Jodi bristled. She doubted that very much. And what’s more, now she had confirmation that something very bad was about to go down. Beth had gone back on her word that she was done with the treasure hunt, and it annoyed Jodi even more that she had also intentionally given her the slip. Lying and sneaking around wasn’t the Beth she knew. Further proof that this thing had corrupted her friend.
‘I don’t think that’s the case, Courtney,’ said Jodi bluntly. ‘I’m pretty sure where Beth is – and I also know exactly who will tell me.’
And with that she said goodbye to the teen, threw back the rest of her drink – hiccuped – and grabbed her tab.
A few minutes later, Jodi threw open the glass doors of Beth’s apartment building. Immediately zeroing in on her target, she walked with determination across the lobby, heading directly to Billy’s desk, where he was on the phone to a resident.
‘Yes, Mrs Lovejoy, I can absolutely look out for that package for you. And no, Mrs Lovejoy, I will be sure that the UPS man doesn’t tamper with it. Ach, I hope you don’t think they do that? There are standards they have to adhere to,’ the concierge was saying, holding up a finger to Jodi to indicate that he would be right with her.
She tapped her foot impatiently. She was aware of Mrs Lovejoy – the woman was nuts, from what Beth had told her. Goddamn talkative too.
‘Mrs Lovejoy, of course – yes. Yes. Yes.’ Billy looked at Jodi and winked but as an answer she simply narrowed her eyes at him and gave the hand motion for ‘wrap it up’. When Billy continued on, she realised she couldn’t wait any longer, and she promptly reached across the desk and put her finger on the receiver button – ending Billy’s call.
‘What the hell…?’ he exclaimed. ‘Don’t you know that you are going to get me in serious trouble with that woman? I need to call her back.’
But Jodi held fast. ‘Nope, not right now you aren’t. Not until you answer my question. I saw Beth walk in here a while ago. But she’s not at home. Don’t try to tell me she is because I just talked to the dog sitter and she never made it upstairs. So where did she go?’
Billy pursed his mouth.
‘Tell me, Billy,’ Jodi growled, her upper lip curling.
‘I can’t,’ he blurted, looking uncomfortable. ‘She swore me to secrecy. She said I can’t tell you.’
Jodi took a deep breath. ‘So, Beth said specifically that you couldn’t tellme?’
He nodded. ‘Yes. She said that if you came here asking about where she went, then under no circumstances should I tell you.’
‘Uh-huh, I see,’ said Jodi, considering her options.
At that moment, the phone rang and Billy seemed happy to have something else to do other than suffer under Jodi’s withering glare.
‘Hello, Mrs Lovejoy, ah, I’m so sorry, yes, the phone slipped, no, I didn’t mean to hang up on you. I’m terribly sorry, I—’
But Jodi snatched the phone away before Billy could say another word.
‘Mrs Lovejoy? No, this isn’t Billy. He’s indisposed just now. This is Jodi Cartwright, I’m a friend of Beth Harper; she lives in your building. Yes, on twenty-eight, that’s right. Hey, Mrs Lovejoy, I actually need a favour from you.’ She paused, listening to the woman on the other end of the line. ‘No, don’t worry, I don’t have to come up to your apartment. This favour can be done right over the phone.’ She nodded. ‘Uh-huh, the phone. Right. I know you love to talk. Mrs Lovejoy, I need you to ask Billy a question for me.’ Another pause. ‘Why won’t I ask him myself? Right. Good question. Because he won’t talk to me about this. But he will talk to you.’ Jodi looked up at Billy, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable, and smiled. ‘Sure. So I need you to ask Billy where Beth went off to. I’m pretty sure he put her in a cab. I need to know where she went.’ She smiled winningly at the Scotsman, feeling triumphant. ‘OK, I’m going to hand you back to Billy now. I just need to find out where she went. No, she’s not in danger, so you don’t need to call the police. All you need to do is ask him the question.’ Jodi smiled as she listened. ‘Well, that’s very nice of you. Yes, I try to be a good friend. Yes, maybe I will stop by to introduce myself one day. Sure, I absolutely love cats. Great. Talk to you soon.’
She pushed the phone back under Billy’s nose. He took it with visible reluctance, realizing that he was about to be harassed not only by Jodi but no doubt by Mrs Lovejoy too.
‘Hello, Mrs Lovejoy,’ Billy said his voice terse, while Jodi smiled triumphantly. ‘I’m sorry about that. Yes, I know Jodi. No, I’m not supposed to tell her where Beth went. Why? I don’t know. Beth just said – yes, it does indeed seem that she found a loophole.’ Billy paused and frowned. ‘I see. Well, that’s nice. You like a girl with some spunk – and smarts.’ Billy fell silent and Jodi leaned forward. She knew that Mrs Lovejoy was asking Billy the question that she needed an answer to right at that moment.
Of course, she should have figured out the answer, but she had to be sure. This treasure hunt was progressing rapidly; she had no idea what could have changed in the short amount of time that had passed since she last saw Beth. Maybe another ‘gift’ had turned up?
‘The Waldorf Astoria,’ Billy confessed wearily. ‘She left about thirty minutes ago.’
And with nary a backward glance or indeed a goodbye, Jodi rushed through the doors, hailed the first cab that she saw and was off.
Billy felt as worn out as if he had just worked two ten-hour shifts. Trust Jodi to get the upper hand on him.
He bit his lip, hoping that Beth had had enough time to do what she needed to.
Chapter 26
‘Ah. I see you figured it out,’ said Steve, the Waldorf employee who had originally provided Beth with the book and the five-dollar bill on the street earlier.
‘You!’ Beth exclaimed happily. ‘I saw your jacket. But I didn’t know you worked here.’ She smiled, revelling in the happy coincidence before she realised her error. This wasn’t a coincidence, of course. None of it was. The glove in the hallway upstairs, the Russian gentleman who had instructed her to come down to the lost and found, and now Steve, who conveniently happened to be waiting here for her.
It was all carefully scripted, she thought.And the mere fact that I am hitting these ‘markers’ means that I must be getting somewhere, doesn’t it?She felt her spirit soar – she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
