Laugh or Death (Lexi Graves Mysteries Book 6) (14 page)

"We need to talk," we both said, as we sat at the bench at the end of the yard. Then, "You first." We paused, looking at each other. "You're the boss," I said, which I knew Solomon wouldn't say. "You go first."

"I got a call from Flaherty. We lost Joelle."

"What?"

"Flaherty went to switch shifts and took a walk around the building where he realized they exited via the rear entrance. He confirmed it with a resident that Joelle and another woman left together."

"How could Delgado have missed that? He was working the shift before Flaherty."

"Because they were watching Joelle's vehicle at the front, thinking if she exited, she would take it. It was a dumb error."

"You're telling me!" I looked
toward the house. "Who's going to tell Delgado how much time he wasted?"

"Me. Fletcher covered for him until Flaherty could get there. It could have happened on Fletcher's watch or Delgado's. Errors happen. Right now, I have them both canvassing the area to see if they can pick up a
ny leads." Solomon didn't have to continue. We both knew it was going to be very unlikely that they would be spotted in the street. Joelle and her mysterious houseguest didn't want to be found. They might not have been professionals - I was sure Joelle wasn't, in any case - but they would both be on alert. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"We have a huge problem. Nancy is dead." I
relayed my conversation with her old employer, finishing with Nancy's location for the past several months.

"This doesn't add up," said Solomon, frowning. "Who in hell are we searching for?"

"Beats me."

Solomon reached an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in.

"We saw that!" yelled Garrett.

Solomon kissed me.

"Who wants to shoot first?" added Daniel loudly.

"Your brothers like me," said Solomon, smiling.

"Yes, they do."

"I like this." He gestured towards the house
, but before I could ask him exactly what he liked, he said, "We have a big problem with this case."

"I know. We don't know who this woman is."

"We need to find out. Leo is positive she is Nancy. We can be reasonably sure she is not, unless her grave contains someone else. This gives us a whole bunch of questions. Does Leo know she’s not Nancy? If yes, then perhaps he knows who she really is. Was our woman known to the deceased Nancy? Then why did she steal her identity? If it is Nancy, then why doesn't Leo know she's dead like everyone else does in Greenacre?"

Th
ose were all questions that were running through my mind and, despite the pie infusion, I was no closer to answers. Stealing an identity wasn't uncommon; I knew that, but what I couldn't work out was Leo's involvement. Had she conned him? Had our mysterious woman persuaded him that she was Nancy to work an angle? Had she taken something from him? Maybe even stolen his heart? The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if fake Nancy wasn't playing all of us.

"What if Leo is innocent in this and Nancy is playing him?" I voiced aloud. "You got a bad feeling
, but what if it was about the case, and not him?"

Solomon gave a short, sharp shake of his head. "No, there's definitely something off about Leo, but now I'm starting to wonder if they're both playing us. I
’ve got to admit, Lexi, this is a strange case and it puzzles me." His cell phone rang and he took it from his pants, holding it up so we could both see the screen.
Fletcher
. "Yes?" said Solomon, answering. He spoke in brief monosyllables for a few minutes before hanging up.

"Did they find Joelle?" I asked, knowing it was too
soon to be hopeful.

"Not yet. Lucas is running her phone records to find out if she called anyone in the area,
or someone she might go to."

"Joelle could be in danger. Until we know who this woman is, she could be anyone...
and capable of anything!"

"That's my concern. I'm going to get Delgado and go join them. Can you apologize to your parents for me?"

"I can."

"And did you book us somewhere to stay in Greenacre?"

"Yes."

"I'll cancel my meeting. We'll leave first thing tomorrow. Are you okay to drive home?"

"Yes, go already!"

Solomon rose,
but appeared reluctant. He pulled me onto my feet and then into his arms, kissing me. For once, my brothers didn't make any smartass remarks. I had to assume they'd given up, too busy with cunning plans to please their wives, whom they’d gone inside to rescue.

With Solomon and Delgado gone, Victoria
began crying baby tears and Serena shot daggers at me before the evening took a vertical nose dive. Lily poked me in the ribs over coffee, and told me that Ruby sent her a text that said Kyle had just received a visitor. I was ready to go. Fortunately for Lily, Jord was called in to investigate a burglary, so it was just like our old days of hightailing around town.

We drove in tandem until I pulled in behind Lily,
and got out. Then we both climbed into Ruby's car. I was relieved to see that some surveillance was going well, even though I wasn't entirely convinced it wasn’t a wild goose chase.

"What's happening?" Lily asked as I leaned forward, between the seats.

"Twenty-five minutes ago, this guy pulled up in that sedan, got out, took a bag from the trunk, and knocked on the door. Kyle opened it and let him in. They haven't moved."

"What kind of bag?" I asked.

"A duffel bag? Or a gym bag? Some kind of canvas fabric and cylindrical in shape. I got a photo."

"Did it look heavy?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I bet that's his cut of the money," said Lily. "I bet the deal is going down right now."

"If he is the thief, that deal went down weeks ago," I pointed out. "This could be payday. Or he could have left his gym bag at his buddy's house and his buddy is returning it."

"It's the money," said Ruby with
stronger conviction as Lily nodded enthusiastically.

We waited quietly
. After ten minutes, just as I was beginning to wonder why I agreed to the ride-along, the door opened and two men exited.

"That's Kyle," said Lily.

"I recognize him."

"Is it just me
, or does he look like a jerk in that tracksuit?" asked Ruby.

We both agreed he did look like a jerk
, but since we weren't there to judge his fashion choices, I pointed out, "They're both getting into the car."

"We'll have to follow them," said Lily.

"I'm not leaving my car here!"

"You can follow us?"

"Are you going to leave your car here?" I asked.

Lily looked around at the smashed street lamp and graffiti
ed walls. "Nope," she said. "We can tag-team like they do on the movies. Let's all put our cell phones on speaker so we can talk to each other, and we'll take turns following. He'll never spot us!"

"That's so smart," said Ruby. The headlamps of the car flipped on and Lily and I scrambled
out as she swerved to tail them scarce seconds after we slammed the doors. We waited until they were half a block away before taking off in pursuit, Lily's car ahead of mine.

"Do you think they're leaving town?" asked Lily over
the speaker phone.

"Nope," I replied, making the turn after Lily. "Kyle wasn't carrying any kind of bag. Besides
, he has his own car; why would he leave it behind?"

"So no one tails him. And maybe he'll buy
a new clothes with his stolen stash?"

"I don't think so. Most people
would have taken something else."

"Okay then. We'll just follow and find out wh
ere he goes."

Despite my
feeble optimism on the tail, especially given the recent disappointment at losing Joelle and Nancy, we managed surprisingly well. Ruby stayed in front for several more minutes before taking a left turn and allowing Lily to take the lead. After a few minutes, I spotted Ruby in my rearview mirror. We didn't have time to switch leads again before the car pulled over. I told Lily to drive past it while I parked further down the street, and Ruby pulled onto a side street.

"What do you see?" asked Lily.

"Not much. They're talking, I think, and Kyle's friend is getting out of the car... so is Kyle. They're walking into a bar."

"Do they have the bag?"

"No, it's in the car."

"We should break in and check the bag. If my
money is in it, I want it back."

"I'm not breaking into the car. This is a rough neighborhood."

"Fine, I'll do it."

"Have you ever broken into a car before?" asked Ruby. Finally,
the voice of reason!

"No," said Lily. "But plenty of houses
, thanks to Lexi, but we agreed it's not a crime if no one gets caught."

"I'll do it," said Ruby
, without questioning the validity of Lily's convictions. "Keep a lookout, Lexi."

I opened my mouth to ask her how she knew how to break into a car, but she was already sprinting past me. I watched as she crouched next to the car and produced something from her jacket pocket
, which she inserted into the door. It took mere seconds for her to open the door, reach into the back, and root through the bag. She retreated carefully, shutting the door, and sprinting past me, shaking her head.

"I don't think Ruby found anything," I told Lily via the phone.

"What? No way!"

"It would be kind of stupid to leave a bag full of cash alone in a car parked in this area."

"I know, but I was counting on some kind of stupidity to break this case open!"

"We could be following him for no reason."

"There is a reason. One, he stole from me. Two, he quit before I could fire him. Three, based on the evidence of one and two, he's an asshole."

"But he could be innocent," I pointed out, erring on the side of caution. "We need some definitive evidence that points to him being more than
just an asshole."

Ruby's voice came over the phone then. "It was just clothes," she said. "I checked the backseat and all the
other seats too, and there's nothing. I'm sorry, Lily."

"Let's wait a little longer," Lily said. "Maybe he's meeting a contact inside."

"One of us could go inside and check?" suggested Ruby. "Though I don't like the looks of this bar."

"Me
neither," Lily and I both agreed.

"Then we'll wait. Lexi, you have eyes on the bar, what do you see?" asked Ruby.

"I see a few people moving around inside, but the windows are stained glass, so it's pretty much only shadows. A couple of drunks just left." I paused as two men in jeans and checked shirts stumbled out. One dropped to his knees and had to be helped back on his feet before the two of them took off down the street. I caught a sliver of movement inside before the door shut. "It looks busy inside. Rough-looking guys."

"Why is Kyle in there? It doesn't sound like his
kind of place," said Lily. "He's not rough. He's an idiot."

"Maybe this is where he drinks?"

"Your two drunk guys just walked past me looking like they could make mincemeat out of Kyle. Anyway, I don't think he's a big drinker, but who knows? I didn't think I hired a thief either."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," I told her
over noises that sounded like agreement from Ruby. "You never know what's going on inside someone else's head."

We waited another hour, watching men walk
ing in and out of the bar. In the whole time, we saw only one woman, whom I would hesitate to call a lady. When the hour was almost up, Kyle and his friend returned to the car and we tag-teamed them home. As they pulled in, I continued past the house, and parked with Lily, who took a more circuitous route after leaving the tail several blocks away. We waited for Ruby, who parked a block away, to call in. When she did, she didn't have much to say. "His buddy just dropped him at the house and he walked in alone. His buddy should be driving past you soon," she said, just as the car sailed past. "The lights have just gone off so I guess he's gone to bed. What now?"

"I'm sorry, guys," said Lily despondently. "Lexi, you're right. We have nothing on this guy and we've just spent almost two hours tailing him to a bar and back. I've wasted your time."

"No, you haven't," I said. "I've been advised to trust my gut instincts, and yours are saying Kyle is behind this somehow. We can't do anything more tonight, but we can work something out tomorrow. Let's go home and sleep on it."

"And nail his ass another day?" asked Ruby. "I'm in."

"Me too." Lily turned around in her car and gave me the thumbs up. "I'm a number one fan of nailing."

"When you go home," I said,
flipping on the engine and lights while trying not to sound too much like my mom, "please think about what you just said."