Chapter 5
It always impressed me how focused Beth was when investigating a crime. She had done so as a reporter and she was even more focused working for the ADA.
The girl's scent disappeared at the curb, so she has clearly gotten into a waiting vehicle. Guess it's time to get acquainted with the neighbours. Judging by the number of curtains in windows moving, this neighbourhood had a few nosey neighbours. Someone saw something, but eyewitnesses weren't always a reliable source of information.
Talbot was about to get some officers in to question the neighbours, but I'm pretty sure they won't get far. Beth and I had a better chance of getting people to speak to us.
Beth and I start with the house across the street. The curtains have been twitching for the past fifteen minutes. Just as we reach the door, my phone rings. Beth knocks on the door while I take a couple of steps back so I can take the call but still keep Beth in my sight.
"Hey. Did you make any new friends?" I hadn't expected to hear from Katelynn so soon.
"Yes and I even got invited to Prom." Katelynn has obviously left the office building and is heading home. "So one of my new friends was so busy telling me how important and trusted he was to Jackson and Emma, that he didn't realise that he was telling me that he was our mystery postman."
"Sounds as though Jackson was busy while we were breaking Emma out of Police Custody." Well at least that mystery was solved.
"My friend doesn't know what is in the envelopes, just that he needs to deliver them on specific days. Apparently there are five more envelopes not including the one delivered this morning." Wow, Katelynn got a lot out of her new friend, not that I expected anything less.
"Does he know that Emma and Jackson aren't coming back?" Why would anyone make mystery deliveries without asking why?
"Jackson told him that he and Emma had to leave town on business and he wasn't sure when they would be back. I asked if he knew what was in the envelopes and he said Jackson told him he was working on a charity project with the ADA." I guess that's nice and vague. "It's supposed to be a surprise for the city which is why he has to deliver the envelopes without being seen. He has no idea he's been working for a vampire."
"Your friend's human? One that doesn't know vampires exist?" How is that possible? Or is that the reason Jackson trusted him with the task?
"He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He certainly thinks he's very important." Clearly Katelynn is finding this all highly amusing.
"I'm guessing he's the only one who thinks he's important." This guy sounds like a tool.
"Definitely." Katelynn actually sounds as though she has enjoyed herself. "So what are and Beth getting up to?"
"Searching for a missing teenager. Beth's speaking to one of the neighbours now." I just hope this is a case of a teenage girl sneaking out with a boyfriend who's harmless but her Parents don't like him."
"Not a lot changes over the years does it?" Katelynn should know. She'd lived longer than all of us. "Even when I was a girl, teenage girls were running away with the boy their Parents detested."
"I don't really know much about teenage girls." What I did know was only from the view of being a teenage boy. Beth had never tried to run away. The kidnapping had left her without a need for rebellious boys.
"Of course not. You were the boy we ran away with." She's laughing at me. "You have my number if you need anything." I can't help but smile when she disconnects the call.
Beth is still chatting with the neighbour. Not wanting to stop the conversation, I stay back. I can hear everything from here anyway.
"That boy climbs the tree outside her room every night. I knew he was trouble. Obviously just after the family's money." The neighbour obviously had an opinion but I hadn't picked up the scent of fear anywhere. The girl hadn't been taken by force. She had gone of her own free will.
"Well, thank you for your help." Beth said goodbye and joined me. "She didn't like the boyfriend but didn't give any reason to believe he kidnapped anyone."
"From what I head it seems more of a case of judging a book by its cover." This could be a good thing. Something tells me the girl is safe but tired of being a performing monkey in her Parents play.
"There seems to be a lot of that going around. Did you notice when we were in the house, it was comfortable but not the house of someone who was rich." Beth's noticed that as well.
"It's who they know not what they have." They seemed to have the entire neighbourhood fooled though. Perhaps the boyfriend was too. And her so called friends. "The boyfriend may have climbed the tree but he was never in her bedroom. Lacey's scent and her Parent's were in her room but not the second scent I picked up outside by the tree."
"If the rest of our eye witnesses are like this one, our best bet may be tracing the cell phone." Beth takes a stop closer. "What did Katelynn find out?"
"One of the human's who worked for Jackson and Emma has been dropping off the envelopes. He doesn't know what's in them, just that he has to drop them off on certain dates." Maybe Josef has someone who can keep an eye on the ADA's office to intercept future envelope drop offs.
"I'm already there, why don't I just intercept them?" Beth glances over at the house to see Talbot heading our way.
"Because you need the ability to deny any knowledge of this." Looks as though Talbot's trace on the girl's phone had come up with something.
"The phone trace is showing that the phone at least, is at one of the upmarket homes east of here. If Lacy is still with her phone, she hasn't been seen yet. Did you get anything from the neighbours?" Talbot's expression shows he doesn't expect much.
"A heavy dose of bias but not much else." Considering the neighbours were under the impression that the boyfriend is from the wrong side of the tracks, he was hanging out in the rich part of town.
Beth moves onto the next house while I stay with Talbot. "Have you noticed that a lot of these houses have security cameras on them?" I'm willing to bet someone got the boyfriend's vehicle on camera. Something tells me that he would fit into this neighbourhood better than Lacy does. That doesn't explain the bias though.
Rather than spooking the neighbour who is chatting away to Beth, Talbot pulls out his phone and calls Beth. "Ask if they have a screen shot of the vehicle the boyfriend drives? They have a lot of cameras attached to the house." Even if the neighbours don't hand it over, I can always come back later and get it. I'd rather spend the evening with Beth than breaking and entering though.
Turning back to the neighbour, Beth smiles sweetly and asks about the cameras. A moment later the neighbour hands over a USB stick with the footage of the previous night on it to Beth. "This neighbour seems to think Lacy was upgrading. He's sure the boyfriend is the son of a millionaire but he can't recall a name."
"Well, let's see if we can find anything from the footage." Talbot takes the USB stick and heads for his car. "We'll let you know if we find anything St John."
Guess I've outlived my usefulness. Beth squeezes my hand. "I'll see you later. Syd is printing out something for me. Could you wait for him?" She kisses me goodbye before following Talbot.
"Excuse me." I'm guessing this is Syd interrupting my observation of Beth leaving me to go back to work. "Your girlfriend said you would need this." He's handing me a screen shot. "It's from last week but it's a clearer shot than the footage on the USB stick. They actually drove passed the house on this. They drove in the opposite direction last night."
"Thank you. You've been very helpful." And so had Beth. "Beth said you couldn't recall his name."
"The boyfriend's name is Scott. I can't recall his Father's name. He made his money in car technology. I met him once. For someone who once came from nothing, he's got a mighty big ego. Scott obviously got this manners and nature from his Mother. He's got his feet firmly planted on the ground. He and Lacy are lucky to have each other. Still I guess they have a lot in common with their Parents acting as though they're something they're not."
Interesting. "So Lacy's Parents are pretending they're rich and Scott's Parents …" Syd's turning out to be a fountain of knowledge.
"Scott's Parents are pretending they've always been rich or at least his Father is." Syd shakes his head. "I'm guessing those two kids just headed somewhere they could be themselves. I hope that screen shot helps you."
"You've been very helpful. Thank you." I shake Syd's hand before heading back to my office to track the car.
It sounds as though both Scott and Lacy have a lot of pressure on them. The car has a GPS I can track and Beth's has texted me the location of Lacy's phone. Both the car and the phone are in the same location.
I wait until I'm sure Scott and Lacy are actually at the location which turns out to be a beach house before letting Beth know. That will give me half an hour before Talbot and the Police turn up. Longer if Beth stalls them.
Scott isn't surprised to see me but Lacy bursts into tears. "I didn't tell anyone where we were. How did you find us?"
"You tracked my car." Scott guessed. "How long do we have?"
"Half an hour, maybe a little longer." Lacy doesn't seem to realise how worried her Parents are. "Your Parents got the Assistant District Attorney involved. They're pretty upset that you're missing."
"I'm just so tired of pretending that we can afford the latest fashions, cars, to go to expensive restaurants, when my Parents can barely afford to put food on the table and pay the mortgage. We're literally trying to keep up with the Jones." Lacy wipes away the tears.
"She's serious. Her next door neighbours are called Jones." Scott kisses the top of her head. "I don't care that Lacy's not rich any more than she cares that my Father is."
This kid is smart beyond his years. He didn't say he was rich, he knew where he stood in the grand scheme of things. "Sneaking off together didn't really help. A few more years and it's up to you, not your Parents what you do with your lives."
"That's still a few more years of living a lie." Lacy looks though she's already given up. "In those few years my Parents could lose the house we live in because they can't afford to keep up appearances."
"Have you talked to your Parents about this?" This was a lot for a teenager to carry on her shoulders.
"Do you think they would listen?" Scott seems to think it's doubtful. "My Parents haven't even reported me missing."
"Maybe, maybe not. But you won't know until you try. And if it doesn't work then give me a call. I can use an assistant and if you don't want to work for me, then there are a couple of my friends that may need some help." I hand her my business card.
"You'd give me a job?" If Lacy is expected to carry her Parent's responsibilities on her shoulders, she might as well be treated like an adult.
"When you're ready give me a call. As I said, if you don't want to work for me then there are other options. You can put money aside so that when you're eighteen you have money to get yourself started on whatever path you see yourself on." I can see it on her face that she has big plans.
"We've got company." Scott isn't happy about the intrusion but I sense that they both feel that they now have someone on their side. "Why are you helping us?"
"Because right now you don't have choices in many things." I can see by the look on Talbot's face through the window that he expected to claim all the glory in finding the missing teenager.
Lacy's Parents are beside themselves with relief that she's safe. Beth managed the situation with grace as usual. Still I anticipate that I'll be getting a call from Lacy sooner rather than later.
Talbot's not happy but there's not much he can say about it. I let him know via Beth when I found Lacy which is more than he would have done if the roles were reversed.
That night as Beth and I lay in each other's arms I tell Beth of my job offer to Lacy. I know that if Lacy isn't comfortable working with me then Beth will find something for her. There was always Josef and Katelynn who might have a position for her also.
"What will she be doing? You sleep during the day and she's too young to be working at night. It's a kind offer though." She rests her chin on my chest and I can't believe how lucky I am.
"Well, I thought that she could take calls and book meetings for me for a couple of hours after school. If she wants to work during the school holidays then I'll figure something out." I had given this some thought after I had made the offer. I spent less time sleeping during the day to be with Beth anyway.
"You've thought about this. That must have been quite the conversation the three of you had before we arrived." Beth hadn't had an easy childhood and had worked hard for everything. She knows this is a good opportunity for Lacy.
"They're good kids. They both want more to their lives than just pretending to be something they're not." My offer was a small step to something greater.
"So I was wondering…" Oh this can't be good. "That night I took some of that black crystal, I don't remember much. So how did I end up on your couch in one of your shirts?"
That would be a night I'd never forget and one that tested my self control. "I told you. You said that, that was the real you. That you felt close to everything. That there was no space between us. I put you in the shower fully dressed to sober up, but as the drug left your system so did the adrenaline and you crashed out in my arms. So I made up the couch and changed you into one of my shirts so that your dress could dry. I watched you sleep in case anything went wrong."
There had been so many moments that night when I had wanted to give in to Beth, but she didn't know what she was doing. I couldn't have lived with myself if there were regrets when the drug wore off.
"You know, that night I stayed here after Tierney was killed, I must have gotten up a dozen times and walked over to the stairs." She looks embarrassed to admit it.
"What stopped you?" I had heard her that night and wondered what was going through her head. I doubt either of us got much rest that night.
"Probably the same thing that stopped you from taking me up on my drug induced seduction. I didn't want either of us to have any regrets." She's right. Neither of us was ready at the time.
"I love you." I can't tell Beth that enough. Those three little words weren't big enough to fully describe just how deeply I loved her.
Beth smiles at me and my world is complete. "I love you too. Now what are we going to do about our annoying postman?"
"We'll deal with him tomorrow." I roll Beth over and spend the rest of the night making love to her.