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Davin
What didI know about the woman stalking my thoughts?
Linsey Keller.
Deceased meth dealer father and still-living alcoholic mother.
That wasn’t much, and the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to know. Except I wasn’t sure how to get her to open up. Give me a business deal, and I could manage it, but having a meaningful conversation with a woman I actually wanted to know? I had no clue.
I’d been trying to figure it out all morning.
No. If I was being honest, I’d been trying to figure it out since I’d dropped her off at her place last night.
I’d been tempted to ask her to come home with me, but it was the middle of the week, and the two of us had our own lives to live. We couldn’t put the world on hold and spend all our time with each other.
If that was even something we both wanted to do.
I sent off another email and moved to the next one on my list. I’d been so pissed by Dad’s reaction yesterday that I’d put off clearing out my inbox before I’d left. Which meant I didn’t really have anyone but myself to blame for the mess I had waiting for me this morning.
At least Dad hadn’t been by to talk to me. I didn’t know if he’d talked to Theodore or Loretta, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Even if he now knew that I hadn’t lied or exaggerated, I’d never know it. My entire life, I’d never heard Dad say he was wrong. The best anyone ever got was silence. I was hoping that was what was happening here.
An invoice popped up on my screen. Royd Kichner. The name sounded familiar, and as I read the company name, I sat straighter in my chair.
PI.
Of course. Holden Enterprises had a couple various investigators we used to dig into people’s backgrounds, research legitimacy of businesses, that sort of thing. We had a firm on retainer, but Royd Kichner had been around before Dad and I had taken over. He’d been one of Grandad’s hires, and every once in a while, I’d see one of his invoices come in, usually for something one of the older realtors had hired him to do. Like this quick background check that Lilith Puck had asked Royd to run.
A private investigator.
Someone whose job it was to dig into people’s pasts. Wasn’t thatexactlywhat I needed? Someone who could get me more information about Linsey.
Before I could tell myself that this was a bad idea, I picked up my phone and called.
“Kichner Investigations.”
“Mr. Kichner, this is Davin Holden.” I tapped my pen on the desk. “I have someone I’d like you to look into.”
“Of course.” After a slight pause, he added, “I’m a little surprised to hear from you. The work I get from your company comes from people I’ve worked with for years. I never thought you’d be the one calling me.”
“It’s actually a personal matter I’m calling on,” I said. “I need someone I could trust.”
“What’s the case?”
“Linsey Keller.” I practically blurted her name out. “She’s new to Houston, and I’d like to know more about who she is and where she comes from. I know her dad died in an explosion while cooking meth, and her mom’s still alive. Oh, and she moved here from Denver with a woman named Kasey Lee, who owns a tattoo parlor.”
“All right,” Royd said. “I just finished up another case and don’t have anything urgent. If you want to put a rush on it, I can.”
“Do it.” I didn’t even hesitate. “Let me give you my private number.”
After he assured me that he’d be in touch as soon as he had anything to report, I decided that while I was changing how I did things, I might as well take initiative somewhere else too.
The walk to Dad’s office didn’t take long, and I was relieved to see that he was behind his desk. I didn’t want to have to try to track him down or come back later.
“Davin, is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “I just came by to see if you’d talked to the Ciardis. Because it doesn’t matter what they told you. I don’t want their business, no matter who’s handling it. They aren’t the sort of people we should represent. They’re bullies.”
Dad looked surprised, but he let me finish before responding. “If you believe it that strongly, then that’s what we’ll do. If they reach out to me again, I’ll tell them that we’re not interested.”