Melanie nodded. “I know. He’s been through so much. Now, as he is nearing the end of his life, he not only wants to talk to these people that he hasn’t seen in decades, but he also wants to remember them with these photos.”
“I completely understand. I’m so glad that I could be of help to you.” Jordan took a sip of her wine.
I tried not to stare at Melanie in awe. She had just lied her way out of this situation. I had never known her to be anything except completely honest, and I knew she would be when it mattered. But here, the way she was able to save the situation impressed me. To her mind, she was in a session right now, trying to extract information. Brilliant.
I took a sip of my wine. Now we knew that three abductors had been at the same high school, two of them in the same class, one a class below. Rodney Cates was there too… What else did they have in common?
“We truly do want to compensate you for your time,” Melanie was saying.
“Goodness, the drink is more than enough. I’m glad I could do something to make your uncle’s last days better.”
I nearly choked on my wine. I took my wallet out of my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Please, take this.”
“I can’t take so much.”
I shoved the bill across the table. “I insist. You’ve helped us more than you’ll ever know.”
“Are the two of you…involved?” she asked.
Before I could open my mouth to speak, Melanie said, “We’re just good friends.”
I couldn’t read the look on her face. She had body language down to a T. Anyone looking at her would think she was telling the truth. It unnerved me a bit.
The alpha in me urged me to take her by the hand, pull her toward me, and kiss the life out of her. But Melanie never did anything without a reason. If she thought it would be better for Jordan not to think we were involved, I would go with that.
Did she want me to ask Jordan out or something? Beyond the yearbook, there wasn’t really any information Jordan had that I needed. I’d talk to Melanie about it later.
“I have to use the ladies room,” Melanie said. “If you’ll excuse me for a few minutes?”
“Of course.” I stood and let her out of the booth. I couldn’t help watching her as she walked toward the restroom. She moved with such beauty and confidence.
She was giving me permission to do something. I just wasn’t sure what it was. What more help could Jordan be to us?
Unless Melanie thought knowing why the archives were in a storage facility was important.
“Let me ask,” I said. “How long has your school kept the archives off-site?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve only been at this particular school for two years, and archives have been off
-site the whole time. But I’ve heard rumors.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Evidently, the school was broken into about five years ago. Some yearbooks were stolen from the library. You know what’s funny? They’re the exact same yearbooks that you requested from me.”
This woman clearly wasn’t the brightest. I lifted my eyebrow. “Really? That’s strange.”
“It is strange, isn’t it? Once I realized that, I called you with the offer to go to the archives. I figured if they weren’t in the library, they probably hadn’t made it online either.”
Okay. Not so dumb after all.
“Anyway, I wanted to help. I mean, you and your friend hardly look like the type who would try to put something over on me. You’re just so…” Rosiness crept into her cheeks.
This was my cue to ask her out. But that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m just a nephew who loves his uncle and will do anything for him.” I stopped, waiting for lightning to strike. I really did hate lying, and that was a big one.
“That’s so very nice of you,” she said.
“Yeah, well, I’m a nice guy. Can I get you another drink?”