Read Online Truth & Lies: A Queen City Justice Novel by Elizabeth Bemis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Bemis
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Cincinnati.”
“There’s no record of it.”
Dana dug around in her shoulder bag. A few moments later, she slapped something against his chest.
Hard. He winced. No one would take this girl for a powderpuff, no matter how cute her freckles and dimples.
He took the small blue booklet from her hand. Her passport. Dark blue leather. Gold embossed shield with a checkerboard pattern. The words “Republic of Croatia” in (he assumed) Croatian, English, and French.
He opened it, glanced at her picture before opening it to the stamps. Sure enough. A stamp for Cincinnati dated yesterday.
Why was his lie-dar pinging so loudly? It appeared that she was telling the truth. He was still going to look at the records again.
He flipped back to the first page again. Her name: Petra Draghana Kirasic-Tomasaic. Well, he’d definitely spelled her name wrong. And if customs had just entered her as Petra Kirasic, then that would explain why she hadn’t come up.
“So why you check up on me?” she asked as he unlocked the door.
He hesitated. How to answer that? Because I don’t trust you any farther than I can throw you? was guaranteed to make friends and influence people. Perhaps throwing himself on her mercy was the best defense.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not very trusting.” He handed her passport back to her, having committed the information he needed to memory.
She gave him a “well, duh” sort of look. It was one that translated into any language.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked.
“Downtown, I eat…” She hesitated. “Hot dog?” She shook her head. “That wrong word? Like sausage.”
“Yeah. It’s called a hot dog.”
“No dog, right?”
He couldn’t help but grin. “No. It’s pork and beef, usually.” Which didn’t mean that he would have eaten one from a downtown hot dog vendor to save his life. He left that part out.
“I need to get back to work. I have tomorrow off. I’ll give you the grand tour of Cincinnati then, okay? I’m not sure I want you to take the bus downtown. If you get off in the wrong neighborhood, you could get into trouble.” And there were a number of neighborhoods he wouldn’t want to walk through along that bus route. Even before his injury.
She nodded. “I am sorry. I do not want to make you angry.”
He shook his head as he backed toward the door. “I’m not angry. And I’m sorry for overreacting.” But he was still going to check out her arrival.
He returned to work to do just that. A flush of embarrassment washed over him as he found the information. Petra Kirasic arrived just before 3:00 on Thursday at CVG airport. She probably thought he was a total whack job. He spent so much time being suspicious of people that now he was seeing lies where there were none.
Maybe he should stick to the case in front of him. As he’d done every couple of days, he contacted the closest Chinese Consulates and Embassy, only to find out that Lee Jing’s passport had been replaced several days prior, and no one had notified him. He requested plane manifests for OUTCONUS flights, and found out that Lee Jing and her parents had indeed rescheduled their flights back to China and had arrived yesterday.
Dammit.
No complaining witness. No proof of a crime. And possibly dozens of other women being held against their will, with no way to find them.
Saturday, November 22—10:00 a.m.
Oakley Neighborhood, Cincinnati, Ohio
Deck had been looking at the loose trim along the doorframe for the past five months. Whether it was having someone else in his house or finally just taking an interest in his surroundings, he didn’t know. But it had to be fixed. Now.
He pulled his toolbox from the large hall closet. He placed a level, a hammer, and a handful of trim nails into a tool belt, and attached it to his waist before making his way to the front door. He leaned his crutch against the wall and managed to balance on his good foot, keeping the majority of his weight
“There’s no record of it.”
Dana dug around in her shoulder bag. A few moments later, she slapped something against his chest.
Hard. He winced. No one would take this girl for a powderpuff, no matter how cute her freckles and dimples.
He took the small blue booklet from her hand. Her passport. Dark blue leather. Gold embossed shield with a checkerboard pattern. The words “Republic of Croatia” in (he assumed) Croatian, English, and French.
He opened it, glanced at her picture before opening it to the stamps. Sure enough. A stamp for Cincinnati dated yesterday.
Why was his lie-dar pinging so loudly? It appeared that she was telling the truth. He was still going to look at the records again.
He flipped back to the first page again. Her name: Petra Draghana Kirasic-Tomasaic. Well, he’d definitely spelled her name wrong. And if customs had just entered her as Petra Kirasic, then that would explain why she hadn’t come up.
“So why you check up on me?” she asked as he unlocked the door.
He hesitated. How to answer that? Because I don’t trust you any farther than I can throw you? was guaranteed to make friends and influence people. Perhaps throwing himself on her mercy was the best defense.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not very trusting.” He handed her passport back to her, having committed the information he needed to memory.
She gave him a “well, duh” sort of look. It was one that translated into any language.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked.
“Downtown, I eat…” She hesitated. “Hot dog?” She shook her head. “That wrong word? Like sausage.”
“Yeah. It’s called a hot dog.”
“No dog, right?”
He couldn’t help but grin. “No. It’s pork and beef, usually.” Which didn’t mean that he would have eaten one from a downtown hot dog vendor to save his life. He left that part out.
“I need to get back to work. I have tomorrow off. I’ll give you the grand tour of Cincinnati then, okay? I’m not sure I want you to take the bus downtown. If you get off in the wrong neighborhood, you could get into trouble.” And there were a number of neighborhoods he wouldn’t want to walk through along that bus route. Even before his injury.
She nodded. “I am sorry. I do not want to make you angry.”
He shook his head as he backed toward the door. “I’m not angry. And I’m sorry for overreacting.” But he was still going to check out her arrival.
He returned to work to do just that. A flush of embarrassment washed over him as he found the information. Petra Kirasic arrived just before 3:00 on Thursday at CVG airport. She probably thought he was a total whack job. He spent so much time being suspicious of people that now he was seeing lies where there were none.
Maybe he should stick to the case in front of him. As he’d done every couple of days, he contacted the closest Chinese Consulates and Embassy, only to find out that Lee Jing’s passport had been replaced several days prior, and no one had notified him. He requested plane manifests for OUTCONUS flights, and found out that Lee Jing and her parents had indeed rescheduled their flights back to China and had arrived yesterday.
Dammit.
No complaining witness. No proof of a crime. And possibly dozens of other women being held against their will, with no way to find them.
Saturday, November 22—10:00 a.m.
Oakley Neighborhood, Cincinnati, Ohio
Deck had been looking at the loose trim along the doorframe for the past five months. Whether it was having someone else in his house or finally just taking an interest in his surroundings, he didn’t know. But it had to be fixed. Now.
He pulled his toolbox from the large hall closet. He placed a level, a hammer, and a handful of trim nails into a tool belt, and attached it to his waist before making his way to the front door. He leaned his crutch against the wall and managed to balance on his good foot, keeping the majority of his weight
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