She's Not There - Madison Marla (читаем книги онлайн TXT) 📗

“My man-diction?” Her play on words sent her into another fit of giggling.

52             

In her apartment after she’d dropped off Janeen and the kids, TJ reviewed what they had so far on the missing women; there just weren’t any real commonalities among them. A few had had a hint of a new man in their lives, but nothing certain. They needed something concrete.

Eric didn’t think Kayla had been seeing anyone, but she’d been a party girl, so maybe anything could be possible. When TJ had interviewed Kayla’s two running partners neither claimed to have known about her seeing anyone. Maybe she needed a rematch with those bitches. It was, after all, Friday night—their night to prowl the clubs. TJ wasn’t ready to let the group know she and Richard cancelled their weekend plans. She didn’t want to tell them and listen to a safety lecture about being alone, but she wasn’t feeling up for going out by herself either.

She dialed Shannon’s cell. The woman was always eager to be included. When she picked up, TJ said, “You aren’t talking to me. Get it?”

“Sure. What happened?”

“My plans changed.”

“Okay. I heard you went to the Y this morning. Did you find anything?”

“Nothin’ much. Found the woman who talked to Jamie from time to time. She remembered Jamie mentioned a new guy she‘d seen around the Y, described him as a real hottie, but that was about it. Checked with management to see if they had a new membership right around that time, but there weren’t any new sign-ups that fit the description. So either he was already a member at some other location or passed himself off as a member.”

“Too bad we couldn’t find someone who remembers him.”

“Yeah. Don’t think there’s anything more there.”

“How about the Sombrero Club?”

“They said next week would be better. You know, folks gone for the holiday now.”

“Well, employees might be, but this might be a good weekend to find the regulars hanging out,” Shannon suggested.

Great, TJ thought. Now Shannon would think going out there tonight was her idea. “Wanna meet me there?”

“Uh . . . sure.”

“Park in the overflow lot across the street. I’ll meet you at ten.”

A country-rock band was playing at the Sombrero Club when TJ and Shannon walked in. The place was busy, but not as crowded as she’d expected, even better for her purposes. The clubs got the biggest crowd after eleven, so now would be a good time to talk to the bartenders.

Every barkeep they talked to either hadn’t been working that night or didn’t recognize the photo of Jamie Denison. TJ noticed another guy working the waitress station at the end of the bar. When she showed him the photo, he studied it for a long time.

“I think I saw her that night. Yeah, I noticed her ‘cause she was just standing by herself near the end of the bar.” He grinned. “I’m partial to blondes. She wasn’t dancing or talking to anybody. She just stood there holding a glass of wine and watching the crowd.”

“Did you notice when she left?”

“No.” He reached over to fill an order for a waitress who’d slapped a drink slip on the bar.

When he finished, he said, “I saw her talk to somebody.”

“A guy?”

“Nah, a woman. She’s a regular—name’s Kimberly. She’s out on the dance floor now. The one with the tight pants and shiny top.”

She was easy to spot. Doing a wild hip-hop, the other dancers gave her and her partner a wide berth.

TJ stopped the woman as she came off the dance floor. Moving fast, it looked like she was trying to shake off the guy she’d been dancing with.

“Excuse me, Kimberly?” TJ introduced herself. “Mind talking to me a minute?”

Leading her into the restaurant with noise level more conducive to conversation, they took a seat in the waiting area. TJ handed her the photo of Jamie, explaining the bartender had seen them talking the night Jamie had disappeared.

Kimberly’s dark brown hair, cut short on the back of her neck, tapered dramatically longer to fall into giant commas around her face as she looked down at the photo. “Yeah, I talked to her. Probably a Friday night, but I can’t say which one. Couple months ago, maybe. Might have been that night.”

“Can you remember what you talked about?”

“She was just standing by the bar watching, not dancing or talking to anyone. Then Willie came and asked her to dance.” When TJ looked at her questioningly she said, “Oh, yeah. Willie’s here all the time. He’s a real loser—kind of a nut-job, you know? Anyway, this chick in the photo turned down everybody who asked her to dance. When Willie kept asking her she got real pissed.”

“Did you hear what she said to him?”

“I don’t think she said anything really bad. When he finally moved on, I said something to her like ‘He does that to everyone.’ That’s when we talked.”

“Do you remember what you talked about?’

“She said something like ‘How could a creep like that think I’d dance with him?’ I told her not to feel bad, he hits on everybody; no one dances with him unless they’re desperate. ‘Cause he dances like he’s having some kind of seizure.”

“That’s all she said to you?”

“I don’t remember anything else. We didn’t talk much, but mostly we talked about getting rid of guys who won’t take no for an answer. And losers like Willie always hit on the hottest girls. Go figure.”

TJ asked, “He here tonight?”

“I haven’t seen him yet, and he’s always the first one here if he’s around.”

TJ figured Kimberly was done talking; her gaze kept drifting toward the bar. “Did you see her talk to anyone else?”

“Uh-uh. I didn’t see her again. After I talked to her, she left the bar, went into the restaurant.”

TJ found Shannon and repeated the interview with Kimberly. They went into the restaurant and asked for the manager. When a baby-faced guy wrapped in a white apron walked out to talk to them, TJ didn’t think a guy who looked like he hadn’t had his first shave yet could possibly be the manager. His nametag, however, read, “Jason Turnbill, Night Manager.”

A deep, husky voice contrasted with his youthful appearance. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for anyone who saw this woman on a Friday night about two months ago.” TJ handed him the photo of Jamie and gave him the date. As he looked at it, she added, “She was seen entering the restaurant at about eleven.”

“She doesn’t look familiar to me, but I’m not out front too much at that time of night. I can check my records and get back to you in a couple days.”

“Listen, this is really important. Could you run this by the people who are here now and see if anyone remembers her? And we’ll need a list of employees who worked that night.”

Baby-face frowned. “Is this that woman who’s missing?”

“Yeah, and we need to know about her movements that night.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Shannon said, “She probably just got something to eat and left.”

“Dunno. She didn’t go back home.”

“Right. She probably wouldn’t have gone to another club if she ate.”

The back of TJ’s neck tingled. “Somethin’ happened here.”

Jason Turnbill came out accompanied by a petite young woman wearing jeans, a T-shirt and an apron about five sizes too big for her, so long it dusted the floor. “This is Carly. She remembers something.”

Carly didn’t look a day over fourteen. She held the photo of Jamie, and then looked up at them with baby blue eyes too large for her tiny features. “Um, I got off early. About nine, as soon as the big dinner-rush ended.” She hesitated, pulling at her apron.

Jason placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just tell them what you saw.”

Carly flickered a small nervous smile. “I have a friend who’s older than me and she comes here to dance. I snuck over into the bar to meet her after I got off.” She stopped talking, and stared at the floor.