Chapter Six
The three-week mark of Sammy working for Lia at the bakery came and went.
No one mentioned it, and Sammy kept going.
Sometimes she met her new friends after school there, and Lia let them stay after hours.
Gard would pick her up, and Sammy would be flushed with pleasure, homework done, talking a mile a minute about anything and everything.
He could almost set aside the gaping absence of Dani. Sammy was happy. That was what mattered.
But any free moment at work, Gard checked in on Beckett’s human trafficking case or poked at the old wounds he couldn’t seem to let heal.
But if he ever got it in his head to do something, he thought of the way Sammy had cried all over him and been so upset he’d been looking for Dani. So he kept his investigation well under wraps, and nothing outside of work boundaries and hours.
This afternoon, Gard’s zone was in Fairmont, and he still hadn’t been assigned a new recruit yet, so he was on his own. He’d answered a few calls, but the radio was quiet now and he just…happened to pass the restaurant where Dani had been working the past two years.
They were a kind of diner, so he could certainly stop by and pick up a cup of coffee to go.
Nothing wrong with that. And if he happened to ask anyone who’d worked with Dani if they’d heard from her, it wasn’t using company time for personal business, because it was just a quick coffee break.
And it wasn’t looking for Dani, because he was just getting coffee.
You’re really splitting hairs.
He got out of the car anyway. The day was cool, the air in the diner warm and smelling of bacon and stale coffee. The murmur of conversation paused when he stepped inside, but when the customers realized he was just heading to the counter to order, it started up again.
The woman who took his order wasn’t wearing a name tag, so he didn’t know if she was one of the women Dani might have mentioned over the past two years, but…what the hell? He didn’t have to do anything with the answers to his questions. If he even got them.
Gard smiled at the woman, trying to adopt a friendly manner. “Hey, I was looking for the day manager. I need to ask her a few questions if she’s got a minute.”
“That’s me.” The woman sized him up quickly. “Are you Dani’s brother?”
Gard’s smile faded. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“She said her brother was a cop and Fairhurst isn’t exactly a common last name,” the woman said, gesturing at his nameplate. “Is this about Dani?”
Gard tried to keep his expression neutral. “Sort of. I was wondering when the last time you’d seen her was.”
“The afternoon she quit. What was that? A month ago?”
“Wait.” Gard’s heartbeat sped up as he absorbed this brand-new information. “She quit her job here?”
“Yeah. I take it she didn’t tell you.”
“No.” And it left him…concerned, worried. Another check in the abnormal column he kept promising himself he wasn’t going to fall for. Because she could have quit right before she disappeared because she’d already known she was falling back into old habits.
But it could also be…more. “Can you tell me what she told you about quitting?”
“She was apologetic, but she said she’d been offered a better job. She also told me she’d still cover some shifts if I needed her to, if it didn’t interfere with the new job. So I called her a few times since we’re always short-staffed. I left some messages, but I haven’t heard from her.”
Nothing about this was out of the ordinary. Sure, he was surprised Dani would quit because her job here had been the longest she’d ever been able to hold down—mostly because of the woman across from him. Dani had actually gotten along with her manager for once.
But why hadn’t she told him she quit? That she got a new job? He hadn’t even known she’d been looking for something different. Was this about the lack of money she’d been complaining about that Sammy had mentioned?
Maybe she’d been using for a while and he and Sammy hadn’t seen the signs. Maybe Dani had hidden it even better than usual.
Which meant he should stop this. Instead, he asked more questions. “Do you know anything about this new job? Where it is or what it was?”
The manager shook her head. “Not really. All I know is that one of our customers offered it to her.”
A customer. So, not a lie. Something real. But hell if it didn’t sound fishy. And again, not unlike Dani to fall for something fishy. Because if it was on the up and up, she would have told him about it. So this wasn’t abnormal. It was right on track with her behavior when she was using.
And still, he didn’t let it go. “Do you think you could get me the name of that customer?”
“One of my waitresses might know.” The woman’s expression was serious. She leaned forward. “Is Dani okay?” she asked in a low voice.
Gard hesitated. He didn’t want too many people to know she was missing.
But… There was just too much potential the people who worked here might have a lead, especially if Dani talked to any of them about this new job.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to get a hold of her.
So I’m trying to track her down and make sure she’s okay.
Anything you can tell me would be a big help. ”
“I’ll ask around. See if she told any of the girls she worked with about it. Do you want to wait, or…”
God, did he, but he had work to do, and Sammy would not approve of any of this. Better to treat it as a nonemergency. Since that’s what it was. All it could be.
He pulled his business card out of his wallet. He scribbled his cell number on the back. “Call me with anything you find out. Please.”
“Sure. Dani talked about you and that daughter of hers like you two hung the moon. I’ll help however I can. She’s a sweetheart.”
Yeah, she could be. When she wasn’t using.
But if she’d had a new job… Better pay? Enough to quit the restaurant? How would drugs factor in?
There were drugs in that house. Don’t let this fool you.
He wouldn’t. No. No getting his hopes up. Just…doing his due diligence. So that when Dani came crawling back, he could help her in whatever ways she needed.
No getting his nose broken this time. No upsetting Sammy. Just…preparing for what might come next.
That was all.
When the bell on the door tinkled, Sammy jumped to attention.
Lia scowled at the girl. Oh that she heard, but not Albennie telling her three times to sift the flour before putting it in the batter.
Albennie had left for the day with that knowing look. You’re a softy, Lia Blair.
Sammy turned to Lia, hands clasped—her phone in between her palms. “Can I work the register? Please.”
Suspicious at Sammy’s sudden interest in doing anything not directly connected to that phone, Lia moved so she could see out into the storefront. Sammy’s friends, Izzy and Sarabeth, came in, chattering excitedly.
Sammy slid past Lia, not waiting for Lia’s answer. “You got it?” she demanded of the girls.
Sarabeth—by far the most extroverted and talkative of the three—did a full-blown jig.
“I’m a licensed driver! Mom said I have to bring the car back by four, and I’m only allowed one friend at a time since you guys aren’t licensed drivers, so we’re just going to have to hang out here, but still! I drove over here all by myself.”
Lia watched the girls talk excitedly about this development. It was a sweet, very normal teenage thing, and it made her heart ache. She was so glad Sammy got to have this moment. She only wished she could have more like it, uncomplicated by life.
But Sammy had told Lia, at least in vague terms, that these girls who’d become her friends had just as bad—if not worse—parental stories than she did, though they were both now in more stable situations than Sammy was.
Though Lia didn’t think Sammy understood just how lucky she was to have that uncle of hers.
“It sounds like you girls should celebrate,” Lia said. All three heads turned to her. “Cupcakes on the house. Sammy, get the cupcakes then go ahead and take a break with your friends.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Sammy did a little jig of her own, talking animatedly about school-related things while she plated up cupcakes for her friends.
Lia went back into the kitchen, retrieved her purse, and pulled out cash to cover the treats.
She’d add it to the till later, but she put it in her pocket so she’d remember.
When the bell on the door rang again, she glanced at the clock. Three. No doubt it was Gard. Lia didn’t rush out, though there was always that kind of knee-jerk reaction to want to.
She liked watching the way Sammy brightened. The way Gard brightened when he arrived. Like they were always a little relieved the other was exactly where they were supposed to be.
It somehow made her both terribly sad that they worried, and heartwarmingly happy that they had each other. Lia knew all too well what it was like to have no one at all.
So she could only resist for a moment or two before she left the kitchen. Besides, it didn’t have to be Gard. It could be a customer.
But of course it was him. Standing there in his uniform. Looking at Sarabeth with a mix of amusement and trepidation—which was usually how Lia felt about the confident teenager.
“Sammy doesn’t think you’ll let her go to my birthday party,” Sarabeth was saying to Gard.
“Well, she’s probably right.”
Sarabeth shook her head—not like she was upset with his answer, more like she was disappointed in him. She held out a piece of paper.
“This is my mom’s cell phone number. I’ll tell her you’re going to call her, and you can ask whatever questions you want. It’s just going to be pizza and cake—coed at my house, then a few of the girls are going to sleep over.”
Lia watched with interest as Gard looked down at the paper with a pained expression. He didn’t want to say yes, but Lia had a feeling he was about to have the fight of his life on his hands—while Izzy and Sammy watched from their table, nothing but crumbs left from their cupcakes.