Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (21 page)

"Maybe I should get your number too," said Nick to Lily.

"Okay." She giggled, produc
ing
a pen and wr
iting
her number on the back of my card a
s she
handed it back to
him
. Nick produced a card from his pocket and passed it to her.
I didn’t get one
,
but I resisted the urge to pout.

"Cool," he said
, shutting
the door, but not before giving Lily another head to toe look.

"He's so cute," Lily said
,
a
s
I rolled my eyes far enough backwards to glimpse my brain.

We knocked on 3B, and had a similar conversation with another man
,
who was about half the hotness of 3A, which made the conversation go a lot faster. We left the building with the knowledge that Marissa had been seen twice
during
the weekend of her disappearance
,
and hadn't given any indication that she wasn't coming back.

"She must have left Sunday afternoon or evening
if Mrs. Maloney saw her late morning
," I said to Lily as we rounded the corner of the building and stepped into the lot. "She didn't show up for work Monday."

"You're really good at this," said Lily.

"It's just talking to people. You really helped with 3A."

"He was hot
.
He helped with his hotness.
"

"He looked like a model.
The bodybuild
ing
kind
.
"

"Do you think he'll call me?"
She grabbed my arm. “Do you think he could
bench-press
me?”

"Sure
to the first and maybe to the second." I hoped he would call
. Lily hadn't mentioned Jord in a while
,
which was good news.
Nick could keep her mind off my brother.

"Where to next?"

"Marissa's friends."

"Do we get to
play
good cop, bad cop?"

"We're not cops,
"
I pointed out.

"But what if one of them is hiding something? Like maybe
she’
s
a secret serial killer and killed Marissa."

"It's unlikely. Plus
,
what if
she
decide
s
to kill us?"

"I didn't think of that. Okay, we'll play it cool."

"Works for me."

I made a few notes on my cell phone, recording when Marissa
was last
seen and my general impression of the witnesses. 1A was a busybody
,
and I thought she would have noticed a commotion. 1B was an enigma. One half of 2B didn't seem worried about what she saw at all, and neither was 3A. 3B was on chatty terms with Marissa
,
but hadn't noticed anything untoward either
,
which led me to the conclusion that Marissa had either left of her own free will, or
was
abducted som
ewhere later, possibly from
Fenway Plaza
where she ditched her car.

It would help if I could track down where she
was
Sunday and now I had a time
frame that made it easier.
Lucas
would be the best person to ask at the office about tracking a person's or
a
car's whereabouts
,
but he might suspect it wasn't anything to do with the case I was supposed to be working on
,
and potentially tell Solomon. I res
olved to update Garrett instead when he returned my call.

Our visits to Marissa's friends didn't garner much information. After ten minutes chatting to one, a Lisa Hawthorne, I found that she
knew
about the job at the hotel
,
but not a man. Like Elisabeth, she
claimed
adamant
ly
that Marissa wouldn't leave without telling
her
. She was also certain Marissa didn't have any travel plans.

The second, Ally Fields, didn't answer her door. I called her cell phone and left a message
,
asking her to call me back
.
Since
I was
already
t
here, I slipped my card under her front door too.

"Where to for dinner?" I asked, as we retreated to my car. Night was settling in, my stomach wanted food and I was ready to call it.

"We're not far from O'Grady's," Lily said. "And I love their burgers."

"O'Grady burgers it is." I pointed the car towards Montgomery's favorite police hang
-
out and found a parking spot out front.

The most beneficial thing about having nineteen serving cops in the family
wa
s that I never ha
d
to wait to get served in O'Grady's.

"You think Maddox will come in tonight?" asked Lily, sliding into a booth at the back. I followed, waving to a barman I recognized
as
being
friendly with Daniel
.

"I don't know. Maybe. He left too early this morning for me to ask."

"Ahh. So that's why the light
fixture
in my bedroom shook all night."

Heat
radiated
into my cheeks and my hands shot to my face.
"It didn't!"

"No, it didn't. But sheesh, the look on your face!" Lily grabbed the menu and ran her finger down it. "I don't know why I'm doing this. I know what I'm having. I'm getting a burger
,
fries, and a beer."

"Me, too." I looked over the menu. "And a side of onion rings."

"Yum. Onion breath."

"You're having some too."

"Cool."

Just like garlic bread, we lived by the rule that if two people ate onion rings, it
cancel
ed out the scent.
Obviously.
Besides,
Maddox and I hadn’t made any plans. Even if we had, onion breath probably
topped
corpse
-in-
dumpster scent, if his day had gone badly.

I held up the menu
, waving
it at a waitress, who came over and promptly took
our
order, returning a few minutes later with the drinks. Under the table, I eased off my shoes and leaned down to rub the aching balls of my feet. I loved heels, but I was getting used to wearing sneakers and boots
,
and my feet were out of practice.
I cursed each and every man in Solomon’s office for their ability to equate cute heels with stupidity
,
and how it was ruining my wardrobe choices.

"Is Maddox proud that you're such a cool detective?" Lily asked.

I frowned and had to really think about it. "He's worried
, which I get
. He's glad I'm working at the hotel because he thinks it's safer."

"He does know what you're doing at the hotel? Lex
i
? Lex!
” Lily gasped and her mouth dropped open.
She gave me a cross little shake of her head.
“You didn't tell him!
"

"Uh, no. Solomon said not to tell anyone."

"You told me!"

"You're not a cop. Besides, you're helping me."

Lily grinned. "I am, aren't I?"

"Yep."

"I love this investigating stuff.
So, w
hat
does Maddox think you're doing?
"

"Temping," I mumbled
,
taking
a sip. "
And
I might have implied that I wasn't working for Solomon on a regular basis anymore."

"And he was pleased? I thought he would like you being a private detective. It's like police work
,
right
?
"

"Investigator," I corrected. "And he was supportive, sort of. I think he worries
because I’m inexperienced
. It's not so much like police work though. I don't have a cop badge
,
I don't carry my gun
,
and I can’t arrest anyone
."

Lily latched onto the man bit rather than have me ruin her illusions about the PI business. "That's sweet. He worries about you."

"It is nice." My heart warmed up
, alt
hough it could have been the effect of the beer.

"So what's he so worried about? Solomon isn't worried."

I
wondered if
Solomon might think I was expendable
;
and if I got shot
while
on a case, he would think it was my own fault
,
and simply hire someone else. "He isn't worried
at all. H
e wouldn't put me on a job if I
weren't
ready. Maddox just thinks I'm in it for the excitement
after all that stuff at the insurance firm
."
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t untrue. It had been exciting. And scary. And cool. Most of all, I was enjoying it.

"It is exciting!"

"It isn't." I leaned back and waited while the waitress placed
napkin-wrapped
silverware on the table. There was something very familiar about her
,
but I couldn't place her face. She was new though. She
made sure
we were good for drinks and told us our food would be a few more minutes. "Mostly it's dull," I continued
when she moved to the next table
. "I read a lot of paperwork and I talk to people
most of the time
. I don't get shot at, or into car chases
,
and I don't have a life of glam, international travel."

"It's like working the nightclubs," said Lily. "
No
glam
there
either. Sometimes I have to wear stupid costumes and deal with abusive jerkwads."

"Why do you do it?"

"I'm good at it."

"Me too."

"Someday I'm going to own my own club," said Lily unexpectedly. "I have a business degree. I have some money. I know what people want."

"You should do that. You'd be brilliant."

"Do you think?" Lily beamed.

"Absolutely. You're wasted on the door."

"I've been looking at properties."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"You've been busy
,
and it only
occurred
to me after you got shot
.
W
hat if the end
was
just around the corner
,
and I never got to do what I really wanted to do
?
"
She heaved a breath and started to play with the beer mats.

"It wasn't like I was going to die!" My arm had healed nicely since
,
but I still had a scar to mark the spot. I hadn't yet decided whether that bugged me or not.

"I know that now
,
b
ut it just ate at me
,
and I decided
to
start seriously looking into it. My parents say they'll invest
,
and I have a meeting with the bank next week."

"This is so exciting." We sat back again as t
he waitress delivered our food
:
thick, juicy burgers
,
hot off the griddle, finely
cut fries
,
and a bowl of onion rings, the batter thick and fresh.

"I'm sure I know you," I said to her, "but you're new?"

"You look familiar too," said the waitress
as she leaned in
. She
allow
ed
me a good look at her face while she moved the menus into their plastic stands. I
n an instant
,
it hit me. The first and last time I saw Ruby was at a club called Flames when Maddox and I were
trailing
a suspect. That night ended really badly, but Ruby had helped us.

"Flames," I said. "You were a waitress there."

"Yeah, it closed down. I don't remember you
,
though."