Page 56 of Take a Hike
“Be ready for her to break into our hotel rooms.”
“Pretty sure she already did that last night.” Even thoughshe’d been exhausted as well as distracted by the Kieran-shaped cloud she’d been floating on, she’d had an uneasy feeling when she’d entered her room the night before—enough so that she did a complete search of the space before she could even think about going to bed.
Lou made appropriately horrified noises as Fifi sat up straight, eyes lit with outrage. “Did she find it?”
Charlie fished the key out of her zipped pocket and held it up so her sister could see it. “Duh, of course not. I’m keeping it on me. She’ll have to resort to full-on robbery to get her crime-ing hands on this.”
“She’ll try it,” Fifi warned.
“I know.” An old and bitter pang of sadness struck Charlie, surprising her. She hadn’t thought her mom had the ability to disappoint her anymore. One of the militia members on the screen crossed over to plop down on the couch, and Charlie watched his movements, using the time to rewrap her emotions in some muffling blankets. Once she was pleasantly numb again, she looked away from the screen. “I have about fifty decoy keys on me, but we still need to find the lock before she gets ahold of this key. She’s ditched us too many times for us to trust that we’ll be able to tail her.”
“As fascinating as this is,” Ian said, his usual easy manner returning, “I’ve got to get to work.” Pressing another temple kiss to his wife, he topped off his coffee, gave the rest of them a chin lift of farewell, and left the room, closing the door behind him with a click.
“Okay.” Fifi picked up the conversation as if they hadn’tbeen interrupted. “Are we assuming the lock is somewhere around Langston?”
“Probably Denver,” Charlie said. “Mom would’ve had to stash the necklace before getting arrested.”
“Unless she handed it off to Zach or another partner in crime,” Bennett suggested.
It was a good theory, but Charlie knew her mother too well to see that happening. “Jane wouldn’t trust anyone with the necklace, especially Zach.”
Fifi nodded. “Rightly so. The guy would’ve been gone like a shot, taking the prize and leaving Mom to face the consequences.”
“So we’re going to assume she locked up the necklace somewhere in Denver,” Lou said before her mouth pulled down in an exaggerated frown. “That’s a lot of possibilities.”
“Not necessarily,” Kieran chimed in. As pathetic as it was, Charlie was glad for the excuse to look at him. Her crush had officially entered ridiculousness territory. “Where was she picked up by police?”
“Just a mile northwest from the victim’s hotel.” Bennett had been investigating Jane when he’d met Fifi, so it made sense he knew a random detail like that.
Charlie grabbed her phone and opened a map app. “Do you know the exact address where the cops arrested her?” she asked without looking away from her screen.
“Sixth Avenue and Colorado.”
Of course he does.She grinned. “You’re proving once again how handy you are to have around.”
An almost inaudible protest from Kieran had her glancing his way. For some reason, his scowl was firmly back in place.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he grumbled. When she didn’t say anything or look away, the tips of his ears turned a bit pink. “Just…it wasmyidea.”
Charlie was forced to suck in her cheeks in order to hold back her laugh. It didn’t help that Lou had obviously heard his mumbled complaint and was snickering, but Charlie somehow managed to keep a straight face. “You’re very handy too.”
Although he huffed as if he hadn’t been fishing for praise, his scowl lightened. Charlie waited until her head was tipped down at her phone again before she allowed the tiniest smile to escape. Maybe it was strange of her, but she liked that he wanted her approval. It made her feel important to him. Focusing on the map app with an effort, she zoomed in on the area between where her mom had been arrested and the hotel where she’d stolen the necklace and frowned.
“It’s so residential,” she said.
Lou stood and moved closer to Charlie so she could see. “Maybe she didn’t go far. Would the hotel have locked storage units people could use?”
“We’ll check.” Charlie made a mental note to call the hotel later. “If not, they might know the closest place that does.”
Kieran leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen, his body so close to her back that she could feel the heat radiating from him. “There’s a shipping place. Maybe the key is for a mailbox.”
Fifi came over to stand behind Charlie’s other side, resting her chin on Charlie’s shoulder. “Hmm…that’s in the other direction. Would Mom have been able to make it all the way over here in time? She’s not a fan of physical activity.” She pointed at the intersection where Jane had been picked up, getting her finger too close to the screen, making the map zoom in.
“Fifi, no touching,” Charlie complained mildly. The map now showed a sliver of the opposite side of Colorado Boulevard, where—according to the map icons—two restaurants, a laundromat, and a gym were located. She moved to return the map to its original position when Rory sat up straight.
“The militia widow is awake.”
