Chapter Two
I stepped out in the hall; Mac was standing in front of the door like a bouncer and Sam was leaning against the opposite wall, pouting like a child who didn’t get what he wanted from the store. Without acknowledging his pout, I turned smartly to the right and started walking down the hall. As I passed Sam, I said, “So who is her best friend?”
“Hey, what did she say about Alison? I have a right to know, she’s my sister,” he said rather loudly.
I stopped quickly standing in front of him. It caught him off guard. “Sam, you came to us for a reason. Right?”
The pout was back. “Yes, but she’s my sister man. I can’t just stand around and do nothing.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to find something else to do. Sam, I get it, you’re worried. Nevertheless, you asked me to help because, deep down, you know you’re not the right person to do this. You know if she were just a little bit stronger, she would not have given me any information. And you almost blew it,” I said.
His attitude changed a little bit, “Almost?” he asked with a small smile.
I turned to start walking down the hall again, but just as I turned, I noticed a grin on Mac’s face. I almost did a double take. It’s not often you see something like that from him.
“Yeah, almost.” I waited a couple of steps. “Sam, you’re going to have to trust us on this.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Who is her best friend? Where is she now?” I looked at him.
“Her best friend?” he asked.
I nodded my head vigorously with my eyebrows raised.
“Um, okay. Janet Feldman; they are best friends because she lived a couple of houses down from my parents. But I don’t know if she still lives with them. I think she’s in college also. I can probably find out if you like.”
“Do your parents know what’s going on?” I asked.
“Yes, like I said, we tell them everything.”
“Okay, that is something you can do for us. Please see what you can find out from her for us and let us know,” I said.
“Okay, you are going to tell me what Rose said?” he asked.
“What do you know about Alison wanting to work as a model?”
“Work? Why does she need to work?” he asked.
“According to Rose, Alison thought it would be best if she broke the dependency of your parents’ money and paid her own way.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense; she didn’t need money.”
“I don’t think it was about money, look at where we are. This is a college dorm. She was looking for independence,” I said. “Did you know she was working as a waitress?”
“No, she wasn’t.”
“So you do not know about it?”
He started to wander off thinking about this. I snapped my fingers in his face. “Think about it later, we have work to do.”
“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. So no, I am completely in the dark if what you are saying is true. Could you fill me in?” he asked.
“Not now. Do you know if she was seeing anyone?” I asked.
“No, she wanted to concentrate on school, at least for the first couple of years,” he said.
“Okay Sam, please see what you can get from her friend and meet us back at the office this evening. We will go over everything we know then.”
“And you will fill me in then, please?”
“I will; everything I get I will let you know,” I said.
Once Sam was out of sight, I turned to Mac and gave him an I told you so look. I got another grin from him and he just walked off. After he got a few steps in front of me he said, “Okay, you were right.”
“Oh, I know and I knew I was right before, but no.” I dragged out the no. “Good news is I got asked out by a kid.”
Mac turned his head quickly, “Really, what the hell is up with that?”
“Rose was a little flirty and at the end she asked if we could go out,” I said.
“And you turned her down?” he asked.
“Um, yes. Made me feel a little like a pedophile.”
“Why? You both are older than eighteen. Perfectly legal,” he said.
“Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean its okay. And I’m way past eighteen,” I said.
He grinned at me, “But she’s not.” And did a double eyebrow raise.
“Oh, I see. You’re jealous. What’s the matter, you afraid you have lost your mojo?”
“No,” he said a little mopey. “She’s too young for me too, but I was hoping to live vicariously through you.”
“You need help,” I said.
“I know; do you know any hot female psychiatrists?” Another grin.
I just glared at him.
“Right,” he said, “Sorry. So what did she tell you?”
Mac knew when to be serious and when it was okay to play goofball. “Apparently Rose knows Sam’s sister better than he thought he did. Alison has been basically studying to become a model, on top of everything else she has going on, and now she is working at a local sports bar just to start making her own money.”
“So, her folks are loaded and will pretty much give her anything she needs, but she still wants to work?” he asked.
“Yes, but I’m not sure about them giving her anything. From what Sam has told me, they are not the kind of parents that will just fork over money because you asked. You have to give them almost a presentation to show why and what.”
“Okay, so where are we headed next? The sports bar?” Mac asked.
“Yep. Let’s see if she had a different life than what Sam knows about.”
So we drove back up McMillan Street to Ninth, turned right and then left on Hemphill Avenue. The bar was on right. It was still a little early for a crowd, but most times a bar has people in it if someone is serving.
The bartender was a good looking girl in her mid-twenties. Dark black hair, probably tall for a girl. Five-foot eleven or so with dark brown eyes. I looked at Mac and got the double eyebrow raise again. I just shook my head. We walked straight to her and when she noticed us, she smiled a little.
“Hi, guys. Is there something I can get you?” she said.
“Well, my friend would probably love your number so he can wow you with his charm.” I looked at him in the mirror. He just glared at me. She noticed it too.
“Gee, I was going to give it to you, but if you don’t want it…,” she ended with a singsong voice.
His mouth opened a little. And she just kept staring at him, waiting for an answer. Then she grabbed a bar napkin and started writing. Now my mouth opened a little. She was done writing and handed it to him. “In case you change your mind.” Mac reached up for it and hesitated for a second before he grabbed it.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “You mind if we ask you some questions?”
She turned to me, “Sure. What about?”
“Alison Peterson.”
“Hey, do you know where she is. She left the other night and has not called or anything. I’m starting to worry about her.”
“Yeah, her family is worried also. That’s why we’re here. We are wondering if you might have an idea if something was going on here that might help point us in a direction,” I said.
“Oh my god, something happened to her?”
“What’s your name, honey?” I asked.
Before she could answer, I heard a phone ring. She looked down and said, “Excuse me just a second.”
Then Mac looked up. “Oh, never mind. I was just making sure you didn’t give me the number to the library or something.”
“Wow, you’re really cute,” she said to him.
This time she got the full out smile. A rare event. “I’m sorry, what was your question?” she asked.
I looked at Mac and he just shrugged his shoulders. “Your name?”
“Oh, right. Everyone calls me Toni with an I.”
“Okay, Toni. Well, we are not sure if something, or anything, has happened. What can y
ou tell me about her? Anything, no matter what you know might help.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Okay, let’s start with how long she has been working here? Is she a good employee? Things like that,” I said.
“Well, she has been great here. She probably started about two months ago. And since then she picked up all the little secrets of waitressing. She has been great with the customers. She does well on tips, which as you know says something about her service. She is already familiar with the regulars and can get them their regular orders,” she explained.
“Is she happy here?” I asked.
“As happy as someone who is going to school can be. They always wish they didn’t have to work. She is not really like that, but you can tell she would rather be doing something else,” she said.
“Do you know what else she would rather be doing?”
“I know she’s going to school for engineering, but she also talks a lot about modeling. I know she is always looking for auditions.”
“Do you know if she has been able to go to any of those auditions?” I asked.
“One or two. She said she has been to a couple, but that they didn’t seem right to her or that they were looking for someone else.”
“You don’t happen to know where or who those were for?”
“No, she didn’t give me those kind of details and since she didn’t get anything, I didn’t think to ask,” she said.
“No, who would,” I said. “What about a boyfriend? Do you know if there was anyone special she talked about?”
“No one special. She was more worried about her studies than boys,” she said. “I mean, she talked about some cute guys that come in here from time to time, but that was it.”
“Any customers take a special interest in her that you know about?” I asked.
“I can’t say a special interest, they all liked her. I mean, you won’t make any money if they don’t like you. Although…,” she trailed off.
I repeated, “Although?”
“Well, there was an older couple that has been coming in for a couple of weeks. If you hadn’t said anything, I would not have thought about it. But since Alison has not been back, they have not either.” She looked a little disturbed. “Do you think that means anything?”
“No idea. Do you know their names or anything about them?” I asked.
“No, and the only reason I mention it is because they were just a little older than the rest of the crowd that comes in here. I mean, sometimes you get an older couple, but they are not usually the kind of people that keep coming back. Usually just tourists,” she said.
“What do you mean by older?”
“Early forties, maybe,” she said.
“That’s not terribly old,” I said with a slight frown.
She laughed, “I didn’t mean old, just older than most people that come in here. I like older men.” She grinned at Mac again. “They have experience and don’t need to learn how to make someone happy. I don’t mind experimenting, but I rather be with someone who knows what they are doing.” The whole time she was staring at Mac. You could actually feel the temperature go up a few degrees. Both Mac and I were standing there with our mouths open just a little. Then I noticed she stopped talking.
I caught my breath and said, “Okay, is there any way to find out who those people were? Video surveillance or something?”
“No, it only stores about two weeks of data and that’s about how long since we heard from her. Plus, they haven’t been in since before that,” she said.
Mac found his voice I guess, “Do you know why they stopped coming?”
She smiled again at Mac, “He speaks. No, sorry, I usually stay behind the bar. I stay pretty busy most days and don’t take time to interact with customers at the tables.”
Mac found his sea legs, I guess, and said, “But you noticed a few things about them? Could you describe them?”
“I think so. It’s been a while, but I could probably do that.” She paused a few seconds searching her memory, “Yeah, I could do that.”
“Since you’re here now, does that mean you could have dinner tonight?” Mac asked.
“Why, yes it does. Are you going to take me to the police department to describe the couple for dinner?”
“No, dinner at the police station is really crappy, trust me,” Mac said seriously.
She looked at him for a couple of seconds. I just grinned to myself. You have to know Mac. Sometimes he says things that sound true, but it sounds like a joke. In this case, he knows first-hand, but it came out like a joke. Toni just started laughing.
“Okay, so where are we going to go then?”
Mac looked at me, I just shrugged. “Have you been to the Sun Dial?”
“No!” She laughed.
“Do I have something stuck to my teeth or something?” Mac asked me.
I couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head.
“You too?”
I looked at him quickly, “Sorry, you don’t.” I turned to Toni, “He’s serious.”
She frowned just a little.
“He was at the police department, doing work for us. Not for anything nefarious,” I said. “And the Sun Dial restaurant, we did some work for the owner. He’ll make room for Mac if he ask him to.”
She looked at me. “Nefarious?”
“I also went to college, but it was just a little while back.”
She chuckled and turned back to Mac, “Should I meet you there?”
“If you would feel better, but if you give me your address I can pick you up if you like.”
She started writing on another napkin. Mac looked over at me and did the double eyebrow raise. She handed him the paper. “What time should I be ready?”
“About seven-thirty. I’ll get us in at eight,” Mac said.
As we were walking to his truck, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was smiling, a rare sighting. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Better than you; I’ll be spending my evening with Toni and who will you be with?”
“She’s a little young, don’t you think?”
“Not if I can keep up,” he said.