Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds (9 page)

I sighed, the weight of the decision pressing on me. I would wait until Clint dropped off the money today, I decided. I’d see if Jackie was returned safe and sound. Then I’d figure out the best plan of action.

I attempted to look casual as I lounged in an upright chair in the lobby. I tried not to pace or twist my fingers or mumble aloud. I tried not to show any evidence that I’d been anything but a concerned citizen as I’d asked questions and looked at videotapes today. Definitely not nosy. I wasn’t sticking or following or nearly getting killed.

Not yet, at least.

The original plan was for Riley and his friends to play golf this afternoon. That meant that
I
was supposed to play golf this afternoon as well. The closest I’d ever come to a golf course was playing putt-putt down at the beach, and I hadn’t even enjoyed that.

Every time I thought about being on the green, I frowned. Was there ever a more wretched sport? I was not looking forward to going and chasing after some ball. I’d much rather be chasing a bad guy.

But now that Jackie was missing, I wondered how the gang’s plan would change. Certainly they couldn’t go out and have fun while their friend was abducted. They would be voted the most insensitive group of classmates
ever
if they did.

“Riley told me to tell you that he should be here any minute.”

I looked up and saw Lillian. From what I’d observed so far, the woman was my polar opposite. I was emotional and excitable and passionate. She was logical, thought-out, and non-emotive. She wore a navy blue power suit. Last night, she’d worn a white one.

“Great,” I mumbled. “Thanks for letting me know.”

She paused by my chair. “Terrible about Jackie, isn’t it?”

“I heard you were best friends.”

She nodded. “Were. I mean, don’t get me wrong. We’re still friends. But you do lose touch with people after a while, you know? We emailed on occasion, but I haven’t seen her since graduation.”

“What do you think of her boyfriend?”

Lillian turned her nose up. “She could do better. But Jackie always surprised us.”

“How?”

“You know, I think she hated to do what was expected of her. Her mom put a lot of pressure on her. So Jackie was kind of sneaky. She’d take these weekend trips without telling anyone. She got a job as a waitress just for the fun of it. She got a tattoo somewhere it’ll never see the light of day. Just small acts of rebellion.”

“What’s her story? Where’s Jackie’s dad?”

“Her parents divorced when Jackie was young. Her dad was considerably older than her mom, and he had a heart attack and died when Jackie was only eight. Mrs. Harrington never remarried. She was too afraid someone would be after her money and find some way to scam the prenuptial agreement. According to Jackie, she’s always had ‘man friends’ who wanted to marry her. Mrs. Harrington will never go for it, though.”

“All because of money?”

Lillian nodded. “Their money all comes from her side of the family, and her reputation is very important to her. Mrs. Harrington won’t let anyone make her look like a fool again.”

I let the new information sink in. I had no more questions at the moment, not until I swallowed what I’d just learned. Instead, I strayed to a more neutral subject. “I heard you were a divorce lawyer?”

She sneered. “It’s the reason I’ll never get married. Relationships just get so ugly. All of them.”

Not all of them, I wanted to argue.

She snickered. “I know that look. You think you’re immune.”

“I’ve had my fair share of ugly relationships. Riley’s different.” I glanced down at my princess-cut diamond and smiled. I never wanted to take this ring off.

“Any relationship can turn sour. Any one. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.”

What did she know? I shrugged.

“That said, you’ve got yourself a good one,” Lillian continued. “I always wondered what kind of girl would finally snag Riley.”

“Snagging’s one of my many specialties.” I realized how lame that sounded and decided to not be cute. “I’m really thankful to have him in my life, actually. Sometimes I still pinch myself.”

She rested a well-manicured hand on the chair. “He was a hot commodity in law school.”

I raised my eyebrows, not in surprise of the fact that Riley had been desirable, as much as I was shocked by this conversation. “What was he like?”

She stepped closer. “Let me put it this way. Derek is handsome and he knows it. Lane is smart but kind of nerdy. Jack was … well, he was Jack. Riley was a perfect mix. He was handsome like Derek, but smart like Lane, and minus all of their bad qualities.”

I nodded. “He’s a catch.”
A catch
? Did anyone say that anymore?

She crossed her arms and leaned against the chair, as if she was ready to settle in for a long talk. “He had this wild streak that made him interesting, too.”

I nearly choked on my spit for the second time today. “Wild streak?” Of all the things I would call Riley, wild was not one of them. Ever. By any stretch of the imagination. In my craziest dreams. Not even after what Derek had said earlier.

“He was always the one planning our outlandish excursions. Spring break trips. Backpacking adventures. We all went to Europe one summer and stayed at hostels. We knew if Riley were there, we’d have a good time. He liked living on the edge.”

“Riley?” I had to stop repeating things. But I felt certain she was talking about someone else and not my fiancé.

She seemed to be on a roll as she waved her hand in the air and settled in for the conversation. “He was the king of drinking games. He could come up with some outrageous ones.”

I leaned forward to get a better look at her face. Certainly there was a twinkle in her eyes that would let me know she was joking. Nope, there wasn’t even a sparkle. “Drinking games?”

She straightened, crossed her arms, and shook her head. “It was such a tragedy about his best friend … ”

I wanted to ask, but just then I saw Riley approaching. Lillian waved and scurried off, mumbling something about giving us some time alone.

I forced a smile as Riley got closer. I was so not good at this whole being fake thing. In other words, I could never work at this hotel. I’d be fired in a day.

I wanted to tell Riley about Jackie. I wanted to ask him about his drinking games. I wouldn’t do either. At least, I wouldn’t do either right now. There was a time and a place for everything. I often forgot that rule, especially when I was looking for answers.

But my goal was to be prim and proper this week. That meant abiding by certain rules of social etiquette.

He leaned down and kissed my cheek, the scent of his leathery aftershave filling my senses. “How was your day? Did you visit the spa?”

I shook my head. “No, but I did take a tour of the building.” At least, I’d taken half a tour. “A historian led it. It was interesting. And the guide had a monocle. If he’d had a cane and a top hat, he would have reminded me of Mr. Peanut. That made it all worth it.”

Riley chuckled under his breath. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet. His hand went to my waist, sending flutters up my spine. “Good. I’m glad you found something to amuse yourself. I don’t want you to feel bad about taking time for yourself. Sign up for some lessons. Enjoy the pool or soak in the springs. You’ve been busy lately. You deserve to relax some.”

I nodded as we started walking across the lobby at a leisurely pace. “I appreciate that. I’ll talk to the concierge.” I said the word in a nasal tone, my best imitation of a French accent. It wasn’t pretty.

The rain in Spain …

Sally sells seashells …

Peter Piper picked …

I had to work on my speech, not because I spoke Cockney, but because mastering accents could be a great pastime. First, I needed to master the tongue twisters, though.

Riley’s lip curled. “You don’t have to say concierge with an accent, you know.”

I nodded. “I know. I just like to.”

“Then by all means, do.” His smile slipped, and his steps slowed. “Any word on Jackie?”

“I ran into Clint earlier. He said the plan was still the same. He wants to keep everything low key. They’re intending to drop off the money at Glass Falls in,” I glanced at my watch, “fifty minutes.”

“I hope it all works out like he wants it to.” Riley let out a long breath.

“You would have called the police?”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to know exactly what you’d do until you’re in that situation. I can’t help but think the police would know what they’re doing better than I would. Still, it’s one stressful position I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

“I’m surprised the whole gang isn’t more upset by this. It just seems like life keeps going on. Is that weird to you?” When my friend Sierra had gone missing, I’d stopped everything until I knew she was okay.

“What are we supposed to do? Just sit around all day and wait? Clint has pretty much told us he doesn’t want us around. We can’t tell the police. We have no idea where to search and doing that could just get Jackie killed.”

I nodded. He sounded just like a lawyer, but he had some good points. “I can’t argue with that.” I stopped walking, unsure where we were even heading. “What now? Do we stay here and wait while they drop off the money?”

“What else are we supposed to do?” Riley’s crystal blue eyes connected with mine.

I shrugged, trying to look innocent. “Someone needs to keep their eyes open for the person who picks up the stash. What if they don’t deliver Jackie? What if following them is the only hope for finding Jackie when this whole thing blows up?”

Riley’s hands went to his hips, and his chin jutted out in thought. “I’m assuming Glass Falls is a pretty public area. I can’t imagine that they’d request somewhere too secluded.”

“I did a little research.” I treaded carefully, remembering my promise not to get involved.

“Okay … ” His expression remained neutral. As hard as I tried to read it, I couldn’t.

Instead, I pulled out a map of the resort and pointed to a little dotted line on the outskirts of the hotel. “There’s another hiking trail that runs above the falls. If we could hike there, Clint wouldn’t see us. We could hang out and see who picks up the bag of money.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “I know this is hard for you to stay away from, Gabby.”

I shrugged. “I just don’t want to see this end poorly.”

Riley stared at me a moment before nodding. “How long does it take to get there?”

Hope soared in my chest. Maybe Riley understood me better than I thought. “About forty five minutes, if I read the map correctly.”

“Let me get changed. We can make it in forty.”

CHAPTER 11

As Riley gripped my hand, I realized how grateful I was to have him with me on this search. I liked being independent and all, but there was something comforting about someone having your back.

I glanced at my watch one more time, wishing I had the chance to admire the scenery around me. Instead, we’d moved quickly to get to the area where we could overlook the falls.

Only five more minutes, and Clint was supposed to leave the money.

I saw a railing ahead and figured we were almost there. Thank goodness. My lungs were screaming for air. I hadn’t adjusted to the altitude change yet and my body was letting me know.

We paused at the railing to catch our breath.

“You okay?” Riley asked. He didn’t look winded at all, which prompted a dirty look from me as I nodded.

“Just fine.”

He pointed to the falls. “Just across there is the overview. There’s a trashcan off to the side. That’s where Clint is supposed to leave the cash.”

I pulled up my binoculars. The overview was busy with various hikers. Apparently, one could drive there as well or take the longer hike through the mountains to get to this astonishing view of the waterfall.

Through my lens, I saw Clint approaching. His gaze skittered from side to side. He was nervous—obviously. He had a black backpack slung over his arm as he paused by the railing.

Then he walked to the trashcan, put the bag down, and threw away a wrapper of some sort. His gaze traveled from side to side another moment before he stepped away.

He walked back to the parking lot, got in his car, and drove away.

I blinked in surprise.

That had been easy. He hadn’t tried to be a hero. He hadn’t veered off plan.

That was a good thing, right?

For some reason, it felt all wrong.

If I’d been in his shoes, I would have waited in my car to see if someone got the money. I would have set up friends on the perimeter to catch a glimpse of the person who picked up the book bag. I would have put some kind of tracking device in the lining of the bag so I could trace it.

“Well?”

“He left the bag.” I sighed. “I wonder how long it will take for someone to get it.” I wondered if he had any idea his friends might be involved.

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I wonder if the kidnappers have made any contact by phone at all? Jackie could have told them Clint’s number. Even her mom’s cell phone number.” I sighed again. “This whole situation is just disturbing, to say the least.”

“I’m proud of you. You haven’t gotten involved like I thought you would. You’re actually taking this vacation thing seriously.”

Guilt crept in. Should I tell him about the security tapes? How I checked the keycard? Nah. Those were just small little details. Really, for the most part, I’d kept my nose out of things.

I twisted my lips as I pondered the truth of my thought.

Just then, I spotted someone approaching the bag. “Someone’s walking toward it!”

A baseball cap concealed his hair and an oversized sweatshirt didn’t help with additional details. The person looked around before swooping down to grab the bag. As he turned, I caught a glimpse of his face … or, should I say, her face?

A woman? A woman was behind this? Was she in on this with Clint’s pal?

I expected her to walk toward the parking lot, which would be the quickest getaway route. Instead, she started down the trail.