Shee hoisted the papers into her arms and carted them outside to take advantage of the fresh air and dying sunlight. She’d learned years ago spending time beneath the flickering lights of cheap motel rooms was the fastest way to ruin her mood.
Pulling a plastic chair to her portion of the shared patio, she plopped the pile on a matching white table.
Scotty’s father swore he wasn’t supporting his monstrous son during the boy’s time on the lam. Maybe he wasn’t. Rumor had it Rear Admiral Carson was planning to run for Senator. His rapey kid was embarrassment enough—let it be known he helped his son escape and his political career would be scuttled.
Scotty’s most probable support system lived nearby. Without Daddy, Scotty needed someone, and after poring through old yearbook and Academy photos, Shee had noticed a boy named William Kay often appeared grinning by Scotty’s side. Another entitled USNA legacy kid, William Kay had made it through clean and was currently training at the Naval Aviation Schools Command, in Pensacola, Florida. He had a parent-funded apartment near Middleburg, Virginia, though. A home base.
An empty home base.
William Kay’s apartment would be Shee’s first stop. She looked at her watch. She wanted to be on the road before sundown, but her father was taking forever primping for his date.
Someone yanked open a sticky door and she peered down the long porch to spot her father, looking dapper and hopelessly military, even in his street clothes. He spotted her pile of homework and frowned.
“What is that?”
“Just notes for the next case.”
“You already picked a new one?”
She nodded.
“All work and no play makes Shee a dull girl,” he warned.
She shrugged. “Someone has to balance us out.”
He bobbed his head in the direction of the honkytonk. “I’ll be over there a while. You’re welcome to join us if you get bored.”
“At the Donkey Tonk? Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Oh come on. It’ll be fun.”
She shook her head. “You just want to use me as bait.”
“Bait?”
“Women love a man with a baby.”
He laughed. “You’re twenty-one.”
“But I’m adorable.”
Mick walked away, chuckling.
As soon as he reached the halfway point between the the hotel and the bar next door, Shee moved inside to drop her paper pile back on the dresser. She grabbed her oversized purse and the spare car key and headed to their Jeep. William Kay’s house was twenty minutes away. If her hunch was right, she could have Scotty in custody in less than an hour, her first solo capture completed.
&&&
Running through scenarios in her mind, Shee nearly missed the turn into Kay’s apartment complex. She circled the lot and parked one building down from his second-floor entrance. Nothing about any of the cars parked outside screamed Scotty. He’d skipped in a hand-me-down BMW, but he’d have traded that car by now if he were smart. No doubt his father had some pretty talented gumshoes on his trail.
Shee looked up. The apartment’s only front-facing window was dark.
Feeling her pepper spray inside her purse, she left the Jeep and made her way up the stairs to knock on Kay’s door.
No answer.
No problem.
She retrieved her lock-picking pack and jimmied the door to slip inside.
So far, so good.
The small apartment was neat. It didn’t feel as though anyone had lived there recently. Stale air filled her nostrils as disappointment slumped her shoulders.
Might have called this one wrong.
She moved from room to room. Bed made. No toiletries displayed. Everything clean, the way someone might leave a home if they knew they’d be out of town for a long time.
Hope dwindled until she spotted an envelope in an otherwise empty trashcan and plucked it out. Plain, white, empty. Reusable, but trashed instead.
Hm.
Had William left something for Scotty to pick up? Something that fit in an envelope. Cash? Instructions? A key?
She moved to the kitchen trash and slid it from its hidden spot behind a lower cabinet. Like the other trashcan, it proved empty but for one thing, this time, an empty wine bottle.
Shee pulled out the bottle. She didn’t know much about wine, but it looked expensive. Scotty had a thing for pricey wines, if the photos she’d seen of him holding up glasses and bottles were any indication.
She turned over the bottle. Not a drop. It smelled like vinegar. He hadn’t been drinking here lately.
Shee wandered to the sofa and sat, trying to imagine where Scotty had enjoyed his wine. Probably here, on the sofa, in front of the television.
On top of a coffee-table book about the history of military planes—no doubt a Christmas present from William Kay’s proud parents to their son—sat a local Pennywise magazine. A classified ad circular was the sort of thing a local rich young man would never grab from the magazine stand outside a food store. No label, it hadn’t come through the mail, and Kay wouldn’t have left it out after otherwise meticulously cleaning his apartment.
She picked up the flyer and flipped through it.
What were you looking for, Scotty? What do you need? New car?
Maybe. And if his father wasn’t supporting him, he needed money. He wasn’t going to make it far without Daddy paying the bills. Not with his taste in wine.
Shee glanced at the envelope again. William and Scotty looked a lot alike. What if the envelope had contained an old I.D.? Using his buddy’s I.D. to skip the country would be risky, but to get a job somewhere, figure out his next step...
Shee stopped flipping as her gaze settled on a classified ad for a local vineyard looking for store help.
That would be a
