Page 38 of Look for Me

Against a bad feeling, Corinne turned left.

A few people walked unsteadily past her, smelling like booze. A couple of catcalls later, Corinne wanted to turn around and run back to the light.

But she didn’t.

Her feet kept going.

Directly into the shadows.

Her phone rang, startling her. It was Erika, to Corinne’s relief.

Chapter Eighteen

Beyond tired, Martin had arrived back in Key Largo just in time to see Pilar leave the backlot of the Key Largo Chocolate Shop.

Thanks to Martin’s voluntary work this afternoon, Pilar had been able to send the license plate to her contacts. Obviously grateful, Pilar texted Martin—while he was sitting on a public beach in Key West—that Corinne was getting off work at nine o’clock tonight and had refused any ride home.

Something between the lines had told Martin that Pilar could use an extra set of eyes.

No, Martin had not had any special training, but he was bigger and more muscular than Pilar. He could, technically, be of assistance.

Somehow.

Two hours and a few minutes after that text message, Martin was back in Key Largo. He grabbed a quick takeout dinner somewhere in town, and ate in the car as he waited for Pilar to leave the shop.

He followed Pilar around.

Turned out that Pilar was waiting, just as he was.

Martin exchanged text messages with Pilar. He didn’t find out much about Pilar, since he did most of the texting. However, he did find out that Pilar had grown up in Florida, and was a friend of one of the private investigators who worked for Ming’s friend in Savannah. Hugo Something. He had been the person to introduce Ming to Pilar.

Pilar had been living in Miami for a few years, trying to establish her own private investigation firm. Then she moved to Charleston to work security for a couple of years before returning to Miami. It had been in Charleston that she had met Ming, when she was working on an assignment for Hu Knows, Inc. Pilar and Ming kept in touch, even after she had moved home to Miami to care for her elderly parents.

Their conversation had ended when they saw Corinne lock the front door of the chocolate shop and started walking.

“Bad idea to walk alone, Corinne,” Martin said aloud in his car.

In front of him, Pilar was in her charcoal SUV with a dent in the back fender. She was slowing down a bit. So did Martin.

At the street corner, Corinne climbed into a SUV.

Under the street light, Martin thought the driver looked like Erika from the chocolate shop.

Suddenly, a van pulled past Martin’s car, sideswiped Pilar’s SUV ahead of him, and rammed into Erika’s vehicle.

Martin slammed on his brakes so he didn’t plough into Pilar, who lost control of her vehicle, ramming it into a parked car.

Under the street lights, Pilar’s airbag deployed.

Martin heard a couple of gunshots, and a woman screaming. Then he heard vehicle doors slam.

The van took off.

Martin pulled up behind Pilar’s vehicle and called 911. He ran toward the driver’s side and opened the door. Pilar reached out, and Martin helped her out of her SUV.

“Let’s go!” Pilar shook all over. “You drive.”

They scrambled back into Martin’s car. He floored the gas pedal, and they were off.

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