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.“You did damn good on that Sikes thing.”She peeled the medallion off carefully, already certain what was inside.Every year Rashly ordered dark sweet chocolates with liqueur centers, straight from Switzerland.So good they should be illegal.Better than drugs or sex, Dixie had once told him.On her way out the door, she aped a swoon.The second bottle of champagne she took to Amy and Carl, with a split of nonalcoholic bubbly for Ryan and a large container of orange juice.Carl liked to make mimosas on New Year’s morning.“Why don’t you join us tonight?” Amy said.“Bring Parker.Carl picked up a stack of videos.We can make popcorn.”Dixie managed to beg off by reminding Amy they’d be over for dinner the next day.The last three bottles of champagne were intended for the Gypsy Filchers.They wouldn’t be in, of course, but they had methods for keeping track of visitors to their headquarters, even in the daytime.She tapped in the code on the nine-digit keypad.When the elevator doors opened, she placed the three bottles of champagne precisely in the center of the car, and tucked an envelope down between them.Inside the envelope she had placed five one-hundred-dollar bills, five percent of the fee she’d collect later from Belle Richards, wrapped in notepaper with the single word THANKS.They’d never miss her at the party.When the twenty-minute drive home looked like turning into an hour, the roads getting slicker every minute, Dixie picked up the cell phone to call Parker.A coating of ice glistened on rooftops.Long icicles hung from eaves.Power lines drooped under the extra weight.Trees lacy with frozen droplets sparkled red and green in the streetlights, turning the city to a winter wonderland that quickened Dixie’s holiday spirit.The phone fuzzed out a couple of times before she finally got a connection.“I hate to tell you this,” Parker said, “because it probably means you’ll be late for dinner again, but Jon Keyes has been calling every ten minutes for the past hour.”Keyes? “Did he say what he wanted?”“Only that it’s urgent.”Dixie wasn’t eager to have her good mood spoiled, but if Keyes was still pissed about her checking up on him, maybe he’d let slip something she could use.She rang the number he’d left with Parker.The area code sounded like Austin.“Mr.Keyes?”“Oh, Jesus, thanks for calling.After yesterday, I wasn’t sure you would, but I didn’t know who else to ask.The cops won’t help, and I’ve got this awful feeling—”“Slow down.” He was talking so fast she could barely understand him.“Tell me what’s wrong.”“It’s Ellie.” She heard him take a breath.“I phoned to check the messages on my machine.I taught the girls to call anytime, for any reason, or just to talk, only this time Ellie sounds… strange, like she’s hurt or lost… I’ve never heard anything like it.The cafe closed early and Rebecca won’t answer the goddamn phone—”“Where are you?”“In Austin.Flew in for a meeting—”“Maybe Ellie’s medication—”“Medication? Has she been sick? Why the hell didn’t Rebecca tell me?”“It’s only the flu.You didn’t know?”“I haven’t talked to Ellie since Sunday.This goddamn job is running me ragged—”“I was at the cafe this morning.Gillis said Elbe’s still pretty sick.Maybe Rebecca took her to the doctor.” Ellie seems to feel worse every day, Gillis had said.Ryan was almost fully recovered.“I think I have the pediatrician’s number here.” Keyes’ voice grew muffled, as if he had tucked the receiver under his chin.“Here it is.I’ll call him, but… you’re a private investigator, right?”“Well…” Not exactly a licensed investigator.“If Ellie isn’t at the doctor’s office, if they haven’t seen her, I want you to find out what’s going on.”“Mr.Keyes—”“I don’t care what it costs, whatever your rate, I’ll pay.”“That’s not the—”“You can’t imagine how awful Ellie sounded, like she was… I don’t know… scared.”Perhaps Rebecca changed her mind and decided to join Travis in Denton.But Gillis had said Ellie was still ill.“Jon, does Rebecca have family or close friends she might have left Ellie with?”“You obviously don’t know my ex-wife.She’s—well, Rebecca doesn’t make friends, and except for a card or gift at holidays, and to arrange visits for the girls, she’s scarcely spoken to either of her parents in years—”“Her parents are divorced?”“Since Rebecca was a kid.Christ, maybe that’s why Rebecca’s so desperate for attention, why her world revolves around the man in her life.I don’t know how Travis takes it.It nearly drove me crazy—”“Some men would find that flattering.”“I suppose it was, at first.But the woman clings like briar nettles.She won’t let you breathe.She was even jealous of the time I spent with the girls—”“Your adopted daughters.”“Ellie, too, after she was born [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“You did damn good on that Sikes thing.”She peeled the medallion off carefully, already certain what was inside.Every year Rashly ordered dark sweet chocolates with liqueur centers, straight from Switzerland.So good they should be illegal.Better than drugs or sex, Dixie had once told him.On her way out the door, she aped a swoon.The second bottle of champagne she took to Amy and Carl, with a split of nonalcoholic bubbly for Ryan and a large container of orange juice.Carl liked to make mimosas on New Year’s morning.“Why don’t you join us tonight?” Amy said.“Bring Parker.Carl picked up a stack of videos.We can make popcorn.”Dixie managed to beg off by reminding Amy they’d be over for dinner the next day.The last three bottles of champagne were intended for the Gypsy Filchers.They wouldn’t be in, of course, but they had methods for keeping track of visitors to their headquarters, even in the daytime.She tapped in the code on the nine-digit keypad.When the elevator doors opened, she placed the three bottles of champagne precisely in the center of the car, and tucked an envelope down between them.Inside the envelope she had placed five one-hundred-dollar bills, five percent of the fee she’d collect later from Belle Richards, wrapped in notepaper with the single word THANKS.They’d never miss her at the party.When the twenty-minute drive home looked like turning into an hour, the roads getting slicker every minute, Dixie picked up the cell phone to call Parker.A coating of ice glistened on rooftops.Long icicles hung from eaves.Power lines drooped under the extra weight.Trees lacy with frozen droplets sparkled red and green in the streetlights, turning the city to a winter wonderland that quickened Dixie’s holiday spirit.The phone fuzzed out a couple of times before she finally got a connection.“I hate to tell you this,” Parker said, “because it probably means you’ll be late for dinner again, but Jon Keyes has been calling every ten minutes for the past hour.”Keyes? “Did he say what he wanted?”“Only that it’s urgent.”Dixie wasn’t eager to have her good mood spoiled, but if Keyes was still pissed about her checking up on him, maybe he’d let slip something she could use.She rang the number he’d left with Parker.The area code sounded like Austin.“Mr.Keyes?”“Oh, Jesus, thanks for calling.After yesterday, I wasn’t sure you would, but I didn’t know who else to ask.The cops won’t help, and I’ve got this awful feeling—”“Slow down.” He was talking so fast she could barely understand him.“Tell me what’s wrong.”“It’s Ellie.” She heard him take a breath.“I phoned to check the messages on my machine.I taught the girls to call anytime, for any reason, or just to talk, only this time Ellie sounds… strange, like she’s hurt or lost… I’ve never heard anything like it.The cafe closed early and Rebecca won’t answer the goddamn phone—”“Where are you?”“In Austin.Flew in for a meeting—”“Maybe Ellie’s medication—”“Medication? Has she been sick? Why the hell didn’t Rebecca tell me?”“It’s only the flu.You didn’t know?”“I haven’t talked to Ellie since Sunday.This goddamn job is running me ragged—”“I was at the cafe this morning.Gillis said Elbe’s still pretty sick.Maybe Rebecca took her to the doctor.” Ellie seems to feel worse every day, Gillis had said.Ryan was almost fully recovered.“I think I have the pediatrician’s number here.” Keyes’ voice grew muffled, as if he had tucked the receiver under his chin.“Here it is.I’ll call him, but… you’re a private investigator, right?”“Well…” Not exactly a licensed investigator.“If Ellie isn’t at the doctor’s office, if they haven’t seen her, I want you to find out what’s going on.”“Mr.Keyes—”“I don’t care what it costs, whatever your rate, I’ll pay.”“That’s not the—”“You can’t imagine how awful Ellie sounded, like she was… I don’t know… scared.”Perhaps Rebecca changed her mind and decided to join Travis in Denton.But Gillis had said Ellie was still ill.“Jon, does Rebecca have family or close friends she might have left Ellie with?”“You obviously don’t know my ex-wife.She’s—well, Rebecca doesn’t make friends, and except for a card or gift at holidays, and to arrange visits for the girls, she’s scarcely spoken to either of her parents in years—”“Her parents are divorced?”“Since Rebecca was a kid.Christ, maybe that’s why Rebecca’s so desperate for attention, why her world revolves around the man in her life.I don’t know how Travis takes it.It nearly drove me crazy—”“Some men would find that flattering.”“I suppose it was, at first.But the woman clings like briar nettles.She won’t let you breathe.She was even jealous of the time I spent with the girls—”“Your adopted daughters.”“Ellie, too, after she was born [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]