“Pierce, what?”
He gave a short shake of his head. “Give me a sec,” he said, as the waiter returned. Quickly, he paid the bill. “Let’s go.”
They hurried down the stairs and outside, where darkness had fallen, night folding over the city. The riverfront was alive with tourists and locals walking in the cool of the evening, while streetlamps reflected on the dark water and the riverboats, all tiers glowing, docked near the shoreline.
“What’s going on?” she asked, hurrying to keep up with his longer strides.
“Video has come in from cameras at the state line.” He unlocked his Jeep remotely while they were still half a block away. “It looks like they’ve got images of Naomi’s Mercedes going north to Charlestonyesterday, and then, a few hours later, there’s film of her returning to Georgia.”
“So, she’s back. But they haven’t located the Mercedes?” she guessed as they reached the Jeep. “Or Naomi.”
“Right. But this is the first confirmation that she returned.”
“So where is she?” she asked as she climbed inside and he slid behind the wheel.
“That’s the question, isn’t it? We don’t know. At least not yet.” He started the engine and pulled into traffic. “But we’re sure as hell gonna find out.”
Chapter 32
Promising to tell her any information the second it came in, Pierce dropped Nikki off at her rental car.
As she climbed into the Nissan, she noted that more camera crews had arrived at the station. More reporters talking into microphones. More trucks with satellites. More general chaos.
Before she pulled onto the street, she checked with Lily, found out that Chloe had actually gone to bed without much of a fuss, then drove to the newspaper office, again, near the river. She parked the Nissan under a streetlamp that was in clear view of the building, then made her way upstairs, only to find Celeste cleaning out her desk. Though there had been temporary receptionists who had filled in over the years, the reception area had been primarily Celeste’s domain.
Red-faced, almost shivering with anger, she was stuffing personal things into two boxes. As Nikki stepped through the door, she glanced up and glared. “Satisfied?” she asked.
“What?”
“Are you satisfied?” Celeste clarified, sniffing loudly. Her face was red, her usually neat hair uncombed, and she’d given up her pencil skirts, boots, and wide belts for leggings and an oversize Texas A&M sweatshirt, though she was still wearing the gold chain necklace withits teardrop-shaped diamond, the one she’d been wearing since last Christmas. “I’m leaving,” she announced.
“Why would I be satisfied?”
“Oh, just shut up, Gillette! He fired me, all right? That son of a bitch fired me!”
“Fink?” Nikki asked.
“Yeah, Fink! Who the hell else? After I gave him the best goddamned years of my life!” She slammed a small pink stuffed dinosaur into a box next to a potted Christmas cactus.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” Celeste challenged, digging into a drawer and tossing pens and pencils into the box. “Give me a break! You’ve hated me from the first day I was hired.”
“Wait. What? That’s not true.”
“I know. Okay? You never liked me. Never thought I was doing a good job. Never even tried to get to know me.”
“Whoa, I never—”
“Don’t!” Celeste snapped, straightening, the fire in her eyes directed right at Nikki. “Don’t even try to explain. There you are, the daughter of a goddamned judge, a big whoop-de-do author with a silver spoon rammed down her throat. And you look down your nose at me and everyone else! You think I’m a fool. Isn’t that right?” she demanded, tilting up her chin and setting her jaw. “And you know what? I figured it was you who told him that I keyed his car.”
“What?” This was crazy. “Youkeyed his car?” Hadn’t Roy guessed as much? “Seriously, Celeste, I didn’t know. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have ratted you out.”
“Sure.” Celeste spat out the word as if it tasted bad as she threw a couple of books into the second box and looked around the reception area, searching, it seemed, for any forgotten personal items. “Go ahead and deny it, but I know!” She jabbed her finger at her own chest. “I know, damn it. And kudos to you. It worked, damn it. It worked! I’m done here.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Nikki said, started to get angry. “Why would I want you to leave? I didn’t—”
“Oh, save it, Gillette!” She found her keys in her oversize purse and slung the strap over her shoulder.