His good humor and smile were contagious. “Sounds like a plan.”

She followed him to the back room, where he began to shampoo her hair, his fingers gently massaging her scalp in little circles, slowly draining all her tension. Just as she was about to start purring, TJ zeroed in on them.

“Rollie, I know you ain’t gonna like this, but I have to tell you I brought Lisa here for more than a ’do.”

Roland said nothing as TJ whispered their real purpose in visiting the salon. He rinsed Lisa’s hair, wrapped her head in a towel and had her sit up. She felt his fingers tighten on her scalp as he spoke softly. “TJ. I told you no one other than the people involved could ever know about it. I understand why you told Lisa, but you should have discussed it with me first.”

An hour later, Roland, wearing faded jeans and a leather jacket, came into the coffee shop and sat down next to Lisa.

“TJ, I’m sorry I got upset with you, but you should have talked to me about this first, instead of putting Lisa in the middle. When you get this list of missing women I’ll tell you which women we did not help. That might not make sense to you two, but then I’d feel like I didn’t actually give you names.”

Lisa frowned. “We can work with that. But you said ’we.’ I thought you worked alone.”

Roland snorted, looking at TJ. “Well, at least you didn’t tell her the whole story.”

“Roland, we can do it any way makes you comfortable,“ Lisa said. “I understand if you don’t want to give me any details. The important thing is that we find something we can go back to the police with. And eliminating women who left willingly is a necessary first step.”

Lisa realized she’d committed herself. Someone had to find out what was happening to these women.

“I’m glad you feel that way, Lisa,” Roland told her. “I’ll tell you this much—I do this by myself, but sometimes there are things I can’t do alone. I have a few close friends who help out, but on an as-needed basis, and they’re never given names. The process can get expensive, and the women most in need are always the ones with the least funds.”

Roland paused when the waitress appeared with their coffee. “About five years ago, when I first started doing this, I paid all of the expenses myself. The first time a close friend was beaten so badly by her boyfriend that she nearly died. I helped her leave town, and now she’s happily married and living in another state. She’s repaid me for what I covered when she left, but not everyone has been able to do that.

“My partner and I are going to buy a condo together in the third ward and that’s cut down on how much I’ve been able to contribute. I’ve only been able to help out two women the last year or so.”

“It sounds like there are quite a few people who know about this.”

“They’re all friends who care about women. Our world is different. In our network of friends, there are never betrayals.”

“Never is a long time,” Lisa said.

TJ interrupted, before Lisa and Roland could argue about it. “Lisa, hope you’re goin’ out tonight. You’ll really turn heads with that great hair.”

TJ was right. Lisa loved what Roland had done with her hair. Before she left the salon she’d made an appointment to have her hair colored.

“No plans. I don’t go out much.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a long story.”

Roland dropped a bill on the table. “I’ll leave you two ladies to finish your coffee. Let me know when you want to go over your list.”

Lisa watched him walk out of the shop. “He’s an impressive man.”

“Yeah. Rollie and I go way back. So what’s your story? You gay, too?”

Where did that come from? “No. Although life might be simpler if I were.”

“Simpler how?”

“I was married a long time ago. It ended badly and left me with a young daughter to raise. I wasn’t a great mother—well, not really a bad mother—I just wasn’t there for her emotionally during the important years. After my marriage ended, I went on a quest to find Mr. Perfect. I was gone a lot.” Lisa felt a tug of guilt, remembering.

“So what happened with your girl?” TJ listened eagerly, leaning forward with her elbows on the table.

“I raised her on my own.” Talking or even thinking about her inadequacies as a mother was difficult.

TJ studied her. “Funny, you and me have more in common than I woulda’ thought. Me, I have commitment issues. That’s why the good detective and I have lasted so long. We’re alike that way.”

“Have you ever discussed it with him?”

“Sounds like a shrink question, so I’m gonna ignore it. Save it for our ‘therapy’ session.” She snickered. “So what do you do for male companionship?” TJ raised her eyebrows for emphasis on the word ‘companionship’.

Lisa didn’t want to get into the details of her poor choices in men or confide she was a forty-two-year-old romance junkie. “I’m just coming out of a relationship. It didn’t end well. I guess you could say I’m taking a break right now.”

“Yeah, best to take a breather.” TJ stood up and stretched. “I have plans tonight, so better be moving on out of here. Thanks for comin,’ Lisa. Wasn’t sure you would. Now that we know Rollie’s gonna check off his ladies, our next step has to be the list. If you have any problems gettin’ it let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”

“What if it leads us nowhere?”

“There’s always plan B.”

“And that is . . .”

“Didn’t want to mention it, but I have a friend who works at the Journal if we get desperate.”

“Using the media occurred to me, too. Hopefully we won’t have to go that route.”

When Lisa got home, she took Phanny for a walk along the street bordering the lake. The days were getting shorter, and the damp evening air carried the scent of decaying leaves and the approaching winter. As she walked she noticed the glow of warmly lit houses embracing what she perceived as happy families. Lisa felt a twinge of regret she’d never been able to provide Paige with a similar scene. Lisa’s talk with TJ at the coffee shop had brought back all the guilt-laden memories she preferred to keep under cover.

As she walked she considered why she’d felt such a strong kinship with Jamie Denison. Jamie had gotten out of that lifestyle in time and found a loving husband. And, in spite of its problems, her marriage still had a good chance for salvation at the time she’d been seeing Lisa.

Lisa had given up the club life only after she’d begun to fear it had become an obsession. She’d given it up, focusing on her work and her daughter. But unfortunately, after years of therapy and the emptiness of her life without a man, she’d stumbled back into a cycle of futile relationships once Paige left for college.

A shiver ran through her when Phanny woofed softly and began to growl. Lisa didn’t see anything. Why did fall evenings have such a sinister feel to them? Thanks to the moonless night, Lisa imagined it must be the gnarled branches of bare trees reaching out to her. And this quest she’d just committed to wouldn’t be without its risks. She hurried Phanny back to the safety and warmth of home.

Lisa fed the dog and fixed herself a grilled cheese sandwich on some wonderful bread she’d found at a bakery on North Avenue. The sandwich, made with the nutty, grain-filled bread and her favorite cheddar cheese, went perfectly with the bowl of tomato soup she’d heated up.

When she finished eating, she went into the garage, pulled out a ladder, and used it to climb into the storage rafters. Moving aside some Christmas decorations, she found what she sought—a small, metal security box. She carried it back down with her and took it into the house. She opened the box and dug under a stack of papers until her fingers brushed against the .22 caliber pistol still in its place next to a box of bullets.