be clairvoyant."
I harrumphed softly, the last of my annoyance slipping away. I still had to bust his balls, though. "You sure you weren't going to call Brant instead? Maybe get an update on operation 'Spencer needs a life'?"
There was laughter in his voice when he replied. "It was all his idea, I swear."
"Yeah, right."
He tried again. "Okay, it was Ali. You know how women are." Ali's voice rang out in the background but I didn't quite catch what she said. I did, however, hear a thud and Clay's startled 'ouch'. Served him right. "Okay, okay. It was all me. I'm a terrible friend for wanting you to enjoy your vacation. God, what an asshole I am."
"It's okay. I'm well aware that you're an asshole. At least you mean well. Usually."
His voice was finally serious when he said, "So, I'm forgiven?"
"Yeah, fucker, you're forgiven. Now why were you about to call me? Ali's there with you, so I know you're not in need of bail money."
He blew out a breath and hesitated.
Oh shit.
He never did that pause-for-effect thing. Hated it. This must be bad.
The soft rustling of a hand covering the phone was followed by a moment of quiet discussion, I assumed with Ali. Clay's voice finally came back on the line, softer and unsure. "I kind of need a favor. Well, we both do."
"What kind of favor?"
"You remember Talia, right?"
I remembered Talia. She was Ali's best friend and — before Ali moved in with Clay — roommate. We'd met for the first time in Denson the night of the fire that had nearly killed Ali. Talia had been a wreck and I had done what I could to keep her spirits up between trips to visit Ali in the ICU. "Of course I remember her."
More hesitation, then, "I told you that she owns a restaurant in D.C., right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, there was some sort of issue there a couple days ago, something with a restaurant critic, and she hasn't been into work since. She won't answer her phone, not even for Ali. No one knows where she is or what exactly happened. All we know is that she texted the manager and told her to take over until further notice. She's been totally off the grid ever since."
From what I remembered about Talia, she wasn't the type to shirk her responsibilities. Something serious had to have happened. But I wasn't sure what Clay was asking of me. "Okay, I'm assuming you want my help, right? What do you need me to do? You want me to try and track her credit cards or something?" I knew my way around a computer, had a few tricks up my sleeve that could help locate her.
He sounded relieved. "You can try the cards but your best bet is her phone. Ali says she carries it with her at all times in case of an emergency at the restaurant."
I told him to text me the number and I'd call as soon as I got home and checked it out.
Half an hour later I had him back on the line. "So, I tracked the number you gave me and got a location." I rattled off the street address that coincided with the red dot on my computer screen.
He sighed in apparent relief. "That's the address of her apartment."
I’d thought it sounded familiar. I should have remembered since I’d been there a few months ago helping Ali move her things out.
I heard Ali's voice in the background for a moment before she came on the line. "Spencer?"
"Yeah. Hey, Ali."
Her voice was strained and afraid. "She's at the apartment? You're sure?"
"Yep. I'm looking at the signal right now. If she has the phone with her, she's at the apartment."
"I know you have all these cool tech skills... can you activate the camera on the phone or something? Anything to verify that she's all right?"
I blinked stupidly for a second, not understanding the desperation in her voice. "I'm not quite that skilled, I'm sorry to say." She sniffed. Shit, was she crying? "Ali, I'm sure she's okay. If you're that worried, can you have a neighbor go and check on her? Or maybe a friend from work?"
Another sniff. "There's no one I trust to check on her. The only neighbors we're close with are the elderly couple who share our floor, and they vacation in Florida from November through April. Anyone else would have to be buzzed in and I doubt she would do that if she won't even answer