He hesitated before speaking. “It was important to me that you see it.”
“Why?” My word was so soft, I feared he couldn’t hear it. And I held my breath, waiting for his reply.
“Because I’m proud of it. And because I wanted to share it with you.” He reached for my hand, then twined his fingers in mine.
“Thank you,” I said softly, and squeezed.
Behind us, the door banged open. “Tyler! Hey!”
I turned to find a twenty-something girl with a pixie haircut and dancing green eyes.
“Caroline, what are you doing here? I thought you were living on campus these days.”
“Yup,” she said. “Loving it. But Sunday, right? Maisie and I are gonna take in a movie.” She blew a pink bubble and popped it.
He nodded, then turned to me. “Caroline used to live here.”
“Loved it, too,” Caroline said. “But the dorm is super convenient. So you’re looking for Amy?”
She said all of that without taking a breath as far as I could tell. “I am,” I said. “Do you know her?”
“Not well, but I’m friends with Darcy, and she and Amy hung.”
My stomach twisted with disappointment. “Tyler already talked to Darcy. Amy sent her a postcard from Vegas. I’m trying to figure where in Vegas she landed. A friend’s having a baby. I want to make sure she comes back in time.”
Caroline shook her head. “Don’t know. But the guy with the other job might know.”
I met Tyler’s eyes. “What other job?” he asked.
“A customer. One of the guys who gets a lap dance every once in a while. Big guy. Handsome, but gray at the temples. He does all the Cokes and stuff.”
“Big Charley,” Tyler said, then glanced at me. “Vending machine sales, rental, and maintenance. Cole and I contract with him for some of our properties, actually.”
“Yeah.” Caroline smiled. “That’s him. She told me he’d offered her a job. Guess she ended up going with another offer—I figure there was a guy—but maybe she told Big Charley where she was going instead.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That’s really helpful.”
She nodded, then glanced at Tyler, her expression turning sad. “Emily and Amy were pretty tight,” she said. “They only overlapped for a few weeks, but they totally hit it off.”
“I remember,” he said.
“Any news?” she asked, before I had a chance to ask where I could find Emily.
“None,” Tyler said. He turned to me, his face grave. “Emily’s one of ours. She quit a couple of months ago, and then was found dead not long after.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“What they’re saying is bullshit,” Caroline said. “Emily wouldn’t turn tricks.” She turned to me. “The cops said that a john messed her up. Left her for dead.”
“You don’t believe it?”
“No way.”
Tyler shook his head. “It’s hard to fathom. She was strong-willed and smart. I never thought she’d turn tricks. And if she was down on her luck, she knew she could come to me. But it’s possible she hooked up with the wrong guy. Someone who thought that because she was a dancer he could take what he wanted.” I heard the tight edge of control in his voice. “Bastard.”
He gave Caroline’s hand a squeeze. “If I hear anything more, I’ll tell you. Promise.”
We followed her into the house, where the conversation turned from Emily to advice about how to milk the customers for the best possible tips. When we returned to the car an hour or so later, I was full up on donuts and coffee, and overloaded with information about dancing at Destiny. But despite the passage of time and the many conversations in the interim, my mind was still on Charley.