Chapter 8
I took another sip of my club soda, then slid off my stool and headed to the entrance, never once looking directly at James. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nursing a bottle of beer at the bar.
Outside, I stopped in front of the building next door, a retail shop that was closed for the night, fighting the urge to pace.
I worried James would come out too soon and that Bobby would realize we were together.
But a good five minutes passed before he finally emerged, his gaze sweeping right to left as he searched for me.
I stepped away from the corner of the building but stayed in front of the retail store in case the bar had cameras.
He strode over. “Find out anything?”
“Nothing helpful. He’s heard rumors of trafficking but nothing of any use. And he’s never heard of the Knoxes.”
His brow shot up. “You told him about the Knoxes?”
“I only asked if he’d heard of them.”
His face darkened. “If he tells anyone you were asking—”
“He won’t. We have an agreement.”
“How do you know he’ll stick to it?”
“Because he has no reason not to.” I gave his chest a light shove, turning the tables on him. “Why did you come in? You were supposed to text first.”
“Walking in was faster. Besides I wanted a beer.”
My gaze must have darkened.
His face softened. “I saw you weren’t drinking anything alcoholic.”
“It could have been vodka.”
“It wasn’t.”
“How do you know? Can you smell by my breath?”
“I just know.” He paused. “It must have been hard sitting in a bar and not drinking.”
I considered brushing it off, but he’d seen me at my worst when I was detoxing. There was no reason to hide this part of my recovery. “It was. But this afternoon at Walmart was harder, when I walked by the liquor aisle.”
His eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me.”
“You didn’t really give me a chance,” I said with a laugh. “If I recall correctly, you had my clothes off within about two minutes of me walking through the door.”
He grinned. “It was longer than two minutes, but I was off my game.” His smile faded. “How bad was it?”
“I stopped myself from going down the aisle, but barely.”
“Barely is good enough.”
“Then I ordered our steaks at the restaurant bar.”
“And you still didn’t get a drink.” He cupped my cheek. “Those are all wins, Harper.”
“I’d hoped it would get easier. If anything, it feels harder.”
“You’ve been sober for a week. It’s going to get harder before it gets easier, but you’ve got this.”
I gave him a sideways grin. “Maybe I could kiss you and get a taste of beer.”
He smiled back. “I won’t argue if you kiss me, but I had water before I left, so you might be disappointed.”
“Thanks,” I said softly.
“I told you I’d help you through this, and I meant it. I only got a beer because I needed a reason to be in there. I told the bartender I was killing a few minutes before I met friends for dinner, but it still would have looked suspicious if I’d ordered water.”
“Agreed.”
“So where are we going next?”
“A convenience store, but it’s too far to walk. I thought we could take a taxi and pay cash.”
He frowned.
“We could go back and take our car, but they’ll have a record of us getting it from valet parking.”
“A taxi will be fine.” He started scanning the street, then waved at a small sedan with a lighted Uber sign that had just turned the corner.
“We could wear disguises,” I teased. “You could get a buzz cut or bleach your hair blond.”
He gave me a sideways glance that let me know neither of those things were happening. “Maybe you should dye your hair or wear a wig.”
I made a face. “I’ll pass on the wig.”
The car stopped at the curb, and the driver rolled his window down. A guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties leaned across the passenger seat. “You guys need a ride?”
“Yeah,” James said, “but we don’t have an Uber app. Can I just pay you cash?”
His eyes lit up. “Sure thing.”
James opened the back door and slid into the back, letting me follow behind him.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
I gave him the intersection of the convenience store, and he gave me a hesitant look. “Are you sure? That area’s a little rough.”
“I’m sure,” I said.
James handed the driver a twenty. “I’ll give you a hundred if you’ll wait outside for us while we’re inside.”
The driver took the money, then shook his head. “No way I’m parking alone in that area. One of you’ll have to stay in the car.”
I shot James a warning look before turning back to the driver. “My husband will stay outside with you.”
The guy narrowed his eyes. “You’re not gonna rob the place, are you? I don’t wanna be a getaway driver.”
“No,” I said in a reassuring tone. “My seventeen-year-old niece ran away from home, and my husband and I flew in to try to find her. Someone said they saw her working at the convenience store. I want to go in and see if she’s there, and if not, ask whoever’s working if they’ve seen her.”
Sympathy filled his eyes. “That’s rough. You got a photo handy? I could show it around.”
The story had come to me on the spot, so I obviously didn’t have a photo.
“Let me pull it up,” James said, his phone already in his hand. I stared at him in surprise as he tapped on the screen. Seconds later, he was holding up his phone for the cab driver to see.
The man studied the screen for several seconds, then shook his head.
“I haven’t seen her, but like I said, I’ll show it around.
” He heaved out a sigh. “I wanna help, so I’ll drive you around if you have other places you want to check out.
My friend’s kid ran away too. Got involved in drugs. It was rough on the whole family.”
“Thank you…” James said, then leaned closer to the front. “What’s your name? If you’re gonna be helping us, we should be on a first-name basis.”
“Alex,” the driver said, putting the car in drive and taking off.
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” James said. “I’m Jeff, and this is my wife, Amber.”
“Sorry to meet you under these circumstances,” Alex said, turning a corner.
“Same,” James said, sitting back and nonchalantly taking my hand. “But I’m thankful we have someone as helpful as you on our side.”
I glanced down at our linked hands, then back at James, but he was peering out the side window.
Alex asked us a few questions as he drove, such as where we’d flown in from, how long we were staying, and where my niece had run away from. James readily answered them all—we’d flown in from Dallas, we were staying two days, and our niece, Penny, was from Pine Bluff.
James appeared cool and collected, but it made me uneasy that we’d fallen this easily into the role of a married couple.
I’d only told Alex we were married because that’s what James had told the concierge.
It was better to try to stick as close to the same story as possible.
I hadn’t been prepared for how right it felt to sit next to him and pretend we were a long-term couple.
Then again, maybe I was reading too much into it.
Maybe it felt right because we worked so well as investigative partners.
When Alex pulled into the convenience store parking lot, I asked him to park to the side, out of view of the front doors. He gave me a questioning look.
“If Penny’s in there and sees you waiting out here in the car after I get out, it might spook her and make her run. I’d rather approach her slowly and ask her to come home.”
“Good thinkin’,” Alex said, pulling into a space at the end of the building. “Jeff, you can go in with her if you want. I’ll wait.”
“No,” I said, giving James a pointed look. “I need to do this alone.”
James looked like he wanted to argue, but he sat back in the seat. “Okay, but text or call me if you need me.”
I started to open the door, then turned back to him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips in gratitude. “Thank you for trusting me.”
When I pulled back, he cupped the back of my neck and held me in place several inches from his face. “Always.”
My heart fluttered, and I reminded myself that this was not the time or place to swoon over a man. I climbed out of the car and hurried toward the entrance, resisting the urge to glance back at him.
I needed to get a handle on myself.
When I stepped into the store, I was instantly hit with the smell of pot and BO.
I wasn’t surprised. It always smelled like that in here.
The woman I was looking for stood behind the counter, selling a pack of cigarettes to a boy of questionable age.
Not that I would have busted Cassandra for selling to a minor, even when I’d been on the force.
She’d been too valuable to risk losing her trust.
She handed the kid back his change, and her gaze lifted to mine, surprise flashing in her deep brown eyes.
I walked to the cooler, grabbed two bottles of water and a bag of chips, then set them on the counter.
“Been a hot minute since I last seen you,” she said in a cool tone as she rang up my items.
“I moved down to Lone County.”
“I bet you did,” she said derisively. “I’m surprised you didn’t leave the country.”
“So you believe I shot that boy in cold blood?” I asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“Fuck, no,” she sneered. “That boy was white. Ain’t no way you would have shot an unarmed white boy.” I started to protest, and she laughed, waving her hand, her braids bouncing against her shoulder. “I’m just playin’ with you. You wouldn’t shoot no one unarmed—white, Black, or purple.”
“Thanks for believing me.”
“Hell, anyone who knows you knows you wouldn’t do such a thing. And even if you did, you would have owned up to it.”
“Cassandra, you have more faith in me than just about anyone else in my life.”
“Then, honey,” she said with a piercing gaze, “you need to get yourself some new friends.”
“Yeah,” I said with a bitter chuckle. “I learned that the hard way.”
“So what are you doin’ out this way?” she asked. “Because I know you don’t live out in these parts.”
“I’m not a cop anymore—”
She waved me off. “That’s old news.”
“I’m a PI. I’m working a case up here in Little Rock and wondered if you knew anything that could help.”
She started to bag up my items. “I’ll be happy to tell you anything I know.”
“I’m working a human trafficking case. Have you heard anything?”
“Sure, I hear about men pulling teens off the streets and pimpin’ ’em out.” She made a face of disgust. “It happens more often than you’d think.”
“I’m looking for something larger and more organized. I’ve heard that a big crime family may have used a warehouse in the industrial area.”
She froze for a second, then resumed bagging, her movements slower. “What kind of crime family?”
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them. Rumor has it they like to keep their names pretty private.”
“Give me a shot anyway.”
“Knox,” I said. “Gerald Knox, but I hear he goes by Gerry.”
“Thought you said it was a family.”
“His mother, Nicole, is involved to some degree, but I don’t know how much. I doubt she gets her hands dirty at the street level. Then again, I doubt Gerry does either.”
She pursed her lips. “Nope. Never heard of ’em.”
“That’s okay,” I said, pulling another slip of paper out of my pocket along with some cash. I set both on the counter. “Can you text or call if you hear anything, okay? I’ve got a new number.”
Cassandra took both, pocketed the paper, then counted out my change.
“Will do, Harper,” she said, handing me the bills and coins.
“These people are dangerous, Cassandra,” I said. “Don’t go searching out information about them.”
She laughed. “You know me better than that, Harper, girl. I don’t search out nothin’. Everything I know comes to me.”
I grinned. “In this case, let’s keep it that way.”
I grabbed the bag and headed outside. My two best sources had given me absolutely nothing. I had one more to check, but it looked like we were going to have to do some old-fashioned stakeouts.