Eliza nodded. “That, at least, I’m sure of.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Wait, I just remembered! When you went to look for that truck, she just happened to be there.”
Her stomach lurched at the memory of Joey greeting her then. Were they partners in crime? Partners inlove? All this time, she hadn’t a clue…
She brushed the thought away. “I guess…I don’t know. This is going to sound crazy.”
“Hit me with it,” Mackenzie said, a grin on her face. “I’m just a sounding board, remember?”
Eliza smiled back at her. Mack was doing well with this whole non-judgmental thing and Eliza did feel better, even if they were coming to the same exact conclusions. “What if he’s the robber and he thought I might be able to recognize him, so he tried to, you know, seduce me so I’d fall in love with him. After he met Stacy, he thought she was onto him, so he seduced her, too.”
She scrunched up her nose. “I’ll be honest, that’s a lot of seducing. I don’t know that Joey has it in him.”
Eliza laughed. “I’m just brainstorming.”
She put up a hand. “Nothing surprises me anymore. Maybe he didn’t seduce her, just offered her some of the money he’s stolen. He’s gotten millions at this point, right?”
“I guess. Yeah.”
“Or he could’ve just offered her a ride for the right price.”
The idea that perhaps Eliza had been the only one he’d tried to charm romantically lifted her spirits for a moment, but she quickly swatted them down.
It was absurd. He was probably a criminal. Any feelings he’d had toward her were fake. She was nothing more than a tool to him.
A chill ran down her spine and her shoulders quivered.
Mackenzie reached out to touch her hand. “You don’t look so good. Why don’t you go back to the cottage and take a nap?”
“I’m okay.”
“I insist. I’ll cover for you here and, afterwards, we’ll make a plan. I can find out more about Stacy.”
She shook her head. “We can’t go digging for stuff on her. Won’t she know if we look her up? She’s a special agent.”
Mackenzie scoffed. “You watch too many movies. No, don’t worry—we do this all the time in sales. We spy on our customers. Well, not spy, but get an idea of who they are using creative techniques.”
“Ah.”
Eliza was only half listening. What was Joey doing right now? Laughing at how dumb she’d been, how easy she was to trick?
“Go on. Take a nap, then we’ll reconvene.”
The suggestion of sleep made her head feel even heavier. She yawned. “Are you sure?”
“I am.” Mackenzie tugged at the strings on Eliza’s apron and pushed her toward the door. “We’ll figure this out. I’m glad you told me.”
She smiled. “Me too.”
Back in her room, Eliza took off her glasses and slipped under the covers. The sheets were cool and soft and within seconds, she was out.
The next time she opened her eyes was to darkness. She sat up, grabbing her glasses and trying to remember what day it was.
“Hey,” Mackenzie called out from the bottom bunk.
Eliza climbed down. Mackenzie was sitting on her bed, her face lit by the glow of a laptop.
“I found the business card you got from Stacy and dug up some information about her.”
