I whipped my phone out and starting texting as fast as my fingers could go. I filled in Birdie on all the details, asking her to check out Lou Scholtz and find out everything she could. Maybe we were grasping at straws, but we had so little else to go on.
By the time we got back to Sin’s parents’ house, Birdie was waiting for us.
“Whose information do you want first?” She held up two pieces of paper. “Carrie’s or Lou’s?”
I put my hand out. “We’ll take them both.”
Anson stood nearby, looking as worried as he had when we’d left. Sin went over to talk to him and, I assumed, fill him in.
Jack gave Birdie a wink. “Good job, honey.”
“Just doing what I do,” she said.
“Well, I want you to do more of it.” There was no reason to take Birdie off the case. If she could discover anything of use about Carrie or Lou, it could lead us to Lila. That was all that mattered.
“I’m happy to help,” Birdie said. “Is there anything or anyone specific you want me to focus on?”
“Just dig in,” I said. “Anything you find might be useful. I think Lou is more interesting than Carrie at this point, so start with him, but I’m happy to know anything about them you can find.”
She nodded. “Between us, I still don’t like Tony. After all, any man who cheats on his wife…”
“I know. And I agree. But he really sounded surprised. Jack can tell you.”
“He did.” Jack looked at her. “What can I do to help, honey?”
“Get me a mocha latte. With whip. And keep them coming.” She smiled at me. “All I need is my laptop and a steady supply of caffeine. Possibly some snacks. Pastries maybe. Or a little chocolate.”
Caffeine and snacks were easy. I just hoped she could find something useful. I went over to where Sin was talking to his dad. “I have the addresses.”
Sin nodded. “Dad, we should get going. If you hear anything, let us know.”
“You’ll be the first one I call.” Anson took a deep breath. “Find her.”
“We’re going to do our best.” Sin smiled, but the expression was tight and thin and meant for reassurance that he clearly didn’t feel.
I leaned in. “And you’ll be the first one we call the moment we have news.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, wait. Sin, did you ask your dad about the cameras?”
“No, that slipped my mind.” He looked at his father. “Dad, can you get the security cam footage from the lobby for the time when Mom would have come out of the booth?”
“I can, but I don’t think they’ll help. The lobby is dark at that point of the production, otherwise the light would tip off the audience when she opens the doors to come back in. Besides that, those cameras only show the exterior lobby doors. Not the doors into the main theater.”
That wasn’t going to help, but I couldn’t let it go. “Even so, maybe they picked up something?”
“I’ll get them,” Anson said.
“Thanks, Dad.” Sin clapped his father on the shoulder, then put his hand on my lower back as we walked toward the door. He spoke as soon as we were outside. “I’m worried about him. If something happens to my mom, it will kill him.”
I obviously didn’t know Anson as well as Sin did, but I was feeling the same way. “It seems like whoever did this definitely could have meant to disrupt the show. That really makes Lou look bad.”
“I think so too. I say we start with him.”
I looked at the addresses Birdie had given me. “He lives in a place called Sierra Vista. Do you know it?”
Sin sighed. “That’s not going to make visiting Lou very easy. That’s another high-end neighborhood with security.”
“We’ll just get Birdie to find a gate code again like we did for Tony.”
“Won’t work. Sierra Vista has a guard shack. You have to give your name, then they call the person you’re going to see. If Lou doesn’t want to see us, and why would he at this hour, then we don’t get in.”
I tipped my head and gave him a sweet smile. “Have you ever known a thing like that to keep me out?”
He laughed softly. “No. But this isn’t just a guard gate. Sierra Vista has a wall around the entire neighborhood.”
I gave him a look. “Get the RV keys and just trust me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Sinclair
Life with Jayne was never boring, that much was for sure. I drove the coach to Sierra Vista, not sure what she wanted me to do next, but then, she didn’t seem exactly sure either. I pulled into the parking lot of a drugstore about a block away from the turn into Lou’s neighborhood. “Where do you want me to go now? We’re basically there.”
Spider, who was curled up on her lap, yawned. “Spider go somewhere?”
“No, Spider,” she told him. “You and Sugar have to stay here.”
“Mkay.” He went back to sleep.
“Sin, can you drive around the outside? Around the wall, I mean. Not too fast, though.” She was looking at GPS on her phone. “I kind of get the idea of where Lou lives in the neighborhood. I just need to get my bearings.”
“Sure.” I headed out again, starting my low-speed tour of Sierra Vista’s border wall.
“Oh! Pull in here.”
“Babe, there is no ‘pull in.’ This is desert.”
She looked up. “Hmm. Well, we have good tires. Get closer to that wall.”
Her plan suddenly became clear. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What isn’t?”
“For you to climb on top of the RV and then jump down onto the other side of the wall. How are you going to get back?”
Her intensely blank stare told me all I needed to know. “How do you know that’s what I’m planning?”
“Because I know you.” I shook my head. “You’ll get stuck in there.”
She wrinkled her nose at me. “I figured we’d both go.”
“Okay, so we’d both get stuck. That’s not any better. Plus the RV would just be sitting here with Sugar and Spider in it.”
She gave me a stern look. “Your mom could be in there.”
“Lou wouldn’t keep her at his house any more than Tony would.”
“Then he won’t be home, and we can look for clues. Come on. We can probably just jump the wall.”
“You can. I don’t have the extra strength and speed that winter elves do.”
She frowned. “I forgot about that. Well, I’m not going in there without you.”
“No, you’re not.” I thought for a second. “What if we set up a meeting with him?”
“Are you serious?”
“Sure. I could tell him exactly who I am and then spin a story that I don’t think my parents’ current management is doing the best job for them and I want to see what he could bring to the table.”
“That’s genius. He’d definitely go for that. I think. Unless he’d see it as a conflict of interest, what with already representing Tony.”