Page 55 of The Fall Back Plan
“Maybe I should stop by your place. Make it feel more personal. Neighborly.”
“That would work. I’m home by 6:00 most days.”
“Cool. But could, you, uh, not . . .” I shift, not sure how to phrase what I’m going to say next. Maybe it’s strange. Or rude?
“Not what?”
“Your uniform.” I nod at him. “Could you not wear it?”
He looks down at it. “I usually don’t at home, but why? Is something wrong with it?”
I shake my head. “It’s more like . . . I don’t know. You’re very official. And I don’t want her to feel like I’m there for anything official? It’s the neighborly thing again.”
“So something more casual. Approachable.” His eyes glint. “Maybe even inviting. Like, say, pasties?”
“Lucas!”
He gives me an innocent look. “Not pasties? Maybe sweats then?”
Whyis the image of him in joggers so sexy? Why, brain? Whyyyyy? “Pasties are not inviting. Pasties would make me run away.”
He gives me a serious nod. “Got it. I don’t know why you keep bringing them up.”
“Lucas!”
“I’m trying to talk business here. Speaking of which . . .”
I watched girls in high school hit boys who teased them. I never got it until now. My palms itch to give his forearm a smack and also maybe to feel the muscles in it . . .
Oh, my gosh.Pull it together, girl.“Right. Business. Clearing my name of being the Doll Bandit.” I look back at the map and run the doll pictures through my mind. “At this stage, do you call this evidence or clues?”
He looks startled. “We don’t use the word clues, but I guess that’s what it is. When we’re sure something is connected to an investigation, we call it evidence.”
“Do you have any conclusions based on these clues?” I ask.
He watches me with a small smile. “Do you?”
I nod.
“Lay it out for me.”
“I don’t know who it is, but I have some guesses about where to start looking.”
He gestures for me to continue.
“Let me do a couple of quick searches first?”
“Sure.”
I search a few social media groups, look at Craigslist and the classifieds page for the local paper. Lucas keeps himself busy on his phone, so I don’t feel rushed. After about ten minutes, I say, “Okay, I’ve got a place to start.”
I point on the map at a senior living community. “This is new, right? I don’t remember it.” It’s near the newer tract homes.
He nods. “Yeah. We need more of them. Boomers are aging and all that.”
“There’s a woman named Judy who has responded to a couple of posts made by other people who were offering up collectible dolls for sale or giveaway. I looked up her address and she lives in that community. Don’t know if it’s her leaving them, but she might know other collectors or have an idea of how to track some down.”
He looks at the screenshots I’ve traced and back to the map. “Still a genius, huh?”
