Chapter Seventeen
Now
“So she just left?”
“Yeah,” I told Fae, shaking my head back and forth. “She dropped the bomb about Santos and then said she had to go. She was gone within minutes.”
“You didn’t try to stop her?” Fae asked.
“What was I supposed to do, tackle her?”
She shrugged lightly before pouring us each a glass of wine and turning to face me on the couch. “So what’s next?”
“Well, Miri promised that she’d meet me again at the coffee shop on Tuesday night, after I get out of work. Hopefully she’ll be able to tell me more then.”
Fae was staring at me intently. “Aren’t you going to talk to someone? The authorities, or maybe just someone over the age of fifteen who knows what’s been going on?”
“You saw those women in Two Bridges — they didn’t exactly throw down the welcome mat or invite us in for supper. I doubt they’d be very helpful if I showed up again. And if Miri is right — if the police are involved in this — who knows how high up the corruption goes? I could end up causing more problems for these girls than I’d solve.”
Fae sighed. “Well, that doesn’t exactly give us many options.”
“Tell me about it,” I said, taking a sip of my Merlot. “All I know is, there’s a story here.”
“What if she’s making it all up?” Fae asked. “What if Vera ran away with her boyfriend and she’s jealous? Or what if she’s a compulsive liar? She’s young. Maybe she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“You didn’t see the look in her eyes, Fae. Something terrible is happening to those girls. I might not have proof yet, but I can sense it with every fiber of my being. And I’m going to find out what it is.”
“I don’t like this,” Fae told me.
“Neither do I.” I swirled the dark red liquid in my glass, watching as light from the setting sun through the window refracted off it. “But for Vera… I have to do something.”
My cellphone buzzed on the coffee table, vibrating with an incoming text message. I scanned the screen quickly and, nosy as ever, Fae peered over my shoulder to read it too.
Desmond: Babe! Dinner tomorrow?
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Are you going to say yes?”
“I don’t know.” I stared at the screen, riddled with indecision.
“Because of Sebastian?” she asked, leaning forward to catch my eyes.
“Yes. No. Maybe.” I sighed. “I don’t know, okay? It just feels wrong to date someone who I feelnothing more than friendship for.”
“Well, I think you should go. You’ve barely given him a chance,” Fae said.
“Said the girl who never dates.”
“I date!” Fae protested.
I snorted into my wine glass.
“I do!” she snapped. “I’m theLusterrelationship expert for god’s sake! Women from all over the country write in every month for advice after reading my column.”
“No, love, you really don’t,” I said, patting her thigh gently. “And in the rare case that youdo, it’s with emotionally unavailable men who you know won’t get attached. You might be theLusterrelationship expert, but you haven’t been in an actual relationship in all the time I’ve known you.”
“That’s so false.” Fae pouted, jutting out her bottom lip like a little girl. “There was… Paul!”