Christine’s cheeks flamed worse than Annie’s had only a moment ago. Only it was worry that flashed across her features, not embarrassment. She nervously tucked her long brown hair behind her ears, her mouth opening and closing as it floundered on what to say.
“The deli, it’s your mother’s, right?” he asked already knowing the answer to the question. Her mother had given the information away freely, but Elijah wanted to get a feel on the young woman.
“I’ll just go get my manager, it’s her that you really need to speak to,” she finally got out, avoiding his question. She took a step backwards, tearing her gaze from Elijah as she did. The burning of her cheeks still apparent on her pale face.
“Actually, if I could speak to you first,” Elijah insisted. “It’s Christine Seager, right?” His mind wandered back to the name on the case file, and he wondered with irritation why it hadn’t even occurred to him that the two Christine’s might be the same person. He’d been so distracted with thoughts of Delores and her whereabouts that he hadn’t put a simple two-and-two together. She nodded in response, but didn’t verbally reply, and Elijah knew he was on to something by her quietness.
“You were the first person to arrive on Tuesday, right?” Annie asked from next to him, confirming her own notes in an attempt to show Elijah that she had indeed done a good job the first time around.
Christine nodded in answer to Annie, and then quickly shook her head. “No, well yes, I was the first to arrive, but I wasn’t the first person to come inside. I waited outside for my manager. She was the first person to come inside. Not me. I was the second or third perhaps, I think. From what I remember.”
Elijah watched her closely, his brown eyes taking in every small action she made. The way she clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly. The action reminded him of Delores and what she would do when she was feeling uncomfortable with something. She did it most when she was on the phone to her husband and lying to him about where she was. The grasp of one hand in the other, the tug on the wrist, the almost subtle attempt at wringing the lie out from her fingertips. Delores was a good woman, she hated lying. And clearly so did Christine.
“So, not the first person inside then?” Elijah teased with a smile.
“No, definitely not the first,” Christine agreed. Her small sparrow eyes blinked repeatedly, darting to and fro.
“That’s okay, that’s good to know,” he paused, before continuing. “That was your mom, in the deli the other day, right?” She nodded and Elijah forced his smile to spread wider, firmer, to make it more believable and put her at ease. But it was hard when he knew that she had the information that he needed. His instincts were on alert. Elijah didn’t believe in coincidences. And Christine Seager working both here and at the deli where Michael Stanton frequented was too much of a coincidence. Especially when he could see the similarities between Delores and Christine in both looks and mannerisms. It made Elijah wonder what other things they shared.
“She seemed like a nice woman,” Elijah said with another smile. “Is your dad not around anymore?”
Christine glanced away and then back quickly. “No, he passed some time back.”
“Mine too. My sympathies.” He pursed his lips as he thought over his next question and how to word it correctly. The ring of the bell above the door behind him reminded him that he was in a pharmacy and needed to be careful with what he was saying. There was always ears eavesdropping in on things they shouldn’t, but he wasn’t ready to move the conversation somewhere more private, not yet at least. The openness of the store was what would make her slip up.
“How long have you worked here?” he asked, forcing himself to keep his stance easy-going and relaxed, even though every nerve in his body wanted to do the opposite.
Christine swallowed before answering. “Just a couple of months. The deli is quiet and mom had to cut some of my shifts,” she shrugged, but the irritation was obvious. “I needed the extra money and so took this on part time.”
Elijah nodded in sympathy. “Times are tough. I hear that. Don’t you hear that, Miles?” he turned to Annie who nodded immediately and agreed.
“How did you hear about the job?” Annie asked, stepping closer and making it obvious to Elijah that this was all new information to her. It was hard in a town like this to think that perhaps things went deeper than they originally seemed. Every case seemed to be a simple open and shut, no real brains involved, until there was and the lax attitude caused simple clues to be missed.
“How do you mean?” Christine asked, her dark eyes forever watching them both. Nervousness and agitation hummed from her body like an electric current.
Elijah looked down at Annie, watching as her pale blue eyes pinned Christine in place. “Sign in the window? Word of mouth?” Annie hesitated before continuing. “Or did someone recommend you for the position?”
Christine’s eyes were wide with panic, and it took all of Elijah’s training not to jump right out and say what he was thinking: that someone had recommended her for the job merely as a way to get their foot in the door here. There was a huge market for prescription drugs, and over the past couple of years it had started to become a real problem for the town.
The whole department had been working to track down the dealers and put an end to it. But it was hard when no one knew where the leak was coming from. There was a hole in the chain somewhere, a weak link that was letting the drugs slip through the net. Was Christine it? The hole? Was she the missing link they had been searching for?
Before Christine could answer the question, the bell to the front door of the pharmacy dinged again. The slam of the door closing was almost painfully loud against the echo of their thoughts and the tenseness of the situation.
“Chrissy!”
Christine’s eyes, if it were possible, went even wider as her name came out loud and clear, and Elijah and Annie turned around, recognising the voice of Michael Stanton instantly. He came towards the front counter with a bunch of flowers in his hand.
“Chrissy—,” her name died on his lips. But his brain couldn’t keep step with his feet and they continued their momentum long after the horror on his face had told his brain to stop walking.
Elijah looked from Michael to Christine, and back again, and the case that Elijah thought he was about to crack wide open exploded all around him in a shower of new information.
“Mr. Stanton,” Elijah said in way of acknowledging the man that he despised so much.
“I told the other officer that I wanted to drop the missing persons.” Michael’s jaw ground in annoyance, his earlier worries gone. “She doesn’t want to be found by either of us it seems.”
“Mr. Stanton, we’re not—,”
Elijah placed a hand on Annie’s shoulder, and she stopped speaking. Michael took a step closer to Elijah, his fury radiating from him. “And you, of all people, need to stay away from my wife. This is all your damn fault anyway!”
