The room was small and clean. There were two beds, a dresser/desk with a mirror mounted on it, a television, a nightstand with a lamp between the beds, and a bathroom. He didn’t need more. He placed his small rolling suitcase against the wall while she set her big, quilted overnight bag on the desk.
“I need to use the bathroom,” he told her.
When he returned, she had her nightgown, her tote, and the bag from Big Mart on her lap.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said.
“I’ll probably be asleep when you’re done. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
She nodded and went into the bathroom.
Inside, Loretta turned on the shower and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet. After setting the unneeded box of tampons on the counter, she reached back into the bag and pulled out the cheap, fully loaded, prepaid phone and a charger. She threw a triumphant middle finger toward the closed door and plugged the prongs into the outlet on the wall.
CHAPTER SIX
When they finished lunch, Jasmine walked to her car, and Torr to his. First stop, her office to grab the surveillance video.
Inside, he looked around. “Nice cozy place.”
She chuckled. “If you mean small, yes. I only have one full-time employee. She’s all I need for now. Everything else is handled by freelancers.”
“How’d you get started?”
Keeping Terri’s name out of it, she explained about the favor for a friend. “Everything sort of blossomed from there.”
“Are there other services like this?”
“Now that, I don’t know. I would think there are, though. Never really looked into it.”
She downloaded the section of the video with Taylor on it and copied it to a thumb drive. “I’m all set. Let’s go see my parents. They don’t live far.”
She reset the alarm and locked up, and they headed out.
Her parents lived in the tree-lined enclave known as Indian Village. The original owners of the spacious homes were the early auto magnates and the movers and shakers that put Detroit on the nation’s map.
After parking, they got out and walked toward the big brick house Jas and her sisters had grown up in. Flowers blooming in a riot of colors surrounded it.
“Love the flowers,” Torr said as they climbed the stone steps to the wide front porch.
“Wait until you see the ones in the back. There’s no grass, which Daddy appreciates because he doesn’t have to mow.”
Jasmine rang the bell. Seeing her mother peek out from behind the blinds over the big picture window, she waved. Then came the sound of locks being undone. The door opened, and her mother—wearing a smile, a tee emblazoned with the letters DPD, shorts, and flip-flops—held the screen aside so they could enter.
Jas shared a hug with her, then made the introductions. “Mama, this is Torr Noble. Torr, my mom, Ellen Ware.”
“Nice to meet you, Torr.”
“Same here, Mrs. Ware.”
Jasmine saw the questions her mom’s eyes held as she sized up Torr, but Jas set them aside. “Is Daddy here?”
“Yes, he’s watching the Tigers lose. Again.”
“Torr and I need to speak with you two about something kind of serious.”
Her mother’s silent curiosity rose. “Okay, come on.”
She led the way to the den-like room Jas’s dad used as his Dad Cave, and Jas’s memories of growing up in the big house surfaced as always: playing hide-and-seek with her sisters, doing puzzles together in the wintertime, holiday celebrations, street showers out front in the summer. She trailed her hand lightly over the wealth of healthy houseplants her mother also loved.
“Rick?” her mom said. “Jas is here. Says she has something she needs to talk to us about.”
He looked up from the game. Rick Ware was a big man, NFL lineman big. His graying hair highlighted his sixty-plus years, but he was still healthy and strong enough to make bad guys shake in their Jordans. He checked out Torr for a long moment, then picked up the remote to mute the sound on the flat-screen TV. He stood, his frame filling the room, and held out his hand to Torr. “Rick Ware.”
“Torr Noble.”
“Military?”
“Yes, sir. Former air force. Rank of captain.”
“I can tell.”
He gestured them to the comfortable old brown leather couch he refused to replace. Her mother took a seat on its arm at his side. “So, what’s up?” her dad asked.
Torr began by bringing them up to speed on the murdered Canadian and the speculation surrounding Elliot Vernon’s ties to the stolen book from Timbuktu. When he was done, her mom said, “Jesus. What was Elliot thinking?”
Jas wanted to know too. Her father just appeared grim. “We don’t like having Jas’s name mentioned anywhere near this.”
“My mom said basically the same thing about my brother,” Torr replied. He’d been keeping her abreast of things.
Her mother turned to her. “So how does this Taylor man that came by your office play into this, if at all?”
“He does.” Jas told them about him interrupting their lunch. “He definitely threatened me this time. My family too. Apparently, he’s looking for payback on Torr.”
Torr told them of his past connections to Taylor. When he finished, the room went silent. Her parents assessed him with the judgmental eyes of cops. Jas had to give it to Torr, he didn’t shrink or squirm under the intense scrutiny.
Her dad finally spoke. “You were with the Legion.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And now?”
“I cut ties with them years ago. I have my own security firm now. I still work for the government every now and then, but none of the contract work is tied to armed conflict.”
Silence filled the room again before her mother asked, “So do you have a plan to get Jas and your brother out of this?”
“Yes. We all agree finding Vernon is the number one priority. I have the resources and the connections. If he’s still on the planet, I’ll find him.”
“And if you can’t?”
“Not being disrespectful, Mrs. Ware, but I don’t do can’t.”
“Not real confident, is he, Jas?”
Jas smiled. “No, Mama. Not at all.”
Her father was still studying him at length. Jas couldn’t tell what his thoughts were on Torr and his confidence.
“Okay,” her dad began. “You and your resources work your end, and El and I will keep making waves with the people we know at the Bureau and at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police so they’ll know Jas and your brother aren’t involved.”
Torr added, “My mom is a former US ambassador. She’s quietly throwing her weight around too.”
Her mom asked, “Are you going to physically hunt Elliot down and bring him in, or just locate him and alert law enforcement?”
“Find him and turn him over to law enforcement. I have clearances that allow me to apprehend and hold, but not the power to arrest.”
“And what role, if any, will my daughter play on this hunt?” her father asked.
Torr turned to Jas for a moment before replying, “Playing that by ear. She knows the Vernons, so he may be more inclined to turn himself in if she can speak with him. Especially if he knows she’s implicated. If he’s gone underground somewhere out of town, it’ll be up to her if she wants to come along.”