Diners, Dives & Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin Page A

checked out some bars from your list and filed a missing person
report.”
    “I heard through the country
club grapevine the police interviewed Packard.”
    Maybe that’s why Sheila
wanted to talk.  Was she upset the police questioned Pack?
    “…get together?”
    My eyes watered as I stifled
a yawn.  “What was that?”
    He laughed.  “I said do you
want to get together this weekend?”
    “How about tonight?  I was
going to check out a few more places on that list after I babysit my nephew.”
    We discussed the details and
I got back to work. 
    When one o’clock rolled
around, I told Ma about Eric’s phone call.
    “Of course, toots.  Roxy and
I can handle clean up.”
    I thanked her and gathered
my stuff together.  Roxy followed me outside.  When we reached my car, she stared
out at the traffic squinting her blue eyes against sun.  “Rose, I’m worried
about you.  This guy who keeps showing up at your apartment, he could be
dangerous.”
    “I know.”
    “I think you should stay
with me.  At least until you find Axton.”  Roxy valued her space and her
privacy almost more than anything else.  Growing up in foster care, she never
had a real home of her own.  Her apartment wasn’t much, but it was hers, and
the fact she offered to share it with me touched me deeply.
    “Thanks,” I said as I opened
the car door, “but I’ll be all right.  Honest.”  I held up three fingers.
    She snorted.  “Like you were
ever a Girl Scout.  I’ll meet you at Jacks’ house at six?”
    “Yeah, and Dane’s going with
us to the cigar bar.”
    She shook her head, her
shiny blue hair gliding over her shoulders.  “No cigar bar for me.  I have
plans later.”
    “What kind of plans?”
    She shrugged and walked back
into the diner.
     
     
    Because I was so excited to
see what Eric had found on that hard drive, I blew through two red lights and
sped across Apple Tree Boulevard.  I snagged a spot in the campus parking lot
and practically ran to Blake Hall. 
    When I burst through the
door of the IT office, Eric was alone.  He glanced up from the laptop and
blinked like an owl.
    “What have you got?”
    He waved me over.  “Pull up
a chair.”
    I sat next to him and he
shifted the laptop toward me so I could see it better.  “What am I looking at?”
    “A spreadsheet.  Although
the information was encrypted, first I had—”
    I completely tuned him out
as I stared at a spreadsheet of one hundred twenty-seven names in alphabetical
order.  There were numbers and dates next to each.  “Oh my God, Eric, do you
know what this is?”
    He frowned.  “I told you. 
It’s a spreadsheet.  Don’t you want to know how I broke the encryption?”
    “No.”  I looked at him, my
eyes wide.  “This is a list of some of the most prominent people in
Huntingford.  The mayor, the chief of police…  Holy freaking cow.”

Chapter 13
     
     
     
    Eric leaned over and stared at
the screen.  “Oh.” 
    “What do we think the
numbers mean?  Forty-five thousand, eighty-three thousand. Packard Graystone’s
name is on this list and his numbers add up to one hundred ninety-six thousand.”
    “I have no idea.”
    “How does this tie in with
Axton?” I asked, staring at the computer.
    “I really don’t know.”
    I rubbed my hands over my
eyes.  How did NorthStar Inc. come into play?  Or did it?  And where did BJ fit
in?   
    Eric reached out and patted
my back.  “Hey, you okay?”
    I shook my head.  From the
corner of my eye, I saw the door open.  Steve popped his head into the office,
his gaze darted from Eric to me. 
    “Hey, Rose, what are you
doing here?  Is everything all right?”
    “I finally broke the code,”
Eric said.
    “That’s great.  So what was
it?”  He pulled a chair over to Eric’s desk and sat next to me.
    “It’s a list of prominent
Huntingford citizens with numbers and dates next to their names,” I said.
    He looked at the screen. 
“Hmm.  Money?”
    I