Page 14 of Twin Threats In Austin
“She was…” Ally made eyes at Camden. “You know…stiff.”
If Justina had been the quiet type who hadn’t gotten out much or had below-average social skills, she might have been an easier target for the perp.
“Justina was a Goody Two-shoes,” Ally added as though that explained everything and gave those around her a free pass to dismiss her. She put her hands flat on the counter now. “Surprised the heck out of me and everyone else to find out she went to a bar.” She snorted. “Can you even imagine someone like her just walking up to the bar?” The smile wiped from her facewhen she got a good look at Camden’s response—stoic, a hint of disdain flashing across his features.
Rochelle wanted to correct the woman and say that, technically, it was a nightclub. However, the point being made was that going out to a place where alcohol was served hadn’t been Justina’s normal behavior. The way Ally talked about Justina reminded Rochelle of being back in high school and being told not to sit at the cheerleaders table on her first day at a new school. She’d resisted for the first quarter of the year and had been bullied the rest of her freshman year after refusing to move. The strange part had been the cheerleaders weren’t the ones who’d done the bullying. They’d snubbed her by refusing to acknowledge her presence. Humiliating? Yes. Other students had decided to bully her for taking a stance, which had made high school even more hellish. As a result, Rochelle couldn’t stand snobs or bullies to this day.
At least Ally caught on fast. She stood up straight, smoothed her hands across the countertop as though wiping off dust, and said, “But we’re all broken up about the fact she’s missing.”
Camden gave a slight nod, and his gaze intensified. “Where were you on the night of Justina’s disappearance?”
Ally brought a hand up to cover a gasp. “What? Why?”
She wasn’t good at lying. Good to know.
“Just answer the question, ma’am,” Camden said in a voice that could charm even the most skeptical person. It was almost as though he’d flipped a switch, except he’d done it so expertly, Ally didn’t pick up on it. Instead, she smiled and twirled a strand of hair around her index finger.
“I was home with my feet up on the coffee table, watching a show on Netflix,” she admitted, blinking her eyes a little more rapidly. Either fear or attraction caused her eyelashes to flutter—most likely a decent amount of both.
“Which one, if you don’t mind my asking,” he continued, unfazed. The man was good. Rochelle would give him that. He had a way of lowering someone’s guard without them being the wiser.
Good to know.She could see herself falling under his spell with the way his deep timbre washed over her, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake.
“Which what?” Ally asked, momentarily distracted. Fake?
Was she covering for something? Someone?
“The Netflix show,” Camden confirmed.
“Do you want to know what I think is possible?” Rochelle asked. She’d been quiet up to this point, but it was time to play a little game of good cop, bad cop.
Ally blinked at her.
“Maybe you and a few coworkers saw Justina at the club on the night she disappeared,” Rochelle began. Ally’s hand-wringing picked up pace. “You thought it was so funny that a ‘good girl’ like her would be out having a drink at a bar, so you or one of your friends approached her. Maybe even asked her to join you.” This scenario might be unlikely, but it was possible. “Maybe someone thought it would be cute to slip something inside her drink for ‘funzies.’” She made air quotes around the last word. “Then one of the guys decides to walk her out to the parking lot once the drug kicks in.”
“Hold on there.” Ally was shaking her head, but a flash of guilt crossed her features. “I’ve always been a good employee here, and I don’t hang out with coworkers outside of work.”
“She’s stumbling at this point, but you guys think it’s funny, don’t you,” Rochelle continued, unfazed by the protest. It was half-hearted at best. Plus, Rochelle noted that Ally didn’t deny being at the club.
Ally squinted as though she couldn’t stand to see images of what happened next.
“Playing a practical joke on a puritan like Justina Worth for kicks and grins sure would be a lot of fun to some people, wouldn’t it?” Rochelle asked.
“I’m a good person,” Ally argued.
Again, she didn’t deny it. Instead, she was trying to deflect from the subject.
“And then what happened?” Rochelle continued. “Did someone take the joke too far? Give Justina Worth too much? So much so she became sloppy?” Rochelle paused. She remembered Justina looking up at the camera moments before she’d left the club with a smile on her face. A big smile. “And then she became a liability, right? Too many people saw you together inside the club, so you had one of the guys in your group escort her out to the parking lot.”
Ally shook her head emphatically. “I would never do anything like that to another human being.”
“Like what?” Rochelle persisted.
Ally was beginning to crack.
And then, she said, “I want to speak to a lawyer.”
“As long asyou didn’t do anything wrong, there’s no need for legal counsel,” Camden soothed, figuring this was a good time for the “good cop,” aka him, to show up. He put a hand up to calm Ally before turning to Rochelle, who’d acted brilliantly in her role as “bad cop.”
