Moth(19)

We laugh together. “Thanks. I think.”

“I can pick you up at nine on Friday if that’s okay? I’m not coming inside though. You can meet me outside. It’s too weird to walk in to pick you up there.”

“We can meet somewhere else if it makes you feel better?”

“No, the house is fine.”

“Perfect.”

“It’s a date.”

She disagrees. “No. It’s two people going somewhere. I just don’t want to show up alone. That’s all.”

“I beg to differ.” Pushing her is the only way I’m going to stay in control. “I think you’re curious. I think you want to know more about me and this is an easy way to make it happen.”

She smiles. “I guess only time will provide you with that answer. You’re unquestionably interesting, but we just met. For all I know you could be a criminal. See you Friday, Moth.”

I almost choke on my drink when she says it. I get a kick out of her sense of humor, but also know this is my job. I have to be everything she needs and wants in order to infiltrate her secrets.

It’s not until she leaves that I realize I didn’t give her my number. I need hers so I can search her call log. I’ll have to wait until Friday to get it.





Chapter 7


“Tell me this shit is bogus.” I’m staring at the new information Renner and House managed to dig up after being in town for only two days. I should have known it would be worse than expected. I’ve always prepared for this sort of outcome, yet a part of me hoped I’d been mistaken about this one in particular.

House is standing behind me with his arms folded across his chest. “Look, Moth, we double checked. It’s true.”

Renner is smiling. I don’t have to turn around to see it. He’s smitten because he knows what this chick looks like and he also knows me. He’s bet money that I won’t be able to abstain from nailing her. He thinks the idea of me going under cover is only an excuse to get close to her. He swears she’s going to be the death of me, and he hasn’t even met her yet.

The only thing on my mind is how in the hell this shady person could have been involved with my brother. How did he know her? The connection they had makes no sense, but I’m determined to uncover what it is. I’m putting my life on the line. I don’t care what I have to do. I’m going to get close to her. I have to. I’m doing this for Jamie. He didn’t deserve to die. No matter what the outcome of this investigation, I feel responsible.

The information I’m looking at makes this situation even more dangerous. Windy Lewis was reported missing just about three years ago by her family.

One year ago her social security number was used to rent an apartment, buy a used car, and even apply for several credit cards. She had gotten into grad school and was using student loans she’d acquired after applying. She’s gotten her earlier degree in another state. Perhaps she knew she’d have a better chance of being undiscovered if she moved to another location to attend graduate school. The activity seemed legit except for the fact that Windy Lewis looked nothing like the one impersonating her now. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was tall and lanky. “What the f*ck is going on here? I thought this had to do with drugs, but now I’m wondering what the hell we’re getting ourselves involved in.”

“We don’t know. We’ve been running facial recognition all day with nothing coming back. She’s either not in the system, or she’s had major plastic surgery. Either way it can’t be good.”

“We need to call John,” I announce. I’m rubbing the bridge of my nose. The deeper we dig the bigger of a mess this becomes. “Not only are we here to help solve a murder, and a possible drug connection, but now we’re dealing with fraud. This goes way above the police. The f*cking FBI needs to be notified.”

I feel Renner putting his hand on my shoulder. “Hold on, Moth. Let’s see how this plays out first. Don’t hand over the case to those pansies. We’ve got this. We’ve been given authority. The boss man didn’t send us here so we could give up. Let’s do what we’re good at.”

I sigh heavily. “Fine. Fuck protocol. The DEA is going to blow this case out of the water. If this chick isn’t Windy Lewis we need to figure out who she is and why she’s impersonating someone else. More importantly, what the hell does all this have to do with my brother?”

House has a good idea. “Do you want me to make the drive and interview the parents? Maybe we could show them pictures of the woman who is pretending to be their daughter.”

I consider it. It was possible the real Windy knew the one who had taken her identity. There was also a chance the new Windy could have murdered her to become her. I begin to go back to the journal entry I read. She mentioned being someone else. At first I thought it implied she had to change her ways, but now I understand it was exactly the opposite. A person doesn’t take on someone else’s identity for fun. She was running from something, possibly an identity she didn’t want anyone to know. I had more studying to do, and a lot more entries to sort through. Answers had to be written somewhere and I’m determined to find them.

“I have a date with her in a couple days. Lets take a road trip and talk to the parents together. I’d rather not give them reason to contact whoever was dealing with their daughter’s missing persons case. If it were my child I’d take it as a lead and follow up. If this new Windy is involved in something criminal, other than what we already know, it would give her a reason to bolt and we’ll be left with another dead end.” The girl’s family lives in Pennsylvania. I need to know how far this impersonator has gone. There has to be a reason she chose this girl instead of anyone else. If I were going to steal someone’s identity I’d pick a person I resembled. People age. Features change, but not this drastically.