Page 41 of Night Moves
“She started after her mom left. She used her mother’s polish. Honestly, I think she did it as a way to be close to her mother.”
Or not.Willow had kept the method her nails had been done from Ulani. Drake wasn’t surprised. “Do you have any reason to think Kirk would’ve hurt his wife?”
Ulani’s gaze snapped to him, but she didn’t speak.
“It’s okay,” he said, trying to sound encouraging. “Be honest.”
“I don’t know.” She brushed her hands against her legs. “He didn’t know she took off every afternoon until a week or so before she disappeared. She didn’t have any friends so she wasn’t going to visit them. Maybe she was having an affair, and he found out.”
Drake worked hard to keep his skepticism to himself as he didn’t think that she would meet a lover that often. “How could he not know about the afternoons away?”
“She made me swear not to tell him. So I didn’t. And she was always home before he got home.” Ulani’s face screwed up and tears glistened in her eyes.
“But he had to be paying you for that time.”
She shook her head. “Tracey paid me. Cash. Please don’t report me. Please. I need the money. My son. He’s soon going to college. He deserves to go. I can’t end up in trouble for unreported wages.”
“We’re not going to report you,” Drake assured her. “I assume you never told the police about this either. Because of the cash payments.”
She nodded.
“And you really have no idea where Tracey went?”
She shook her head.
He believed her, but he couldn’t let it go as it might be the lead they were looking for. “Not even a guess?”
“I mean maybe she went somewhere to get the plastic surgery done for less. Like Mexico maybe, and she didn’t survive the surgery.”
“Do you think that’s more likely than Kirk hurting her?” Drake asked.
She scratched her neck. “I don’t know. Either way, I don’t think she left for the reasons Mr. Gentry said. I think something bad happened to her.”
11
Natalie buckled her seatbelt and waited for Drake to get into the SUV. The neighborhood was teaming with life. These neighbors would be shocked to hear that Natalie and Drake were visiting their neighborhood because of a serial killer. Unless Ulani became integral to the investigation, they would never know.
Drake settled behind the wheel and plugged his phone into the vehicle’s information system. “Call Sierra.”
The call connected.
“Before you ask”—Sierra’s voice sounded loud over the speaker—“I haven’t gone into labor since you were here. Please tell everyone I’ll call the minute it starts.”
“That’s not why I’m calling, but thanks for the update.” Drake chuckled, but it seemed forced.
“Okay. I’ve just heard the question too many times this week, and I’m about to go crazy.”
“Sorry, sis. We just love you and little Elvis.”
Sierra’s groan reverberated through the speaker. “You really should stop calling him that. You’re going to forget after he’s born, and before we know it, the nickname will stick.”
“I wouldn’t have to call him Elvis if you’d have settled on a name by now.”
“No can do.” She sounded resolute. “We have to see him first. Make sure the name fits.”
Natalie could see that point, but Drake narrowed his eyes as if it was a foreign concept for him.
“So why the phone call?” Sierra asked.
