Chapter 2

Monday, Tiny went out at lunchtime and returned with the tracker. He showed me how to activate it then track it on my cellphone, and how to fit it to a car so it couldn’t easily be detected by casual observation.

Friday morning I drove to Fairfax. Trade secret - if you look confident, people are unlikely likely to question you when your presence is unauthorised. I found the local office of Office Automation Products. Their car park actually had a real live human manning the entrance barrier. I brazenly drove up to the barrier.

“Special delivery for Mr McKenzie. He’s visiting the office today,” I said, effecting my best attempt at a bored face.

“Visitor parking is ahead and on the right,” said the security guard, barely even glancing at me.

As luck would have it, the space next to Ray’s car was empty. Or perhaps it was because his was the most prestigious car in the car park and nobody wanted to be the first to give it a parking ding. I slipped out of my car, activated the tracker, then placed it on Ray’s car according to Tiny’s instructions. I waited for a few minutes so as not to make the security guard suspicious then left, the security guard giving me a friendly wave as he opened the barrier.

I spent an utterly unmemorable afternoon in Fairfax, checking my cellphone every half hour until finally Ray’s car was on the move. And he wasn’t going in the direction of home. I gave him a decent head start then followed.

Ray drove to the town of Harford, his destination a motel. It didn’t look like the sort of place to rent rooms by the hour, so I checked in too. I treated myself to a much needed shower after being on the road all day. When I got out, I checked my cellphone and found that Ray’s car was on the move again. Expecting that Ray was going to meet someone and I would need to look respectable, I threw on the best clothes I had with me, and slapped on a minimal amount of war paint. As friends often told me, I couldn’t do ‘sexy’ to save my life but I had ‘cute’ down pat, and ‘cute’ required less make-up, not more.

Ray’s car only travelled a few blocks then parked outside a downmarket bar. It had a large glass frontage and I was able to watch him from outside. If he was waiting for someone, they were taking their time showing up. I went proactive. I surreptitiously removed the tracker from Ray’s car; I didn’t expect to have to rely on it again this weekend. Ray was sitting on a stool at the bar, positioned so he could watch the door. When I entered, he looked up eagerly, like a puppy. Then, disappointed, he looked away again.

Interesting. He was definitely looking for someone.

I perched myself on an adjacent bar stool. Ray watched me warily out of the corner of his eye.

“Buy a girl a drink?” I asked, giving him my best attempt at a saucy wink.

“I’m married,” he replied, carefully avoiding eye contact.

“I like a man with principles. Let me buy you a drink.”

“Please, I’m waiting for someone.”

Time to deploy my secret weapon.

“Message received loud and clear,” I replied. “No harm, no foul.”

I offered my hand. Ray looked at me as though I had a contagious disease. I left my hand there. People started to stare at us. Public pressure won out and he took my hand for a perfunctory shake.

I slid into Ray’s mind. I could do it at will now, not like that first time. I quickly found out everything I needed to know.

After the briefest of shakes, Ray dropped my hand like a hot potato. But it didn’t matter, thought travels at the speed of light. And knowing what I now did, I decided to break one of my cardinal rules and betray my client’s confidence.

I reached into a pocket and retrieved my Private Investigator licence.

“Can we move somewhere more private?” I said. “We’ve both got confessions to make.”

Ray went pale, then nodded to a row of booths at the back of the bar.

“Let me get myself a drink to keep up appearances,” I said, “then I’ll come over and join you.”

The barman gave me an icy stare, wrongly concluding that I was a novice working girl propositioning one of his customers, but I flashed him my licence and he served me a glass of house red.

“I know why you’re here,” I said to Ray. “But you need to confide in Jocelyn. She’s worried about you. The company gave you away by trying to call you at home after you’d told Jocelyn you were still at one of their offices.”

“It’s been over ten years,” said Ray. “I was hoping the anniversary might jog someone’s memory. My parents said they’d told Sheila she could no longer live at home because of her whoring. She was always more rebellious against our parents’ ways. I can’t believe she’d move away without letting me know she was okay. And her body has never been found. It’s killing me, not knowing what happened to her.”

“Go home to your wife. Beg her forgiveness for not trusting her. And make damn sure your apology is accompanied by more than a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers. I’ll make my own enquiries into Sheila’s disappearance. I’ve got options not open to someone who’s white and middle class.”

“But you’re white and middle class,” Ray pointed out.

“I found out about your search for your twin sister, didn’t I?” I grinned...

Ray looked as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he had someone on his side.

“Thanks,” he smiled.