Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I smiled because that was a good impression.
And Los Guapos was what Jinx called the Nightingale Hottie Squad.
“So we have nothing,” Harlow said despondently.
It seemed we did, indeed, have nothing.
“You have addresses on Duane and Amy?” Shanti asked Arthur.
“Pertinent information has been sent via encrypted email to the Angels’ address,” Arthur said.
“You got anything else on Duane?” Luna asked.
“It would seem from GPS on his cell that his schedule hasn’t deviated, outside his visit to Willow,” Arthur shared.
“So what we have is a skittish dude who tries to reach out for help, that fails, but more than two days have passed since he made that attempt, and he hasn’t tried again,” Shanti started to call it down. “So that could indicate he’s even more shit-scared of whatever this is than what we already knew. Which makes bad, worse. And we’ve got a missing woman who no one has reported missing. And that makes worse, worser. And we’ve got a whole lot of nothing else. Which completely sucks.”
No one said anything to that, including Arthur.
Finally, Gemma piped up.
“Um, Mr. Arthur…”
We all smiled again.
“…can you get CCTV footage of Food City? Namely any footage of Amy at her till or coming from and going to her car in the parking lot.” Gem turned to us. “Maybe whoever is behind this made an approach at her work.”
“Excellent,” Jessie said on an admiring grin aimed at Gemma.
Gemma beamed with pride.
“I can, and I will,” Arthur said. “Anything else?”
It was Joey who chimed in then.
“And maybe more intel on the son?” She too, turned to the rest of us. “We should know if they talk. If she visits. If he senses she’s gone. If he cares. Or if, and I know this is a long shot, but we can assume he doesn’t keep good company, so maybe he’s got something to do with whatever this is.”
I was understanding why Arthur saw promise in these gals.
How he saw it, no clue, since Gem’s extra job was home health care, and Joey’s was doing nails in her mom’s garage salon.
But then again, Arthur had a lot of mysterious ways.
“I’ll provide intelligence on that as well,” Arthur said. “Further thoughts?”
Again, no one spoke up.
Thus, Arthur did.
“As ever, call me if you need anything. Good luck, Angels.”
With that, Arthur didn’t say goodbye, but we knew he was gone.
“Was that cool, or what?” Harlow asked.
“Raye is gonna be pissed she missed that,” Luna remarked.
“Maybe not too pissed,” Gemma teased.
“Okay, so we have to get into Amy’s crib,” Shanti brought us back on target.
“We so do,” Jessie agreed.
“And maybe Duane’s,” I said.
“So weird, knowing his name,” Harlow murmured.
It totally was.
It made him seem human, which, of course, he was. But it was an all-new spin.
“Anyone know how to pick a lock?” Joey asked.
Again, no one said anything because no one knew how to do that.
“Whoever ‘they’ are, are probably watching the place too,” I noted. “So we have to go incognito.”
“Okay, so we have to learn how to competently pick a lock while looking like we’re just opening a door,” Joey said. “And we need disguises, like gas company or electricians or something.”
“We know Tex knows how to pick a lock,” Jessie remarked. “He could teach us.”
“And I bet he has a toolbox,” Luna added.
“I think my dad has some coveralls,” Shanti offered up. “One of us puts them on, pads them up, shoves their hair under a baseball hat, puts on a fake moustache or something.”
“We could also just go in after dark,” Gemma suggested. “If Amy lives in a rundown complex, they probably don’t have good lighting. And from what I can tell of this Duane guy, he likely isn’t thinking ‘safety first’ on the home front.”
“Two teams.” Luna decreed. “Raye, Shanti, Willow and Gemma take Duane’s place. Jess, Harlow, Joey and I will take Amy’s. We’ll case them. Make plans. Report back. Refine plans. And go in. That work for everyone?”
Whoa.
Luna was getting super good at this. Those teams were a great breakdown of experience from veterans to newbies.
Though, we were all newbies at breaking and entering.
“Sounds good to me,” Jess said.
“Me too,” I said.
“Me three,” Harlow said.
Luna got up and turned to us, hand extended.
We all did the same.
“One, two, three…” Luna called it down.
“Angels Unite!” we all shouted.
And we broke.
ELEVEN
DUNCH
The Angels had car-shared to Headquarters, so once we got the addresses from Arthur’s email, we broke off to do some drive-bys and get initial impressions before we dropped Gemma and Joey back at work and went home.
Though, my team had decided to think on things and circle back later that evening after Gemma got off work and Raye, well, quit getting off, so we could give her the skinny and get her input.
That said, we all also decided there was no further time to delay, so whatever we were going to do, we were going to do it tomorrow night.