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“I’ll let you go.” He examined her card again. “Is that your mobile number?”
“Yes.” Inwardly, she groaned.
Holding up the card, he said, “Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
As soon as he was gone, Elizabeth sighed in relief. She hadn’t realized her palms were sweating until the moment the door thudded softly shut behind him.
One of the women cocked an ear toward the ceiling. “Is someone upstairs? Using the bathroom?”
Elizabeth heard the flushing at the same moment and decided it was time to move the lookie-loos along. “I’ll check and oh, the flyers are on the counter,” she told the two women before heading up the stairs.
Starving, Rex glanced at his watch as he drove slowly through the strip mall that housed Harper Insurance Agency. As expected, the sign on the door indicated that the agency opened at nine Monday through Friday and was closed on the weekends.
Doesn’t help much today, he thought, cruising through the near-empty lot, his stomach growling and reminding him it had been hours since The Breakfast Plate. Somehow he’d missed lunch.
At least he had some time to devote to finding Elizabeth Gaines for Ravinia.
Ravinia.
Sheer trouble.
She’d called him right after he’d broken it off with Pamela and had badgered him until he’d finally told her that Joy and Ralph Gaines had been the previous owners of the insurance agency. When she’d learned it was located in Costa Mesa, she’d said suspiciously, “That’s the same place you live.”
“Lucky,” he admitted. “I know. I’ll check with them in the morning.”
“I want to go, too.”
“Well, that’s a little tough as I’m already here and you’re in Santa Monica. Just sit tight and I’ll give you the information when I get it.”
“How far is it from where you live?”
“The agency? A few miles. Not too far.”
“What’s your address?”
“I’m not giving you my home address,” he’d stated firmly, seeing where this was going. She still surprised him with her frankness and her bold questions. “I’ll interview the owner and hopefully there’ll be some information on the Gaineses.”
“I’m coming that way.”
“No. Ravinia, stay put.”
Click! She’d hung up, probably before she’d heard his last command, which, of course, she would ignore, anyway.
He’d actually stared at his cell phone in disbelief. “Idiot,” he’d muttered, not sure if he’d aimed the barb at her or himself, before jamming the cell into his pocket.
As he drove away from the strip mall toward the two-bedroom ranch he called home, he squinted through the windshield of his Nissan and considered his life. He was renting to buy the house from an elderly couple, but was having second thoughts about putting down roots in Costa Mesa. He’d lived here more years than he’d intended already, but then if not here, where? Since he’d begun his private investigation business, he’d played things by ear and it had worked out fine. But maybe it was time for a change. His relationship with Pamela, such as it was, had come to an end and he knew he’d been feeling restless for a while, though he’d tried to ignore the symptoms.
Ear bud in his ear, he drove through the familiar streets and tried calling Ravinia, but she wasn’t picking up. Maybe she was actually on her way south or maybe her phone had died since their last quick call. Earlier, she’d said she needed to purchase more minutes, but he didn’t know if she’d gotten around to it.
Or she could just be avoiding you.
With Ravinia, who knew?
Was she really on her way to Costa Mesa? he wondered. She could probably catch a bus, or would she dare to hitchhike? That thought made him uneasy.
She’s not your problem.
“Yeah, then why does it feel like she is?” he muttered aloud while rounding a final corner near his house and determinedly pushing all thoughts of the girl with the blond braid, backpack, and tough attitude out of his mind.
