Find Her (Detective D.D. Warren #8)(92)

D.D. got it. “You wanted to make sure she hadn’t caught Devon’s eye.”

“She was dancing with another guy. I swear. She was dancing with Mr. Normal. So then, I stopped watching. I counted receipts instead.”

D.D. leaned forward. “Stacey Summers,” she prodded. “Think. Now is the time. When you saw the video of Stacey Summers, did you recognize her as one of your customers? Is there any chance she also knew Devon Goulding?”

“God’s honest truth, Detective: I have no idea. I am so sorry. But I have no idea.”

D.D. nodded, stepped back. Rosa and Keynes did the same. While the manager, Ethier, remained standing there, looking like a woman who’d just taken a beating, and her work shift had yet to begin.

“One last question,” D.D. said. “Does this place use any glitter?”


*

RESTROOMS. Tonic offered up a basket of toiletries for its patrons, male and female alike. D.D. and Rosa did the honors in the ladies’ room, while Keynes took the men’s room. D.D. found what she was looking for almost immediately, a hair gel product laced with gold glitter. She gave Keynes a quick call to learn he’d discovered the same. Nothing like a bit of sparkle for the discerning clubber with a big night ahead.

She held the gel under the overhead lights, watching the way the various gold particles shimmered. As Alex had said, the pieces appeared individual, distinct. And sticky. Chances were, even after hand washing, showering, minute pieces of the gluey sparkle lingered for days.

Just waiting to be transferred from a kidnapper’s hands to a victim’s apartment, or even her body?

D.D. dialed Ben Whitely, who most likely was still exhuming the body at the nature park.

He picked up the call, as charming as ever. “Whatever it is you want, I don’t know. I didn’t know five hours ago. I don’t know now. And if you don’t leave me alone long enough to finish wrapping up the scene and transport the body to the lab, I may never know anything ever again.”

“I need you to check something for me.”

“D.D.—”

“It will just take a second. Can you shine the flashlight on the body’s hair? Look for gold. As in glitter.”

“The hair is brown and completely saturated in dirt. How do you expect me to— Wait. There do appear to be some reflective particles. It’s possible I’m looking at glitter.”

“Can you remove a small sample? I’m going to send a uniformed officer to you immediately for pickup. Thank you, Ben.”

D.D. clicked off the phone, stood there thoughtfully.

Rosa came up behind her. The woman appeared tired, but was in control as always. “The glitter is important?”

“Yes.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means . . .” D.D. shrugged, still fumbling her way through a case with more questions than answers. “It means my husband was right. Natalie Draga, Kristy Kilker, Stacey Summers, your daughter. All of their disappearances are connected.”

She looked at Rosa. “The glitter tells us so.”





Chapter 35


LAUGHING. JACOB HAD A JOINT. They passed it back and forth between the two of them, heads bowed close together, giggling like schoolgirls. I sat alone at the tiny kitchen table, rubbing my bare arms for warmth, watching them in the family room.

Turned out, the new girl wasn’t new at all. She’d recognized Jacob. Threw open her long, creamy arms in greeting. He’d wrapped her in a tight embrace. A hug. Jacob hugged her.

I hadn’t been hugged . . . in a very long time.

Not since the days of the woman who looked like my mother and wore a silver fox charm around her neck.

At first, Jacob had been reluctant to enter the yard. “Nah,” he’d said. “She told me, last time she caught me, that she’d call the police. That’d be it. Back to the slammer, and we both know I ain’t ever going back there.”

“Then it’s a good thing she’s not around,” the new girl had said, hands still on Jacob’s shoulders.

“Come on now. You don’t need this kind of headache. I was just . . . in the area. Wanted to say hey.”

“Hey,” she said, and I swore his eyes glittered with tears.

“I don’t mean to bother you,” he whispered. “You were right last time; I’m an ass. I should just stay away.”

But he wasn’t moving, and neither was she.

“I was mad,” she said suddenly. “Last time I saw you. The things you said. I wasn’t ready to hear. Maybe I didn’t want to know. But I’ve been doing some thinking since then. Sometimes, I even hoped you’d stop by again, so we could talk. ’Cause I think . . . maybe there’s some truth in what you said.”

“What d’you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Lindy . . .”

“Come inside. Come on. Just have a visit. We’ll catch up. This time, I’ll listen. I promise.”

“But if she—”

“She’s not coming back. I’m telling you the truth. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back again.”

That seemed to do the trick. Jacob stopped resisting. He followed the beautiful girl across the burned-out yard. I trailed behind the two of them, already forgotten.