Good Night, Gracie. Kristin Gabriel
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thrown in jail. But nobody ever knew for sure.”
Now it clicked. In the back of the yearbook had been a mock-up of a wanted poster with Allison’s picture on it and text underneath that read:
The senior class of Kendall High is offering a reward of one dollar for any information about AWOL classmate Allison Webb. She was last seen in the computer lab, wearing a pink sweater and white denim jeans.
“Well, it looks like the mystery will be solved tonight,” Zach said. “All we have to do is ask her where she went and why.”
Sandra smiled as she swept her arm in Allison’s direction. “Be my guest, Mr. Holloway. I’ll be waiting to soak up all your juicy tidbits.”
Zach walked across the room, driven more by a desire to escape Sandra than any curiosity about Allison. As he approached her, she caught sight of his name tag, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Gilbert Holloway?” she said, looking him up and down.
“That’s right,” he replied. “How are you, Allison?”
“You know how I am.” She moved closer to him and whispered, “The question is, what are you doing here?”
“Catching up with old friends,” he replied, caught off guard by her reaction.
“Are you nuts?” she hissed. “This isn’t the time to be playing games. There’s too much at stake.”
His instincts as a cop kicked into high gear at her words. It looked like there was more to the mystery of Allison than anyone here had imagined. There was something going on between her and Gilbert. Not a physical relationship, obviously, since she didn’t realize he was an imposter—which left another incriminating possibility.
“I guess I like to live dangerously.”
“I know why you’re here,” she accused, her gaze narrowing on him. “You want to see goody-two-shoes Gracie.”
The jealousy in her tone was unmistakable. But he still couldn’t be sure about her connection to Gilbert. He needed to draw her out and make her reveal something that would lead him in the right direction. “What makes you say that?”
“Maybe the fact that you’re compromising the entire plan by showing up here tonight. Why did you insist that I make contact with Walker Mullen if you were planning to be here?”
Walker Mullen? The name didn’t sound familiar. Just how many alumni from the class of ’95 were involved in this case?
“In case you’re interested, he bought my story about the stalker and is making the plans for us to travel incognito. I’m supposed to pick up the airline tickets at his agency on Monday.”
So Walker Mullen was a local travel agent—and a dupe. That answered one question but still didn’t get him any closer to finding Gilbert.
“Now you’re taking a chance of blowing everything. And for what?” She rolled her eyes. “A chance to moon over Gracie Dawson?”
Zach wished he knew what she was talking about. He was floundering here and had no idea how to dig for more information without revealing himself.
“Let me buy you a drink,” he offered, noting the empty glass in her hand. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and hoped a little more would help her loosen her tongue.
She shook her head. “I’m leaving now. Besides, I prefer to keep a clear head. It’s safer that way. And I suggest you do the same—especially around Gracie. If she gets in the way…”
“What?” he prodded, his skin prickling at her tone.
“Just follow the plan and Gracie won’t get hurt,” Allison replied. “I know where she lives, so if anything goes wrong—and I mean, anything, then she’ll be the one who pays. Got it?”
Before he could reply to her not-so-veiled threat, Allison turned on her heel and walked away. Zach started to follow her when another woman came into his view. The woman he’d flown over a thousand miles to meet. The woman he’d only seen before this moment in a yearbook and in his dreams.
Gracie.
3
GRACIE STOOD in the crowded ballroom at the Claremont Hotel, her gaze skimming over the faces of her old classmates. Some were familiar to her, some she barely recognized anymore. A few of them cast glances her way, but most were engaged in conversation, gathered in small clusters at tables or standing around the bar.
The one classmate she didn’t see was Gilbert. Her heart sank when she realized all her preparation—the dress, the shoes, the romance books, just might have been for nothing. It looked like Gilbert was a no-show. Maybe her e-mail had sounded too desperate, too needy. She’d scared the man off. That was probably the reason he’d never bothered to reply to her.
Gracie walked over to the punch bowl, telling herself not to obsess about it. She could still have a good time tonight and reacquaint herself with all of her old classmates—although the thought of hearing all of their success stories depressed her even more.
“Gracie Dawson, is that really you?”
She turned around to see a buxom blonde barreling down on her. The woman held a name tag in one hand and a margarita in the other. Her face looked somewhat familiar, but Gracie couldn’t place her.
“You don’t know who I am, do you?” the woman said, laughing as she slapped the name tag onto Gracie’s dress. “It’s me, Sandra Atley. And here I thought geeky Gilbert would win the award for Most Changed Since High School.”
“Geeky Gilbert?” she echoed, her heart skipping a beat. “Is he here?”
“Of course he’s here,” Sandra replied. “And wait until you see him. You won’t believe your eyes.” She grabbed Gracie by the elbow and pivoted her around. “He’s right over…” Her voice trailed off and she frowned. “Well, he was right over there. I’m not sure where he is now.”
Gracie smoothed down her dress and tried not to hyperventilate, aware that he could appear at any moment. “So how have you been, Sandra?”
“Fantastic,” she replied. “I just got transferred to the Kendall State Bank from the main branch in Houston. It’s great to be back home again. I’m still a teller, but I’ve got my eye on a management position. It’s all about networking, you know, and I’ve already scored some great dirt on the current bank manager.”
Gracie forced herself to maintain eye contact instead of looking around for Gilbert. Let him come to me.
“So what about you, Gracie?” Sandra asked. “Are you married? Any kids?”
“Oh, no,” Gracie replied. “Not yet, anyway. The bookstore keeps me too busy.”
Her smile softened with pity. “Are you still working there? It’s such a sweet little place. I heard about your aunt passing away and meant to send you a card, but time got away from me. That’s why I’m so excited to be moving back to Kendall. Everything in the big city is just rush, rush, rush!”
“So I’ve heard.” Gracie didn’t know what else to say, reminding her of how little she’d had in common with most of her classmates at Kendall High. She’d thought ten years might have changed that, but a quick perusal of the ballroom showed that many of the old cliques still remained, though the lines were a bit more blurred now.
She’d always been an outsider, along with Gilbert. Now she wanted to find him again and see if the bond they’d shared a decade ago was still there. A bond that had grown even stronger these past few months. He seemed more thoughtful in his e-mails now. Less cynical. Though he still had the ability to make her laugh.
She wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one who had really changed, especially since Aunt Fran’s death. After working through her grief, she’d