Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly

of Lilly and then scrolled down to the phone number.
    â€˜You’re saying this is your number, not hers, but it used to be hers.’
    â€˜Exactly.’
    â€˜Then if she changed her number, why wouldn’t she change it with us, too?’
    â€˜I don’t know. That’s why I’m here. Would you have another way of contacting her?’
    â€˜Not that I can give you. Our client information is confidential.’
    Pierce nodded. He had expected that.
    â€˜That’s fine. But can you see if there is another contact number and then you could call her and tell her about this problem?’
    â€˜What about this cell number?’
    â€˜I tried it. It takes voice mail. I’ve left three messages for her explaining all of this but she hasn’t called back. I don’t think she’s getting the messages.’
    Wendy scrolled up and looked at the photo of Lilly.
    â€˜She’s hot,’ she said. ‘I bet you’re getting a lot of calls.’
    â€˜I’ve only had the phone a day and it’s driving me nuts.’
    Wendy pushed her chair back and stood up.
    â€˜I’m going to check something. I’ll be right back.’
    She went around the partition behind the counter and disappeared into the back hallway, the slapping sound of her sandals receding as she went. Pierce waited a moment and then leaned over the counter and scanned all surfaces. His guess was that Wendy was not the only one who worked at the counter. It was probably a job shared by two or three minimum-wage employees. Employees who might need help remembering passwords to the system.
    He looked for Post-its on the computer and the back of the counter’s facade but saw nothing. He reached down and lifted the blotter but there was nothing under it but a dollar bill. He dug his finger around in a dish of paper clips but found nothing. He reached further across the counter to see if there was a pencil drawer. There wasn’t.
    Just as he thought of something, he heard the sound of her sandals. She was coming back. He quickly reached into his pocket, found a dollar and then reached back over the counter. He lifted the blotter, put down the dollar and grabbed the one that was there. He put it in his pocket without looking at it. His hand was still there when she came around the partition, holding a thin file, and sat down.
    â€˜Well, I figured out one part of the problem,’ she said.
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜This girl stopped paying her bill.’
    â€˜When was that?’
    â€˜In June she paid up through August. Then she didn’t pay for September.’
    â€˜Then why’s her page still on the site?’
    â€˜Because sometimes it takes a while to clean out the deadbeats. Especially when they look like this chick.’
    She gestured to the computer screen with the file and then put it down on the counter.
    â€˜I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Wentz wanted to keep her on there even though she didn’t pay. Guys see girls like that on the site and they’ll keep coming back.’
    Pierce nodded.
    â€˜And the number of hits on the site is how they determine the rates for the ads, right?’
    â€˜You got it.’
    Pierce looked at the screen. In a way, Lilly was still working. If not for herself, then for Entrepreneurial Concepts Unlimited. He looked back at Wendy.
    â€˜Is Mr. Wentz back there? I’d like to speak to him.’
    â€˜No, it’s Saturday. You’d be lucky even to catch him here during the week, but I’ve never seen him on a Saturday.’
    â€˜Well, what can be done about this? My phone’s ringing off the hook.’
    â€˜Well, I can take notes and then maybe on Monday somebody could — ’
    â€˜Look, Wendy, I don’t want to wait until Monday. I have a problem now. If Mr. Wentz isn’t here, then go get the guy baby-sitting the servers. There has to be somebody who can go into the server and take her