10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Ben opened the door to the coffee shop, which was quickly becoming their de facto meeting place. Tessa had texted him last night. Said she had found some information on Mia’s foster mom, and they had agreed to meet for coffee the next morning. It was as good a place as any since he didn’t have an office, being a fictitious PI and all, and he wasn’t going to invite her back to his semi-run-down motel.
He stood next to the window waiting for her. Whenever he was near her, her energy surrounded him. Even her texts made him smile. She was a force of nature. He wasn’t sure why she felt the need to work with him behind John Baker’s back. Or rather to work with who she thought was John’s PI behind his back. What was her relationship to John? How much longer could Ben continue this charade with her? And what about the real PI? What was he or she doing right now to find Mia White?
Lost in thought, he’d missed Tessa walking across the parking lot. When she came into the shop, he froze in place instead of moving toward her. She glared at him, and her denim-blue eyes held something he didn’t like—wariness? Or more like suspicion. Shit. Maybe his charade was over already.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Who are you?” she blurted.
And there it was—the question he couldn’t answer. “I’m sorry?”
“You told me that you weren’t online, so I wasn’t surprised when I couldn’t find anything. But then I tried to find you on the Tennessee website for PI licenses, and you weren’t there.”
Okay. This he could work with. Thank the Fates Larry had prepared him. He held up his hands in front of him. “I can see why that would confuse you. I should have figured out you would look me up.” He smiled at her, but instead of reassuring her as he hoped, she glared at him some more. “I used to live in Mississippi, which is one of the few states that don’t require a PI license. I recently moved to Tennessee and am in the process of getting a license. You have to take an exam and complete several other things before you can be issued your license here.”
She crossed her arms. “So it’s not illegal to work here without a license?”
He shrugged, trying an aw-shucks expression even though his heart beat like a snare drum. “It’s a bit iffy, to be honest. But I’ll be legal in the state as soon as I can get everything righted around.”
She stared at him as if she was trying to read his mind, or possibly his sincerity? She pulled out her phone and typed on the screen. And the snare drum morphed into a bass drum that thumped in his chest. Could she hear it? After a few more awkward moments while she searched on something—he assumed Mississippi’s PI rules—she relaxed her serious expression and nodded.
Ben sucked in some air and nodded back since he was counting his damn lucky stars that she had bought what he had to say. Which made him happy. And guilty. He was lying to her, and at some point that would come back to bite him in the ass.
But until he knew who he was, he had to continue his search. They grabbed a table and sat in a corner booth. Tessa opened her shoulder bag and pulled out a couple of papers. “So I spoke to my friend last night and asked her if she knew who Evelyn was. She didn’t but she had the brilliant idea to check a book that Mia had written to see if she had mentioned her in the acknowledgments and she had. Evelyn Turner.” Tessa patted the papers. “Evelyn Turner was a foster mom for almost twenty years to numerous kids. Her address matches what Alisha told us about her. Evelyn doesn’t have a social media presence, so I don’t have any pictures of her.”
Ben set down his coffee and reached for the papers and scanned them. “How did you get this info so quickly?”
“I have a friend who is good with computers.” She tilted her head. “I didn’t step on your PI toes, did I?”
Considering he’d had to have a twelve-year-old school him at the library the other day regarding computers, he wasn’t going to complain. “Not at all. I’ll take help whenever I can. My PI ego can take it.”
She smiled at him, and he almost swallowed his tongue and his heart started malfunctioning again. She was heart-stopping-and-needing-CPR breathtaking.
“…freshing.”
She stopped talking as if waiting for a response. He’d missed most of what she’d said. What the hell did freshing mean? His ears hadn’t been working with his heart stopping and all that.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said it’s refreshing. That you don’t let ego get in the way, I mean.”
He shrugged. “Why would I? You’ve helped a lot so far. You could argue that I’m along for the ride.”
Hell, why had he said that? Tessa stared at him as if he was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. She might leave him behind if she didn’t feel he was contributing to this search, and where would that leave him? “I’m thinking we should pay a visit to Evelyn.”
Tessa set down her coffee cup. “Agreed. I think it’s better to ask her about Mia in person.”
“When can you go?” he blurted.
“It’s about a three-hour drive from here and it’s still early. Since it’s Saturday, I don’t have to work.”
And there went that smile of hers again. He didn’t have control over his heart anymore. Maybe he needed a pacemaker or one of those defibrillators to carry in his truck.
“I think it would make sense to pack a bag just in case.” He already had his duffel in the hidden compartment in his truck. He didn’t trust leaving his clothes, let alone the money, at the motel. Although carrying it around made him sweat.
“That makes sense. I assume you want to drive?”
The calculated look in her eyes made him wonder if this was a test. “You could drive, but honestly your car wouldn’t be too comfortable for me to fold into.”
Her expression relaxed. Had he passed?
“Yeah. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze. How about you meet me at my place. It will take a couple minutes for me to pack a bag, and then we’ll go.” She rattled off her address.
He must have had a surprised expression since she continued. “I wasn’t going to let you know my address, but then I thought that was silly since you’re a PI. I’m sure you could find out where I live in no time, right?”
He nodded even though he hadn’t thought to search for her address when he was researching her at the library. He sucked at being a PI, even if it was imaginary.
Fifteen minutes later he pulled up to her apartment. Her car was parked next to it, and he parked across the street and headed to her building. He knocked and she opened the door.
“I just got here myself. Give me a couple minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.”
She headed down the hall, and he took in the cozy space. It had an eclectic mix of antiques and comfy furniture, which surprised him. He’d expected it to look like something from a magazine. But then he should have known better. So far Tessa had not fit into any mold. She was unique, which made her fascinating to be around.
He walked over to the bookcase and found several pictures. They were candids, not model shots. One was of Tessa and a redhead with their arms around each other. Another shot was of Tessa and a woman who had to be related to her—possibly her mother. He could see where Tessa inherited her beauty. The third shot was of Tessa holding a baby. He picked up the frame. He could tell by Tessa’s face that she adored her. Was she a mother and he didn’t know it? He didn’t see any baby toys or things that a baby would need in the apartment, so he didn’t think so.
Footsteps sounded behind him and he turned to find Tessa walking back into the room with a small duffel bag. Her eyes narrowed when she found him with the picture in his hand.
“She’s gorgeous. Is she your daughter?”
“She’s my best friend’s daughter and she is gorgeous, but she’s so much more. Smart, bubbly, with an infectious smile and personality.”
He set the picture down. Interesting that she immediately spoke about the girl’s other attributes beyond her looks. He motioned to the duffel. “Do you have any other bags you need me to carry?”
She must not have liked his question because she dropped her bag on the couch and crossed her arms. “You were doing so well, and now you’re in danger of failing.”
He crossed his own arms. “I didn’t realize I was taking a test.” A bit of a white lie since he’d thought she was testing him earlier, but compared to all the whoppers he’d been telling lately, this was nothing.
Her eyes sparked with challenge. “It’s pretty straightforward. It’s called the do-not-assume-you-know-best test. In my experience, men tend to score low.”
He tried to keep a serious face. “Why don’t you fill me in.”
She held her hand up and started to tick off things. “First, you let me work with you on the investigation instead of telling me I couldn’t help.” She held up her second finger. “Then you let me ask some questions when we spoke to Alisha instead of insisting you lead the investigation.” Up came her third finger. “You weren’t upset that I had someone help us search online for the case.” Fourth finger. “You didn’t insist on driving.”
“That sounds like I am acing this test that I didn’t even know I was taking.”
The corners of her mouth ticked up. “I’ll admit up until this point I’ve been pleasantly surprised. But just now you acted shocked that I wasn’t packing multiple suitcases to take with us. Did you think this duffel bag was just my makeup and I would need a bag for shoes and another bag for clothes?”
“No… Okay, maybe just a little.” Why the hell did he just admit that? Especially when her almost-smile melted away.
“I’m sure you looked me up online by now, and unlike you, my life is all over the Internet.”
He nodded. “You have your own Wikipedia page.”
She cringed. “Well, don’t believe everything you read out there.”
“You mean that you were an amazing model who got a degree and now uses her experience and smarts in a job with an up-and-coming fashion designer in Nashville?”
Did she almost smile again? “Up and coming? Maybe I should hire you for our PR team.”
He shook his head. “Not my area of expertise. I’m only speaking the truth, and I have to say, I’m impressed.”
She uncrossed her arms. “You may have just saved your test score.”
He smiled. “I may need to be scored on a curve before this is all done.”
She laughed and his new plan was to make her laugh every day. “If you’re ready to go.” He headed toward the door and then jerked to a stop.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He grinned. “So I’m scared to move. Should I ask you if you want me to carry your bag or not? And should I open the door for you?”
She laughed harder this time. Yep, it was his goal for her to do that again and again.
“I’ve got my own bag, and since you’re closer to the door, you open it.”
He saluted her and headed toward the door. If this was how their trip was going to start out, it was going to get real interesting, real fast.