A Thousand Lies by Sharon Sala Page B

need a name. He could be someone Anson Poe hired. If this man has been in here so much, wouldn’t one of the bartenders know who he is?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll call them.”
    His first call was to Wynn, who knew nothing.
    He made the second call to Toni, praying she would know more. She picked up on the third ring.
    “Hello?”
    “Toni, it’s Jack.”
    “Please tell me you found Julie.”
    “No. The bald-headed guy who always sat at the end of the bar kidnapped her. We caught it on camera. Do you know his name?”
    “Oh my God!” Toni cried. “No, no, I don’t. He didn’t talk. He paid cash. He ordered the same thing every time he came in. I don’t think Julie even knew his name. She just called him the troll.”
    Jack’s heart sank. “Okay, but if you think of anything, call me.”
    “I will.”
    He could hear her crying as he disconnected.
    “Well?” Grayson asked.
    Jack shook his head. “She didn’t know anything but that Julie called him the troll.”
    “God Almighty,” Grayson said. He felt like throwing up as he shoved shaky hands through his hair. “Where the hell are the police? Did anyone call the police?”
    “Brendan did and sent Marco outside to wait for them.”
    Grayson staggered toward a chair.
    “Look,” Jack said. “I know this is a shock, and we’re all scared out of our minds here, but blaming a good man because his father is an ass is beneath you.”
    At that point, Deuce came running.
    “Boss, the fire has jumped a building. Now there’s only two between us and the fire.”
    Jack spun, grabbed a box out of storage and began filling it with computer discs, then pulled the CDs from the security cameras and began boxing them up, too.
    “What are you doing?” Grayson yelled. “The police need to see this, as soon as possible.”
    “Tell me something, Grayson. If it burns up before they get a chance to see it, how the hell is that going to help Julie?”
    Grayson nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I can’t think. I can’t think. My baby! Oh my God, my baby! This is a nightmare and Lana doesn’t even know it’s happened. How do I tell my wife her daughter’s been kidnapped? Where the hell are the police?”
     
    ****
     
    Brendan’s mind was racing as he went out the back door to where Deuce was standing watch. Earlier in the evening, the promise of a thunderstorm had been evident by the building clouds and distant flashes of lightning. But now, all he could see was smoke.
    “Deuce, did you see anyone in the alley? Anybody dumpster diving or taking a shortcut?”
    “No, man, I’m sorry.”
    Brendan took off through the alley, heading for the street ahead. It had been a little over thirty minutes now since she disappeared and he was so scared he couldn’t think. Where the hell had they gone?
    The acrid scent of smoke added to the misery of sweltering heat, and coupled with the constant blast of sirens, it was more than unnerving. Brendan ran, marking off the length of the alley by the number of dumpsters and the piles of overflowing trash he passed. About halfway down, a black cat ran out in front of him and disappeared through a hole in the fence, but the bad luck omen had come too late. Disaster had already struck.
    When he ran out into the street, he paused to scan the area. Tourists were scattering like quail while the local vendors were pulling in their street wares and locking up their stores. They couldn’t protect their property from going up in smoke, but they didn’t want to be with it if it happened.
    Then he saw movement in a window of a store across the street and ran toward The Candy Basket just in time to catch the owner coming out.
    “Michelle!”
    The middle-aged redhead turned and then frowned. “Brendan! You should be getting out of the Quarter.”
    “I can’t. Juliette March has been kidnapped.”
    “Oh dear lord!” she cried and then looked down the street as a half-dozen police cars went flying past. “Is that for