Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (16 page)

Ted waited like a good boyfriend until she was inside before driving off, giving me a few
short
seconds to slump
down
in my seat
,
out of
his
view
,
as
he drove
past
.

I counted to one hundred, got out
of
the car and jogged over to the building. There were six apartments and I wasn't sure which one she went into. I stepped back and looked up, just as a light flashed on in a second floor window. Back in the entryway, I noted the surnames on each buzzer and
circled
the two on the second floor. Tomorrow, I would get
Lucas
to check them out and see if I could get confirmat
ion on a name. Failing that, Ted’s mystery woman
was about to acquire a stalker. Me.

On second thought, maybe instead of asking
Lucas
for his help
,
I should do it myself… e
specially as it wasn't exactly agency
business
.

Pondering that,
I turned the car around and headed back downtown. The office was well out of my way home
,
but it was worth the extra miles to grab my laptop from the drawer. My work-issued laptop was filled with all kinds of programs that my personal laptop didn't have
,
and I knew I would need them to run through some background checks.

While I was there, I powered up the fancy
,
color printer, stuck in the camera's memory card and printed off my shots of Ted and the woman.
After I finished
, I closed everything down, stuck the photos in a large envelope, placed the laptop and power cable in my purse
,
and left for home.

There wasn't a lot I could do about Ted's mystery woman during the day
,
while I was at the hotel, but I
planned to
investigate what
ever
I could beforehand. Plus, I had to assume sneaking around during the
day would be difficult for them
,
given that Ted, at least, had a job.

Thirty minutes after I arrived home
and
executed some
aborted
,
key-stabbing attempts at Lucas’ wonder programs,
I still had no clue about who
m
the mystery woman was
,
and
with a sigh, I knew that meant a stake
-
out was
required
. I needed information, and for that
,
I needed a car
license plate
, or a place of work. Six surnames had been written
beside
the buzzers
,
but there was no guarantee that
they
were up
-
to
-
date, or even which one was hers.

To double check, I even went the old
-
fashioned route, checking the names and addresses against the phone book. I scored nothing for the two names I
circled
. They were probably renters, I surmised with a sigh.

While I pondered what I needed to do
,
I put in a credit check for Ted to see if he had any other undeclared financials. Undeclared to Serena
,
that is
. If her husband was stashing cash, or had a secret property, I wanted to know about it. Serena may be a nuisance at times, but she was my sister
,
and I adored baby Victoria
.
In
a case of screw or be screwed, I knew whose side I was on.

As
I dug my fork into my microwaved Chinese meal and stuffed rice into my mouth
,
I
spread out the
photos I'd taken. They were clear
,
focused
,
and
managed to put
me off my food.
Finally
,
I stuffed everything away in my desk, had a brief moment
to consider
whether
I should get
a safe
,
rather
than
continue
relying on
a flimsy lock
i
n a flimsy desk
,
and
decided it was unlikely Ted would break in anyway
.
Grabbing my cell,
I called Maddox, told him I was having a sleepover and suggested he come over before the pillow fight began.

He was at my door twenty minutes later.

"I don't know the rules on pillow fight
s
," he told me, pulling back his jacket to show the gun holstered on his hip, "so I came armed."

~

Maddox left at
five
a
.
m
.
when his cell phone went off with the report of a body found in a dumpster. "Glad I'm wearing yesterd
ay's clothes," he said, in
between peppering me with kisses. "Today's gonna stink. Hope you have fun at the office."

Not likely, I thought, angling to get his mouth on the next kiss. "Don't let all the
dumpster
-
diving go to your head,
"
I advised.

He flashed me a smile. “It’s a trashy job
,
but someone’s gotta do it.”

An hour of snoozing later
,
and I groaned as I crawled out of bed. The thing I loved most about detective work was setting my own hours. The thing I loved least
about
it
was getting out of bed at six
. Ironically, it was all in
order to stalk
my brother-in-law's mistress. My investigation, my bad luck. Dressed in my navy suit and a different red top, I added sneakers and picked up my heels, purse and keys on the way out.

"What are you doing up?" I asked as I
ran into
Lily in the small downstairs hallway.

"I need coffee," Lily said, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands. "I worked until three a
.
m
.
and I have a gym class at nine.
I figured
,
why go to sleep?
"

"Masochist," I said. "Do you want to come on a stakeout with me?"

"Will we get shot at?"

"No
pe
."
At least,
I hoped
not
. Blondie didn't look dangerous
,
but I couldn’t say anything about her mental health
,
given the Ted smooching I’d witnessed
.

"Will there be coffee?"

"There's a Starbucks on the way."

She turned to the front door and reached for the handle.
"Let's go."

I filled Lily
in
on our mission as I drove, reminding her
several times
it was ultra top secret. By the time we had coffee, she was as pissed at Ted as I was.

"That cheating bastard," she said, spitting out each word
as she warmed her hands around the coffee cup
. "How could he do that to his wife and baby girl? Whatever happened to marriage vows? What happened to love and honor?"

"Tell me about it."
I pulled into the turning lane and squeezed through as the lights flicked to red, furtively looking around for any police cars.

"
But tell me
," Lily paused to peel back the lid of her coffee and blow
on
it,
before looking at me incredulously,
"how did Ted get two women
,
and I can't even get
one
man?"

"It's not a reflection on you, sweetie. Plus, you date all the time."

"Date,
not commit."

"Just think. There could be a guy like Ted out there, waiting just for you." We both shuddered.

"Maybe I'll get a cat," said Lily. "Or a hamster."

"Cats live forever and they pee everywhere. Hamsters die quick
ly
and aren't affectionate."

"Perhaps I'll get a plant instead."

"Good call."

“I’ll give it a name just so it feels like a pet though. Is David a good name for a plant?”

“Depends if it flowers or not.”

“True.”

We pulled up outside the small apartment block
I’d followed Ted to the previous night
and I turned the engine off, as a bid to
save
the planet and
conserve
gas.
Plus, I didn’t want to
l
ook like I was
a
stalk
er
, though that
was
down
much
low
er
on my list.

"What does she look like?" asked Lily.

I left the photos in my desk so I described the woman. We both waited, staring at the front entrance.

"I hope she's not unemployed," said Lily, five minutes later. "We could be waiting all day."

"I
didn’t think
of that.
I kind of figured she had a job
just
because Ted had
one
.
Anyway, we can't wait all day. I have to be at the hotel at eight forty-five."
I plucked my coffee from the cup holder and gulped it.

"How's that going?"

"
Haven't a clue who
’
s doing the sabotage
yet
.
"

"Sucky."

"Hey, there is a
Super Ponies
convention on."

"No way! I love
Super Ponies
. I had, like, hundreds."

"I remember. Anyway, this convention is being run by dudes."

Lily screwed up her face and raised one disbelieving eyebrow. "You're kidding me."

"I kid
you
not. These dudes are totally into it. They're organized and
,” I paused for effect, “
they have seminars."

Lily bit her lip.
"I kinda still want to go."

"We can go tomorrow maybe. Or Friday. It's on all week."

"Cool.
Hey, maybe I’ll get some of those colored hair extensions to put in my hair just like I used to when I wanted to grow up to be a pony.
"

We slunk down in our seats, looking like two carpoolers who'd forgotten the object of their mission, while we waited for the mystery woman to show. Every so often
,
Lily would nudge me and ask
,
"
I
s that her?" but each time
,
I shook my head, no, to the various women getting into cars, and one person
,
whom I suspected
,
was actually a man
despite the dress
. Finally, at eight on the dot, I answer
ed
,
"Yes
!
"

The mysterious blonde
exited the building,
making
her way to a small parking lot at th
e side. She climbed into a silver
car and pulled out onto the street.

"Buckle up," I said. "We're going to follow her."

"Cool!
"

I handed Lily my cell phone, the function set to camera and she snapped a photo of the car, turning the screen to me so I could nod. The plate was in
the
shot.

We followed her easily
at first
, then with more difficulty as traffic increased while we headed towards the business district.

"We'll lose her," said Lily, her head bobbing from side
-
to
-
side to see past the traffic.

"We won't. Besides, this is better. There's less chance she'll notice us following her."

“I don’t see her. There are too many silver cars. What is it with everyone and silver cars? Is it the VW?”

“The PT Cruiser.”

Lily glanced at me. “What does it look like, other than silver and wheels?”