Easy Innocence

Chapter 28

THE THING was to act like you weren't there for anything important. Like you couldn't care less. That was what she'd told them. After a while you could layer on a smile if you wanted. Make them feel special. Lauren checked her watch. Being prompt was important, too. Clients didn't have all day. Neither did she. And Derek was late.

She slouched on the bench, wondering whether to call him. Not that it would do much good. He'd have to stop whatever he was doing and call her back. And time was growing short. She looked around the mall. Monday was always slow. Things didn't heat up until mid-week; Thursday and Friday were busy. And Saturdays were crazy. She usually took off the first two days of the week. Worked out, did her homework, chilled. Her cell phone buzzed. She checked the caller ID. Heather. She ignored the call.

Tonight was meant to be a business meeting. She and Derek had to talk. Derek was recruiting girls who-well-just weren't good enough. He'd started cruising Golf Mill and Woodfield, but frankly, Mount Prospect and Schaumburg weren't the North Shore. The girls weren't as classy- though she'd be the last to admit the North Shore had cornered the market on class. She'd seen plenty of clients who picked their noses, chewed with their mouths open, or sported bellies that hung over their belts. Still, there was a cachet about North Shore girls. After she trained them, they were good. She was proud of her work.

Derek's point was they had to expand, maybe even start another branch. To stay where they were meant they were falling behind. But this wasn't fast food, and they weren't McDonald's. She liked the control of a small operation. They were pulling down great money. That was important. People respected women with money. Their own money. Like Ricki Feldman. They'd only met for a minute, but they were two of a kind, she and Ricki. She could see it in the woman's eyes. They understood each other. Lauren recalled her comment about how beautiful her mother was. That was code. Ricki didn't like her mother. Lauren understood.

She and Derek had to discuss Sara, too. The PI had talked to Claire and Heather. Neither of them knew shit, but it wouldn't be long until she came back to her. Georgia Davis. Lauren scoffed. Who had a name like Georgia? She hoped Georgia was focusing on Monica Ramsey. She'd planted the seed herself the night she followed her to the grocery store. To take the heat off her and the business. Still, there were problems. The PI had just discovered Sara wasn't working at the bookstore. And now suddenly Heather was calling all the time, asking tons of questions, like she was going to do some big investigation for the school news. Lauren knew Heather was just being nosy, in that high school kind of way. She should just grow up.

Lauren crossed one leg over the other, letting her foot jiggle the air. Sara had screwed up the bookstore thing. The manager had been a client. He'd lied for Sara, took messages when someone called her at the store, even filled out bogus time sheets for her in return for a blowjob or two. But he had been fired over the summer-they'd caught the jerk with his hands in the cash register-and the new manager didn't know about Sara's "employment." Lauren had told Sara to find another "job"-fast- but two months had gone by, and Sara hadn't come up with one. Then she was killed.

Lauren's foot dangled back and forth. They had the crazy guy. The cops were still sure he did it, despite the hazing. Why was a PI on the case? That was the other reason she needed to talk to Derek. He said he would take care of Georgia Davis. She hadn't seen anything yet. And then there was that text message he'd sent a while back about Charlie, one of their regulars. Whether Lauren had heard from him and to let Derek know if she did.

She uncrossed her legs and checked her watch. Now Derek was really late. She dug out her cell and punched in his number. The call went straight to voice mail. "Hi, leave your name and number." Nothing cute or fancy. All business. She disconnected.

She got up, walked over to Bath and Body Works, and ducked inside. She bought some Vanilla Cream body lotion but kept one eye on the mall. No Derek. She came back out, her irritation mounting. Damn him. How dare he stand her up?