“Right. Doesn’t sound like it’s going to amount to much.” I sat beside Jayne on the couch. “Did you see Sugar?”
Jayne put her hand on my leg. “She’s sleeping on the guest room bed.”
I felt like I should do something. I just didn’t know what. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, trying to think of what to do next. Jayne leaned in closer, and I put my arm around her. Then she stretched toward me, kissed my cheek, and whispered, “It’s going to be okay.”
I nodded, but I didn’t really believe that, as much as I wanted to.
Jayne got up and went over to Birdie, taking her purse with her. She dug into it and pulled out a bottle of men’s cologne.
I frowned. “Where did you get that?”
Jayne lifted one shoulder. “Tony’s dressing table. I want Birdie to smell it and see if it’s the same as what she smelled in the old emergency exit at the theater.”
Birdie held out her hand. “Let me take a whiff.”
Jayne gave it to her, and she twisted off the cap. “Serengeti Nights?” She frowned, then held the bottle to her nose. A second later, she grimaced. “Ew. Yes, that’s the same stuff.”
“So what does that mean?” I asked, twisting around to see them better. “That Tony’s a possibility again?”
Birdie looked at Jayne, then back at me. “Could just mean the kidnapper has the same dreadful taste in cologne. Not sure how popular that stuff is, but I know they sell it at most drugstores. It’s not exactly designer stuff.”
I sank back down on the couch. Another dead end.
When my dad returned with Aunt Zinnia, I got up to greet her. Her expression said that my father had explained on the ride over what was going on with my mom. “Hi, Aunt Z.”
“Oh, Sin.” She wrapped me in her arms, the familiar smell of her lilac perfume a reassuring comfort. “I’m so sorry. I hope I can give you some good news.”
“Me, too.” I did my best to give her a little smile as we broke apart. I pointed to Jayne, who’d come over to welcome Aunt Z as well. “You remember my wife?”
“Jayne, of course. How could I forget a princess? Your wedding was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She gave Jayne a hug too.
My father gestured toward the back of the house. “I’ll go get something of Lila’s.”
“All right,” Zinnia said.
While he did that, I introduced her to Birdie and Jack. She’d met them at the wedding too but only briefly, so I wasn’t sure she’d remember them. She did. She immediately asked Birdie about her grandniece and grandnephew, proving she and Birdie had clearly spent more time talking than I’d realized.
I let them chat. It meant I didn’t have to make small talk, something I definitely wasn’t in the mood for.
Jayne came up to me, cupping my face in her hands. “You look like you’re on the verge of something not good.”
I leaned into her touch, closing my eyes for a moment. “I’ve never dealt with a situation like this before. If she’s gone, Jayne, it’s going to change me. I won’t be able to rest until I know what’s happened.” Until I’d punished the person responsible.
“I know. But I don’t think she is. We’ll figure out who has her. We will. And we’ll get her back safe and sound.”
“How can you be so sure?”
She smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “Because we have to be. Because nothing less is acceptable.”
“I wish it was that easy.”
She took her hands away. “We just need to think harder. Maybe look at the ransom note again.” She frowned. “Sin, when your aunt is done, let’s go back to the theater and examine that walled-off exit again. Maybe we missed something.”
My dad returned with my mom’s phone. As items went, that was about as personal as you could get. He held it out to Zinnia.
She took it and held it close to her heart, closing her eyes.
We all waited, barely breathing.
At last, Aunt Zinnia opened her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not getting anything. Which means Lila’s still alive.”
New energy and purpose coursed through me. My wife had been right. I needed to listen to her more. I grabbed Jayne’s hand. “Come on. We’re going back to the theater.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Jayne
Aunt Zinnia’s announcement confirmed what I’d already thought. Not that I was in any way psychic, but something told me Lila hadn’t been done away with. Maybe it was the casualness of the ransom note. Maybe it was my gut feeling. But I refused to believe that whoever had taken her planned to end her life.
Going back to the theater might not give us any more clues, but at least it was something to do until we figured out our next step. Or the kidnapper sent another note.
Or maybe, just maybe, Lila was returned. After all, the note had said she was fine and would be returned soon. We were just now approaching the twenty-four-hour mark. That was soon, right?
Sin was much more like himself. Until Aunt Zinnia’s announcement, he’d looked so dark and depressed, I wasn’t sure if he was going to be all right. I knew he had abilities I didn’t fully understand. The kinds of skills that were the reason some people feared necromancers. But I’d never seen that side of him before.
I didn’t really want to, either. Although in this case, if his mother didn’t make it home… I wouldn’t blame him for whatever he did.
He parked in his dad’s spot at the Oasis, and we went into the closed theater. A sign had been posted out front about the show being on temporary hiatus.
Two more days, and they’d be in breach of contract. I thought that through for the hundredth time, but I could only think of three people that really benefited, and one of them was dead.
Tony and Frank certainly looked suspicious, but we’d turned up nothing to connect them in a concrete way.
Sin had gotten the keys from his father, so he unlocked the door and we slipped into the theater. It was cool and dim in the lobby. Only a few lights were on since there was no show.
Sin went right to the hidden panel and popped it open. The passage was dark. Not even the emergency lights were on.
I looked at him. “Did we turn these lights off when we left?” I knew we’d put the panel back.
“No. One of the stagehands must have. Or the casino people.”
“But who else would have known they were even on?”
“Good question. You think someone’s been in here?”
“Maybe. Seems that way.”
“Agreed.”
I felt around on the wall just inside the door. “Where is the light switch?”
“Nothing there?”
“Not that I’m feeling.”
He turned his phone flashlight on and stepped in to have a better look. Something crunched under his feet. He redirected the light downward as he crouched for a closer look. He picked something up and stood. “What’s this?”
He held a tiny broken piece of something dull and beige between his fingers. The color of wheat, kind of. And lightly ridged.
Realization hit me hard. “Oh! It’s pasta.”