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 shrugged. “Could be. These are wealthy people. Could be donations for all we know.”
Minutes lapsed as we contemplated the list. With a sigh, I finally stood. “Eric, would you make a copy of this for me?”
“Sure.” He punched a couple of keys and the printer next to him spit out a copy of the list.
I folded the paper and tucked it in my purse. “Thanks. And thanks for breaking the code.”
“Anytime, kid.”
“Oh, there’s one other thing.” I told them both about BJ’s latest nocturnal visit. “And I’m about to meet with Sheila Graystone. Hopefully she’ll have information that will help.”
Steve had been pretty quiet until now. “Whatever you’re doing, it’s dangerous if it’s getting the attention of this BJ character.”
Eric nodded in agreement. “He’s right. You have to let the police handle this.”
“I can’t. The police think Ax is just some stoner who’s run off and I don’t have any real evidence — about anything. I need to find Ax and I can’t count on anybody else to do it for me.”
Eric scrubbed at the stubble on his cheeks and sighed. “I’m worried about him, too. And I’ve been covering for him with the administration, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up. Since he got busted last year, he’s skating on thin ice.”
“I’m going to find him.” I wondered if my expression was a fierce as my voice.
Eric nodded. “All right, kid, but let me help.”
“You just told me how dangerous it was to keep looking.”
“Yeah, well, I kind of miss him. But if you repeat that, I’ll deny it.”
I smiled. “I need to find out everything I can about NorthStar Inc. Not just a list of the businesses, but the owner. And how BJ fits in to all this.”
“Okay, I’ll get to work,” Eric said.
Steve stood. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine.”
He ignored me and placed his hand on my arm. “I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
We walked up the stairs and out of the building. The day was warm, the afternoon sun blazing low in the sky.
With his hand still on my arm, he turned to me. “I’ll do anything I can to help you find Ax. But please, don’t let this guy into your apartment again.” His eyes, the color of dark chocolate, were filled with concern.
“You’re really sweet, Steve. And I don’t plan on letting him in again.”
“Good. Look I know you’re worried about Axton, but you have to eat. There’s this Thai place off the Boulevard—”
“Maybe once I get Axton back?” I had too many men to deal with right now. I waved over my shoulder and jogged to my car.
When I walked into Starbucks, the sharp smell of coffee hit me. I loved that smell — comforting and mouthwatering at the same time. Sheila sat at a two-person table in the corner and waved when she saw me.
“Aren’t you going to get some coffee?” she asked.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the Frappuccino I so richly deserved. I pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “No, I’m good.”
“Thanks for meeting me.”
“Has Packard heard from Axton again?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” I blinked at her. “If you don’t have information on Ax, why did you call?”
She looked down at the table. “This is hard,” she said, more to herself than to me. She glanced back up. “Pack has been acting strange since Axton’s disappearance.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, really. He’s been on edge, secretive.”
“Secretive?”
She gestured with one hand. “He’ll get phone calls and walk out of the room to take them. Even in the middle of dinner. He won’t talk in front of me. I know my husband and something is wrong.”
The thought crossed my mind that maybe Packard was having an affair. Call me Captain Obvious.
“Have you checked his phone history?”
“I don’t feel right doing that.”
“And you’re sure it’s about Axton? It’s not work or…” I left the words hanging in the air.
She got what I was implying and sat up straighter, a haughty look on her face. “My husband is a good man. An honest man. He would never do anything to hurt me.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“I just think Packard’s weird behavior has something to do with Axton, that’s all.”
“Did the police ever talk to Pack?” According to Dane they had, but I wanted to hear it from Sheila.
“An officer called him and asked a few questions. That was about it.”
I sighed and looked out the window. “So, you think these phone calls have something to do with Ax?” I turned back to face her.
“I think so.”
“Why don’t you look at Packard’s phone and get me a list of the incoming numbers?”
She nibbled her lip and ran her thumb over the rim of her cup lid. “I don’t know.”
If she didn’t want to help me, why did she call this little meeting? “Look, Sheila, Axton is missing. The police don’t care and your husband has been acting strange. You said yourself he’s been on edge since Axton’s disappearance.” I looked directly into her brown eyes. “Please?”
She was silent for a few minutes. “My husband is ambitious. He wants to run for mayor. He sees it as a stepping stone for bigger things.” She clutched her coffee cup. “He’s probably just under a lot of stress at work.”
I reached out and touched her wrist. “I don’t care about your husband. I don’t want to hurt him, I really don’t. I don’t care what Packard’s done, as long as it doesn’t involve Axton. Every time I’ve needed him, he’s been there for me. He may be flaky in some areas, but as a friend, he’s as steady as they come. I need to find him.”
Finally, she looked up at me. “Okay. I’ll check his phone tonight.”
I pushed my chair back to leave.
“Rose, if he has been talking to another woman?”
I waited.
“I want to know.”
I mulled over our conversation on the way to my apartment. I hoped the phone numbers would yield some results, but I wasn’t holding my breath. Ax and Pack weren’t close. I wasn’t even sure why Ax called his brother the night he disappeared. It was odd.
As my mind wandered, I drove past a strip mall that housed a tanning salon. Something about it niggled at the corner of my mind. I had seen the name of that tanning salon before.
Making a U-turn, I drove back and parked in front of a row of small shops. I dug in my purse for the list of businesses owned by NorthStar Inc., then looked up at the Sun Kissed Tanning Salon with a big ass grin on my face. Shoving the list in my purse, I got out of the car and walked inside.
A girl in her early twenties stood at the counter, rows of tanning products lined the glass shelves behind her. She smiled when I walked in. “Hi,” she said, “how are you today?” Her skin — the color of a radioactive carrot — clashed with her purple tie-dyed bikini.
“I’m great, thanks, and you?”
“I’m great, too.” She flipped her bleached hair over her shoulder and continuously petted it with two hot pink-tipped hands. “You look like you’re in the right place.”
I raised my brows. “I do?”
“Definitely. You’re really pale.”
For some reason I thought she was going to blurt out everything about NorthStar Inc. and how it was connected to Axton. All my questions would be answered. Instead she just wanted to orange me.
“Are you interested in a spray tan or the beds?” She scrunched her nose. “In your case, I would do both.” Not having tan must be a bummer in her world.
“I’m not really here for the tanning.”
And before I could whip out my picture of Axton, she nodded. “Oh, okay. You’re here to see Manny.”
My hand froze inside my purse. “Yep. I’m here to see Manny.” My heart began to pound. Could this finally lead to a clue? God, I hoped so. I was so tired of chasing my own tail.
“Well, come on.” She motioned for me to follow her down a short hallway behind the counter. Unused tanning beds stood in darkened rooms and posters of sunny beaches covered the light blue walls.
Skin Cancer Barbie opened the last door on the left and stood aside so I could walk through. “Someone to see you, Manny.”
“Thanks, Tif.” A round short man with a Benjamin Franklin hairdo and a green Hawaiian shirt sat behind a desk in the small office. The walls were bare and a computer monitor stood on his desk. He gestured to a folding chair. “Sit.”
I smiled and did. “Thanks.”
“What’s your name?”
Oh, crap. I didn’t know he was going to start with the hard questions. “Sue,” I said.
“Pleased to meet you, Sue.” He picked up a gold pen and began twirling it between his fingers. “Now, what can I do you for?”
I searched for a clue, but there was nothing here. No pictures, no decor, nothing. Maybe he thought I was here for a job. My pale body could be the ‘before’ to Tif’s ‘after.’ “Oh, just the usual,” I said.
“There is no usual, really.”
“I’m just looking at the basics. I don’t want to get too creative.”
“Great. That’s smart.” He tapped his noggin with the pen. “You can screw yourself by getting too creative.”
Kind of like what I was doing at this very moment. I nodded and smiled.
“I just need the name of your referral and we’ll get started.”
Shit. “I don’t really remember. I’m so bad with names.” I laughed and tossed my hair over my shoulder.
The smile dropped from his face faster than a drunken girl’s bikini top on Spring break. “Well, that’s a shame.”
I smiled a real charmer. “Can’t we just skip the referral?”
“No, we can’t.”
“Maybe you could make an exception?”
“We don’t make exceptions.” His voice was as cold as his pale blue eyes. Manny Ben Franklin wasn’t buying what I was selling.
The vibe in the room shifted from benign to dangerous in a second. I didn’t know what they were doing here, but I knew it wasn’t kosher. Probably wasn’t legal, either. I stood up and smoothed my leg with one hand as I hoisted my purse up my shoulder with the other. “Sorry to have wasted your time.”
I moved to the door, but Manny jumped out of his chair and blocked my exit. “You’re not going anywhere. Who told you about me?”
My breath caught in my throat. I gulped and blurted out the first name that popped into my head. “Packard Graystone.” My pulse hammered against my throat and I audibly heard my heartbeat.
“I don’t believe you.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer. He wore strong aftershave that made my nose itch and little beads of sweat dotted his massive forehead.
I yanked my wrist back, but Manny’s hand tightened and pain shot from my wrist down my hand. I struggled against his grip, but he didn’t let go. So I screamed. One of those loud, shrill screams that hurts the ear drums. Then I belted him on the side of his head with my fist and brought my knee up at the same time. I didn’t make contact with his crotch, because he brought up his own knee to block it, but he loosened his grasp.
I took advantage and pulled away, then shoved him as hard as I could with both hands. When he stumbled against the file cabinet, I yanked open the door and ran.
Halfway down the hall, Tiff stood in my way with wide eyes. “What’s going—”
Not slowing down, I slammed my shoulder into her arm.
“Ow, that hurt.” She spun to the side as I ran past her and out of the building.
I jumped into my car, jammed the key into the ignition, and without turning to look behind me, I thrust the car into reverse and hauled ass out of the parking lot.