Part 23 (2/2)
”I will. Thanks.”
He looked at his watch. ”I've got to get going,” he said, standing up. ”Tell your mother thanks for the coffee.”
”I will.”
He grabbed my shoulders as he pa.s.sed and pulled me to him, kissing me hard. I pulled away, looking around the room.
”Um, my mom . . .”
”Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He kissed me again anyway before heading for the door. ”Just out of curiosity, what's that actor's name? The one with the pushy mother?”
”His name's Nathan Russell.”
”Russell,” he said. ”Thanks.”
I sat where I was until the front door closed. I sipped my coffee and then jumped out of my seat and ran. I reached his car just as he was about to pull away and yanked open the pa.s.senger door.
”Alex, wha-”
”You almost got me, you faker,” I said. ”You like my theory. That's why you asked for the actor's name.”
”Alex-”
”You're going to go and see this guy and his mother, aren't you?”
He hesitated and then said, ”Just to ask a few questions, that's all.”
”Well, you're not leaving me behind.”
I got into the pa.s.senger seat and slammed the door behind me.
”I'm not going right now, Alex,” he said. ”Besides, you can't just leave without telling your mom to pick Sarah up at camp.”
”d.a.m.n,” I said. He was right.
”Look,” he said, ”are you working tomorrow?”
”No,” I said, giving him my most dejected look.
”I'll pick you up in the morning, and we'll go and talk to Nate and his mother.”
”You're a s.h.i.+t, you know?” I said. ”You were really going to do that without me? When I'm the one who found the lead?”
”The lead?” he said, smiling. ”Yeah, you're right. It was your lead.”
”Okay.” I opened the door and put one foot out.
”But use some of that makeup you've got, change your face a little.”
”Right.”
”Maybe you could try disguising yourself as a stripper this time? Huh? Fishnets, patent leather boots?”
”Very funny!” I punched him on the shoulder and slammed his door. He was laughing as he drove off.
Chapter 44.
Jakes picked me up nice and early and handed me a container of coffee as I got in the car.
”There ya go, partner,” he said.
I opened the lid, took a look, closed it and sipped it.
”Just the way I like it.”
We put our coffee in the holders between us. Our hands brushed only slightly but it was enough. We grabbed each other and went into a kiss. Breathless, I pulled away.
”d.a.m.n! We've got to control ourselves or we'll get nothing done!” I shook my head, trying to reach some degree of composure. ”Where are we going?”
”Calabasas.”
”Oh, the family must have money. Calabasas is nice.”
”Not the nice Calabasas. The old Calabasas. Before all the developers took over. And the Kardas.h.i.+an girls.”
”Did you call ahead?” I asked.
”No,” he said, pulling away from the curb, ”I didn't want to warn them.”
”So what do we do if they're not home?”
”That's easy,” he said. ”We hear a noise inside, making it necessary for us to investigate.”
”Break in?”
He grinned and said, ”Only as a last resort.”
We pulled up in front of an old ranch style house from the sixties. The ”lawn” was a tired brown in dire need of watering. Or better yet, plowing. The sun was beating down on the concrete driveway, creating a glare that was blinding. Squinting, I managed to see a gray-haired, portly man about to get into a car. It was a Beamer, quite a few years old.
Jakes quickly got out of the car and I followed, first using the visor mirror to check that my wire-framed gla.s.ses, phony nose and front teeth were in place.
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