Her Sister (Search For Love series) (12 page)

When
there was a rap at the door, she went to answer it.  After she looked through
the peephole, she recognized the woman she'd met with so hopefully before.

Gillian
was in her thirties, with light brown hair.  She was slim, wearing jeans, a
T-shirt and sandals.  Amanda opened the door wide to let her come in.

After
she did, Gillian shook both their hands and said, "I'm sorry we have to
meet again under these circumstances."  Max remained silent as Amanda gestured
to the sitting area.

Once
Gillian was seated, Max asked gruffly, "What do we have to do this time?"

Gillian
looked at him kindly and motioned to the sofa cushions beside her. "Why
don't you sit and we'll talk about Shara."

"I
don't know what good talking is going to do," he muttered.

Amanda
knew what he was thinking.  The last time they'd met with Gillian, they'd talked
about Lynnie and that hadn't helped.  But Gillian insisted, "Talking will
give me a sense of her, of your feelings towards her, hers towards you.  You
said her mother's waiting for word from her at home?"

"I
called her as soon as we landed," Amanda said.  "No word there.  The
detective talked to Shara's boyfriend, but he claimed he didn't know anything."

Amanda
and Max sat on the long sofa with Gillian beside Amanda.  Amanda was so aware
of her ex-husband beside her, the brush of his jeans against hers, the scent of
his after-shave, his broad shoulder almost lodged against hers.  Some men as
they aged became less of themselves, but Max had become more—more fit, more
healthy, more stoic.  There was nothing she could do about that last one.

Amanda
reached to the coffee table for her purse and pulled a few 4x6 photos from it. 
She handed them to Gillian.  "I thought these would be better than some
school photo."

One by
one, Gillian studied them.  In one photo, Shara stood beside an old-fashioned
wooden coat rack with a fedora on her head.  "That's in my shop,"
Amanda explained.  "We found the hat in a box with some vintage clothes. 
She liked it and I told her she could have it."

"Maybe
she doesn't need to know all that," Max muttered.

"The
more information I have, the better."

Max
went silent.

Gillian
looked at the next photograph.  Amanda had caught this shot of Clare and Shara
in Clare's car.  That day she was going for her driver's test.  Shara had been so
excited and trying not to show it.

"Did
you go with them that day?" Max asked.

"I
did because I insisted they'd both need moral support."

"I
didn't even know she'd taken her test."

Amanda
wanted to ask—
Whose fault is that?
—but she didn't.  She didn't want to
start an argument, especially not in front of Gillian.  In the last photo,
Shara was sitting in an Adirondack chair in her backyard wearing a bathing
suit, not the same bathing suit that she'd worn in those pictures on
Branches
.

"She's
a beautiful young woman," Gillian said.  She ran her fingers over Shara's
face in each of the photos, and Amanda felt as if she were holding her breath.

"She's
not as free-spirited as she wants everyone to think she is," Gillian
mused, "Though she's definitely impulsive."

"Yes,
she is," Amanda agreed.  "She says it's because she knows what she
wants and knows what she thinks.  But I believe she just hasn't learned to
weigh decisions before she acts."

"Let
me see what you brought of hers," Gillian suggested. 

Max
handed over the grocery bag he'd removed from his suitcase, and one by one
Amanda pulled out the items—a pair of old sneakers, a Ravens' sweatshirt, a
pair of denim shorts, a taupe camisole, a school notebook.  From a side pocket
in her purse, Amanda withdrew a beaded bracelet and a pair of swingy turquoise
earrings.  She laid them on the coffee table, not knowing what Gillian would
want to do with any of it.

Gillian's
cell phone rang.  It was easy to see Max was annoyed as she pulled it out of
her pocket.  Checking Caller ID, she took the call with a brief "excuse
me" to Amanda and Max.

"Hi,
Jake," Amanda heard and realized Gillian was talking to her partner.

"Yes,
I understand.  That's what we expected.  Okay, I know you will.  In the
meantime, I'll see what I can do.  Give my love to Sara and Christopher." 
Turning back to Amanda and Max, she said, "Sorry for the
interruption."

"Doesn't
taking calls interfere with what you do?" Max asked.

"Max,"
Amanda chided.

"Its
okay, Amanda.  Normally I would have put my phone on vibrate, but I was waiting
for that call.  It was my partner, Jake Donovan.  The e-mail address for this
Justin is untraceable, at least for now.  Apparently the service he uses
reroutes it through foreign countries."

"That's
what my paralegal said, too," Max said under his breath.

"So
let's concentrate on what we can do next."

Gillian
took each item they'd brought, held it for a while and considered it.  With the
earrings, she closed her eyes.  Amanda wondered if that's because jewelry was
more personal and maybe had a better connection.  She wanted to ask because
what Gillian did fascinated her, but she didn't want to break any kind of
tenuous thread.  She didn't want to annoy Max more.  She didn't want to
postpone whatever Gillian might have to tell them.

When Gillian
picked up the bracelet, her expression changed.  It was only slight, but Amanda
could read something there that hadn't been there before.  Gillian closed her
eyes again for a few seconds and, beside her, Amanda felt Max get restless. 
She could feel the tensing in his body.  He was about to say something and she
didn't want him to, so she pressed her hand to his knee.  The jolt of awareness
that ran through her arm must have shown in her eyes because his widened in
response, too.  Couldn't be chemistry, could it?  Not after all these years. 
But there was no doubt she was still attracted to Max.  No doubt you couldn't
snuff out that kind of attraction easily.

Her
touch must have surprised him enough to keep him quiet because his mouth stayed
in that very straight line.

Gillian
said, "Shara likes jewelry."

"All
girls her age like jewelry," Max scoffed, as if he believed this were a
cold reading at a Las Vegas show.

His
outburst didn't perturb Gillian, though.  "Something about Sleeping Beauty
turquoise."  It was easy to see that the earrings Amanda had brought along
were turquoise, and she saw the doubtful clouds grow stormier in Max's eyes.

"Did
she ever make jewelry?" Gillian asked.

"No,"
Amanda said, "Not as far as I know.  But I could call Clare and ask."

Gillian
shook her head and said, "Let me see where this leads."

Amanda
could tell from Max's expression he thought it would lead to the road to
nowhere.

Taking
the earrings into her hand once more, she ran her thumbs over the wires.  Was
the DNA on those wires telling her something?  Was that what this was all
about?  Through Shara's DNA, Gillian could sense her?

When
Max shifted on the sofa, Amanda gave him another look that told him she
expected him to go along with this.  She expected him to go along with whatever
clues Gillian came up with.

Gillian
opened her eyes and shifted her attention to the two of them.  "I believe
I told you when you met with me before that what I do isn't instantaneous. 
It's not like I'm a GPS that guides you to where Shara is.  But I can tell you
what I'm sensing."

"If
you can sense anything, that means she's okay, right?"  Amanda so wanted
to believe that.

"I
can't tell you for sure.  What I can tell you is that I'm not getting any indication
that Shara is bound or tied up or anything violent has happened to her."

"I
hear a
but
in there," Max said perceptively.

"But
… she
is
scared."

"Scared
to come home again?" Amanda asked.

"Scared
on many levels.  I don't think she's sure she did the right thing, and I also
feel—"  Gillian stopped.  "Never mind about that.  We'll pursue that
later.  But crafting jewelry is foremost in her mind, maybe because she's
trying to push some of the other things away."

"She
came to Albuquerque to make jewelry?"

"No,
she came to be with Justin," Gillian responded.  "I'm also sensing one
word very strongly—
Zuni
."

"That
could mean anything out here," Max said.

"Let's
figure out what it could mean," Gillian answered back.  "List the
possibilities and we'll take them one by one."

He
looked at her strangely, but then he complied.  "Zuni is a tribe.  Even I
know that.  Do they possibly have land around here?" he asked.

"There's
a pueblo about a hundred and fifty miles west of Albuquerque, but I'm not
sensing that Shara's in that kind of isolation."

"So
you're going to dismiss that?"

"For
now, let's explore other possibilities."

"Zuni
is a style of jewelry," Amanda said.

"Yes,
it is," Gillian agreed.  "There
is
another possibility.  Zuni
could be the name of a street or an apartment complex.  Let me explain.  I
found someone not so long ago because of a pair of twin pines.  They stood near
an arch that led to Twin Pines Ranch.  Do you understand the association?"

"So
we need a map of Albuquerque to see if there's a Zuni street or something like
that."  Amanda pulled out her phone.  So did Max.

"This
is like looking for a needle in a haystack," Max exclaimed.

"And
Albuquerque's one big haystack," Amanda agreed.

Gillian's
phone rang again.  This time Max didn't look annoyed, but expectant.

"What
do you have Jake?" she asked her partner.

"His
name is Justin Davis," she said in order for them to hear, too.  "I’m
going to put you on speaker phone."

"Can
you hear me?" Jake asked.

"Yes,
loud and clear."

"I'm
Max, the grandfather.  How did you get his name?"

"I
have a friend of a friend in
Branches
.  Networking is everything in this
business."

"What's
next?" Max shot back.

"I'm
going to search public records to see if he's bought property in Albuquerque,
but my guess is, a joker like this rents."

"Rents
what?"

"A
house, an apartment, a condo.  You can bet Shara's probably not the first young
woman he's invited to join him, so he's going to careful.  He might not want
any public records showing his name on them."

"Then
how are we going to find him?" Max asked, exasperated.

"With
a combination of Gillian's gift and some good old-fashioned detective work. 
This could take a little time."

"I
don't know if we have time," Max warned him.

"Gillian,
what's your sense of this?" Jake asked his partner.

"You
know I can't be sure, but my feeling is Shara flew out here a few hours ago. 
If he really does just want to befriend her, then she's settling in.  And even
if he doesn't, he'll give her a little time to adjust before making his pitch,
whatever that is.  Don't you think?"

"You're
right on, as always."

"I
don't suppose Justin Davis is listed in any of the phone directories?" Max
asked.

"Are
you kidding?" Jake scoffed.  "I'm sure he has a burner phone or
two."

"A
burner phone?" Amanda asked.

"One
of those throw-aways with no contract.  You use the minutes, then you're done."

"So
they can't be traced," Amanda mused.

"Exactly. 
But there
are
other ways.  My guess is he has a vehicle.  There are many
ways to go about that search.  You said the Thaddeus couple have a police
friend who's looking into this for them?"

"We
do," Max assured him.

"Call
him.  Give him the guy's name and he'll contact someone in the Albuquerque PD
and they can work together on this.  Once we get an address, we'll figure out
our next move.  Gillian, what are you up to next?"

"I
have a feeling, and I don't know why, but I'm going to visit some of the bead
and natural stone stores in the morning."

"I've
known you long enough to trust your instincts.  I'll focus on what I can do.  You
follow your trail."

"And
what are we supposed to do, twiddle our thumbs?" Max asked.

His
question didn't daunt Jake.  "Go along with Gillian.  You can give her
valuable information even if you don't think you can.  Our finding Shara is a
two-way street.  There really is nothing more we can do tonight unless you want
to go out and search the city, and I don't advise that.  I know you're scared
and worried, but scared and worried shouldn't add up to stupid."