Her Sister (Search For Love series) (13 page)

"So
there really isn't anything else we can do tonight?" Max asked.

"Make
your call to your friend in the police department, and then get some rest. 
Many of these shops open by nine a.m. so we can be on the road at eight
thirty.  We're going to discreetly show Shara's picture around.  We don't want
to alert this Justin that we're onto him."

"In
other words, you're warning me not to stand on street corners, show the picture
of Shara, and ask where my granddaughter is?"

"Exactly."

Apparently
Max could see the sense of what Gillian was saying.  He nodded.  "I'm
going to make that call."  He went into the bedroom and shut the door.

"I'm
sorry," Amanda said to Gillian.

"No
apology is necessary.  Everyone's under a lot of strain, and I know your
husband doesn't trust what I do.  I couldn't help you before.  He doesn't think
I can help you now."

Amanda
gave a resigned sigh.  "Thank you for understanding."  Amanda had
just closed the door on Gillian when her cell phone beeped.  She ran to her
purse and pulled it free.  Checking the Caller ID, she saw the name Grove. 
Detective Grove.  It was late back in Pennsylvania.  Why would he be calling
now?

"Hello?"

"Mrs.
Thaddeus?"

"Yes."

"I
tried to call your husband's number but his cell went to voice-mail and he
didn't answer at his apartment."

"He's
not at home.  We're both in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Clare's daughter ran away
and we've come out here to find her."

Grove
let out a low whistle.  "When it rains it pours.  Then you're going to
have to tell me what you want me to do about this."

"About
what?"

"The
woman we found that we think could be Lynn Thaddeus.  I convinced her to drive
up here tomorrow to meet with you, but you're not even in Pennsylvania.  What
would you like me to do?"

The
long search for Lynnie could be coming to an end?  But if she and Max dropped
the search for Shara, would they lose Clare?  What if this woman wasn't Lynnie? 
What if they never found her?

"Detective
Grove, I'm going to have to talk to my husband and to Clare, but I'm thinking
if Clare is willing, maybe she can meet with her.  Would that be
acceptable?"

"Absolutely. 
Clare's reaction counts as well as yours.  The DNA you supplied last week has
already been sent to a private lab.  I'll send Amy's samples there, too."

"Amy?"

"That's
her name now.  This woman who could be your daughter."

Amy.

Amanda
let the name roll on her tongue, knowing it didn't feel right.  But then
nothing would feel right until she had Lynnie in her arms once more and Shara
back at home with Clare.

****

Chapter
Eight

Shara
was scared.  Not fear for her life scared, but coming to a strange place, not
knowing anybody, not knowing Justin all that well scared.  She'd never done
anything before like the stuff she'd done today.  Using her mom's credit card,
she'd accomplished finding a car service online.  She'd been chauffeured to
BWI.  No one had asked any questions about why they were picking her up at the
mall.  She'd also made her airline reservations online and again no one had
asked any questions.  After all, she had a driver's license for ID.

Justin
was older than she thought. He must be in his twenties, rather than his late
teens.  With his computer set up in the living room of his three-bedroom ranch
house, he was a bit geekier than she expected, too.  But he'd shown up at the
airport in his truck to meet her.  He'd even stopped and gotten her something
to eat and told her she could crash with a couple of the girls who worked for
him.

She
didn't know what work they did for him, but she was sure she was going to find
out.  One of them—Courtney—had stopped in to meet her.  She'd worn tons of
Native American jewelry.  Shara loved jewelry, and when she'd commented on it,
Courtney said she'd made some of it herself.  If Shara was interested in making
jewelry, she could drive her to one of the bead shops where she shopped and
Shara could get her bearings in the city.

Courtney
and Justin had exchanged a look.  Justin had smiled and said that was great
with him.  He had some business to attend to.  They could all meet here
afterward.  So here they were.  Courtney had gone to the bathroom to freshen
up.  From the looks Courtney gave Justin, Shara suspected they were involved. 
If not, she guessed Courtney wanted to be.

Justin
motioned Shara to the sofa.  "We need to have a talk about what you're
going to do while you're here."

She
wasn't sure what he meant, but there was nothing threatening about him.  His
longish, dark brown hair fell around his face as if he didn't care about
style.  His rectangular-shaped wire-rimmed glasses sat high on his nose.  He
was lanky and tall, but in no way foreboding.  She'd liked his e-mails and so
far, she liked him.  Oh, not in that girl-boy way she'd liked Brad, but enough
to know he could be her friend.  That's what he'd been so far.

"So
Courtney took you to her favorite bead shop?"

"Yeah,
it was called Zuni.  I've never seen so many beads and semi-precious stones. 
They even had Sleeping Beauty turquoise.  The sales clerk showed it to me.  She
let me slide the beads through my hands.  I can never pay for anything like
that, but maybe sometime I could afford some of the lapis and the jasper. 
Courtney says she uses it all the time.  I just love her stuff."

"Courtney's
good at everything she does."

Justin's
smile almost confirmed the fact that he and Courtney had a thing going on.  After
all, she was blonde with green eyes and a great bod.  She'd always wanted to be
a blond herself.  Maybe she could try that.  Out here, she could try anything.

One of
the computers sounded a signal and Shara glanced toward it.  But Justin didn't
get up or go to it to satisfy whatever the little bell signified.

She
asked, "What do you do with these?"

"I'm
an entrepreneur.  If you meant what you said about your family, about your mom
and your need to get away, if you'd like to start a new life, I can possibly
help you with that."

Up to
now, she'd been involved in the excitement of leaving her hometown, of flying
for the first time, of noticing everything she could about Albuquerque and the
landscape and the beautiful mountains she and Courtney had driven toward when
they'd gone to the bead shop.  But now she had to face why she'd run away.

"I
have to decide what I'm going to do…about the baby."  She'd told Justin
about that news when he'd picked her up at the airport.  He hadn't seemed
shocked.

"I
know.  We'll have to talk about your options."

"But
I'm underage.  If I go anywhere, wouldn't a doctor notify my mom?"

His
eyes narrowed a bit as he studied her.  "Not in New Mexico.  If you want,
though, we can fudge your age, or I can get you a new ID if you really don't
want your family to find you."

"A
new ID?"

"Sure. 
I know somebody who can give you a whole new name if you want it, but that's, of
course, up to you.  You're in charge, Shara.  You make all the decisions."

His
voice and his promise made her feel less uneasy about the decision she'd made
to leave York.

"I
want to give you a few things to think about tonight, okay?"

"Sure."

"First
of all, you don't have to worry about a roof over your head or food in your
stomach.  If you work for me, I'll take care of you.  I take care of all the
girls who do."

There
was that phrase again—work for him.  "Doing data entry?  Something like
that?"

Justin
dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.  He held it out to
her.  "This is yours.  My number and Courtney's are programmed in.  You
can call me whenever you need me.  Courtney, too.  For now you'll be living
where she does, so that's probably not going to be necessary.  Still, I know
how girls like to talk, even if you're only a block apart."

After
he handed her the phone, he said, "Let's talk about your baby for a
minute, then we'll move on to business."

She
hadn't even started to think about her baby.  She was still in shock that she
was pregnant.  But Justin seemed to be the kind of guy who liked to cover all
the bases.  That made her feel even a little more secure.

"I
don't know what I want to do.  I don't know if I should have it, or—"

"Your
life's in a shambles and this is a lot to think about right now.  I'll stand by
you whatever decision you make.  If you want to have an abortion, I'll pay for
it."

"I
don't have insurance or anything.  I'm on my mom's policy and if I'm out here—"

"Not
a problem, Shara."

She
could ask why it wasn't a problem, how he could get fake ID's, why he would pay
for everything for her, but she was overwhelmed right now.  She just wanted to
know she'd be okay.

"I
realize thinking about the baby is upsetting you, so let's talk about you
making some money, okay?"

"By
making jewelry like Courtney?  She told me she sells it at the flea
market."

He gave
a low chuckle.  "No, I'm not thinking about the flea market.  That's
something Courtney does to entertain herself.  What I'm talking about..." 
He waved at the two desktop computers.  "...has to do with the tech age,
social media, and the Internet."

"So
is it data entry?"

Again
he gave that low chuckle.  "Well, in a way I suppose you could say that. 
But no, we're not dealing with numbers and letters.  We're dealing with you and
Courtney and some other young women who have decided to make some money in a
short amount of time, who need more than minimum wage to live on, who are
trying to start over for whatever reason."

"They're
not all pregnant!"  A terrible foreboding came over her until he gave his
answer.

"Oh,
no.  In fact, you're the only one who's pregnant right now, though Mary Lee did
give up a baby for adoption last year.  That's one of your options, too."

Since
she didn't want to think about that, she still focused on the work.  "But
what would I be doing?"

Justin
stood and went over to one of the computer monitors.  With the mouse, he
flicked off the screen saver on both of them.  Then he jabbed a couple of buttons. 
He stood in front of one monitor and his visage showed up on the other.

He
turned to face her.  "Do you understand webcams?"

"My
desktop didn't have one.  But I was at a friend's when she used Skype so I know
how that works."  She didn't want him to think she was stupid.

"Yep,
you can videoconference with Skype.  But I'm talking about a different type of
service.  I have a website set up and provide a
private
service."

She was
getting goose pimples on her arms.  "What kind of service?"

"You
are a beautiful young woman, so is Courtney, so are the other girls that live
in the apartment with her.  They each have their own computer with a webcam and
their own room for a reason.  When they're working they need privacy."

Now
those goose pimples ran up her spine, too.  "Privacy for what?"

"We
have visitors who come to that website who pay a fee to belong.  When they
check in, they sign up for an appointment time.  The broadcasts are live and
the girls rotate."

"Rotate
talking to them?" she asked lightly, though the feeling in the pit of her
stomach told her that wasn't so.

He
didn't laugh this time, but he looked very serious.  "Talking can be part
of it, but their session runs only twenty minutes.  You have to think of this
more as a lap dance, only there's no danger to you because this person might be
on the other side of the world.  You'd wear something fairly skimpy like you
wore in that photo on
Branches,
and you'd entertain the customer.  The
girls have lots of books and videos that will help give you ideas on what you
can do."

Now
Shara
was
scared.  Having sex with Brad was one thing, doing something
like this for a complete stranger was something else.

"There's
total anonymity," Justin explained.  "And you won't be seeing the
customer.  He or she would just be seeing you."