Angel's Dance (18 page)

“
When did this happen?”
Grant asked.

“
I don’t know, a few weeks
ago. What does this have to do with the Johnson girl? It happened
after she ran away.”

At that statement the world went dark
and Clear hit the ground.

Chapter Eleven

Grant didn’t know what to make of
anything that was going on. Clear passing out was completely
unexpected and he was immensely surprised how quickly Mr. Lando had
reacted to the situation. As soon as Clear had begun to fall the
man was quickly running to her, checking her pulse, feeling her
head and then barking for the receptionist to bring a cool cloth
and a glass of water.

The man then applied the cool compress
to the back of Clear’s neck and flicked a little water on her face.
She came around pretty quickly, but her whole body was trembling
and she seemed a little out of it. Mr. Lando carefully helped her
sit up against the wall and then gave her the glass of water and
told her to take small sips.

Catching Grant watching him, the man
shrugged. “Dancers collapse a lot. Pretty standard procedure. They
all work themselves too hard and succumb at some point.”

Grant ignored the man’s commentary,
having experienced Clear’s psychic-induced collapses before. “Are
you alright?” he asked her tentatively, filing the man’s
ministrations away for the next time she collapsed. She nodded
shakily, adjusting the cool compress on the base of her neck as it
slipped.

Grant wanted to kick the man out of
the room so he could question Clear, but figured that would be
overstepping his bounds, since this was the man’s office. He
decided that the best thing to do was to step into the hall and
call Bryce to see what Bryce had gotten on this guy. Grant’s gut
said that the guy was an ass and creepy, but he seemed genuinely
surprised about the blood being an issue. He was a pompous ass, but
that was not technically a crime.

Bryce answered on the third ring and
Grant was surprised to hear Laura talking in the background. He
took a deep breath and forced himself not to ask questions. It
didn’t matter.

“
Eh… Grant? What are you
up to? Didn’t figured you’d be ready to come back so soon or I
wouldn’t of left you,” Bryce muttered.

“
I just had a couple
questions about your line of investigation on the Johnson
girl.”

There was an audible sigh of annoyance
from the other end, but after no response, Grant continued, “Did
you talk to her dance instructor?”

“
Shit, like I am supposed
to remember that! I talked to a bunch of the dance people. They
were the first people I talked to because they were the ones who
were with her when she took off.”

“
This is an older
gentleman, maybe 50.”

“
Right… the pompous ass
that owns the place. Sure. He was actually the one who reported her
missing. She hadn’t shown up for practice or something?’

“
What was your take on
him?”

“
Isn’t that what your
little profiler girl is for?” Bryce replied caustically.

Grant steeled himself against taking
the bait. “Fine, but I figured you would be interested in checking
out a blood clean-up in the studio that the girl used most. I don’t
know who you want to call to come in or if you even want to. Just
giving you a heads up.”

“
Wait, what?” Bryce
stammered. “What makes you think this is connected to the
disappearance?”

“
My gut,” Grant muttered.
“Whatever happened in that room was more than a nose bleed. I don’t
know that it was the Johnson girl, but something happened in that
room and since she is the only one missing, I am thinking that she
had something to do with the blood. Plus her previous instructor
was more than a little skittish about the whole thing. There is
something… not right about her. Not my job to lean on her, though.
That is yours.” He hung up with great satisfaction.

Clear was still feeling a little
disoriented and could not begin to process everything that had
happened in the few minutes she had been out. She still didn’t even
know what had caused it. Grant had left her alone in the office
with Mr. Lando. He made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t place
why. His attitude and treatment of her was completely different
from the why he had been so glib and pompous with Grant.

“
Are you feeling better,
my dear?” he asked in concern.

Clear shrugged. “I guess. I… I don’t
know what happened. It was very… strange.”

“
Hmm… perhaps you had not
eaten enough? Maybe you haven’t drunk enough water?” He shrugged
almost apologetically. “At least, that is usually what happens when
my dancers pass out. I am hardly an expert. I would say we should
call a doctor, but it you are feeling better….” he let the question
trail off.

“
No, I am sure that would
not be necessary.” Clear responded and watched him visibly relax.
She would have guessed he was worried about insurance, except that
his emotions were all on the surface. There was no true depth to
his feelings of concern for her. No true depths of worry about
anything. Although his tact with her was different from his early
interaction with Grant, there was no difference in his emotional
climate. Against her will, she shivered.

Seeing her shiver, he removed the
cloth from the back of her neck. He was deft and proficient,
demonstrating that he dealt with fainting women a fair amount. That
thought alone made Clear wonder if there was a reason he had such
experience. She suspected that his dancers drove themselves to such
extremes at his insistence.

Despite her saying that she was
feeling better, she didn’t truly begin to feel better until Grant
came back into the room. She looked to him and could feel his
stormy mood returning.

“
I just got off the phone
with Detective Bryce. I am sure that he will be in touch with you
about that floor sometime soon. I suggest that you not replace that
floor without talking to him first.”

“
Why?”

“
Because it would make you
look guilty,” Grant responded harshly. He turned to Clear. “Are we
done here, or is there anything else you want to see?”

As much as Clear just wanted to be
done with this place, she knew there was more to see here. “I think
I would like to see the costumes from the Chicago performance.” she
started, trying to think of a good excuse to justify this
request.

“
Hmm, good thought.
Particularly Ms. Johnson’s costumes. Do you think that can be
arranged Mr. Lando? Also, I think we should have a list of all the
dancers that were in the performance and any contact information
you have.”

“
I will get my
receptionist right on that. I really don’t have time to be
escorting you around the building…” He rubbed his temple in
irritation and it was the first real emotion Clear felt from him.
“Let me see if I can find someone who can help show you around to
whatever you want.” He walked out of the room to make arrangements
and Grant immediately turned on Clear.

“
We probably don’t have
much time, so tell me everything you can think of so I can know
what you know.”

Grant was feeling slightly
overwhelmed after the information dump. Most of what Clear had told
him only reinforced what his gut had told him. Unfortunately her
psychic ability wasn’t any better in helping them get a
court-ordered warrant if it came down to it. He was pretty sure
that it would come to that with Mr. Lando. Part of him thought
‘
screw it! This case’s conviction is
Bryce’s job.
’ The information he was
getting wasn’t supposed to be about solving this Johnson girl’s
disappearance, it was just the steps to get him closer to finding
Kat.

The other part of him was a cop and
urged him to catch these bastards for Mrs. Johnson. To at least
give the poor woman some closure. He knew that Clear thought the
girl was dead, even though she hadn’t so much said it. He also knew
that she hadn’t told him because that would mean that there was a
chance Kat was or would be dead soon. He was torn between doing his
job the best he could as he had always done, and skipping this shit
to get his baby girl back alive. He had to tamp down the beast that
said to beat the shit out of everyone in this place until someone
told him what he needed to know; starting with Mr. Lando and Ms.
Chofsky, who both seemed to know something and were somehow
involved in all of this.

How he knew, he couldn’t begin to say.
Clear had agreed with him about Ms. Chofsky, but was still out on
Mr. Lando.

The receptionist came back in and
handed Grant a list. He glanced at it, noting that phone numbers
were provided for all of the dancers. He groaned when he realized
there were over 200 names on the list.

“
Mr. Lando had to leave
for a luncheon. I am making arrangements to have Ms. Johnson’s
dance partner, Tony, give you an extended tour. Mr. Lando says you
are to have access to anywhere you want to go.” The young woman
glanced out the door. “And there is Tony now.” She led them out
into the reception area again.

A young man was standing in the
waiting area looking a little nervous and confused. Grant caught a
glimpse of Miss Chofsky turning the corner. He wondered how much
she had told the kid.

He extended his hand to Grant and
Grant was impressed by his firm grip. “I am Tony Goulet. I
understand that you are the police and are investigating Bella’s
disappearance?” Grant glanced to Clear and quirked his brow. First
person to call her by the name Clear knew her by.
Interesting.

“
And you were her dance
partner for the show, right?” Grant asked.

Tony nodded. “She was very good, once
she got the hang of things.”

The receptionist interrupted. “Tony,
this isn’t really appropriate for the reception area. These people
want to look around and Mr. Lando says you are to take them
wherever they request. Also, he says that he would appreciate if
you would cooperate with their investigation as the dance studio
has nothing to hide.” Was it just Grant, or was there a momentary
look between the receptionist and Tony?

The boy nodded and turned back to
them. “So, where would you like to go first?”

Clear was casually brushing through
the costumes and only half listening to Grant questioning Tony. She
was debating whether to ask him about his relationship with Bella.
She could feel that he was hoping that question wouldn’t come up.
It wasn’t an appropriate level of anxiety, though. He was
uncomfortable, not wracked with guilt. She reminded herself that a
sociopath would not feel guilt and therefore that mentality was not
the best way to judge. The thought brought Mr. Lando back to her
mind. She felt a deep chill settle into her chest. It wasn’t often
that people made her feel so out of sorts.