“Did she mention a new boyfriend or any plans to go out of town?”
Martin shook her head. “No. She did seem excited though.” She sighed. “Oh dear. I feel terrible about this. Tiffany is such a sweet girl.”
“Do you know a man named Miles?”
“Miles Conway?”
“Does he frequent Wild Things?”
“Occasionally. He’s—” she shrugged “—a little reclusive. He doesn’t get out much.”
“How can I get in touch with Mr. Conway?”
“I think I have his number.” She finished off her Scotch and got up. The brief glimpse of the Brazilian wax job between her legs had Tony glancing at the floor. Martin went back to the bar. She left her glass and returned to her chair with her cell phone. For a half a minute she scanned her contacts. “Here he is. What’s your number and I’ll send you his contact info?”
Tony gave her his number. A fleeting vibration announced he’d received the number. “What does Mr. Conway do for a living?”
She seemed to consider his question. “I really don’t have any idea. I see him from time to time but we’re not really friends, more acquaintances who share an appreciation for the same things.”
Tony didn’t have to ask what those things were. “So Tiffany never mentioned a boyfriend or anyone new in her life?”
Martin moved her head side to side. “Never. She was a little shy when it came to men. Smart girl but very sheltered. I think she came to Wild Things just to prove she had the nerve to step outside her comfort zone.”
Tony could see Tiffany stretching her boundaries exactly that way. She loved life and wanted to experience it to the fullest. Please don’t let that free spirit attitude have gotten her into something dangerous.
“Do you recall anyone at the lounge watching her? Anyone odd who was new to the crowd who hangs out there?”
Again Martin appeared to consider the question. “I’m afraid not. It’s most always the same crowd. I go once or twice a week just to check on things. The owner is a friend of mine.”
“The owner?” Tony asked as if he didn’t know.
“Kenneth. He lives in Atlanta. He and I had a thing back in college.” She smiled as if remembering. “Back then he was too poor for me. I had my sights set on finding a rich old man with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, as the saying goes.”
Apparently she’d found one.
“You have my number.” Tony stood. “I hope you’ll call me if you remember anything at all that might help with the search for Tiffany.”
“I will, yes.” She stood. “I’ll check with some of the others who frequent the club. If I learn anything at all I’ll be sure to call it in.”
“Call me. You have my number,” Tony countered. “I don’t want any information you find lost in the storm of calls coming into the hotlines.”
“All right. I’ll call you.” Her lips slid into a smile. “Maybe we can have dinner or something.”
He decided not to touch that one. “Thank you, Ms. Martin.”
“Hailey,” she insisted as she walked back to the front door with him. “The pleasure was all mine.”
Tony felt her eyes on his back as he walked through the dusk to his car. A woman as hot and wealthy as Martin wouldn’t generally be caught dead in a place like Wild Things. Drugs? Maybe. Disposable fresh meat? Probably.
His phone vibrated against the console.
Angie.
Maybe if he gave her an update now she wouldn’t be waiting at his door when he got back to his room.
He would call her, and then he intended to find Miles Conway.
Antebellum Inn, Milledgeville
10:30 p.m.
He’d meant to call Angie but he’d gotten distracted and frustrated with trying to find Miles Conway.
As Tony walked past the pool and through the gate his entire body sagged with dread. His sister waited for him on the covered patio that served as a porch for the cottage. The lamp on the table next to her provided all the illumination necessary to get a good look at the devastation on her face.
He exhaled a big breath. “I’m a jerk.”
Funny how he regressed to their teen years whenever he was with his sister. No matter what he’d done in his life—good or bad—she was still the big sister who was older, smarter and cooler than him. And prettier, no matter that she was an emotional wreck right now.
“You couldn’t call? Your phone is dead?”
That her voice rose and then wobbled tore him apart inside. He sat down in the other chair flanking the table. “I’m sorry, Ang. I’ve been tracking down leads from here to Macon. I was so absorbed in my work, I lost all track of time.”
Her lips trembled before they twisted into a sneer. “I can smell how absorbed you were.”
“Do you want to hear what I’ve found or do you want to argue about my bad habits?”
She looked away, swiped the back of her hand across her cheek. When she glared at him once more she said, “Fine. Let’s hear it.”
“First, this part is for yours and Steve’s ears only. I had a friend do some digging into Tiffany’s social media accounts. There are only two and she hasn’t posted anything in the last couple of weeks. No private messages, no email. Nothing. Before that, she posted frequently, mostly about school. So something definitely changed recently. I haven’t been able to get to her cell phone records yet.”
“The police say the call and text histories were deleted on both girls’ phones,” his sister pointed out.
“True, but the carriers will have records of their communications. It just takes time to get them.”
Angie looked at him as if she’d expected more. “It took you all day to find that out?”
“I spoke to Tiffany’s roommate again.”
Angie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why?”
“She wasn’t completely forthcoming in her official statement.” Few her age were. “In my second interview with her she mentioned that Tiffany was dating some guy with dark hair—a guy Riley didn’t know.”
Angie frowned. “Tiffany never said anything about a new boyfriend to me. I assumed the boyfriend her roommate mentioned was only a friend. I can’t believe Tif would keep a new boy in her life a secret from me.”
“Well, there’s probably a good reason for that. This guy is older. Mid-to-late thirties.”
“Oh God.” Angie hugged herself, a fresh wave of tears gathering in her eyes. “Does she know his name or where he lives?”
“No she didn’t know, but I do.”
Angie covered her mouth with her hands.
“The roommate also told me she’d seen Tiffany at a club in Macon with this guy. I went to the club.” No need to tell his sister how sleazy the place was.
“Tiffany went to a club?”
Tony raised his eyebrows. “Like you didn’t when you were in college.”
Angie squeezed her eyes shut. “Right.” She drew in a deep breath. “Keep going.”
“The roommate saw her with this guy. According to a friend of the manager the guy is one Miles Conway. I spent the past few hours trying to track him down. He’s not at home. I interviewed a couple of his neighbors who say he’s employed in some capacity in Milledgeville but no one knew where. I’ve got someone working on tracking down his place of employment.”
“You think this guy may have seen her before she...disappeared, or do you think he’s involved somehow?”