Pop Travel (14 page)

She straightened her blouse. She was at work, after all.

“Aww. Come on, Miki.” Jared begged. He gave her his sweet pout and batted his lashes over those big brown eyes.

“No! Someone might come in!” She gave him a stern look. As she tried to stand up, he grabbed her arm and pleaded some more.

“Coop is out of town. No one is coming in. This sleepy, little town never sees any action.”

She looked down her nose at his large hand holding her wrist and noticed his skinny arms were surprisingly strong, as was the draw of his full lips, wearing that playful grin. Two years younger than Miki, he demonstrated his immaturity as he tried to peek down her shirt.

Sometimes she wondered why she put up with his childishness. Wresting her arm free, she walked over to her desk.

“And neither do I,” he mumbled. His mouth turned down into an attention-starved-puppy frown.

“You can wait until after work.”
Boys.
She looked at her imager and pretended to type.

“Aw. How about a sneak preview?” he asked.

Really? Did he know no decency?
She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Pleeease? Just to tide me over,” he begged with his hands clasped out to her.

I can’t believe I’m doing this.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. She gave him a quick flash, covered back up, and sat down.

“Woo-hoo!” Jared cheered and raised his arms.

The door swung open.
Ah!
They both gasped and froze.

An older gentleman in a dark suit entered.

Good thing this stranger hadn’t walked in two seconds sooner.
Miki glanced at Jared.

He gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. Slouching down, he pulled his hood over his head and turned on his music.
He
should
feel guilty, serves him right.

Miki straightened her shirt and greeted the visitor.

“Hello, sir,” she said with a pleasant smile. “May I help you?”

“Hello. Yes. Um. Is Mr. Cooper available?” he asked. His broad shoulders and tall stature contrasted with his timid voice and white-gray hair.

“No. I’m afraid he’s out of town on a case,” she replied.

“Oh.” He looked down at his shoes. He seemed disappointed. Then he met her eyes and asked, “Will he be back today?”

“He didn’t say. What was it in regards to?” she asked in her most professional tone. Most of their clients were locals, so she hadn’t had much practice proper business etiquette.

“Well. I believe my brother might be missing.”

“That’s terrible! Did you try the police?”

“Yes. They were no help. They just filed a missing persons report along with all the other, more important unsolved missing persons cases.”

“Oh.” Miki nodded.

“I’ve decided to do some searching for myself.”

“Of course. Are you all from around here? You don’t look familiar.”

“No. We’re from Tennessee. My brother popped to Atlanta for a business meeting. A few days later, his office called me looking for him. They said he never made it. I had his bank cards traced and they said he last used one at the deli down the street from here. When I asked there, they didn’t remember him. I have no idea why he would have come out this way, but I thought the local private investigator might be able to help. I’m worried something might have happened to him.”

Miki nodded again and thought a moment, putting her junior sleuth skills to the test.

“Well, we don’t see very many strangers in town. You are actually the second one this week. That’s a record!” She raised her eyebrows. “I wonder if our other visitor was your brother. Is he younger and shorter than you?” she asked, describing Cooper’s crazy client to him.

“Why, yes,” he replied and smiled.

“Well, he was here.” Her tone brightened at his positive response. When Jared sat up and paused his tunes, he lifted his chin to her like he wanted to say something. She narrowed her eyes at him, to keep him quiet. She could handle this and didn’t need him butting in.

“Something isn’t right,” Jared muttered. He shrugged and slunk back down on the couch. Good.

“Huh. I wonder why. Do you know what he wanted?” the man said.

“Well, he called on Monday and Cooper met with him. The next day, he came in acting very, uh, worried. You know, jittery, with his eyes darting around. Just weird, no offense. But Cooper wasn’t here so he left a message.”

“What did it say?”

“Here. I’ll shoot it to you,” she offered with a smile, pleased she could be so useful in helping the poor man find his brother. Jared sat up again and opened his mouth to say something. Miki gave him another piercing glare, so he closed his mouth and kept it to himself.

Miki sent the message to the man’s QV. He read it to himself and his smile grew wider.

“Thank you, miss. You’ve been very helpful.” He turned to walk out and read the message again, chuckling to himself.

Miki beamed with pride at Jared for sending the man away in such high spirits.
Ha!

“So do you know where he is?” she called to him. “Do you want me to leave Cooper a message?”

He turned back and smiled at her. “No. That won’t be necessary. This tells me all I need to know. Thanks again.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Glad to help,” she said, her voice extra chipper.

Jared looked at her and shook his head as the man left.

“That was weird.”

“I know. Right?” Miki agreed. “I wonder what it was all about.”

“Who cares? Let’s lock the door.” Jared put on his devilish grin and stood up.

“Wait! I need to tell Cooper about this.” She held up her hand to halt him as she called Cooper on her CC imager.

“Of course.” He frowned. Shot down again, he plopped himself back on the couch.

Miki smiled at him sympathetically as she waited for Cooper to answer. Jared had been a very good boy.

“Hey, Coop.” Miki sighed, relieved he answered.

“Hey, Miki. What’s up?”

“Remember that mystery guy you met on Monday? Well, his brother just came in looking for him and said he was reported missing. The guy said he tried the cops and they wouldn’t help him. He got his brother’s bank card and traced it to Joe’s.”

“Hmm. Did he give you his name? Or a number?”

“No. He was in and out so fast I didn’t get a chance,” she answered, her excitement at doing good knocked down a bit. She kicked herself now for not even asking his name. Some detective she was. Then she sucked up some courage to squeak out the rest. “I told him about the message he left you and the guy figured out what he wanted and took off.”

She squinted, prepared for a reprimand.

“I see. Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

That’s it?
“Should I try to find him?” She hated screwing up and disappointing her boss. She felt like an idiot.

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. In fact, you can go ahead and go home. Take a long weekend and enjoy your sister’s wedding. I’m stuck down here for a while and I might not make it back in time.”

“Really? You sure everything is okay?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it.” Cooper sounded strangely upbeat. Odd, especially after what she just told him.

“Okay, then. Have a nice weekend,” she said and they disconnected. She turned to Jared, her face scrunched in puzzlement. “He gave me the rest of the week off.”

“Massive! Let’s go!” He hopped up.

“I don’t know, he was so happy. It wasn’t like him.”

“Maybe he got lucky.”

One-track mind!

“Hold on, Romeo. Let me check just one more thing before I leave.” She turned back to her imager. Jared stepped up behind her and watched over her shoulder. Plugging in the description of the mystery guy from Monday, she did a quick face match, using a site Cooper had shown her. The program gave her a few people to choose from and she picked him out, identifying him as Jonathan Phisner.

Next, she did a search on Mr. Phisner and the article about his tragic accident came up. She and Jared both read the article. Jared slowly pushed back his hood. Miki covered her mouth in shock.
Unbelievable. Could it just be a coincidence? Surely.

Miki looked at Jared. “Should I call Cooper back?” she asked and her imager went blank.

The door opened and the stranger came back in, pointing a small electrogun at them. “You should have gone home when you had the chance.”

Atlanta, GA
1:15 p.m., Thursday, July 25

Cooper didn’t like the sound of Miki’s encounter. He didn’t want to worry her with the news of Jonathan’s death, not to mention that a brother would have been notified, if he had one. With the stranger gone and her not knowing anything, she should be fine. He worried about her anyway and would check on her later.

He brought his coffee over to sit down with Geri at a table in the library café.

“Sorry about that. My assistant had a question.”

“Don’t you worry about it, J.L. By the way, what business are you in?” Geri asked.

“I’m a freelance lawyer.” That was mostly true, at one point.

“How interestin’. Sounds like you get to do some travelling. Are you all based here in Atlanta?”

“No, I’m here for a client.”

“Does your client own a plantation? Is that why you were researchin’ them?”

“Oh, no. This is purely recreational.” He took a sip from his piping hot coffee. There was nothing to this lying business. No harm, since he’d probably never see her again, though it would be nice if he could.

“How wonderful! So what would you like to know, J.L.?” Geri gave him a warm smile. She seemed genuinely delighted to talk with him about plantations.

“Well, it’s sort of a long story. In college, I wanted to study architecture, but I realized it wouldn’t be very lucrative, so I turned to law. I still enjoy studying structural designs, especially early American.” Some of that rang true. He had wanted to be an architect, but his father helped him change his mind. He didn’t know which was worse, full-on lies or partial truths.

“Oh my. The mesmerizin’ style of those beautiful old homes is fascinatin’ to me, too. I love to look at them but I don’t know all the technical architectural terminology. I know more about the history. Do you think I could still help?”

“Yes, actually. When I began looking at some of the plantation homes, I found them full of intriguing mysteries, like hauntings and secret passageways. As a kid, I visited the pirate tunnels in Savannah. While I’m in town, I plan to take a tour of some local plantations, when I find some time. Since you are a plantation buff, I wondered if you might be able to recommend a few worth my while. Maybe some with interesting stories behind them.”

“Now, that, I believe I could do. In fact, my great-granddaddy’s home had a secret tunnel that ran from the wine cellar to a gazebo in the garden. It was built durin’ the Civil War. They constructed it so the family could escape Yankee invaders.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Is your grandda… I mean, grandfather’s plantation close?”

“I’m afraid not. It’s down toward the southern border, just this side of Florida. Have you ever toured a plantation, J.L.?”

“Just the Antebellum at Stone Mountain, several years ago. It’s a nice re-creation, but the buildings were all transported. I also toured the Archibald Smith Plantation Home in Roswell.”

“Yes, those are well-traveled. A ghost would be spooked away by all the tourists, I’d wager. I would have to say the best place to find the most haunted plantations would likely be Louisiana. But Georgia has her fair share. There’s the Early Hill Plantation in Greensboro, and in Lawrenceville there’s a restaurant that was converted from a plantation home. Both of those have frequent apparitional sightings.”

“What about Beasley Hills?”

“Beasley Hills? Why that’s where the Creator lives! No ghosts there. The main house was completely redone inside. It—”

Before she could say any more, Cooper’s QV buzzed. He looked at it. Dawson again.

“Oh, I need to take this. Could you excuse me for a moment?”

“Of course.” She gave him a pleasant smile and sipped her coffee.

He smiled back and held up a finger for her to wait as he walked away to a corner for some privacy.

“Hey, Dawson,” he answered softly.

“What’s up, Coop? Where are you now?”

“I’m at the library.”

“What? Did you say library? You sure get around. I’d ask why you’re there, but I don’t have time. I just wanted to let you know I got you a ticket for the big birthday bash.”

“Thanks.”

“Where are you staying?” Dawson asked, then gave a wince like he had before.

“I haven’t decided yet. Is something wrong?”

“I see. Planning ahead. No, it’s nothing. Just a nagging headache. I skipped breakfast, probably just hungry.” He waved it off.

Cooper could see his pain despite the smile he put on for him.

“Anyway, I’ll have an aide make arrangements for you and buzz you the info and the ticket. You know you will have to pop to get there,” Dawson added.

“Yeah. I know,” he said in a dour tone. That was Dawson’s second headache in only a few hours. Cooper needed to talk to that Creator kid!

“Ah, don’t sweat it. You’ll be fine. I have to go. I’ll call you later.”