Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [16]
“She and my dad were divorced? When?”
“Right about the time they told you she died, I’m guessing,” Logan said.
“Who filed the divorce?”
“She did, citing irreconcilable differences and granting your dad full custody of you.”
Megan tried to absorb this new piece of the puzzle. “I don’t understand. If they got divorced, why not just tell me that instead of lying about her dying?”
He pointed to her BlackBerry. “Call your dad and ask him.”
“No.” She felt as if the entire foundation of her life was suddenly on shifting sand, or quicksand that threatened to suck her in and completely submerge her. She had to stay focused here. She couldn’t afford to lose it right now. “What else did you find?” Megan asked.
“Just this.” He showed her the screen. “Someone named Fiona is guest blogging about how she and your mom went to Woodstock together decades ago when they were eighteen. According to the info Fiona has supplied about herself, she doesn’t live too far from here.”
“She lists her address online? That’s a risky thing to do.”
“Her brief bio at the end of her guest blog mentions a business she owns and its location, but she doesn’t list a contact e-mail address. She hasn’t posted anything new for a few weeks, so if you replied to the blog there’s no telling when she’d read it.”
“Then we have to go talk to her.”
“Hold on,” he said. “Let’s see if there isn’t more we can find.”
Two hours, two platefuls of pancakes and countless cups of coffee later, they still had no additional leads. “I’m telling you that your best bet is having your dad track your mom down,” Logan said. “He may already know where she is.”
“If he knows I’m looking for her, he may try to hide her from me.”
“Gee, paranoid much?”
“I never used to be.” She had the feeling that very little about her life would be the same after tonight. “I’m tired of being reasonable and responsible all the time. I’m trusting my gut right now, and my gut says that I have a brief window of opportunity here to find her before they do. Or if they already know where she is, then I have a short period of time to reach her before they realize I’m looking for her. I don’t care if that’s logical or not. The bottom line is that I need to talk to Fiona. If you won’t help me, I’ll rent a car and go anyway. By myself.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t take you.”
“Then let’s stop wasting time here and go find Fiona.” She let her desperation show in her face and her unsteady voice. “Please.”
Logan was silent for a minute before finally saying, “Okay.” He signaled for the check.
“I’ll pay for breakfast,” Megan said. When he began to protest, she added, “To thank you for helping me out.”
“I don’t let women pay my way.”
“Why not?”
“Because I wasn’t raised that way.”
“Well, I wasn’t raised to dash off in the middle of the night with a strange man, but I’m doing it.” Seeing his glare, she added, “Okay, so you’re not strange. I take that back.”
“Take it all back.” He shoved her money across the table at her.
“Do you think I’m trying to bribe you or something?”
“Do you really want to fight about this or do you want to track down Woodstock lady?”
“Her name is Fiona.”
“Whatever.”
“I thought cops were supposed to notice details like that.”
“Oh, I notice details when I need to. Like the fact that you’re a five-foot-eight brunette with blue eyes and freckles who shoves her hair away from her face when she’s stressed. You also have a habit of licking your lips when you’re nervous . . . like now.”
“Okay then,” she said, determined to never again lick her lips in his presence. Hair shoving was okay, but she didn’t want him focusing on her lips the way he was right now. “I’m glad we got that cleared up. We’ll go Dutch.” She slapped down enough money to cover her portion of the bill and tip. “Now, let’s hit the road in your aqua Chevy.”
“It’s blue.”
“Right.” She held the door open for him. “Let’s go.”
As they headed out of Vegas, Logan wondered what it was