Little Bird (The Tangled Series) (3 page)

Back at her apartment, Savannah packed a duffle bag with some clothes and personal necessities, and a second bag with her laptop, camera, and other equipment. She was just finishing when her cell phone beeped with a text message from her best friend, Joni.

Getting so nervous for Thursday night!

Shit, she’d forgotten about Thursday. Joni Lawson was an artist and she was about to open her first solo exhibition at an art gallery in Georgetown. Thursday was opening night and Joni would be devastated if Savannah missed it. She’d just have to make time to get back into the city for a few hours if they were still looking for Cara.

Savannah quickly texted back.

Call me if you have a few.

Less than a minute later the phone rang. “Joni!”

“Sav! Can you believe it’s almost Thursday? God, I’m getting so nervous. What’s up with you? I stopped by your office this morning but you guys weren’t there.”

Savannah lay back on her bed with a sigh. “Yeah, you aren’t going to believe this shit. Some friend of Mike’s has a situation he needs our help with. But he lives way out in the middle of nowhere Virginia and I’m going to have to stay out there for a few days. Don’t worry! I’ll be back for your show. But I think I might wither up and die if I have to stay out there very long.”

Joni laughed. “Meh, it’ll be a nice break from your fast paced city life.”

“I doubt it. I like my fast paced city life. Besides, the guy is kind of a jerk. And he keeps calling me sweetheart. How lame is that?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty lame. Is he hot? I mean, it’s still annoying but if he’s hot, at least you’re not getting called sweetheart by a Neanderthal.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, actually, dude is smokin’, which just makes it even more disappointing he’s an ass. I mean, he caught me checking him out. I saw him; I knew I was caught. But, as if that weren’t bad enough, he called me out on it right in front of Mike. I wanted to crawl under the table and die!”

Joni started giggling helplessly. “That is awesome! What did Mike do? I’ll bet he lost his shit laughing.”

“Actually, no, he seemed kind of pissy about it. I’d like to think that was out of loyalty to me but I’m sure it had more to do with the fact he was tired and grumpy. I’m home packing a few clothes and stuff now. Mike and I are going back later for dinner and then Mike will leave me there. I’m just dreading this.”

Joni sounded surprised. “Wait, you’re actually staying with this guy?”

“No. Well, sort of. Long story but I’ll be staying right next door.”

“I’m sure it’ll be over before you know it. Look, I have to go. I have a meeting with the caterer to approve the final hors d’oeuvres for Thursday night. Sorry. Call me if you need me and I’ll see you Thursday.”

Savannah sighed as she hung up the phone and got up to pack another bag. She’d need a dress for Joni’s party.

One thing Lee Jackson couldn’t tolerate was feeling powerless. As a result, his current situation had him unsettled, to put it mildly. He knew it would be useless to try to sleep when he was feeling like this. Instead he focused on picking up his house and getting himself cleaned up.

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon when he had completed those tasks that his idle mind was forced to confront his situation. Lee couldn’t make heads or tails of it though. He hadn’t talked to Cara in several months and before that they’d only spoken once since the divorce was finalized. Keeping in touch with his ex-wife wasn’t high on his list of priorities and seemed to be one thing the two of them could actually agree on. So why would anyone think it might be worth the effort to break into his home and kill his dog just to try and find her? Then again, contemplating why it happened probably wasn’t important. It happened and the only thing he could do now was figure out what to do about it.

Lee was equal measures furious and heartbroken about Meg. He was a soft touch for animals in general, and dogs and horses, especially. He’d had Meg since she was a puppy and her absence was palpable. His own sadness only intensified when he noticed Toby sulking around the house. Taking pity on the dog, and maybe needing the companionship a little himself, he stretched out on the couch and did something he never did: he invited Toby to join him. He laughed when the dog jumped up and settled himself on the furniture, taking great pleasure in the previously forbidden luxury and resting his head on Lee’s knee with a heavy sigh. Lee missed Meg fiercely but at least he still had Toby.

Staring up at the ceiling, Lee wondered what Cara had gotten herself into, what she’d gotten him into. They’d been divorced nearly six years and she was still fucking up his life. Lee snorted, annoyed with himself. That wasn’t really fair. Once upon a time, he’d done more than his share to fuck up her life, too. Probably they were even. Maybe he even had this coming. Still, it pissed him off and frustrated him because he had no idea what to do about it.

When he’d talked with Mike and Savannah earlier it had been quite clear Savannah thought he should call the cops. Mike had remained silent on that particular point but she’d seemed bewildered by Lee’s reasoning. Though, to her credit, she hadn’t argued with him. She had argued though when he’d insinuated she might not be capable of handling the case. Lee was honest enough with himself to admit that had probably been unfair. He trusted Mike. If Mike trusted her, that should have been good enough for him.

Lee chuckled, thinking about the ferocious look on her face when she’d told him she would happily go back to the city and pretend she’d never met him. It might have been more convincing if he hadn’t caught her looking at him like he was her favorite kind of candy. Not that he didn’t believe she thought he was an asshole. He was sure she did. He just didn’t particularly care and it wasn’t really relevant. Savannah might not like him but she wanted him, even if she wasn’t brave enough to admit it. The only question was what he intended to do about it.

It seemed safe to assume Mike and Ginny would disapprove of Lee screwing around with her, but that didn’t really concern him much. They’d been friends for a very long time and Lee had done much worse over the years. They would get over it.

More importantly, fucking Savannah had real potential to complicate his current dilemma. After all, she was supposed to be helping him find Cara and any drama between the two of them might get in the way of that goal. Since Lee had the feeling she didn’t share his casual approach to sex, things could get sticky in a real hurry.

Besides, she wasn’t really his type. Well, not exactly, anyway. Inexperienced naiveté wasn’t his thing. When he fucked, he liked to be in control, he needed to be the dominant partner, but he didn’t want a wide-eyed innocent under him either. Lee wanted a woman who was confident and sure, self-aware and comfortable with her sexuality.

When he’d caught Savannah giving him that hungry look he might have dragged her into his bedroom right then, Mike be damned, if she had looked right back at him and owned her interest. That kind of confidence always got him hot. But instead, she’d looked away, blushing and embarrassed. So not his type.

On the other hand, physically she was just what Lee liked. Savannah was short, maybe five foot three or so, and he nearly towered over her at six foot two. Despite her small stature, she wasn’t a waif. She was curvy in all the right places with full hips, even fuller breasts, and an ass that made him want to do very bad things to her. If she’d just been more confident and forward, there wouldn’t be any question about what he would do.

Lee snorted and gave Toby a nudge off the couch before getting up. These thoughts weren’t getting him anywhere except hard, which was more than a little frustrating since he was trying to convince himself he wasn’t interested in Savannah. But he could tell himself anything he damn well pleased. That didn’t change the fact his dick was definitely interested even if his head wasn’t really in the game. Better to go find something else to do to keep himself busy because continuing this train of thought wasn’t going anywhere good.

Chapter Three

I
t was seven o’clock when they pulled into Lee’s driveway and Mike parked the BMW behind Lee’s truck again. Savannah was reaching for the door when Mike said, “Hey, wait a minute, Savannah. I want to talk a second.”

Savannah rolled her eyes and settled back in her seat. They’d ridden in silence most of the drive and now he decided he wanted to chat? “What’s up?”

“I know you’re not excited about this and I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate it.”

Savannah smiled. “I know, Mike. You and Ginny have done a lot for me. I’m happy to return the favor.”

She started to reach for the door again but stopped when Mike cleared his throat. He stared straight ahead and appeared strained and maybe a little embarrassed. “One more minute, please. I just…there’s obviously some tension between you and Lee. And I don’t think…”

Savannah laughed and interrupted him. “You have nothing to worry about. He obviously doesn’t like me and I’m not wild about him. But I’ll be nice until we get the job done and then I never have to see him again. We have lots of clients I don’t like, Mike. I’ve really honed my skill for pretending to be nice to jerks.”

Mike turned to look at her. “That’s not really what I meant by tension. Just remember, he’s a client, okay?”

“Yeah, of course, Mike. I…” Savannah’s voice trailed off and she stared at him, comprehension dawning. Did he really think she’d fall into bed with that asshole? “Wait. Are you talking about the whole womanizer thing you mentioned this morning? That’s ridiculous. So far, he seems like a bastard and I mean, sure, he’s good looking but so what? Lots of guys are good looking and I somehow manage to keep from throwing myself at them. Plus, I know he’s a client and I know clients are off limits. Really, you don’t need to worry about this.”

“It didn’t even occur to me this morning when we came up with this plan but…” Mike stammered a little before continuing, and she was pretty sure he was blushing. “…when I told Ginny about it, she kind of freaked out. Don’t get me wrong, she loves Lee, but she knows what he’s like. And you’re a pretty girl and you’re going to be out here alone with him. And he’s not a jerk, despite your first impression. He can be very charming. And I just think…well, I care about you both and I think it would be a big mistake for you to get involved in any way.”

Savannah laughed and rolled her eyes. She loved Ginny to death but the woman did have a very wide streak of mother hen, and apparently that was rubbing off on her husband. “Won’t happen. Trust me, Mike.”

Mike nodded and moved to get out of the car. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

Mike led her to the front door and knocked. They could hear Toby barking inside and then Lee opened the door. “Come on in.”

Entering the house, she noticed Lee had cleaned up. Barefoot, he wore a pair of jeans sitting loosely on his slender hips and a T-shirt just a little too tight in all the right places. She was surprised to see his eye hadn’t bruised nearly as badly as she thought it might, but she guessed he still hadn’t gotten any sleep because he looked exhausted and the house had been completely put back together. The front door entered directly into the living room, which had been tidied up. To the right were the bathroom and a closed door that she assumed was Lee’s bedroom.

They followed Lee into the kitchen, which had also been straightened. “There’s beer and wine in the fridge. Help yourselves. Dinner’s just about ready.”

Mike got a beer for both himself and Savannah before sitting down at the table. “You don’t look like you’ve slept today.”

Lee laughed. “Nah, I’m running on adrenaline and coffee.”

Savannah tried to smile politely. “Do you need any help with dinner?”

Lee shook his head as he took a pan out of the oven. “Thanks but I got it covered. Make yourself comfortable.”

Savannah sat down next to Mike and took a long drink of beer while Mike asked, “I don’t suppose you thought to call Cara’s parents?”

Lee started bringing the food to the table. He’d made a roasted chicken, sautéed vegetables, and frigging risotto. If it was even half as good as it looked this guy seriously knew how to cook.

“I thought of it but I couldn’t figure out how to call and ask if they’d heard from her without worrying them.”

Mike frowned. “I see your point.”

Savannah smiled triumphantly, pleased to have found such an easy way to prove herself. “That’s simple. What’s their number?”

Lee glanced at Mike, who just shrugged, so Lee went to his bedroom and came back a minute later with an address book. He laid it open on the table in front of Savannah and leaned over her shoulder, pointing. “Right there, Jack and Eva Dalton.”

Savannah felt him brush against her back and couldn’t help but notice he smelled amazing, fresh and clean and soapy with just the faintest hint of cologne. She swallowed hard trying to focus on the page in front of her. “Umm, thanks.”

Lee went around the table and sat across from Mike as Savannah pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Setting the phone to speaker, she dialed the number and waited while the phone rang on the other end.

“Hello?” An elderly woman answered. Savannah looked up at Lee and saw his nod. He recognized her voice.

“Uh, hi, Mrs. Dalton? This is Emily Jones. You probably don’t remember me, but I went to school with your daughter, Cara.”

“I’m sorry, dear, I don’t remember you.”

Savannah smiled. Cara’s mother sounded very sweet.

“That’s all right. It’s just that over the years I’ve lost track of Cara. I don’t think I’ve talked to her since shortly after she married that guy, shoot, I can’t even remember his name.”

“Levon. He was such a good boy. I was so sorry things didn’t work out for them. And, oh was he a looker. They’d have had such beautiful babies!”

Savannah put the back of her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in the sudden overwhelming urge to giggle while next to her Mike nearly choked on his beer. When she glanced across the table at Lee she was surprised to find him looking embarrassed for once.

“Levon? Are you sure? I mean, I’m sure you’re right but that just doesn’t sound familiar.”

“Oh, everyone called him Lee.” The old woman laughed quietly. “He used to get so upset when people called him Levon, but I always thought it was such a nice name.”

“That’s right, Lee. Lee Jackson, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, dear, that’s right.”

“I see. Well, I was wondering if you could get a message to Cara for me. We’re planning a class reunion and I’d love to get her involved. She was always so good at planning parties.”

“Yes, I can get a message to her for you.”

Savannah nodded, feeling confident. This was going well. “I hate to be pushy, but I was just wondering when you thought you might talk to her again? I mean, we’re kind of on a deadline planning the reunion.”

“Oh, she comes over for dinner every Sunday. It’s a bit of a drive for her but she never misses it. She’s so busy, and travels so much for work. We don’t talk often during the week but she always comes on Sundays.” Mrs. Dalton sounded proud her daughter made a point to come home once a week even though she led such a hectic life.

“That’s fine, Mrs. Dalton. When you see her this weekend just tell her Emily Jones is trying to reach her.” Savannah gave Mrs. Dalton her number and hung up.

Mike smiled proudly at Savannah. “Well, she certainly didn’t sound worried, so we know her parents just saw her last weekend. If Cara’s missing, she hasn’t been missing for long.”

Savannah looked down at Lee’s address book thoughtfully. “They live in Richmond? I think if we haven’t figured this thing out by Sunday, we should go to Richmond and keep an eye on her parents’ house that afternoon. Maybe she’s in hiding on her own but will show up to keep them from worrying.”

“Good thinking, Savannah.” Mike started passing the food around the table as he heaped his plate. He sounded apologetic when he added, “Sorry, but I’m hungry.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes and Savannah was surprised to find the food was excellent. She smiled across the table at Lee. “This is really good.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

Savannah gritted her teeth. It grated on her every time he called her sweetheart. So patronizing. But now she had a little ammunition of her own.

“You’re welcome, Levon.”

To Savannah’s disappointment, Lee didn’t react, and instead spoke to Mike. “I dug out that box Cara dropped off awhile back. It’s out in the living room. I thought we could take a look after supper.”

Mike nodded. “I’ll see if I can work some magic and pull her credit reports, bank statements, and credit card statements tomorrow at the office. I’ll email it all to Savannah.”

Savannah ate quietly while the men’s conversation drifted. Lee asked after Mike’s wife, Ginny, and their two boys, and they reminisced a little about college, but Savannah wasn’t really listening. She was first to finish eating, so she got up and started to clear the table. She looked through the cupboards and found some Tupperware, putting the leftovers away. She was running water in the sink and starting her third beer when Lee and Mike noticed what she was doing.

Lee looked over his shoulder at her. “Just leave that. I’ll do the dishes later.”

“It’s all right, it’ll keep me busy while you two rehash the glory days.”

Lee laughed and brought her the rest of the dishes. “Suit yourself.”

Lee left the room and returned a minute later with a pack of cigarettes and a book of matches. He sat down next to Mike and tapped two cigarettes out on the table, offering one to Mike. Savannah had her back to them at the sink and didn’t realize they were smoking until she smelled it. She turned around, expecting to see Lee smoking and was shocked to see Mike was, too.

“That’s so gross. Mike, you don’t smoke!”

Mike shrugged. “Sometimes I smoke when I drink.”

“Does Ginny know?”

Lee’s bark of laughter surprised her. “Sweetheart, Ginny would burn one too if she were here.”

Savannah gritted her teeth and returned to the dishes. When she finished, she neatly stacked them on the counter to dry and turned back to Lee and Mike, who were deep in conversation about some party they’d been to a hundred years ago.

“That’s right, I was there with that girl from the bar. Shit, what was her name? That blonde with the big…” Lee laughed as he hit Mike on the shoulder but his words trailed off when he realized Savannah was looking at them both with an arched brow.

“I hate to interrupt what appears to be a riveting conversation, but maybe we should go see what’s in that box?”

Mike stood up and headed for the living room. “Right. It’s after nine o’clock and I need to get back to the city, so let’s get this show on the road.” Lee headed to the refrigerator for more beer, so Mike added, “No more for me, I’m driving.”

“Sure thing, Hoss.” Lee got another beer for himself and they all trailed into the living room.

Lee flopped down on the couch, leaning against the armrest, and put his feet up on the coffee table next to the unopened box while Mike took the recliner. Faced with the option of sitting next to Lee on the couch or sitting on the floor, Savannah chose the floor. Crossing her legs under her, she reached for the box.

As she started to open it, Lee and Mike leaned forward to look inside. “I came home before they got to the bedroom on their search and destroy mission last night so it should all be there.”

Three T-shirts were folded on top. Savannah removed them from the box and handed them to Lee, who unfolded them and shook them out before tossing them onto the couch next to him. Next were about a dozen books, and they each picked one and started thumbing through the pages.

Lee happened to look up as Mike reached for another book. “That’s not my book. I’ve never read it, or even heard of it before.”

Mike looked down at the book he held. “Are the others yours?”

Lee glanced through the remaining books. “Yeah, just not that one. I’m sure of it.”

“Well, either she made a mistake and gave you the wrong book or…” Mike started leafing through the pages when a slip of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. He reached down and picked it up, setting it in the middle of the coffee table.

They all leaned over, their heads close, to look. It was a short note, written in rushed cursive.

Sorry, Lee. I don’t know who else I can trust.

Lee sighed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. “Fuck, I wish I’d opened this box when she gave it to me.”

Mike shook his head. “I’ll bet she was counting on the fact that you would probably stuff this in the closet or attic and forget about it unless something happened to remind you. She was married to you for god sakes. She knows you. If it was a message she’d wanted you to have right then she’d have found a far less subtle way to get it to you.”

Savannah started rummaging through the rest of the box. Beneath the books were three CDs, various refrigerator magnets, and other knick-knacks. Lee frowned and shook his head. “There must be something else in here, some other clue or something; otherwise her note doesn’t mean anything. But that all looks like my stuff, or at least, stuff we had together when we were married.”

“Wait, what’s that? It looks like another T-shirt all balled up in the corner.” As Savannah carefully pulled it out of the box she could feel something wrapped inside of it.

“Hey, that’s my Springsteen concert shirt. I’d forgotten all about it, but I used to love that shirt.”

As Savannah shook the shirt, two keys fell on the floor. She picked them up and held them out toward Lee. “Look familiar?”

Lee shook his head. “The one looks like the key to a safe deposit box. But I don’t know which bank it would be at. The second one I have no idea, maybe her apartment?”

Savannah chewed her lip. “Well, we need to get into her apartment anyway, so we might as well try the key. Do you know where her apartment is? I should go tomorrow.”

Lee frowned. “Yeah, I know where it is. We’ll go in the morning. I’m not keen on sending you over there by yourself when we know these thugs are running around out there somewhere.”

Mike dug through the box for a minute and then looked at his watch. “I don’t think there’s anything else important here. And I need to get home before Ginny sends out a search party.”

They all walked out to Mike’s car together and Savannah pulled her bags out of the backseat, setting the first two on the ground and folding the dress bag over her arm. “This reminds me. I have a thing in the city I can’t miss Thursday night. So Thursday evening, I’m going to have to split for a while. I’ll just call a cab to take me to Vienna and metro in. And then I’ll probably just crash at my apartment after and come back out in the morning.”

Lee picked up her duffle bag and computer bag, slinging them over his shoulder. “You can take the truck to Vienna if you want and just leave it there overnight. Or I can probably drop you off. No need to waste money on a cab.” He turned to Mike and wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll bet she has a hot date.”

Mike laughed. “Maybe so. Look, there’s no telling when those thugs will be back, if they do come back. Make sure Savannah has your number in case, well, just in case anything happens.”

“Hell, I’ll give her a gun if she wants it.” Lee gave her a thoughtful look before adding, “As long as you promise not to shoot me, sweetheart.”

Savannah offered him her sweetest smile. “I can’t make that promise.”

“You two just may kill each other before this is over,” Mike laughed as he spoke, but Savannah could see the concern in his eyes.