Stranger in Town

CHAPTER 7





Instead of calling Giovanni again the next morning, I tried my luck with his right-hand man, Lucio. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, Sloane.”

“I need to talk to Giovanni,” I said. “I’ve been calling for a few days.”

“Boss can’t talk right now. He’s in an important meetin’. Said to tell you he should be home soon.”

“That’s it?”

“Oh and uh, one more thing—he said not to worry. He’ll explain everything later.”

“He’s too busy to send a text?” I said. “It’s been four days, Lucio. What’s going on?”

“Don’t get all bent, Sloane.”

“I’m not,” I said.

“Sure sounds like it. Things here are, ahh, complicated at the moment.”

How complicated could they possibly be?

I sat there trying to decide whether it was worth saying something I might regret later. It probably was, but I stayed quiet.

“Sloane, you still there?”

“I’m here,” I said.

“Want me to give the boss a message for you?”

“Yes. Tell him I won’t be around when he gets back in town.”

“Why? Where you goin’?”

“Just tell Giovanni not to worry, okay?” I said. “If he can explain everything later, so can I.”

I pressed the end button on my cell phone and sent it to voicemail when Lucio called back. I zipped my suitcase closed and looked around for Lord Berkeley who’d been MIA for the last half hour. The dog had good instincts. He knew whenever I put my shoes on, I was leaving. Combine that with packing a bag, it usually meant he was going to a sitter for a few days, something he didn’t particularly like.

I called Lord Berkeley’s name out several times, but the only response I got was a room full of silence. There was only one thing to do. I walked to my front door, opened it, and knocked. Boo scampered around the corner in full alert mode, teeth clenched, growling at the door. It worked every time.

“Let’s go for a ride,” I said.

He gave me a look that said, Listen lady, I know what the word ‘ride’ means. And I’m not going to no sitter.

“It’s okay,” I said. “You can come with me this time.”

He didn’t understand, but when he spotted the bag of dog treats I rattled around in my hand, it no longer mattered.

I heard a noise behind me that sounded like someone roller blading on the pavement. I turned around, facing the blond, pigtailed woman in front of me.

“All ready to go,” Maddie said.

“Umm, what are you talking about?”

She smacked me on the arm. “I’m your plus one.”

“I already have a ‘plus one,’” I said, pointing at Lord Berkeley.

“Oh, come on. You’re such a stiff sometimes,” she said. “I need a vacation, and you’re going somewhere I haven’t been before, so I figured I’d tag along and keep you company. Besides, if I don’t go, you’ll just call me with a bunch of questions anyway. You always do.”

I walked past her.

“I’m going whether you like it or not,” Maddie said.

I turned, looking her in the eye.

“I’m looking for missing children this time, not dead bodies. At least, I am hoping it won’t come to that.”

“Just because you think you’re better on your own, doesn’t mean you are. How many people in your line of work can say they have a medical examiner at their disposal?”

“Will it matter if I say no?” I said.

Maddie smiled, knowing she’d won. Not many people did with me. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll stay out of your way.”

I glanced at the cut-off denim shorts and pointy boots she was wearing and somehow didn’t believe a word of it. “What’s with the outfit?”

“You said Wyoming, right?”

“Yeah—but not Wyoming streetwalker.”

She tossed her head back and laughed.

“I bet half the girls in the state dress like this. You’ll see.”



Four hours and one pit stop later, we pulled into a three-star hotel on the outskirts of town.

Maddie stuck her bottom lip out like a child who’d just been told there wouldn’t be any dessert tonight. “Where are we?”

“Pinedale,” I said.

“I thought we were going to Jackson Hole?”

“We are, but I want to look around here first.”

“Why?”

“This is where the first kidnapping took place,” I said.

“But the guy who hired you was from the second kidnapping, right?”

I nodded.

“Going to Jackson right now would be like crossing the finish line before starting the race,” I said. “I need to start at the beginning, where it all happened.”

She wasn’t listening anymore. Her attention had been diverted to the exterior of the hotel. She waved her hand in front of her. “This is the best you could do?”

“What’s wrong with it?” I said.

“I’m in charge of making the reservations from now on.”

I shrugged.

“I’m not sure they have five-star hotels in this town. You might be on vacation, I’m not. Five-hundred-thread-count sheets won’t help me find two lost girls.”

She smiled.

“Yeah, but getting good sleep might.”

I glanced at the time on my phone. “I need to run into town really quick.”

“Can’t it wait until morning?”

I shook my head.

“I want to stop by the grocery store before they close.” I snapped Boo’s leash on his collar and handed it to her. “There’s a pool. And a Jacuzzi. You’ll be fine.”

A black Dodge Ram circled the parking lot and then exited without stopping. Normally, it would have flown under my radar, but the black grille guard on the front caught my eye. I’d seen a similar truck before in the McDonald’s parking lot the day before when I met with Noah Tate. But the Dodge hadn’t even slowed as it passed by, and there was no reason for me to believe I was being followed. Not yet. I shook it off. After all, I was in Wyoming where trucks were a dime a dozen. Right?