"Tell me about Essie."
Tamara kept her gaze on the scenery, resting her head against the seat. "She's smart. Everyone in the Crest Society homeschools their kids, but Amelia always found a way to teach Essie a little bit more than was expected. Most of the girls on the compound never get past middle school. Essie got her high school equivalency degree right before Amelia died."
Pride rang in her voice. She sounded like his mom whenever she started bragging about her kids, no matter how much it would embarrass him or his sisters.
"So what do you do with a super-smart sixteen year old when you're on the run?"
Smart kids sometimes meant more trouble than the dumb ones. They always figured out new ways to entertain themselves.
"Part of the reason I went to Albert for help is because Hamilton has a small liberal arts college that would be perfect for Essie to attend." She let out a bittersweet sigh. "I thought maybe next year, if we hadn't heard from her father, she could enroll."
It was a sweet—if totally naive—hope. "So much for that."
She snorted. "Exactly."
After that it was a fast-food drive thru, a fresh tank of gas just south of the Colorado state line, and small talk about music and movies. It was a straight shot north from the state line to Hamilton. The GPS predicted five and a half hours. At their current pace, they'd be there in four and a half. He lowered the sun visor and pushed it against the driver's side window so it helped block the setting sun coming in from the west.
"So what's the deal with this Albert guy?" he asked, holding the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary. "Is he an old boyfriend?"
"You mean you don't already know everything about him?" She said it jokingly, but the question had a punch to it. There was no way she was happy baring her secrets.
"Since I just found out about his existence today, no. I'm good, darlin' but I'm not that good. You managed to do a damn fine job of hiding Essie if I couldn't find her location until you gave it up."
"Fat lot of good it did. How in the hell did Jarrod manage to find her?"
"If he did." He had to say it even though that sixth sense that warned of something bad just around the corner was going nuts.
She brought her knees up to her chest and curled her arms around her legs, making herself a small, tight ball on the passenger seat. "My gut says the clock is ticking."
He got that, and he knew just how frustrating it was to know part of the equation but not the rest. Good thing they had nothing but time right now to unravel the mystery.
"Then let's figure it out." He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel in time with the slow song playing on the radio. "If Fane sent out Wolczyk to sniff around your ex-husband who you hadn't seen for years, then he's leaving no stone unturned. Who is Albert to you? An old lover?"
That made her laugh. "Not a boyfriend that's for sure. Albert Glad-Lovatt is the secret weapon of every beauty queen who has ever won one of the major tiaras in the past thirty years. And I don't play for his team."
"He runs beauty pageants?"
"No." She shook her head. "He runs the girls."
He whipped his head around and gaped at her. Now that was not the answer he'd been expecting.
"Not like that," Tamara said, her eyes wide. "He's not a pimp. He's a pageant consultant— the best one there is. Even after I stopped doing pageants, we kept in touch. He'
s the closest thing I had to a mentor. When things got bad with my mom, I could always count on Albert."
Okay, that made sense. Perhaps what had kept Tamara safe all this time was the fact that she wasn't close to many people. As far as he could tell she’d only had Amelia, Albert, and Essie before landed with the B-Squad.
"Who knew you two were close?" he asked. Someone had to. If it had been an easy connection to make, he would have made it. That Fane may have gotten the drop on Isaac gnawed on him.
"My mom, who I haven't spoken with in years. A few of the girls from the pageants, most of whom I'm not in touch with. The others, it's only enough to make small talk at parties where we cross paths. No one else. Not even Taz."
"Albert didn't come to the wedding?"
"Taz and I eloped. It seemed very romantic at the time."
"And now?" He didn't mean to hold his breath, he just couldn't help it. What she said next mattered.
Tamara sighed and laid her cheek on top of her kneecap. "It seems like I was running away as fast as I could."