Stella, Get Your Man. Nancy Bartholomew
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much from our brief telephone conversation. She probably assumed, wrongly, that since he was the man, he would handle her investigative matter better than any mere girl. I sighed inwardly, funny how some women were like that.
Jake finally broke his contact with our new client and looked up.
“Well,” he said, smiling, “finally. We were beginning to wonder about you.”
He rose and indicated the woman sitting across from him. “Stella Valocchi, may I introduce you to Mia Lange?”
Our new client stood and for the first time I got a good look at her. A few inches shorter than my five-eight, closely cropped straight black hair, black leather jacket, short skirt, black stockings, high heels. Dressed to impress, or rather, dressed to seduce. Deep, dark eyes, small, perfect mouth, but the pout said she was not a happy woman.
I noticed something else about her, too. When she turned to me the light went out of her eyes, but when she looked at Jake she lit up like a Christmas tree. She was as phony as they came and I disliked her instantly.
I extended my hand and smiled, figuring two could play this game. “I’m sorry we’re late. We got held up.”
Her grip on my hand was like iron and she squeezed hard. I figured she wanted to see me wince, so I squeezed back. Was that the merest flicker of pain I saw cross her marble features? I smiled a little wider. Nina broke the moment.
“Held up?” she sputtered. “Well, not exactly, more like shot at by attempted murderers!”
Mia Lange’s eyebrows lifted and her mouth dropped into a perfect O of surprise, but her eyes remained coolly detached and I thought she seemed completely indifferent to Nina’s news. She released my hand, returned to her seat and dismissed me entirely.
But Nina had Jake’s complete attention. He raised his eyebrows. “What happened?”
I smiled frostily. “Don’t worry. I took care of it.”
Jake nodded, silently agreeing to discuss it later, and started to sit back down in my chair. When he caught the look I gave him, he hastily grabbed one of the spare chairs and pulled it up beside the desk.
“Here,” he said, gesturing to my chair. “Why don’t you sit here.”
I gave him a withering glance, nodded him into the spare seat and took my rightful place behind the desk. Nina was right. We were so going to have an organizational meeting just as soon as our newest client left.
“Ms. Lange.”
“Mia,” she cooed, her eyes widening and fluttering in his direction.
“Mia,” he echoed, “has asked us to find her brother. It seems they lost contact with each other after their parents died and they were adopted out.”
I felt the first tiny twinge of remorse for not liking our new client. She’d lost her parents when she was a kid, too. I’d been lucky. I got to finish growing up with my mother’s sister, Aunt Lucy, while Mia got stuck with strangers.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “How old were you when this happened?”
Mia looked down at her lap. “I was very young,” she answered. “I couldn’t have been more than four-years-old at the time. My brother was older, I think, but not much, maybe a year or two.”
I nodded and gave her a sympathetic look. “How long has it been since you’ve seen your brother?” I asked politely. “Do you have any idea at all where he might be?”
Mia never looked at me, instead she lifted her head and stared straight into Jake’s eyes.
“Like I told you,” she said softly. “The investigator I hired a few years back was able to learn that he might have been adopted by a family in Surfside Isle, New Jersey, where we were born. He couldn’t find out anything else.”
“So you’ve tried to find him before and couldn’t?”
Mia nodded. “I was so young when my parents died, too young to even remember my siblings’ names—or even our family name. I have nothing to go on. My adoptive parents gave me the name of the adoption agency, but the agency would only tell the P.I. that my brother grew up in Surfside Isle. The records were sealed and they couldn’t give him anything else to go on. The same thing happened with my sister. The agency said she was adopted to an out-of-state family, but wouldn’t give us more.” Mia shrugged. “I made sure the agency had my name and address. I told them that if my brother or sister ever wanted to find me, they could give out my information, but that’s all I could do—wait and hope they come looking for me. I gave up until about a month ago. That’s when my sister contacted me.” Mia bit her lip and fell silent for a moment.
“I really need to find my brother,” she said, her voice tinged with desperation. “You see, he may be my sister’s only hope.” As I watched, tears formed in her eyes and her lower lip trembled slightly. “She needs a kidney transplant. I would have given her one of mine, but it turns out I’m not a suitable donor. I’d go look for him myself, but my sister’s so ill now that I’m afraid to leave her. I would hate to go looking for my brother and have my sister die. I mean, we’ve only just found each other! That’s why I need you.” She gazed into Jake’s eyes as big tears rolled down her perfect cheeks.
He leaned forward, patted her knee and handed her a tissue. Nina, watching from the edge of the room, bit her lower lip and frowned.
Mia shook her head, brushed away the tears with one elegantly manicured index finger, and seemed to struggle for control of her emotions.
“I’m all right,” she said, smiling bravely at Jake. “I just feel so alone in all this. Without my brother, I really have no one I can turn to.” She stared into Jake’s eyes. “Please tell me you can help me help my sister.”
“Don’t worry,” Jake said. “You’re not alone anymore. We’ll find your brother.”
“Good.”
Mia straightened in her chair, her attitude changing from pathetic damsel to businesswoman the instant she heard Jake say he’d help. She reached into her large leather bag, brought out a thick, business-size envelope and handed it to Jake. “I hope this covers my retainer,” she murmured.
Jake tossed the envelope onto the desk unopened and said, “I’m sure it’s fine.”
I was less trusting. I reached for the packet, opened it and almost gasped. There were ten one-thousand-dollar bills inside.
“I’ll get you a receipt,” I said. “Of course, there will be expenses in addition to our usual daily rate…”
She didn’t even let me finish. She dismissed me with a wave of her hand, her eyes never leaving Jake’s infatuated face. “Of course, whatever you need. Just let me know and you’ll have it.” She smiled at Jake.
She reached back into the bag, pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Jake. “I’ve heard such good things about you,” she said softly. “I just know I can trust you to find him.”
Jake beamed, while I took the more paranoid worldview of a cop. How had she heard anything about us? We’d only been in business for a month. So far our biggest coup had been the repossession of Santa’s sleigh, and I hardly thought Joey Spagnazi was bragging about what a great job we did.
“I’m glad we come so highly recommended,” I said. “Who do we have to thank for sending you to us?”
Mia glanced briefly in my direction.
“My sister. She’s a bookkeeper for a local businessman and she gave me your name.”
“What’s your sister’s name? Maybe we can find your brother by tracing your sister back to Surfside Isle.”
“Oh, we tried that already.”
Jake nodded sympathetically. I was less impressed.
Mia