Page 51 of Happily Never After

CHAPTER NINETEEN

To Do:

- Text Charlie when we land

- Confirm appt with Brad’s assistant

- Find safest walking route for dogs

“So where doyou think the head asshole lives?” Mindy whispered to Claire. She crossed her legs, and her foot banged into Claire’s shin. They were stuffed into coach seats. Luke had tried to persuade Claire to join him in first class, but the loan from the bank and inevitable increase in her insurance premium weighed heavily on her mind.

“I’m not sure,” Claire said. “Where do they hate women the most?”

“Texas?” Mindy guessed.

Claire shrugged. It seemed plausible. “No hits on Web Detectives yet?”

“I checked this morning, but I’ll look again when we land. He can’t hide forever.”

Claire bit her lip and pulled a binder out of her carry-on, banging her elbow off the window. The woman in the babushka next to them snorted in her sleep.

It had been over a week and they didn’t have a single lead on the professor’s location. Had he gone to a major metropolitan area, hoping to blend in? Maybe he was threatening indigenous women in Alaska or piloting an airboat in the Everglades. Hours spent scouring his old social media profiles had given them very little. All they had were a few check-ins from the early 2010s—Whole Foods, Dave and Buster’s, and an art museum. They couldn’t very well stake out every Whole Foods in the nation.

“You’re sure Luke doesn’t mind me staying with you guys?”

Claire fervently shook her head. “Not at all. It’ll be easier to work on the proposal if we’re in the same place.” Her fancy GPS watch beeped. “Speaking of which…murder break is over. Back to business.”

In just a few short hours they would land in Los Angeles, and there would be no avoiding the onslaught of tasks that awaited her. A color-coded list spanning several pages stared back at her. Her stomach clenched. Deep breaths. They had done the impossible before.

“Okay.” Mindy flipped her tablet back open. “Luckily I downloaded all of these and made a quick PowerPoint before we got on the plane. We have to talk about the West Coast HEA Affiliate.”

The knot in Claire’s stomach twisted harder. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

Her friend shrugged. “It sounded official.”

“Whatever. Show me what we have.”

Mindy tapped her screen until a slideshow appeared. “Okay, first candidate. Megan Corcoran. BA in business administration from Berkeley. Currently assisting a tech start-up but looking for something more long term.”

“Next,” Claire said flatly. “There’s no way we can afford someone with a BA from Berkeley.”

“Okay, then we have Jenna Sutton. She has a degree in hospitality from Iowa State, recently relocated to California to pursue a career in acting.”

“So she can call off all the time to go to auditions? Not a chance. Next.”

Mindy set her jaw and flicked to the next candidate. “Heather Clearwater. Bachelor’s in hospitality management from Penn State. Relocated to California four years ago to work for a hotel chain. She said she’s looking for something with more of a human element.”

“Hmmm. Okay, put her in the interview pile. You made sure she’s not a serial killer, right?”

Mindy laughed. “Nothing came up on her initial criminal background.”

“That means nothing. I’ll wait for the federal one to come back, and I will scrutinize her very closely during the interview.”

“That won’t freak her out at all.” Mindy shook her head. “Next there’s Alexis Renninger, LA. native. No higher education, but she worked as a production assistant on a lot of reality shows and could probably give us gossip.”

Claire leaned forward. “A very important skill. Let’s at least interview her.”

They flicked through the remainder of the candidates and decided to interview four.

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