met me? Do you not think I can handle him?”

Realizing he was right, I changed tactics. “Well, what if he’s not there? You’ll need me to find him. I’m coming along.”

He shook his head. “No.”

I widened my eyes at him and tilted my head to the side. “No?”
 

“Uh oh,” Nathan said. He scooted back a few inches from the table with pure amusement splashed across his face.

Warren leaned forward and put his hand on the back of my chair. “This is too dangerous. It’s a bad part of town, and I’m not going to let you—”

“
Let
me?” My voice jumped up an octave. “I don’t remember ever giving you the authority to decide what I can and cannot do, Warren Parish.”

Like watching a volley being returned across the net, Nathan’s head whipped toward Warren.
 

Warren’s eyes narrowed. “What if we find him and you have another meltdown like you did last night? Then what are you going to do?”

Nathan looked at me.

“I’ll have my Xanax, and I’ll stay clear of the guy,” I said. “I’m a big girl. I can handle myself. I think I’ve proven that.”

“Nate, tell her what a bad idea this is,” Warren said. He picked up a french fry off his plate and dunked it into a pile of ketchup.

Nathan held his hands up and shook his head. “You’re on your own, brother. I’m just enjoying the show.”

I sat back in my chair. “Warren, if I don’t go, you don’t go.”

Warren stared at me in stunned silence for a moment before shaking his head and picking up his sandwich, signaling the end of the conversation.
 

Satisfied with my victory, I looked at Nathan. “Are you coming with us?”

“Heck yeah, I’m coming. I don’t want to miss seeing how this plays out.”

“What about Shannon?” Warren nodded to where she was sprawled across the chair a few feet away.

Nathan laughed. “I don’t think Shannon will have any interest in leaving the hotel today.”

I picked up another potato chip. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that hung over.”

“Me either. I have a feeling she won’t be drinking again anytime soon,” Nathan said smiling.

* * *

Late in the afternoon, after we had showered from the pool, I came out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of black tactical cargo pants and a black t-shirt. I had purchased the ensemble for such an occasion when Warren and I started dating.
 

He was watching television on the bed when I walked into the room. He shook his head when he saw me. “Well, you certainly
look
the part.” He was not amused. He was pissed.

I put my hands on my hips. “Are you going to be mad at me all night?”

He nodded. “Probably.”

I kicked the side of the bed with my boot. “Well, get over it.”
 

His eyes were dark and glaring up at me. “Sloan, you can’t defend yourself if something happens out there. You can’t carry a gun or even shoot one. What happens if we get into something bad and I can’t get to you in time?”

“Warren, I think I can handle a simple stakeout. I’ve been kidnapped, beaten, and shot at, remember?”

He sat up. “Yeah. I remember. That’s exactly why I don’t want you going. There’s no telling what we might encounter out there, and I don’t want to put you in harm’s way if I don’t have to.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed and put my hand on his cheek. “I sincerely appreciate you worrying about me, but you’re going to need my help with this whether you want it or not. What if you can’t find Larry Mendez and he hurts or kills someone when I could have prevented it? I would rather take the risk and help stop this guy, than sit here safe in my hotel room.”

He dropped his forehead onto my shoulder. “You’re going to cause me to have anxiety.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Well, I’ve got plenty of Xanax for both of us. Come on. Nathan’s probably waiting.”

There was a knock at our door.
 

I smiled as I stood, and Warren shook his head.
 

When I swung the door open, Nathan looked me up and down. “Uh, hi.” He awkwardly looked at my outfit and then down at his own black pants and t-shirt.

We both laughed and walked into the room side by side.

Warren rolled his eyes. “Geez,” he said. “Should I change? I feel like I don’t fit in with the mob squad.” He was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt.
 

Nathan tugged on the brim of his ball cap. It still said
Shitstarter
across the front. “All you need is a hat.”

“And a bunch of inappropriate patches,” I said, smiling. “I feel like we need a dynamic duo name. Maybe Cagney and Lacey.”

He shook his head. “Nah. Mulder and Scully.”

Warren pushed himself up off the bed. “More like Lucy and Ethel.”

“I get to be Ethel.” Nathan smiled. “Are you guys ready to go?”