Page 55 of Trailer Trash

“People fall for free crap all the time. All we have to do is start knocking on doors and telling people that Stella’s won a contest for free diapers for a year. Most people will fall all over themselves to let us know where she is. But it will work better if you do it. They’ll trust you more than they do me.”

It was pretty brilliant. “I take it you’ve used something like this before?”

“Multiple times. It’s effective.”

I filed that idea away for future reference. It might come in handy if I could convince Rose to open our own investigation business. Jed might have all kinds of helpful ideas for us.

I was thinking about a future with Rose. I took that as a good sign. I cast a glance over at the man next to me, realizing he’d given me a hope that I could actually fix this.

“Okay. Any suggestions for where to start?”

“The first apartment, and hope you find someone who knows sooner rather than later. The problem with these kinds of places is the neighbors often don’t know much about one another. They tend to keep to themselves.”

“Then let’s get started. Why do you look so nervous?”

He suddenly looked like a surprisingly buff actor in a commercial for constipation medication.

“It will work better if you’re alone, but after hearing that someone was looking for you, I’m hesitant to let you go without me.”

I opened the car door. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be watching you. So don’t try to run off.”

My mouth parted to ask him what in tarnation he was talking about, but then I realized he had every right to be concerned. Rose and I had, on more than one occasion, purposely lost him while he was tailing us. I offered him a sweet smile. “I won’t.”

He looked even more suspicious. “Whatever you do, don’t go in anyone’s apartment.”

“I’m not stupid, Jed.”

“I know you’re not, but I also know you have a big heart. Your kindness might overshadow your sense of self-preservation.”

I gave him a questioning look.

“Elderly people tend to live in lower-income places. They’re lonely, and they’ll see your friendly face . . .”

“And you think I’ll go in to keep them company.”

“Yeah. But don’t. Stick to the task.”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

“For being you. Thank you.” I bolted from the car before he could say anything.

My cell phone rang seconds after I bolted, and I wasn’t surprised to see Jed’s name on the screen.

“I can do this, Jed.”

“If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have sent you to do it. But I want you to leave our call going so I can hear what’s going on.”

“Okay.”

I stuck my phone in my pocket and then walked up to the first apartment and knocked on the door. No one was home there or at the next two places. But the fourth door revealed an elderly man and his small dog. He didn’t know anything about Stella, but every time I tried to move on to the next apartment, he kept talking. His scruffy dog reminded me a bit of Muffy, and I realized I probably would have stayed longer if Jed hadn’t given me his warning.

I had multiple strikeouts after that—the occupants weren’t home or didn’t answer (a real possibility) or they’d never heard of Stella. I only had a few doors left to knock on, at least on this side of the second floor, but I knocked on the next one with as much confidence as I’d knocked on the first one.

A young woman with a baby on her hip answered. A toddler was hiding behind her legs, stealing looks at me.

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