Leigh pulled into the parking lot of Pura Vida just before her noon appointment. Since her meeting with Brandon yesterday, she’d begun to wonder if she was wasting her time with this quest. But she’d been distracted for days, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to truly focus on anything else until she got some answers about Vanessa.

Leigh surveyed the sleek glass building that she hadn’t visited in months. Pura Vida billed itself as a dermatology clinic, but it looked more like a day spa. Besides offering facials and chemical peels, the clinic did a booming business in everything from Botox and collagen injections to liposuction and facelifts. The office occupied the bottom two floors of a U-shaped building that looked out on a courtyard with a fountain.

It was lunchtime, and Leigh watched the front door as women in high-end workout gear streamed in and out, along with Pura Vida staffers in bright pink scrubs. At twelve sharp, Leigh spied her former client amid the stream of people. Tiffany had chopped her hair since their last meeting, but at five-foot-eleven, she was easy to spot.

Leigh waved to catch her eye as she walked over. Tiffany wore white Adidas sneakers with pink laces that matched her scrubs.

“Thanks for meeting me,” Leigh said.

“Sure.” She smiled. “You saved me from ramen noodles.”

At the end of the building was a small café with yellow umbrella tables where Leigh and Tiffany had met before to discuss her case. The tables looked full, but they could eat in the courtyard.

“Love the hair,” Leigh said as they walked over.

“Thanks. I just did it.” Tiffany touched it self-consciously. “I needed a change, ya know?”

“Absolutely. It looks great on you.”

They entered the restaurant and stepped up to the counter to order. They got food to go, Leigh’s treat, and found a shaded bench near the fountain.

“So, what’s up?” Tiffany asked, poking a straw into her iced tea. “I know you’re too busy to call me just to chat.”

Leigh peeled the lid off her fruit cup. “First, I wanted to thank you for the referral.”

She arched her perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Referral?”

“Vanessa Adams.” Leigh watched her reaction closely because she was here on a hunch. “That was you, right? She came to see me a while back about a legal issue, and she mentioned that she worked here at the clinic.”

“Oh.” Tiffany’s expression clouded. “You heard what happened, right? That she’s missing?”

“I did.”

“A detective was here yesterday asking questions about her.”

Leigh wasn’t surprised. Brandon struck her as thorough. “Detective Reynolds?” she asked.

“And someone else, too,” Tiffany said. “Detective Peña, I think it was. You talked to them?”

“Yeah. Did they interview you?”