Page 9 of Hurt for Me

“Like I told you before, I tried to contact him when he missed, but he hasn’t responded.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Detective, I have no idea why he was a no-show, but things happen. Work priorities, illnesses.” She didn’t enjoy being interrogated in her own office within the business she and Angel had worked for years to establish. “He simply didn’t show. And you’re only here questioning me because you saw my business as the last charge on his debit card? Is that normal procedure for a missing persons case?”

“It can be, Ms. Dixon.”

Rae was getting tired of the questions, so she decided to lie to speed things along. “Well, I need to pick up my daughter from school soon. Are we almost done?”

Detective Clearwater’s stiff demeanor abruptly shifted to being more relaxed. “How old is she?”

“Almost sixteen going on thirty-one.”

He chuckled. “I hear that. Mine’s fourteen, but she acts like I’m her kid sometimes. She even banned me from using TikTok after I posted a video of me doing some dance challenge.”

“Well, the internetisforever.” Rae grinned. “I once liked one of my daughter’s Instagram posts, and she blocked me.”

The detective returned her smile, and she felt oddly at ease with him. If they were in a much different situation, she might even enjoy getting a coffee with him. But he wasn’t there to make friends with her. He was making her feel comfortable by design, waiting for her to slip up. Thankfully, everything she needed to hide from him had nothing to do with Thomas Highsmith.

The detective’s face turned serious again. “Ms. Dixon, I know you’re not a massage therapist.”

Rae kept her face calm, the same as when one of her clients tested her patience. “My license, which you can see hanging up behind me, says otherwise. And I have it framed and posted everywhere I’m required to do so by law.”

“I do see that,” he said, pushing himself back into her guest chair. “But I also know two things can be true at once. I’ve heard rumors. About you.”

Rae let loose a string of curses in her mind. She was so careful about her nondisclosure agreements, and she had plenty of ammunition if a client broke said agreement. But Detective Clearwater could be lying to trap her.

“I’d like you to show me the room where you gave Mr. Highsmith so manymassages.”

Rae’s face turned numb as all the blood seemed to drain from her head. She could see the media frenzy now if the detective released information about her true livelihood. “I’m sorry, but I can’t show you at the moment.”

“Can’t or won’t?” He spoke each word like a tiny dagger aimed at her chest.

“It needs to be disinfected.”

“Ms. Dixon, you can show me now, or I can get a search warrant. Whichever you prefer.”

She sensed her secrets floating out from the darkest parts in her to the surface of her skin, imagined her veins spelling out everything she’d done in her past right up until this moment for the detective to see. Then she pictured Lily learning about it all through social media, the hurt on her daughter’s face when she realized she’d been lied to her entire life.

“Detective, I don’t have anything to do with Thomas Highsmith going missing. He had a massage with me on Wednesday of last week, and then he missed his scheduled appointment this week. Seeing my massage space won’t change those facts.”

He slightly nodded. “So, search warrant it is. Okay, Ms. Dixon.” He stood up, his frame looming over her desk. “I was hoping you’d be more cooperative in helping us find one of your clients, but we can get information in other ways. Some ways you may not like. I’ll see you again soon.”

For a second, Rae wanted to yell for him to stop and turn around, that she’d show him the room and prove she had nothing to hide, but thoughts of Lily compelled her to stay quiet. After she heard the front entrance’s chime go off, she let the rising panic in her chest consume her. She felt her past circle and then slam into her present like a bumper car, disorienting her, and she didn’t know how to stop it.

She sensed Angel at her office doorway and looked up.

“Hey, Rae-Rae, you okay?” Angel asked.

“Of course.” Rae forced a smile, her heart hammering away. “Listen, I’ll do the books tomorrow. Let’s go get that drink.”

CHAPTER 7

RAE

2009

It was getting easier for her to answer to the name Rae. She wasn’t Echo anymore. She could never be her again. And in a way, it was freeing to separate the old her from the new person she needed to become.

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