I wondered if right then was the optimal time to dash to the garage, but I decided I needed to get set up with the kids first.
I found them in the playroom among another explosion of toys. Karli had built herself a fort of blocks and a few pillows, and Kaden was driving toy cars around an elaborate plastic racetrack and making motor sounds.
My ankle gave a pang of protest when I squatted to join them. “Hey, guys. What are you doing today?”
They each took a turn explaining their respective games to me and invited me to play. I casually folded myself into their little imaginary world and realized infiltrating playtime was just like infiltrating any other job I’d had, albeit a lot cuter and less dangerous.
“Did your mom tuck you in last night?” I nonchalantly asked while I looped a neon-orange racecar through Kaden’s track. I figured I’d see if I could get any useful information out of them.
“No. Dad puts us to bed when Mom is busy,” Kaden innocently reported.
“Was Mom busy last night?”
“She had a party!” Karli sang and made a stuffed dolphin dive off the top of her fort.
“Aparty?” I said gleefully. “That sounds fun. Do you know where it was?”
“Somewhere fancy. She dressed like a princess,” Kaden reported.
I silently considered. A fancy party could be many things. Maybe a fundraiser, a gala, a banquet. But why leave the house for that and come home at three a.m. dressed like a bank robber?
“I have to go potty,” Karli suddenly announced and stood up. Flips the penguin fell to her side. She stared at me expectantly, and I realized I was supposed to help.
“Oh!” I said, trying not to sound nervous. “Okay.” I stood as well, and she slipped her little hand in mine. She led me back into the hallway and to the bathroom I’d hid in the other day after I overheard her parents’ tryst. “Do you need me to come in with you?” I asked and held my breath, praying she’d say no.
“No. You can wait here,” she announced and marched inside and shut the door.
“Okay. I’ll be right here,” I said with full intention to use the excuse to find the garage. I heard the toilet lid lift and clank against the tank and wondered how much time I had before she came back out. When she started singing to herself, I figured it would be a while.
I closed my eyes and drew a mental map of the house, remembering where Melanie had led me that day we gathered the wagon to go to the park.
I paused to make sure I could still hear Karli singing. When her tiny voice carried down the hall, I dashed for what I was pretty sure was the right door.
It opened with the suction of a door sealed off to the outside, and in an instant, I was standing in front of Melanie’s SUV.
I whipped out my phone to text Bray.
Made it to the garage. Kids said mom was out at a party last night, dressed up.
I shoved my phone in my pocket before he could answer. The hulking SUV flashed its lights at me when I reached for the doorhandle, and I thanked my lucky stars it was unlocked. It seemed like Melanie was the scariest thing in this neighborhood, other than my roving henchman, so why would she need to lock her car inside her garage anyway?
When I leaned inside to look for the back hatch release, the smell of expensive leather and perfume hit me. The car was spotless. Regularly detailed, surely. Perhaps to keep up with Melanie’s standards or to erase evidence.
“Got you,” I said when I found the hatch release.
The back of the car opened with a soft ding. I winced at the sound as I hurried around to look inside.
The duffel bags were still there.
Relief washed over me at the same time adrenaline pumped into my veins. For the first time in this case, I was getting my hands dirty. The rush of breaking rules was still tied to some hardwired need for it.
My trained fingers were lightning fast with the first bag. I ripped open the zipper and found … computers. Two laptops, a mobile router, a tangle of what looked like microphones and discreet earpieces.
“Surveillance equipment,” I muttered at the telltale package. I pried the bag open as wide as it would go and snapped a few pictures for Bray.
I moved to the other one, not sure what to expect, and found a burst of colorful, expensive fabrics.
Gowns.
