Best She Ever Had (9781617733963) by Shelly Ellis

and see if maybe they have an idea where the kids might have gone.” He flipped his notepad closed. “In the meantime, I’m going to need you to pull any copies of Clarissa’s cell phone bills you may have. If you can go online and see what recent calls she’s made, that would help a lot too. We could try to create a timeline that way.” He leaned forward. “Does she have any credit cards or debit cards she likes to use that we can trace?”
    Cynthia frowned. “She has a gas card with a $200 limit, but that’s about it. If she wants to buy anything more than that, she uses my credit cards, but only with my permission. She hasn’t borrowed any lately.”
    â€œWell, you may want to check your wallet to see if any of your cards are missing.”
    â€œYou think she took my credit cards?” She quickly shook her head. “No! No, that’s impossible! Clarissa would never steal from me!”
    â€œUh-huh.” He didn’t look convinced. “But why don’t you go check?”
    When she didn’t budge, he inclined his head.
    â€œHumor me,” he said with a wink. “It’s just a hunch.”
    Cynthia slowly stood from the sofa. While her sisters and Keith waited in the living room, she walked upstairs and looked for her purse, though she knew it was a waste of time. Clarissa had never taken anything from Cynthia without permission in her entire life. Cynthia rifled through her Hermès wallet. She checked each slot, counting her credit cards. She returned to the living room seconds later.
    â€œShe stole from me!” Cynthia shouted, waving her wallet around in the air. “She stole from her own mother!”
    â€œWhat’s missing?” Lauren asked.
    â€œMy Discover and my Visa! I can’t believe she stole from me!”
    â€œWell, in this case, her stealing is a good thing,” Keith said. “It makes it easier to track her down. We can monitor all her purchases and maybe see where she’s headed.”
    â€œSee!” Stephanie beamed as she plopped on the arm of the chair where Keith sat. Zoe slumbered in her arms. She leaned over and kissed Keith on the cheek. “I knew my baby could help! Isn’t he a genius?”
    â€œNot quite,” Keith said. “I’m just someone with a lot of detective experience. I’ll try my best to help you guys find Clarissa. And I’ll do it as quick as I can. I heard time is of the essence here, so I will need you guys to help out on this one.”
    They nodded, including Cynthia. Maybe she had been wrong about Keith. She still considered men to be something of another species, but for now, she was willing to make a few exceptions.
    The family attacked their tasks simultaneously. Dawn and Lauren went online and checked for any recent purchases Clarissa may have made with Cynthia’s credit cards. Cynthia went through Clarissa’s old cell phone bills, noting anything that looked out of the ordinary. Keith pulled out his laptop and went through his databases, including criminal and DMV records, looking for the name Jared Walker. Meanwhile, Stephanie stayed in the kitchen, making sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch to help fortify everyone. She only paused from her culinary tasks to breast-feed Zoe again.
    Half an hour later, they all met in the kitchen to share the information they had found. They commiserated between bites of sandwiches and spoonfuls of tomato soup.
    â€œI saw the same number five times yesterday!” Cynthia shouted, slapping down the computer printouts on the kitchen island’s butcher block. “And it had a Chesterton area code. One of the phone calls lasted for almost an hour! You can’t tell me that wasn’t the number of the little jerk Clarissa ran off with!”
    Keith stared at Lauren and Dawn, who sat on stools on the opposite side of the kitchen island. “What did you guys find out?”
    â€œShe