He kept his head down and his face averted from any possible cameras. He couldn’t take the chance of someone seeing and identifying him later. Or worse, security cameras catching him.
“Hello,” Preston greeted after the third ring.
His drowsy voice alerted Dante that he’d been sleeping.
“Do you know a Margie Dalton?”
There was a pause as blankets rustled across the line and a click sounded. “Dan?”
“Yes. Do you know a Margie Dalton?”
“Yeah, Margie’s a good friend of Jasmine’s. Why?”
Bile churned in his stomach. If Jasmine could do that to her friend, what would she do to someone she considered an enemy? “How good of a friend?”
“They were best friends. Margie used to go out to dinner and play cards with us, and they always went shopping together. She’s human, and she doesn’t know what Jasmine is, but they’re extremely close.”
A couple of the puzzle pieces fell into place. “Are they close enough to go on a cruise together?”
“Oh, yeah. They used to talk about going on one all the time, but they never got around to it.”
So, there was no one to report Margie missing because they all thought she was on a cruise with her best friend. Her work and friends wouldn’t start to worry about her until her vacation ended.
“Why are you asking about Margie?” Preston inquired.
Choosing to ignore Preston’s question, he asked another one of his own. “How long have they been friends?”
“Jasmine told me she’d lived in the building for a few years. They bumped into each other when Jasmine was carrying in boxes, and Margie helped her. They’ve been friends ever since. Is Margie okay?”
Dante had no idea what caused Jasmine to snap like this. It couldn’t be the fact Preston dumped her if she started acting crazy while they were still together.
“Dan, is Margie okay?”
Dante didn’t know how to break it to him easy, so he ripped the Band-Aid off. “She’s dead.”
Preston sucked in a breath. “What happened?”
“Jasmine killed her.”
“No!” Preston blurted. “She wouldn’t do that! She loved Margie. They were like sisters, except they never fought. Margie was a good person; she was sweet and kind and… how do you know it was Jasmine?”
Dante glanced around to make sure he was still alone before filling Preston in on what he discovered in Margie’s apartment and what he believed happened. When he finished, stunned silence followed his words.
“What happened to her?” Preston finally whispered. “Jasmine wasn’t like this.”
“She is now, and she still has Julie. I’m pretty sure Julie’s still alive, or I would have found her body in the apartment. Can you think of anywhere she would go?”
“No.”
“This is to get back at you for whatever reason she’s concocted in her twisted brain. Is there anywhere the two of you went that you would consider a special place?”
“We went to the Cape a couple of times, to New Hampshire, Foxwoods, the Jersey shore—”
“It would have to be somewhere close. Even if she is controlling Julie’s mind, she wouldn’t be able to take her far. Where did you meet?”
“At one of Opal’s parties. It was in an old warehouse down by the waterfront.”
“Did it have the same kind of soundproofing as the party last night?”
“Yes.”
“Where exactly is it?”
More rustling sounded on the other end before Preston spoke again. “I’m coming with you.”
“No. Tell me where it is.”
“I’m coming with you. If Jasmine is like this because of me or doing this because of me, then I’m coming with you.”
Dante gritted his teeth against his mounting frustration. He could hang up and catch a taxi to the waterfront, but there were a lot of buildings there. It could take hours to figure out where Jasmine had Julie. And he had a feeling that if he said no, Preston would go on his own.
“Tell me where to meet you,” Preston said.
Dante tried one last time to get him to stay out of this. “She’s not like this because of you. From what you’ve told me, she was losing control before you broke up with her.”
“I don’t care. She has my sister. I’m coming with you.”
“Fine.”
He glanced around his location, but he wasn’t far enough away from Jasmine’s apartment to have Preston meet him near here. He couldn’t send Preston straight to the waterfront in case he beat Dante there. The last thing he needed was the guy walking straight into Jasmine’s hands. There wouldn’t be any reason to keep Julie alive then.
Then he thought of a neutral location. “Meet me near Lavender Moon, but don’t go inside.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Dante hung up and called Cassidy. He would keep her from being involved in this, but she would worry if she didn’t hear from him. He wouldn’t tell her what he discovered in Margie’s apartment until later.
“Hello,” Cassidy said breathlessly as wind blew across her mouthpiece.
The sound of her voice melted some of his lingering revulsion over the brutality he just witnessed. He ached to hold her again. She was the only one who could make this day any better.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “You sound like you’re running a marathon.”
Cassidy chuckled. “Sort of. I’m running late for work and just got to the bar. How are things going with you?”
“I might know where Julie is.”
“That’s great! Where?”
“The waterfront. I’m heading down there now to check it out. I’ll meet you at Addy’s in a little bit.”
“You shouldn’t go alone.”
“Preston is coming with me.”
Cassidy didn’t know how to feel about that. She believed Preston didn’t have anything to do with Julie’s disappearance, that he cared about her and wanted to find her, but she didn’t trust him with Dante’s life.
“I’ll meet you down there,” she said.
“No. You have to work, and I’m not entirely sure where it is on the waterfront. There are dozens of possibilities, if not more. I’ll be fine.”
“Dante—”
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Don’t worry about me. Go on stage and wow them; I’ll be there as soon as I
