“Why would I have a plan? I came to Miami to walk on the beach and drink martinis. I’m just along for the ride.”
“If you were just along for the ride then you shouldn’t have driven,” I said triumphantly.
Kate blew out a breath. “When was the last time you or your mother called Vince?”
“Mom told me his phone is going directly to voicemail,” I said. And then I felt like a dummy because I hadn’t bothered to try Vince’s phone. That was PI 101—always check the most obvious first.
I found Vince’s number in my contacts, and then I waited for it to ring.
“Straight to voicemail,” I said, confirming.
“I can probably get Savage to trace his last known location if we come up with a dead end here,” Kate said. “Your mom might have to come to terms that filing a missing persons report is the best way to get him back. Especially if he’s been digging around in that old RICO case. He might be in more trouble than he bargained for.”
“I don’t suppose you have any binoculars,” I asked, squinting at the front of Angelica’s house.
“Of course I do.” Kate dug around in her giant designer bag and came up with camouflaged travel-sized binoculars.
“Cute,” I said. “You should get some in pink camo. I’ve got a pair of pants that would match.”
“Yes, because that would make you completely unnoticeable.”
“It would in Miami,” I said.
I looked through the binoculars and scanned along the street line. We’d passed a marker on the way into the Upper East Side that proclaimed the area as the historic district, and all of the houses looked similar to Angelica’s.
“I can’t see anything,” I said. “The driveway is on the other side, but I don’t remember seeing a car in the driveway. Maybe you should go check it out. See if anything looks hinky.”
“Sure, Velma,” Kate said. “Let me get right on that.”
“Here,” I said, digging in my purse. “Take my big sunglasses and a scarf to tie over your head. That’ll be cute, it matches your shirt. If someone stops you just say we had car trouble or something and you were walking to get help.”
“And tell me again why you aren’t going?”
“I can’t walk in these shoes,” I said. “That’s what you get for advocating for comfort.”
“Whatever,” she said, resigned. “Why don’t I just say I’m taking a walk along the beach?”
I pointed to the sign I’d just noticed while I’d been lecturing Kate. “It’s a private beach for residents only,” I said. “Besides, no one walks on the beach in leather pants. Do you know what would happen to your thighs if you mixed sand and Vaseline?”
Kate squenched her nose. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll walk the block. Maybe I’ll see Vince’s car parked somewhere.”
“Leave your phone in here,” I told her. “If you need an excuse you can always knock on a door and ask to use the phone. It’ll look suspicious if you have your phone with you.”
“Come get behind the driver’s seat and leave the car running just in case anything goes wrong,” she said.
I got out of the car and hurried to the other side to wait for Kate to get out. “I miss the old days of surveillance. We should’ve stopped at that taco stand before we left the city. The baby could use a snack.”
“I’ve got trail mix in my bag,” Kate said, squeaking her way across the parking lot.
I got into the driver’s side of the car and adjusted the seat, making myself comfortable. I dug through Kate’s bag until I found the trail mix. She also had potato chips, a crossword puzzle, a scrunchie, and a small caliber pistol. I raised my brows at that, wondering when she’d gotten a gun and how she’d snuck it in there without me knowing about it.
Kate had disappeared down the end of the street, so I passed the time by pressing all of the high-tech buttons in the Mercedes and flipping through the radio stations. I’d finished the trail mix and was working my way through a pack of gum when I thought I saw movement down the street. I grabbed the binoculars and searched around Angelica’s house, my attention caught by a small dog in a red sweater roaming the front yard. It hadn’t been there before.
The car door opened and Kate slid in beside me, but I kept my eyes on the dog, thinking surely its owner wouldn’t be far behind.
“Do you see that dog?” I asked. “Isn’t it cute? It’s so tiny. Maybe Nick and I could get a dog.”
“It’s my neighbor’s,” a voice said. It was Hispanic with a heavy accent—definitely not Kate’s.
I jerked my head and whacked myself in the eye with the binoculars. I’d never seen the woman sitting next to me. She was petite in stature and probably in her late fifties or early sixties, but her skin was smooth and much younger looking. It was always the eyes that gave age away. Her dark hair was slicked back from her face, her lashes were long enough for their own zip code, and her lips were pouty and slicked crimson.
Despite her beauty, there was a coldness to her, and she didn’t look like she was interested in a neighborly chat. Especially with the gun sitting casually in her lap and her hand wrapped around it.
Chapter Eleven
“Well, hello there,” I said, my eyes fixed on the gun. She didn’t seem to be in too much of hurry to point it directly at me, so I took the chance and met her gaze. I was still holding on to the binoculars, so I rested my hands on the steering wheel so she didn’t get too jumpy.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” I said, after we stared at each other in silence a couple of minutes, “but I usually like to know the person who’s holding a gun on me. My purse is right there between your feet. Just take
