I glance at my watch. “Nope.”
“Wonderful.”
I see Mrs. Masey in her garden from the window, so I wave at her. She spots me, her eyes wide, and then ducks, hiding herself from my view.
I sigh.
At least now no one will be scared of me because of my badge.
“So where did you say you were going? And for how long?” I ask. Sim finally had a chance to hire help at the business, and now she’s going on an extended vacation.
“About three weeks. And I’m just going on a road trip. I’m heading east and I’ll see where I end up!”
“Well, be sure to be safe, and check in with me every couple of days.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
Simone makes me a Bloody Mary and orders a pizza. We try to get together every couple of weeks, but with the recent job change, it’s been a while. We sit down on the couch, talking shit, just like we normally do. We’ve always been pretty close, and our mom always drilled it into us that we had to look after each other.
When our mom died, all we had left was each other, since neither of us had spoken to our father after he walked out on us when I was ten. So we always make time for each other, even if it’s just to check in.
“This Bloody Mary needs less blood and more Mary,” I tease, barely tasting the alcohol.
She laughs. “You still have to drive out of here. I think we are too old to be getting drunk in the middle of the day, Seth.”
“How responsible of you.”
“Responsible is my middle name,” she replies, lifting her chin. “The pizza will soak up the little alcohol in there and then you can remain being a functioning adult.”
My phone rings, and Nadia’s name pops up.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey, are you at the office?”
I glance over at my sister. “Nope, why?”
“We just got an email about a new case. I can’t take it—it involves a little bit of travel. Can you take a look and decide if it’s something you can swing?”
“Okay, will do.”
Traveling doesn’t sound too bad. I could use a change of scenery. We hang up and I sign into my work email, scanning the message there.
From: Constance Wilder <[email protected]>
To: Hawk’s Eye Private Investigators
Subject: Find a Person
Hello, my name is Constance Wilder, and I am looking to hire a private investigator to locate my half-
sister, who I just found out about. I know her birth name, birthdate, and where she used to live. She may or may not still be in the Ventura County area.
I’d appreciate your help in finding her. Please let me know if you can help me. Thank you.
Ventura County. Not exactly the holiday destination that I had in mind, but I’d still have to drive over there and stay a night at least while I investigate. Traffic in Southern California is a bitch.
I weigh what I have going on and decide getting out of town wins, no matter what case I have to work. I reply and tell her that I’m happy to help her, and ask if she can send all the information she has.
The job looks easy enough, and it gets me out of town for a few days or so, which sounds appealing after the last few jobs, which were extremely emotionally draining. I’m happy to step away from the corporate embezzling, cheating spouses and petty thefts.
I finish my cocktail with Sim, have some pizza, and then head to the office. This is another benefit of my new job: I actually like it enough that I don’t mind going in on a weekend.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s new and exciting, but I love this change, and I’m glad that I followed my gut and took a chance on this.
I’m where I’m supposed to be right now, and it’s a good feeling.
* * *
My search for a Cara Wilder comes up empty. Constance’s email says that Cara is Caucasian and in her midtwenties, that she heard Cara is a teacher, and that she possibly might be using her mother’s last name. I search for all teachers named Cara in our surrounding towns and make a list of them. Luckily Cara isn’t an overly popular name, and I narrow it down to three people. I do a social media stalk and the first one is a fifty-five-year-old truck driver, while the second is a renowned Black doctor. The third one sticks out to me, not because she’s the last option, but because she’s drop-dead gorgeous, with shiny long brown hair, wide brown eyes and lips many women pay for.
Her last name is different from both her biological father and mother’s, but she could be married. A check with the DMV shows she has the same birthdate as Constance’s sister. After further research, it looks like she might have taken her stepfather’s surname.
Cara Ward.
Even though her social media is private, I learn that she’s a high school teacher, and Constance was right, she lives an hour or so up north. She’s been pretty close to Constance this whole time, yet they never knew about each other.
I message Nadia, telling her I’m taking that case and leaving for a night.
Chapter Two
Cara
“Miss Ward, why aren’t you married?” one of my ninth graders asks me.
In front of the entire class.
After starting my career in advertising and marketing, I’d decided it wasn’t for me. So I followed in my mother’s footsteps and became an English teacher instead.
Right now I’m wondering if I made the right choice.
“What does that have to do with your English assignment, Amy?” I ask.
I don’t really know the answer to her question. I’ve been dating Rhett Madden on and off for a few years now. We grew up as childhood best friends, along with our other friend Clover, and we were always told how people knew we would end up together.
It was inevitable.
Destined.
We are the love story that everyone saw coming.
Eye roll.
The truth is that we agreed we’d focus on our careers before jumping into something permanent. Rhett is a member of the Wind Dragons motorcycle club, just like my own father, and just like most of the people I love in this world. He’s making his way up the ranks of the MC, and I know how important that is to him. His cut is a lot more than just a vest—it’s his way of life, and it consumes most of his time. The MC is lucky to have him.
Amy shrugs, and I can only guess that she heard some sort of new rumor about me. “Nothing, I was just wondering.”