Beautiful Storm (Lightning Strikes Book 1) (8 page)

Alicia hadn't needed a lot of information to make a decision. He didn't know if that made her too trusting, but it certainly made him happy. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn't eyeing him with suspicion every time he made a suggestion. Alicia's belief in his innocence had re-energized him. He didn't know if Brad Harte would be able to provide any new information but at this point he was willing to give it a shot.

"It's an eight-minute drive," Alicia said, checking directions on her phone. "Just stay on this road for another mile and then I'll tell you where to turn."

"Got it."

She settled back in her seat, running her hand over the smooth wood console between them. "This is a nice car. Is it new?"

"New to me. The company leased it for me when I got to Miami. And, no, I did not ask for a convertible. But somehow I ended up with one."

"If you're going to have a convertible, Miami is a good place for it. Of course, you have to actually put the top down to enjoy it," she said lightly.

He grinned in return. "It was raining yesterday. I have had it down on occasion."

"So where do you live when you're not here?"

"New York City. I have a condo on the forty-second floor of a high rise. There's a great view of the city and the Hudson River."

"Sounds impressive. I've always wanted to live in a high-rise, but apartments with a view are usually out of my price range. And convertibles like this—also out of my price range."

"What do you drive?"

"A ten-year-old Honda Civic that belonged to my boss's grandmother," she said with a laugh. "It's not sexy like this car, but it gets me where I need to go."

He didn't think she needed a car to be sexy. Since they'd left her apartment, she'd pulled the band out of her hair, and thick, dark waves now tumbled around her shoulders. Her eyes were intelligent and wide-set, with long, sweeping black lashes, and aside from the bruise on her forehead, her skin was flawless. She also had a really sexy mouth, full lips, and a warm voice that seemed to steal the chill out of his body.

His nerves tightened as he realized how much he'd noticed about her, what a strong connection he felt to a woman he'd met only a few hours earlier. It was the circumstances, he told himself. Every emotion was heightened and Alicia was now caught up in his nightmare. But her entrance into the situation had given him optimism. He would hang on to that as long as he could.

"Take a left at the next street," Alicia said, adding, "You'll be on this road for about three miles."

As she finished speaking, his phone rang through the car's audio system. "That's Diego. It's probably best if you don't let him know you're in the car."

"Who's Diego?"

"The cop who has been helping me." He answered the phone. "Diego, how did the search go?"

"Unfortunately, we did not find any other evidence that can be connected to Liliana."

His heart sank. He'd really hoped there would be something besides the ID tag.

"What happens next?"

"We keep looking. I heard you were at the park this morning. You shouldn't have gone out there, Michael. You just drew more attention to yourself. Kellerman thinks you were there trying to cover your tracks."

"He should think I was there because I have nothing to hide," he retorted.

"It would be better for you if you just stayed out of the investigation. For once in your life, take my advice. I'm trying to keep you out of jail."

"I appreciate that. Call me if anything new comes up."

"I will."

He ended the call and glanced over at Alicia. "Nothing else in the park."

"That's disappointing, but maybe it's a good thing. Liliana could have gotten away."

"Or she was taken somewhere else."

"Or that," she said with a sigh. "So who's Diego? Why is he helping you?"

"I grew up with Diego. He's one of the kids I got into trouble with when I was a teenager. Like me, he was also arrested, but that experience made him want to be a police officer. They definitely scared him straight."

"So you both got on the right track."

"We were lucky to get caught for something small. It didn't ruin the rest of our lives."

"Turn right at the next corner," she said, glancing down at her phone. "And then it's a quick left on Baker and we're there." She paused. "Why didn't you tell Diego about Brad?"

"You heard him tell me to stay out of the investigation."

"True, but maybe the police need to speak to Brad as well."

"They may have already talked to him, and I just don't know about it. Let's see if we can get anything out of him. Then we'll figure out what to do with the information, if there is any." He gave her a quick smile. "Okay, partner?"

She smiled back at him. "You like that word, don't you?"

"It's nice to have someone on my side."

"Don't make me regret it," she warned.

"Right back at you, partner."

"The shop is there." She tipped her head toward the large building on the right.

"Got it." He pulled into a parking spot in front of the motorcycle dealership.

As they walked through the display area, the shiny and expensive bikes impressed him. Brad Harte was obviously still living his passion for motorcycles.

"Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?" Alicia asked.

"I have, but not in a long time."

"I don't see the appeal."

He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You, the fearless storm chaser, don't see the appeal of a motorcycle?"

"I like going up against nature, not traffic. Plus, I look really bad in a helmet."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"I think that's him," Alicia said, her voice suddenly tense.

He followed her gaze to the man making his way out of the showroom. His sandy brown hair was thinning on the top of his head, and he had gained a few pounds since he was a kid, but it was definitely Brad.

"Can I help you?" Brad asked, giving them a cheerful smile. "Are you looking for a bike?"

"Actually, we're looking for a little conversation," Michael said.

Brad's gaze narrowed as it settled on Michael's face. "Wait a second—I know you. You're—you're Michael Cordero."

"Good memory."

Brad's smile faded. "I think I know why you're here." He drew in a shaky breath. "Has Liliana been found?"

"No, but you obviously know she's missing," Michael returned, wondering about the sudden pallor of Brad's skin, the nervous gleam in his eyes.

"I saw it on the news. It's a terrible thing."

"When did you last talk to Liliana?"

Brad swallowed hard and cast a quick look toward the showroom, where an attractive blonde woman was walking outside with a young couple. "I can't speak to you here."

"Why not?" Michael hadn't really expected anything to come from meeting Brad, but his behavior now was a little suspicious.

"I'm busy. I have work to do."

"This won't take long," Alicia interjected. "And it's really important. Michael said you and Liliana were close. Surely you want to help find her."

Brad licked his lips, cast a quick glance at the blonde and then said, "I can meet you tonight. Javier's at eight o'clock." He turned abruptly at the end of his sentence and went over to join the other group.

Michael watched as Brad slid his arm around the waist of the blonde and then urged her and the couple back into the showroom. "That must be his wife," he said.

"And he didn't want her to hear our conversation," Alicia murmured. "Why not?"

"Good question. I didn't think Brad had talked to Liliana in years. Now, I'm not so sure."

"What is Javier's?"

"It's a bar in South Beach."

She met his gaze. "Looks like we have a date tonight."

"Looks that way," he said, as they walked back to the car. "I just hate having to wait until tonight. Who knows if Brad will show up? He could just be buying time, and we could be wasting another seven hours."

"So, let's not waste them," she said as she got into the passenger seat.

He walked around the car and slid behind the wheel. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we could have lunch. It's after one, and I'm starving. What about you?"

His stomach rumbled at her words. "I could eat. Where do you want to go?"

She hesitated for a long moment. "We could make it a working lunch. Didn't Liliana disappear in the parking lot of a restaurant?"

"Paladar," he said, his muscles tightening. "I don't think we should go there."

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, the Valdez family tends to spend a lot of time there, and I suspect that's the first place they went after finishing the park search this morning."

"Even better. We might be able to learn something." She paused. "What's the other thing?"

"My father owns the restaurant."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't know that. There wasn't any mention of that in the news articles I read."

"Well, it's a fact. He and my stepmother opened the restaurant about eight years ago. It's their dream come true. Liliana's older brother Juan is one of the chefs. Both he and my father usually work on Saturdays."

"We have to go there, Michael."

"It will be awkward."

"So what? We might be able to get new information."

"No one talks to me, Alicia."

"Well, they might talk to me. I'm the one who provided the break in the case."

She had a point. And since she was quite possibly the only person who'd seen Liliana since she disappeared, the Valdez family would probably be thrilled to speak to her.

"They'll grill you," he warned her.

"I can handle their questions. I meant to ask you what happened with Liliana's sister's wedding—did it take place before Liliana disappeared?"

"No, it was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Liliana went missing on Friday night. Isabel has postponed her wedding plans until her sister comes home."

"That's rough."

"It is. I don't think her fiancé is too happy about it, but at this point it wouldn't be much of a celebration."

"I suppose not. I would like to see where Liliana disappeared, Michael."

The glint of steel in her eyes told him that she was not going to be dissuaded. "Fine, we'll go to Paladar."

"Good." She paused. "There's something else I've wanted to ask you. Do you have a copy of the texts that you and Liliana exchanged?"

"They were on the phone that the police confiscated, and I haven't gotten it back. I had to get a new phone."

"Do you remember what they said?"

"Pretty much. There were ten texts in total. The first two came in on Thursday asking me to meet her that night, but I didn't get back to her. I was tied up in meetings that day. The rest came in between eight AM Friday morning and one o'clock when I finally started answering texts. Liliana told me it was important that we get together. I asked why. She said she didn't want to get into it on the phone, but that it was urgent."

"What did you think it was about?" Alicia asked.

"I had no idea. She suggested we meet at Paladar. I resisted, because it's my father's restaurant, and I hadn't been there yet. Then she said, 'You've been back in Miami for a few weeks, and you still haven't eaten at your dad's restaurant? What is wrong with you? You need to break the ice, put the past behind you.' So I agreed. We set the time. She said great. Then she sent one more text asking me not to mention our meeting to anyone until I saw her. I thought that was odd, but I was busy, so I just said fine. That was it."

"So she picked the location."

"Yes. That didn't surprise me. She was always after me to call a truce with my dad. I used to tell her that I wasn't fighting with him, but she said a cold silent war didn't make it any less of a battle."

"So you did talk to each other? I had the impression you hadn't spoken in years before you returned to Miami and she came home for the wedding."

"We hadn't seen each other in person in eight years, but we'd exchanged texts and emails occasionally, maybe three to four times a year, but not much in the last twelve months. I knew she was an attorney, but I didn't know much else about her life in Texas, and she didn't know much about my life in New York. We'd drifted apart as childhood friends often do."

Alicia nodded. "Which is why it was unusual that she was suddenly so intent on seeing you."

"I really thought she just wanted to connect. We were both in the same place at the same time and that hadn't happened in forever."

"But she did say that she had something important to talk to you about that she didn't want to get into over the phone."

"True. I've never figured out what that was. No one in the Valdez family has a clue, either."

"It is pretty cryptic," she admitted. "I need to think about it."

"Think all you want. Believe me, I'm open to new ideas. You've already given me one new possible lead in Brad Harte. Who knows what you'll come up with next?"

"I'm just asking questions—questions you've probably already answered a million times."

"Not all the same questions," he said, thinking it was good Alicia was now in the mix. She was shaking things up, making him look at everything in a different way. She was like the strong wind that had come with yesterday's storm. She was blowing cobwebs off dusty old facts, and he was feeling more hopeful than he had in a very long time.

* * *

They arrived at Paladar just before two. There were only a half dozen cars in the lot, which wasn't unexpected since they were past the lunch rush.

"Where was Liliana's car parked?" Alicia asked as they got out of the car.

"Over there." He pointed across the lot to the third spot in from the entrance. It was about thirty yards from the front door of the restaurant. "Unfortunately, that spot is not in view of the security camera by the front door, so there was no video of when she arrived or when she got out of the car."

"That is unfortunate," Alicia murmured, her gaze sweeping the lot. "What kind of car did she drive?"

"That night she was in her brother Rico's car, a flashy red Mazda Miata convertible. When the police arrived, the doors were locked. There was nothing belonging to Liliana inside the vehicle. It's believed that she had her purse and her phone with her when she disappeared."