much better.”
“That wouldn’t be because your last name is Clancy, would it?”
“Hey . . . we Irish have to stick together. So is he good-looking?”
As Laura visualized Dev’s wavy hair, jade-colored eyes, strong chin, and broad shoulders, her pulse kicked up a notch. Oh yeah.
She cleared her throat and hoped her response didn’t come out in a squeak. “Yes.”
“Married?”
“Erin—this is a business arrangement.”
“Fine—but do yourself a favor. Check for a ring next time.”
Might as well admit the truth.
“Already done. No ring. Besides, he told me he’s not married.”
“Aha! So you are interested.”
“I didn’t say that. I just said I noticed the absence of a ring. You’ve trained me well over the past three years in your concerted efforts to improve my lackluster social life.”
“You’ve never followed my advice before. If you’ve decided to now, you’re interested. Listen, once you drag Darcy back home and lock her in her room for the next year or two, why don’t you—”
At the sudden beep of call waiting, Laura interrupted her colleague. “Hold on a sec. I have a call coming in from the man in question.”
“I’m hanging up. Good luck.”
“With Dev or with the search?”
“Take your pick.”
Shaking her head, Laura switched over to Dev. Much to her chagrin, her greeting came out a bit too breathless.
Her astute PI noticed. “You sound rushed. Did I catch you in the middle of something?”
Thinking about you.
But her spoken words were different. “No. I’ve been roaming around the house for hours, waiting to hear from you. Is there any news?”
“Unfortunately, not much, even though I’ve been hard at it all day. I did hear from Rachel Matthews in Chicago. She said Darcy called and left her a message yesterday morning saying she’d been delayed by the storm and that she’d be back in touch once she was on her way. Rachel hasn’t heard from her again, so I think we can assume she’s still in St. Louis.”
“I’m surprised Rachel was that forthcoming.” A cardinal and a tiny wren jockeyed for position on the almost-empty bird feeder in the deepening dusk outside her window, and she made a mental note to refill it soon.
“She wasn’t, at first. Once I started spieling off legal lingo about penalties for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, however, she caved. Since she doesn’t know Darcy, there wasn’t much sense of allegiance. Brianna set this up and told her Darcy was almost eighteen, not sixteen-going-on-seventeen.”
“Could you trace the number for the phone Darcy used to make the call?”
“If I had it. Unfortunately, it didn’t show up in Rachel’s call log.”
“Isn’t that odd?”
“Not if you tap in the magic code that blocks caller ID. Rachel did promise to let me know immediately when she hears from Darcy and agreed to probe a little about where she was.”
“That sounds hopeful.”
“It’s one lead, anyway. I didn’t have as much luck elsewhere. No guests registered over the weekend under Darcy’s name at any of the other shelters in town, so that was a dead end. Meaning it’s back to the shelter for me tonight.”
Another foray into the blizzard? A shudder rippled through her, and she turned away from the window. “What about watching the bus station? My boss just told me the snow’s supposed to stop around midnight. When do you think Greyhound will start running again?”
“Sometime tomorrow, according to my contact at the station. I’ve worked up a surveillance schedule, and Darcy won’t get on a bus without us seeing her. The only other person I still want to talk with is our office manager’s brother, since you found his name in Darcy’s room. Nikki says he has a crush on her, but that it’s one way. If that’s the case, he may not have much to offer, but I’m going to swing by her house on the way to the shelter and see what he has to say.”
Laura slid onto a stool at the counter,
“That wouldn’t be because your last name is Clancy, would it?”
“Hey . . . we Irish have to stick together. So is he good-looking?”
As Laura visualized Dev’s wavy hair, jade-colored eyes, strong chin, and broad shoulders, her pulse kicked up a notch. Oh yeah.
She cleared her throat and hoped her response didn’t come out in a squeak. “Yes.”
“Married?”
“Erin—this is a business arrangement.”
“Fine—but do yourself a favor. Check for a ring next time.”
Might as well admit the truth.
“Already done. No ring. Besides, he told me he’s not married.”
“Aha! So you are interested.”
“I didn’t say that. I just said I noticed the absence of a ring. You’ve trained me well over the past three years in your concerted efforts to improve my lackluster social life.”
“You’ve never followed my advice before. If you’ve decided to now, you’re interested. Listen, once you drag Darcy back home and lock her in her room for the next year or two, why don’t you—”
At the sudden beep of call waiting, Laura interrupted her colleague. “Hold on a sec. I have a call coming in from the man in question.”
“I’m hanging up. Good luck.”
“With Dev or with the search?”
“Take your pick.”
Shaking her head, Laura switched over to Dev. Much to her chagrin, her greeting came out a bit too breathless.
Her astute PI noticed. “You sound rushed. Did I catch you in the middle of something?”
Thinking about you.
But her spoken words were different. “No. I’ve been roaming around the house for hours, waiting to hear from you. Is there any news?”
“Unfortunately, not much, even though I’ve been hard at it all day. I did hear from Rachel Matthews in Chicago. She said Darcy called and left her a message yesterday morning saying she’d been delayed by the storm and that she’d be back in touch once she was on her way. Rachel hasn’t heard from her again, so I think we can assume she’s still in St. Louis.”
“I’m surprised Rachel was that forthcoming.” A cardinal and a tiny wren jockeyed for position on the almost-empty bird feeder in the deepening dusk outside her window, and she made a mental note to refill it soon.
“She wasn’t, at first. Once I started spieling off legal lingo about penalties for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, however, she caved. Since she doesn’t know Darcy, there wasn’t much sense of allegiance. Brianna set this up and told her Darcy was almost eighteen, not sixteen-going-on-seventeen.”
“Could you trace the number for the phone Darcy used to make the call?”
“If I had it. Unfortunately, it didn’t show up in Rachel’s call log.”
“Isn’t that odd?”
“Not if you tap in the magic code that blocks caller ID. Rachel did promise to let me know immediately when she hears from Darcy and agreed to probe a little about where she was.”
“That sounds hopeful.”
“It’s one lead, anyway. I didn’t have as much luck elsewhere. No guests registered over the weekend under Darcy’s name at any of the other shelters in town, so that was a dead end. Meaning it’s back to the shelter for me tonight.”
Another foray into the blizzard? A shudder rippled through her, and she turned away from the window. “What about watching the bus station? My boss just told me the snow’s supposed to stop around midnight. When do you think Greyhound will start running again?”
“Sometime tomorrow, according to my contact at the station. I’ve worked up a surveillance schedule, and Darcy won’t get on a bus without us seeing her. The only other person I still want to talk with is our office manager’s brother, since you found his name in Darcy’s room. Nikki says he has a crush on her, but that it’s one way. If that’s the case, he may not have much to offer, but I’m going to swing by her house on the way to the shelter and see what he has to say.”
Laura slid onto a stool at the counter,
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