'Go on,' I say, but she doesn't say anything.
'Laurie.'
My voice turns pleading, and I'm pretty sure a tiny piece of me dies, but I'll do anything. I will beg this girl on my hands and knees if I have to, if she'll give me one shred of information about where Daisy is. She may know something, even if she doesn't know she does.
‘C’mon, Laurie...' I put my hands together, pleading. 'If you know anything... What else happened? That day?' I ask. 'The day you saw Daisy in Joe's office?'
'Nothing,' she says. 'It was... well, a few days later, he said?—'
'What did Marcus say?' Mav snaps.
Her eyes narrow and she glares at him.
‘Please, Laurie,’ I say, giving Mav a warning look. ‘Daisy’s life could depend on what you tell us.’
Her eyes widen a little, but then she rolls them. 'I heard him. Not Marcus. It was... It was his father. Joseph. He didn't know I was there. He was talking on the phone.'
'What did he say?' I ask, exasperated, wishing she would just fucking spill her guts.
Fucking drama queen.
'He was just... He was talking about taking ‘her’ to a guy. I don’t know who he meant, but maybe it was….' She shrugs and looksalmostapologetic. ‘Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but he said ‘her’. I thought maybe he was talking about Daisy, but I don't know... and I don't know who Heath is...'
The color drains out of Blake's face and his brow furrows.
'What was that name?' I ask.
‘Heath? He said he was taking someone to a guy named Heath.’
'The Heath,' Mav whispers.
‘Holy shit! Was itTheHeath?' I ask, striding forward and taking Laurie by the shoulders.
I try not to shake her.
'Think. Could he have saidTheHeath?'
'Maybe. It might have been,' she says, looking between the three of us with a bewildered expression on her face. 'I don't... I can't be sure. But... When he hung up, he came out into the hallway, and saw me and the look he gave me was like... like I shouldn't have been there, like he didn’t want anyone listening. And it seemed weird because, well, it wasjust about some guy named Heath.’
She takes a couple of steps away from us. ‘Anyway, I justcame to see if Marcus was here, but he's not. He's ghosting me, and I don't know what's going on. I was trying to be there for him because of his brother, but...' She shrugs. 'To be honest, he didn't seem all that cut up about it. He said something about not being the spare anymore. So I guess he's excited that he's going to be head of the family once his dad is gone.'
I turn away from Laurie and ignore the rest of what she says now as I regard the others.
'We need a plane,' Mav says, echoing my thoughts.
I hear Laurie huff behind me. 'Jesus, you're welcome. Fucking assholes!'
I vaguely hear her muttering to herself about us being dicks and then there’s silence, so I guess she’s gone.
But I don't give a shit about Laurie despite the fact that she’s given us a lead.
Daisy could be at The Heath, a whole ocean away. We need to get to her.
'We can't use my father’s,’ I say. ‘He'll find out and we’ll be grounded. Literally.’
‘Who else do we know who owns one?’ Mav mutters. ‘I don’t even have a passport. I can’t go commercial. Plus, that detective told us not to leave town.’
‘Sauvage has to have one,’ Blake says. ‘He had his son brought back and forth from Geneva last year, so he must have one close by, and if anyone knows how to avoid Customs and Immigration, he will.'
