“What happened?” he asked. “Tianna called me all worried.”
“It’s so nice of you to call, but you know how your sister is.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry if I offended her, but your father and I had lunch plans. I couldn’t talk to her then. I’m famished, and you know your father doesn’t have a long time for lunch. As it is we had to stop by work for him to clear up a problem, but we’re leaving now.”
Harrison heard a jumble of voices in the background, no doubt the employees at the shop. “Mom, don’t change the subject,” he said. “Did it have to do with our problem? The phone call, I mean? Did you receive one? When?”
“I love you, too, dear. We’ll talk later.”
Whatever had happened, his mother was pretending it hadn’t—at least as long as Eli was there. “Okay. Call me if you need me. I have some information for you.” He hesitated, tempted to tell her the blackmail payoff was on Friday, but he couldn’t do that to her over the phone, especially since she was with Eli.
“Goodbye, dear.”
Harrison hung up. Well, whatever had happened with the supposed phone call, his mother was okay for the moment. How could Makay have done this to them? Renewed anger filled him as he steered into the parking lot at work.
By the time he left work, his anger had settled to a cold, hard chunk of regret in his belly. He tried to talk himself into the righteous anger again, but the memory of Makay’s steady gaze and her toneless repetition of his accusing words prevented the fire from igniting. He still couldn’t believe she’d betrayed him, but the evidence on the tape was all too clear. And she hadn’t bothered to defend herself.
His phone buzzed as he walked up the stairs to his apartment, and he glanced at it almost hopefully. But of course it wouldn’t be Makay. Some part of him was honest enough to admit that if it had been her, hearing her voice might just be enough to whip his anger back into a comfortingly indignant rage. Instead, it was Tianna asking if he was home yet and if she could stop by. He told her yes, though he didn’t feel much like having company. He kept wondering where Makay was and what Nate’s second fortune cookie said.
He’d grabbed a cold drink from the fridge and was sitting on his leather sofa when Tianna knocked. “It’s open,” he called.
“You look worse than I feel, and I’ve been puking all day,” she said, pausing in the doorway. “If that job is so tough on you, maybe you should quit.”
“I love my job.”
“I see.” She regarded him for a moment before heading into his kitchen. Harrison heard the fridge open and close. “So,” she said, coming back into the room with a glass of milk, “what happened with mom?”
He eyed the milk curiously before he remembered that she was expecting. “Nothing. When I called, she’d left with Eli. They were going out to lunch. She wouldn’t say anything about a phone call.”
“Why do you call him Eli?” She sat next to him. “He’s the only father you’ve ever known, and you’re his only son.”
He shrugged. “Habit. I called him that before they married. As for me being his son . . . he has Chad now. That’s taken a lot of pressure off.” Harrison raised his can as if in a toast. “Marrying him was one of the best things you ever did for me.”
Tianna laughed. “And for me. Chad’s good for Dad, too. He likes having Chad work at the store with him. They’ll be opening another location soon.” She scooted to the edge of the seat, angling toward him.
Harrison prepared himself for more questions about their mother. He’d never been a very good liar, but he wouldn’t betray her confidence.
Instead, she said, “How’s Makay?”
He blinked, unable to hide his surprise. “Fine. Why do you ask?”
“Because you look like someone crashed your car, stole all your money, and shot your dog. I mean, if you had a dog. You were so happy with Makay on Sunday. What happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
Heaving a sigh, she sat back against the couch. “Whatever. But remember, I was the one who warned you about that witch you were dating in California—the only person who warned you, I might add. And I like Makay. Whatever you did to ruin things, you’d better fix it fast.”
Harrison sat up straight. “Oh yeah? What if it’s her who needs to do the fixing? She lied to me. And before you ask, I’m not sharing the details.”
“I don’t need them,” she said airily. “Did you ask her about it?”
“Yes.” Though the confrontation in the parking lot hadn’t exactly been a discussion.
“And what did she say?”
“She didn’t deny it.”
“Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You did talk to her about it, right? You didn’t do anything stupid like becoming all accusing and angry and hurt.” Tianna waited a moment for him to answer, but when he didn’t, she rushed on. “So you didn’t even ask her about it or find out if it was true.”
“Oh, it’s true.”
“Okay, so maybe it’s true. But if you don’t ask why or find the reason behind it, you can’t really know if she intended to cause you harm.” She put her hand on Harrison’s. “Makay is totally crazy about you. All of us could see that on Friday night and on Sunday. And that little boy—he worships you.”
“Look, I know you’re only trying to help, but the fact is I don’t think this is something she can apologize for or that we can laugh off as a mistake. I know what she did. Any explanation won’t help.”
“Are you sure?” Tianna hesitated a few seconds before adding, “Because talking about things has averted entire wars between nations. Counseling has prevented numerous divorces.”
“That’s when both parties are willing to negotiate.”
“And she’s not? Do you know that for a fact? Not wanting to know Makay’s motives or that she’s willing to offer an explanation kind of sounds like Dad—all-knowing and self-righteous Eli Matthews.” She leaned forward, set her cup on the coffee table, and stood. “Dad never cares about the other person’s point of view. He’s always right about everything—even when we all know he’s wrong. I’m not sure that’s the role you want to play with Makay. Or is it? It might not help knowing her motives because maybe she is as lousy as your ex, but one thing for sure is that if you don’t try you’ll never know.”
She turned and walked toward the door. “Just for the record, I’m not wrong about Makay. Do you want to wonder the rest of your life if she was the right one you let get away?” She let herself out, closing the door softly behind her.
Harrison felt as if his little sister had punched him in the gut—both by reminding him how right things had been between him and Makay and by pointing out his similarity with Eli. It was a big possibility that nothing Makay could have said to answer his accusation would have made a difference at the time.
Maybe I made a mistake.
He didn’t see how the video footage could lie, so Makay and the man
were
in this together, but there could be more to the story than what he thought he knew. In fact, he remembered how outside the hairdresser’s the rat-faced man had talked about Makay working for him and not the other way around. She hadn’t looked at all happy with the man. Also, now that he thought about it, she had been upset about something on Monday. She might have been looking for an opportunity to talk to him about Lenny and the blackmail.
How much more had Harrison missed in his rush to accuse?
Setting down his drink, he swept up his keys and his phone and headed to his car. He thought about calling Makay first, but that would give her the chance to stop him from coming over.
This time I’ll be calm and rational,
he thought.
I may even apologize for accusing her so quickly.
But he would make her tell him the truth.
No one answered at Makay’s apartment and the dog didn’t bark. Harrison walked around the building a few times and then circled the block. Still no Makay. By that time it was almost nine o’clock and dusk was settling over the city. Where could she be? Nate would need to get to bed soon, and from what the boy had said, Makay didn’t often leave him alone. But maybe she had a test to take or to study for. Or maybe she and Nate were on their way home from the library right now. For no reason at all, he recalled the bruises on her wrist. Could she be in trouble? His worry growing, he decided to ring the doorbell of the older woman Makay had been talking to the day before on the first floor.
She answered on his third ring, the noise from her television set blaring into the hallway. “Yes? Oh, hi. You’re that fellow Makay’s been seeing.”
“Do you know where she is? No one answers upstairs.”
“Of course she’s not answering. She moved.” The woman’s eyes narrowed. “That’s odd she didn’t tell you.”
Harrison felt like an idiot. Nate had talked about a new place, but he’d thought they would wait until the end of the month. Had his confrontation forced her to move early? Guilt crawled through his mind. “Where is she?”
The old woman shook her head. “She didn’t say exactly where, but even if she had, I wouldn’t tell you. You understand. I’m sure she’ll let you know if she wants you to find her. Why don’t you give her a call?” Her eyes squinted at him. “Did you two have a fight? I thought it was odd her moving all those boxes today by herself.”
Her tone implied that any
decent
boyfriend would have rearranged his schedule to help. Maybe she was right.
“Call her,” she said. “She has her cell. We’re keeping in touch on account of the groceries. And the funeral.”
Groceries? Funeral? The woman was speaking Greek or old age. He wasn’t sure which. “Whose funeral?”
“Sally’s. She lived on the third floor. Makay used to give her groceries even though she never paid a dime like the rest of us. Makay’s a sweet girl.”
Of course,
he thought acidly.
Makay can afford to give groceries away because she’s blackmailing people with the little rat-faced scumbag.
Ire bubbled inside his gut, but he squashed it down. If she had money, she wouldn’t be living in a hole like this. No, he’d wait to hear her explanation before deciding whether or not to turn her over to the police. But if it came to that, how could he keep his mother out of it? And what about Nate? Anything that happened to Makay would affect him.
Back in the car, Harrison stared at his dash for a long time before finally punching Makay’s number. Tianna was right. If he never learned another thing about Makay’s motives and how she became involved with that man, he would always wonder. But most of all, if he was honest, at the moment he just wanted to make sure she was all right.
She didn’t pick up. Big surprise. She probably wouldn’t want to talk to him again. Her voice seemed to ring in his ears, throwing his own words back at him.
I’m a liar, a cheat, and a user. You have made that very clear. What else is there after something like that?
Okay, if she wasn’t answering, he could text her. But what could he say that would make her respond? Not an apology because he wasn’t sure he owed one, and not asking if she was okay, because he didn’t think she’d appreciate that. Finally, he texted
We need to talk.
Maybe that would be compelling enough to get her to return his call. He did want to talk. He wanted to know how she’d discovered his mother’s secret, why that rat-faced man seemed familiar, and why she’d kissed him as if she’d meant it.
Discouraged, he went home. No calls came for him that evening, not even from his mother. Would Makay still go through with the blackmail now that he knew? Harrison hated that he wanted her to care about him enough to cancel the whole deal, never mind the morality of the issue. The hard fact was that she might not be in a position to call anything off, not if rat-face was in charge.
After a sleepless night, Harrison rose early and went to work. He kept his phone nearby, checking it every so often. Still nothing. Finally, he took an early lunch and headed for IHOP. He wasn’t going to talk to her there, but check and make sure she was physically okay. He told himself it was stupid. Why should he care how she was after the horror she’d put him and his mother through?
Her car wasn’t in the IHOP parking lot. Feeling a twinge of unease, he went inside and asked for her. A stocky, dark-skinned girl with straightened black hair and too much blue eye shadow told him Makay hadn’t shown up for her shift. “Thanks, Peg,” he said, peering at her name tag.
“She didn’t seem the type to do that,” Peg said. “Hope nothing’s happened to her. If you see her, tell her to call in right away or she’ll lose her job. As it is, she’d better have a good excuse.”
Harrison walked out of the restaurant, wishing he could somehow wind back time. He should have invited Makay into his car and discussed his information rationally. He shouldn’t have let anger or his feelings of betrayal take over.
Where is she?
He’d run out of ideas.
Who might know? The only people he knew who also knew Makay besides that old lady at her apartment building in Mesa—and she obviously had no plans to share anything she might learn—were her friends he’d met at the club, those connected with Lily’s House. Fortunately, he knew where that was, and he drove directly there. As he arrived, two battered cars left with several young girls inside. No blue Sebring.
Lily opened the door, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her young son on her hip. Her protruding stomach seemed to have doubled since the last time he’d seen her. “Hi,” she said brightly. “I ordered the alarm equipment, but it hasn’t come yet. Should be here next week.”
He shook his head, feeling suddenly very awkward. “That’s not why I’m here. It’s about Makayla.”
Lily’s brow furrowed. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. A lady at her apartment said she moved out, but she’s not answering my calls.”
Lily relaxed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. She moved in with Brette. I think you met her at the nightclub.” She laughed and tossed her head, sending her ponytail swinging. “Brette’s not happy staying at her mother’s house alone, but she’s sick of irresponsible roommates. Tessa and I thought Makay would be perfect. Plus, it’s a lot better place for Nate and Snoop.”
Relief flooded Harrison. “That would explain a lot. Except that she didn’t show up at her job today.”
“Come on in. Let me call her.”