Ben turned his attention back to the phone call. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.”
Jackson continued. “I texted Alex. He has someone in the area where you are. He’ll meet you at the motel in a couple of hours to get the samples.”
“Great. Thanks, man. Listen, I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Hold up, Ben,” Luke said.
With the shift in background noise, Ben guessed his brother took the call off speaker phone.
“Listen, I checked into your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” Ben grumbled.
“Keep telling yourself that, brother. Anyway, Charlotte Redding came up clean. At least for the last year or so. Beyond that…”
Luke’s voice trailed off, and Ben sat up straighter. “What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
Ben exhaled loudly. “She’s clean?”
“I didn’t say that. I said there’s nothing to find on your girl past the day she stepped foot in Ivy Springs over a year ago.”
“She’s using an alias.” Ben was surprised…that he actually wasn’t surprised by Luke’s discovery. He’d known Charlotte was hiding something, so the fact that she wasn’t using her real name made sense.
“You have a photo of her? I can run her through facial recognition software to see if I can find an ID.”
“I don’t, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll take it from here. Thanks, Luke.”
“I shouldn’t have to say this to you, but it’s never a good sign when someone lies about who they are.”
“Which is what I do all the time.” Ben settled back against the seat, defeat washing over him.
“That’s not what I meant, dumbass. Look, be careful, okay? You’re a sucker for a girl in trouble, especially one who’s hot. Don’t let her get one over on you.”
“She’s not like that.”
“You don’t know what she’s like,” Luke countered. “That’s the point.”
“I can’t walk away, man. She needs help. I have no doubt she’s using an alias because she’s hiding from something or someone who has her scared. No one should have to live terrified.”
“I agree, but until you know for sure that’s what’s going on, you need to keep your guard up.”
“Yeah, okay. I know. You’re right. I can’t lose perspective. I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Keep your head on a swivel and reach out if you need us there.”
The call ended, but Ben’s tumultuous thoughts had just begun spinning. Several minutes passed before Ben reminded himself he needed to get moving. He secured the hair samples in plastic bags he kept in his lunch cooler, and he managed to find a marker in the glove box to label the two samples. He had enough time to grab food and a shower before the Atlas Security operative showed up at the Skyline.
He went through the motions of ordering at a fast-food drive-thru window, paying with cash, and heading back to the motel. Out of habit, he sought out Charlotte’s car in the parking lot, but it was gone, as was Wally’s vehicle. He suspected Wally and Mona knew the truth behind Charlotte’s secrecy, and he was tempted to question them under the guise of wanting to help. But more than he wanted to know the truth, he wanted to hear that truth from Charlotte directly.
He just had to figure out a way to convince her to trust him with her secrets.
Chapter Eleven
Charlotte squeezed the throw pillow tight against her chest. Her mouth pressed against the scalloped edge, her breath bouncing off the fabric to warm her face. The lamp on the end table beside her cast a yellow glow that once felt warm but now felt eerie. The images on the television screen flickered, holding her enraptured.
Music swelled to a heart-pounding crescendo. She sank deeper against the couch cushions as if they would cocoon her in a shield. The actress on the streaming movie moved with stealth precision, her head turning one way and then the other. The heroine’s tension was felt through the screen, and Charlotte heard her own heart thundering in her ears.
