The faux sadness vanished with one downward sweep of his thick dark lashes. He stood. “A rain check is fine.” He glanced around the untidy office. “If you’re done here, I should get going.”
The change was more than just his eyes. His face, his posture, all of it shifted. Gone was the flirtatious doctor of charm. Had she hit a sensitive spot?
It didn’t matter. She had what she’d come here for. She should just go. Dr. Womanizer would be fine. It would take a lot more than CJ’s snub or anything else she said to injure his massive ego.
At the door, she hesitated. “Seriously, Carter. Thanks for coming.”
He suddenly noticed the healing cut on her throat. She’d ditched the bandage today. “What happened to you?” One corner of his mouth lifted in a half-hearted smile. “That looks like something I would do trying to shave with a massive hangover.”
“Only I wasn’t the one wielding the blade.” She told him about the incident and how he would find a report in that pile of files.
He complained about how the lack of needed security at the free clinics continued to be ignored by the powers that be, then seemed to get distracted by the piles of files.
“Thanks again,” she said, moving toward the door.
He gave a nod. “Good night, CJ.”
She walked to her rental, got in. The clinic door closed with him still inside. Maybe since he was here he’d decided to do a little catching up. Judging by what CJ had seen so far, the clinic’s paperwork was seriously behind.
Still, she couldn’t shake the notion that she’d said something that hit a nerve.
Whatever. Keeping an eye out for her tail, she drove through the back alleys to 3805 Beacon Street—the village address Celeste had listed on her personal data form. CJ parked in front of the duplex. She’d been to that door already. The woman inside had insisted she had no idea who Celeste Martin was.
Either the woman had lied or Celeste had. It was possible that Celeste had lived at the address and then moved since filling out the form, but CJ didn’t believe that to be the case.
CJ pounded on the door. Until now, she’d knocked quietly in deference to anyone who might be sleeping. Now she didn’t care. Music blasted loud enough to wake the dead, anyway. A couple more hard pounds and the door opened.
“What?” The woman visibly stiffened when she realized it was CJ again. “I done told you there’s nobody named Celeste living here.”
“One of your neighbors says differently.” CJ wasn’t taking no for an answer. “She’s not in trouble. I just need to speak to her.”
The woman looked past CJ as if making sure there was no one else with her. “Look, you gotta go. I don’t need no trouble.” This time she spoke quietly, her voice barely audible with the music so loud.
“Please.” CJ eased a few inches closer. “I really need to find her.”
The woman tortured her bottom lip, her face a study in uncertainty.
“I swear,” CJ pleaded, “I won’t tell anyone you helped me. All I need is a location where I can find her.”
“Celeste didn’t come home last night.” The woman’s lips trembled. “You wrong about her not being in trouble. She messed up real bad. If she ain’t hiding, then she ...” The woman caught herself. “She ain’t here.” Head shaking adamantly, she prepared to close the door.
“Did she get into trouble with Tyrone for talking to me?” CJ’s abdomen tightened at the idea. She hadn’t meant to get the girl in trouble. “She didn’t really tell me anything. We were just chatting. I haven’t lived here in a while and I was only catching up.”
“I can’t say no more.”
The door started to close and CJ blocked it with her shoulder. “I know you’re scared, but if Celeste needs help, I want to help her. Just tell me where she is.”
“Don’t you get it?” the woman hissed. “I don’t know where she is. She ain’t here. If she ain’t working the street, and I know she ain’t, then the only other place she could be is under the bridge.”
“Under the bridge?” Where the hell was that?
“Governor’s Drive overpass. She might be hiding with the homeless.”
Ricky’s aunt had said he might be there. CJ should have remembered that. If Celeste was scared, she would do what Ricky had done—go into hiding in a place with people no one cared about.
“Thank you.” CJ understood the risk the woman was taking even being seen speaking to her. And Tyrone seemed to have eyes everywhere she turned in this village. “I’ll look for her there.”
As CJ was about to walk away, the woman said, “If she ain’t there, then you know she’s probably being punished.”
