Chapter 39

 

Buddy suggested we meet at five-thirty at Rubio’s, which I gathered was his favorite after-work watering hole. It was convenient for him, not so much for me, as I would be driving across town in rush-hour traffic. I budgeted some extra time and was ready to head out the door when Drake pulled into the driveway.

“Hey you,” he said, pulling me close for a kiss when I opened the front door for him. “I’ve got some exciting news.”

“Is it quick news? I’m suppose to be meeting a tech guy in forty minutes.” I glanced at my watch. “Unless you want to come along and talk while I drive?”

He pointed to his flight suit, which was a little grungy at the knees. He’d obviously been assisting with maintenance.

“I’ll make it quick, then fill in the rest when you get back. I’ve got more details about that little cabin. It’s been tied up in an old woman’s estate and no one has been up there in more than twenty years. I think we can get it.”

I hadn’t said anything, but I’d found myself thinking more and more about the little mountain place in recent days. My auto accident hadn’t been serious, but it got me thinking about the risks of everyday life and the missed opportunities Drake and I had when I was out chasing down bad guys. Finding a place to truly get away from reality for awhile seemed like heaven. I told him where I was going and he said he would have dinner ready when I returned.

Rubio’s is one of those places that had a huge heyday about twenty years ago. Big hit when it opened, always crowded, it boasted great steak dinners and a bar where Albuquerque’s business crowd hung out. The allure lasted a good five years—almost a record for this town—until the next new dazzler opened and the crowd drifted six blocks up the street.

For the past ten years or so, Rubio’s has held on by its teeth, supported by guys like Buddy Blue who come by for a beer after work and rarely stay through the dinner hour. The menu has scaled way back, with the big sellers these days being nachos and chicken wings.

Buddy sat at a roomy booth with a mini laptop open on the table. I sat across from him and handed over the phone I’d swiped from Clover’s bag. I’d already asked him what he would charge to hack the account and he said it depended on how long it took. He made a couple of little um-hm noises, which didn’t tell me a whole lot, then pulled out a cord and plugged the phone into his computer. Quicker than it takes to tell about it, he unplugged it and handed the phone back to me.

“That’s it?”

“Just the beginning. I have the phone’s data—it’s registered to a Zayne Delaney. Now I have to search through it. What was it you wanted to know, exactly?”

“Text messages, social media posts and phone calls from the past couple months—were they made from here in town or somewhere else? If elsewhere, I’d love to know where.”

He tapped keys and scowled at his screen. Maybe I should tell him if he keeps that up he’ll have permanently deep eyebrow wrinkles by the time he’s thirty.

“Okay … let’s see …” His finger zipped around over the touchpad. “Phone calls were definitely made locally. Did you look at this before you brought it? More than half these were made to a number registered to Clover Delaney. There’s a few international. I think the country code is for Egypt? Not positive about that.”

The parents. Donna had said Rick and Jane were on location in the desert somewhere.

“Are there incoming calls from Egypt, too?”

“Yep. Sure are.”

I noticed his beer was empty, asked if he’d like another, and flagged down the server to bring it, along with a glass of water for myself and some chips and salsa for the table. My tummy told me lunch had been a long time ago and dinner was still a way off.

Buddy reached for his new beer without taking his eyes from the computer screen.

“Text messages … looks like the same thing, although there’s a ton more numbers exchanging those. We’ve got Missy, Ryan, Mom, Delfina, Clover, Jen, Ashley, Connor … You want a list of all the names?”

It seemed that would be a lot of work, but while I pondered the usefulness of the information to me he continued to tap away.

“Never mind,” he said. “It’s simpler to copy them all and let you sort it out. What’s your email?”

I gave it to him and a moment later heard my phone’s familiar alert tone. I tapped the icon and spotted the message from Buddy. Scrolling through, I saw it was a long list. I would check it carefully later. Glancing around the room I noticed couples at other tables, each person in his or her own little world on an electronic device. I wondered if anyone seeing us at a glance would think Buddy and I were a similar couple. I stifled a chuckle and picked up a tortilla chip.

“So, that’s it for the simple part,” Buddy said, dipping into the salsa for the first time. “How much deeper do you want me to go?”

“What’s the cost and what would we learn?”

“I could get into the account and watch it live, in real time. Give you the person’s movements and let you know who they’re contacting. We can even go with text alerts to you if we see anything unusual. Rex bills my time at two hundred an hour.”

I gulped—it was quite a bit more than we were charging Donna for our time; I’d already sat here more than a hundred dollars’ worth.

“Tonight’s not on Rex’s clock. Buy me a burger and the beers, and we’re good for the little bit I’ve done here.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that. In this case, I pretty much know who’s using the phone and I don’t think knowing her movements step-by-step will make much difference.”

He didn’t seem especially disappointed. I got the feeling Innocent Times kept him plenty busy.

“I’d be happy to get you something fancier than a burger,” I said. “Name it. Anything on the menu.”

“Burger’s good. Maybe some extra fries.”

I flagged the server again and placed the order, letting Buddy know I needed to head home. I had a good idea what Clover was up to, using Zayne’s phone. I still had no idea why the elaborate cover-up.

I puzzled over it as I drove home, and then it hit me. Most likely, Zayne was up to something she wanted to conceal from her parents so she’d left her phone with Clover so the calls to mom and dad would show up coming from her number. She’d probably run off with a guy and got herself a new phone, one they knew nothing about.

Now that I had a logical answer, I wondered how I could go about proving it. Again, the only idea that came to me was to get closer to Clover and hope she would talk to me. Obviously, she was in on the game.