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Eric handed the machine over willingly, understanding that she’d want her sister’s privacy maintained as much as possible. “Not many emails,” Eric commented.
“No, her friends mostly message or use social media. Oh, look!” Rhianne had clicked on the Google Calendar. “Aninterview?”
“I bet that appeared automatically, from an email,” Eric suggested. “May I?” It took him a few seconds to find the corresponding email in Robyn’s inbox, confirming the appointment. “Take it this is news to you?
“That Robyn was looking for work as a tutor? Completely. But look at the email address, all random letters and numbers.”
Eric nodded. “It’s a generic trash account that will be extremely hard to trace. Charlie’s the techno whiz. Let me fill him in and he can take it from here.”
He forwarded the email to Charlie while he called him. “Too bad the email didn’t say where they’d meet, just that they’d text her the information. We’d need her phone to get that info—but of course, I’d imagine her phone is wherever she is, so if we could ask it where she was, we’d already know the answer."
“Oh, of course!” Rhianne exclaimed. “Her phone!” She pulled her iPhone from her purse. “Robyn’s got the ‘Find Me’ app installed and…” She was thumbing away as she spoke, and a ping sounded. “Bingo. Oh…”
“Where is it?” Eric peered. “Chula Vista, where you live? Where exactly, though? Do you recognize the location?”
“No,” Rhianne said with a frown. “In fact, I can’t think of anything that’s out there. But there’s only one way to find out and that’s to track it down.” She jumped to her feet. “We’ll take my car. Follow me—if you can keep up.” In a second, she was out the door.
“That’s fightin’ talk, Coastie,” Eric muttered, racing after her.
The chase was on.
3
Trying to understand where they were headed, Rhianne found her focus split between the unfamiliar streets and her redheaded passenger. What was he thinking? She’d caught him glancing at her from the corners of his eyes.
“What?” she asked, unable to hold in a question.
“You’re the one who knows the area. Any thoughts on what we might be walking into?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t really know this part of Chula Vista,” Rhianne replied. “To be honest, I didn’t think there was much of anything out here other than the border crossing into Tijuana. But it’s a big city—new stuff pops up every day.” She peered out of the window again.
“The location seems an odd place for an interview,” Eric finished for her.
Yes. A coastal city, Chula Vista had some great areas to live—Rhianne was guilty of stalking real estate listings in Eastlake, both its Shores and Woods neighborhoods—but they were coming into an area that truly was as barren as she’d remembered. She took another glance down at her phone on the center console to check she hadn’t taken a wrong turn. She hadn’t.
They were almost on the edge of town, a place she’d describe as the middle of nowhere. There were no houses where families needing a tutor could live, so what the hell kind of interview could possibly be held out here? What was Robyn mixed up in?
When her hands ached from their tight grip on the steering wheel, Rhianne realized how afraid she was. And as soon as she admitted that, fear settled heavier and thicker onto her.
“Hey, Coastie—Rhianne.” Eric corrected himself. “How you holding up?”
About to brush him off, to pull her cool competence around her like a cloak, Rhianne bit her lip, then sneaked a look over at him. Something about his confident aura allowed her to drop the pretense and be real. “Honestly? I’m just about scared out of my mind.”
That seemed to stun him—a mile or so went by in silence, as if Eric didn’t know what to say in return. Finally, he pushed a hand through his unruly copper curls and sighed. “I’m sorry. For being a jerk earlier, I mean.”
Rhianne was taken aback. This sounded much more sincere than his apology in the office. “Thanks,” she replied. “And it’s okay.”
“Is it?” Eric sounded doubtful. “I don’t understand your family dynamics—or any family, really—but it’s not my place to judge them.”
His earlier words had surprised her, but this shocked her. And yet, Eric’s confession struck her as being genuine.
“Well…thanks,” she repeated. “It’s kind of you to say that.” His honesty and humility sparked off some in her. “And you weren’t wrong, actually. About my mother. She’s not worried about Robyn at all. She thinks she just took off, ran away. When I tried to talk to her about it last night, she said Robyn will ‘turn up again when the man she’s panting over comes to his senses. Ohandprobably turn up pregnant.”’ Rhianne pursed her lips as though sucking on a lemon to complete her mimicking of her mother.
“Harsh words.” Eric turned in his seat to her.
“Yeah.” Rhianne let out a tired sigh.
“Hey.” Eric reached over and squeezed her arm. “I’ll do everything I can to help you find her. You got my promise on that.”
