saw you. He remembered you from the night you walked me to his house.” I deliberated how to play the next part. I could mention Tom by name, or I could let Pop introduce the topic. The latter made more sense to me. “Am I in trouble or something?”
He seemed surprised at the question. And a little relieved. “No. There was some paperwork they needed. Records from Chapin. I thought it would be easier to bring it over in person.”
“Oh.” To say I was disappointed was like saying Frank Sinatra was okay-looking. Seriously? He expected me to believe that lie? “New clients?”
“Old clients come for a follow-up.”
I ground my teeth. My previous attempt to thaw failed and I could feel the ice returning to my spine and shoulders.
He thumped his fingers on the fireplace mantel. “Are you all right?”
I offered him a tight, false smile. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He didn’t join us for dinner that night.
I WAS SO STEAMED I was willing to let Pop flounder on the case. Let him hit a dead end and tell the Barneys they had to take their business elsewhere. But as the evening wore on and reality set in, I knew he couldn’t afford another failure. My pride wasn’t worth us missing another month’s rent. He wasn’t going to ask me for my help—I had to accept that. After telling me to stay out of the business before, he couldn’t go back and tell me he’d changed his mind. After all, it had to have hurt his pride to need his fifteen-year-old daughter’s assistance. But what if I were to do a little work on my own, just to see if there was anything worthwhile to be found?
Things looked slightly more fraught in the light of the next day. It was all well and good to say I was going to investigate Tom’s disappearance, but how did I expect to pull it off? A normal girl would’ve just put her ear to the ground and asked her friends for the scoop, but I was an outsider. How on earth could I expect a bunch of cool cats who’d barely looked my way to confide in me? Sure, there was Suze, who’d at least talked to me, but even she was bound to get suspicious if I went up to her and started quizzing her about Tom.
Especially if she put two and two together and realized that the private eye who’d been interrogating the Rainbows was the father I claimed was still at war.
CHAPTER
7
I SPENT MOST OF THAT first morning trying to come up with a plan of attack. By lunch I had … nothing. I was desperately unprepared.
“What’s eating you?” asked Pearl.
“Tom Barney’s parents came to see my pop yesterday.”
Her eyes grew enormous behind her Coke-bottle lenses. She set down the cookie she was about to devour and gave me her complete attention. I let it all out then—well, most of it. I didn’t tell her that I was looking into things without Pop’s blessing. Or how worried I was about money. Instead, I focused on how ill-equipped Pop was to find out anything from the Rainbows. She waited until I was done before responding.
“So that’s why he was here yesterday. You are so lucky.”
“Lucky or not, I don’t know how to find out any more than what we already know.”
“Your sources are right there.” She jerked her head toward where the Rainbows were sitting.
“Sure, I’ll just go up to them and ask where Tom is.”
“You said Suze talked to you once before, right?” I nodded. It was twice, actually, but who was counting? “So see if you can’t get her to do it again.”
I thought about it for a minute. Pop said that one of the reasons I screwed up the Wilson case was I didn’t stay invisible. Pop knew how to charm information out of people—he did it all the time. It was all about ingratiating yourself to them. You had to make them want to tell you stuff.
Asking about Tom straight out would definitely tip my hand, but that didn’t mean that Suze couldn’t be a way to get information. She’d been nice to me because of our connection—both of us were suffering
He seemed surprised at the question. And a little relieved. “No. There was some paperwork they needed. Records from Chapin. I thought it would be easier to bring it over in person.”
“Oh.” To say I was disappointed was like saying Frank Sinatra was okay-looking. Seriously? He expected me to believe that lie? “New clients?”
“Old clients come for a follow-up.”
I ground my teeth. My previous attempt to thaw failed and I could feel the ice returning to my spine and shoulders.
He thumped his fingers on the fireplace mantel. “Are you all right?”
I offered him a tight, false smile. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He didn’t join us for dinner that night.
I WAS SO STEAMED I was willing to let Pop flounder on the case. Let him hit a dead end and tell the Barneys they had to take their business elsewhere. But as the evening wore on and reality set in, I knew he couldn’t afford another failure. My pride wasn’t worth us missing another month’s rent. He wasn’t going to ask me for my help—I had to accept that. After telling me to stay out of the business before, he couldn’t go back and tell me he’d changed his mind. After all, it had to have hurt his pride to need his fifteen-year-old daughter’s assistance. But what if I were to do a little work on my own, just to see if there was anything worthwhile to be found?
Things looked slightly more fraught in the light of the next day. It was all well and good to say I was going to investigate Tom’s disappearance, but how did I expect to pull it off? A normal girl would’ve just put her ear to the ground and asked her friends for the scoop, but I was an outsider. How on earth could I expect a bunch of cool cats who’d barely looked my way to confide in me? Sure, there was Suze, who’d at least talked to me, but even she was bound to get suspicious if I went up to her and started quizzing her about Tom.
Especially if she put two and two together and realized that the private eye who’d been interrogating the Rainbows was the father I claimed was still at war.
CHAPTER
7
I SPENT MOST OF THAT first morning trying to come up with a plan of attack. By lunch I had … nothing. I was desperately unprepared.
“What’s eating you?” asked Pearl.
“Tom Barney’s parents came to see my pop yesterday.”
Her eyes grew enormous behind her Coke-bottle lenses. She set down the cookie she was about to devour and gave me her complete attention. I let it all out then—well, most of it. I didn’t tell her that I was looking into things without Pop’s blessing. Or how worried I was about money. Instead, I focused on how ill-equipped Pop was to find out anything from the Rainbows. She waited until I was done before responding.
“So that’s why he was here yesterday. You are so lucky.”
“Lucky or not, I don’t know how to find out any more than what we already know.”
“Your sources are right there.” She jerked her head toward where the Rainbows were sitting.
“Sure, I’ll just go up to them and ask where Tom is.”
“You said Suze talked to you once before, right?” I nodded. It was twice, actually, but who was counting? “So see if you can’t get her to do it again.”
I thought about it for a minute. Pop said that one of the reasons I screwed up the Wilson case was I didn’t stay invisible. Pop knew how to charm information out of people—he did it all the time. It was all about ingratiating yourself to them. You had to make them want to tell you stuff.
Asking about Tom straight out would definitely tip my hand, but that didn’t mean that Suze couldn’t be a way to get information. She’d been nice to me because of our connection—both of us were suffering
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