Kat Martin - Against the Night

“Well, she was onstage,” Babs drawled, “but the Kitty Cat Club isn’t exactly what your sister had in mind.”

Johnnie’s mouth edged up, then he returned his attention to Amy. “How about phone calls, email, that kind of thing?”

“We talked on the phone a few times a year, but it was mostly about superficial stuff. I didn’t know she was working as a…a dancer until I talked to Babs. There’s a computer in the office downstairs. The girls use it for email. She said she had a job as a cocktail waitress. I guess that was kind of the truth.”

“What about boyfriends?”

“She never mentioned anyone special. She never talked to me about her boyfriends or anything like that and I never talked to her about mine.”

Johnnie sliced her a glance. “You got a guy back home?”

There was more to the question than it seemed; she could see it in his eyes. Amy shook her head. “We broke up a couple of years ago. I’m not seeing anyone now.”

Johnnie seemed to relax. “Any other family members out here?”

“No, just me, and I’ve only been here the past couple of weeks.”

“How about friends of hers from the past? People she knew back home?”

Amy shook her head.

“Anything about her you can think of that might help me find her?”

“I don’t know…we drifted so far apart over the years.” Amy smiled sadly. “Rachael could really sing… A voice like a songbird, you know? Only she wasn’t interested in a singing career. She wanted to be a serious actress.”

Johnnie was making mental notes, she could tell. “Anything else?” he asked.

“Only that she wasn’t the type to just go away and not tell anyone.”

“I’m sure you believe that, honey, but as you said, you don’t really know your sister that well—not anymore.”

It was true. Sadly. She should have come out to California sooner, tried to rebuild the close relationship they had once shared.

The waitress arrived with their food, her coffee and two glasses of iced tea. Johnnie stuck the photo into his back pocket, picked up his pastrami sandwich and dug in. Babs slathered her toasted bagel with cream cheese and jelly, tore off a bite and began to nibble. Amy added a little cream to her coffee and managed to take a sip.

“Who’ve you been talking to in the department?” Johnnie asked around a mouthful of pastrami and rye.

“A woman detective, Lieutenant Carla Meeks. I talk to her pretty much every day. She says they haven’t come up with anything new.”

“Sometimes making a pest of yourself works. Sometimes it’s just a distraction.”

She glanced down at the table. “I know.”

Johnnie turned to Babs. “What did Rachael do before she started working at the Kitty Cat Club?”

“She was a waitress down at Milt’s Coffee Shop. But working at the club paid a lot better, and she wanted to save some money.”

“What for?”

“I think she was hoping she’d get an acting job and if she did, she wanted to have enough put away to get a place of her own. I know she did casting calls whenever she got the chance. As far as I know, not much ever came of it.”

“She dating anyone you know of—besides Kyle Bennett, I mean?”

“I knew about Bennett, but she was only seeing him because she thought he might help her get a break. I know she and her mother never got along. I think she wanted to prove something to her.”

That was probably true, Amy thought with a pang. Rachael had desperately wanted her parents’ approval, but it never came. After their dad’s funeral, the split with her mother had only gotten worse.

“What about Bennett?” Johnnie asked.

“I told her he wasn’t for real,” Babs said, “but Rachael had a lot of ambition. She did what she thought she needed to do.”

“So she was sleeping with him.”

“I’m not really sure. I think she might have been playing him the same way he was trying to play her. The month before she disappeared, she kind of clammed up, you know? I figured she was seeing someone else, but she wouldn’t talk about it. She only went out with Kyle a handful of times. She rarely mentioned where she was going or who she was going out with.”

“Any problems with any of the customers? Anyone she blew off who might have had a grudge?”

Babs shook her head, her dark, chin-length hair sliding around her cheeks. “Rachael kind of kept to herself. She and I were pretty good friends, but she didn’t tell me everything. She was popular with the customers. Her stage name was Silky Summers. Everyone called her Silk.”

Babs had told Amy that. Still, hearing it now made her see her sister in a way she hadn’t before, as a woman who did exotic dances for a living, someone who could be made to disappear without much trouble and never be seen again. A trickle of unease slipped through her, reminding her that she was doing the very same thing.

Johnnie finished his sandwich, devouring it with manly enthusiasm and finishing the last of his fries. He waited impatiently while Babs finished her bagel, then shoved back his chair and came to his feet.

“We need to get going. Time’s slipping away and Amy and I have a few things to work out before she meets Bennett.”

Her stomach sharply contracted. She glanced down at the pink-and-silver watch on her wrist. It was only costume jewelry but it was pretty, a birthday gift from Rachael last year. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

The women stood up from the table while Johnnie took care of the bill, then he walked them out the door. As they stood on the sidewalk, Babs dug her car keys out of her purse. A little metal palm tree dangled from the end.

She handed the keys to Amy. “Be careful. I don’t have any insurance.”

“Jesus.” Johnnie shook his head and raked a hand through his short, dark hair.

Amy’s fingers tightened around the keys. She drove a little Honda back home and it was insured. Hopefully, that would cover any problems but she wasn’t really sure. “I’ll be careful.”

Babs waved and started walking back to the club, and Johnnie led Amy toward his car, parked in the lot next to the deli. He pressed his key to unlock the Mustang then opened the door. “Get in.”

Amy slipped into the passenger seat and Johnnie rounded the car and slid in on the driver’s side. Reaching across her, he opened the glove box and pulled out a padded envelope. He tipped it over and a silver, heart-shaped locket fell into his big hand.

“I want you to wear this. There’s a microphone inside. I’ll be able to hear everything you say and whatever’s going on inside the house. If you get in trouble, just sing out.”

Amy glanced up. “You’re going to Bennett’s house with me?”

One of his dark eyebrows went up. “You thought I was going to let you go into that creep’s place on your own? I told you that wasn’t going to happen last night.”

“Yes, but—”

“I drove by there this morning. Expensive area, plenty of parking on the street. I won’t be far away if you get into trouble.”

The nerves returned. “Surely you don’t think…think he’d…he’d do anything to hurt me?”

“You never know with a weasel like that. Just remember I’ll be close enough to hear what’s going on.” Johnnie swung the locket over her head and fastened the catch on the silver chain. Just the brush of his fingers against the back of her neck sent goose bumps over her skin.

She glanced in the mirror. “My earrings are gold. They don’t match.”

“Take them off,” he said.

Amy unfastened the small gold hoops and stuck them into her purse. She reached up and fingered the locket. “You have no idea how grateful I am for this.”

The edge of his mouth faintly curved. “Don’t worry, when the time comes, you can show me just how grateful you are.”