Page 2 of Strip Search

“Your father and I are worried sick.” My mother lowered her voice. “He’s drinking again.”

“Damn it,” I said, leaning against the light post as I waited for the orange walk sign to come on. She was really firing all the guilt arrows today.

“It would mean the world to us—to him, if you could track your sister down and make sure she’s all right. These texts don’teven sound like her. What if she’s in trouble? I know in my gut something is wrong. It would ease our minds—your father’s mind—if you would go out there and see that she’s coping with the hiatus.”

I hated that she pulled the Dad card out. Dad, when he was sober, was the parent who always had my back instead of Lisa’s. From looking the other way when I broke curfew to lending me a hundred bucks when things were tough, he was the parent I went to when I needed one.

“I have a job.” I tried to keep the whine out of my voice. I was caving and I knew it. It made me so mad.Why do I let her do this to me every time Lisa flakes out?“I can’t just drop everything to look for Lisa. She obviously wants to be alone.”

“Or she’s been kidnapped or is on drugs or is being taken advantage of.”

“Did you call the police?” A wiggle of doubt crept in, despite my best efforts.

“Of course, I did. They laughed at me. They said trying to find one dancer in Las Vegas even when there was a verifiable crime was next to impossible. Without a suspicion of one, they’re not even going to look.”

“I’m sure there are more pressing matters for them.”

“Nothing is more important than your sister.”

And that was the story of my life. I was done trying to prove that I was just as important, wasn’t I? I wasn’t expecting that this time when I pulled off the impossible, my mother would smile at me proudly. I was twenty-six. Why did I still crave her approval? And yet, what if Lisawasin trouble and I ignored it? I’d never forgive myself.

I rubbed my hand over my face and let the crowd push me forward across the busy street when the light turned. “You’re overreacting. You know that, right?”

“What if I’m not?”

I was going to lose the bit dancing part that I had worked so hard for. I was going to have to put my life on hold because of Lisa. Again. It was the story of my life and I was sick of it. I should tell my mother that I was the better dancer now, and I was going to work my way up to be a Broadway star. But I was afraid of her laughter and her derision. I had survived it once when I was thirteen and she yanked me out of dance class. We could only afford one set of lessons and Lisa was a prodigy who had been getting offers before she was ten.

I was the smart one. Lisa was the talented one.

Blinking back tears, I opened my mouth to tell my mother off. But I couldn’t do it. Lisa had sunk down into a dark place after the doctors told her she’d never dance again. Mom didn’t know about the pills Lisa took or how I’d held her hand after they pumped her stomach. Guilt nibbled at me.

“Did you hear the nor’easter is going to dump a foot of snow on us this weekend?” a man walking next to me said into his Bluetooth.

I recoiled. Ugh. It was bad enough that the wind was chapping my cheeks raw now. I wasn’t looking forward to trudging through ankle-deep slush and dirt for weeks.

“Did you hang up on me?” My mother’s shrill voice knocked me out of my thoughts. “When are you leaving for Las Vegas?”

A foot of snow. Or tooling around in the desert in Sin City. Suddenly, there was a little sugar to go with the bitter coffee my mom was pouring down my throat.

Maybe I was approaching this the wrong way. Lisa was probably fine, but my mother wouldn’t leave either one of us alone until she knew for sure. The casting director really liked me. There would be another audition soon and I’d ace that too. I could have a mini vacation and find Lisa. It was a win-win situation.

A little flutter of excitement started in my stomach. I loved Las Vegas. I’d had some good times on spring break there. A few memories made me blush and shake my head. I was lucky I wasn’t caught on aGirls Gone Wildvideo. That was how out of control I’d gotten in the clubs down there.

Las Vegas was a hell of a temptation even when you weren’t a carefree coed. Lisa could very well be in over her head. Or she could be having the time of her life. There was something about the town that encouraged you to go crazy and do things you would never in your right mind do anywhere else. On my twenty-first birthday, I took a bouncer home and had a hot-and-heavy one-night stand that I still thought about. Vegas was a good time.

I deserved another no-holds-barred week to make it up to myself for giving up the job to dance on stage in order to find my pain-in-the-ass sister. After all, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

“Lisa doesn’t have a lot of money in her escrow account,” I said. “And I can’t afford to pay for this out of pocket.”

“How much is this going to cost me?” my mother said flatly.

“We don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Fine. Put it on your credit card and send me an expense report. What Lisa’s royalties and residuals won’t pay for, I’ll cover.”

I pumped my fist. I was getting smarter at dealing with my mother. She had the time and discretionary funds to drop everything and get on a plane. I didn’t. I still needed to work to pay my bills and make rent. This adventure was going to cut in on my bottom line. “I’m going to need some spending cash,” I pushed.

“I’ll wire you two thousand dollars and not a dime more. And I want every cent accounted for.”

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