Free Girl Undercover 4 & 5: Ariel & Financial Devil by Julia Derek

returned completely because one slid up to me and I dove inside. Closing the door, I locked it and told the cabbie to drive me to 70th and Broadway, using as calm a voice as I could muster. He pulled back into the busy street and we were on our way.
    Leaning back into the seat, I allowed myself to catch my breath for a few moments before I turned my head to see where Hutchkins was.
    He was standing at the side of the road next to Fedora man, both of them shaking their fists at my cab. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a little as the adrenaline that pumped through my veins started to subside. That had been one close call.
    I found my phone in my purse that I had miraculously managed to bring with me in the midst of my escape and dialed George. I needed him to check if there was any truth to what Hutchkins had told me about his whereabouts this past Thursday. Given his violent reaction, I remained sure he’d lied and was Ariel’s murderer. Of course, that meant my gut had been totally off in thinking Janine had been involved. Or maybe they had done it together somehow. Unlikely, but still possible.
    I held the phone close to my ear as I listened to ring after ring going through without George picking up. It finally went to voicemail. When the beep sounded, I left a message, telling him to call me back ASAP.
    The cab stopped on my street fifteen minutes later. I paid the fare and exited, heading to my apartment building.
    By the time I had taken a shower and removed the heavy makeup from my face, George had still not called. I was on pins and needles, waiting for him to get back to me. Not until I had verified that Hutchkins had lied about taking his mother to the hospital would I be able to relax.
    After having paced my apartment for a few minutes, willing my phone to ring, I sat before my laptop and began Googling Charles Hutchkins. Maybe I could come up with some answers about him myself. For example, if I could determine that his mother was already dead, I’d know he’d lied. But without access to his social security number that had allowed George to dig up all the information he’d given me, I came up with nothing useful. I pondered calling Ian to ask him to do some digging; surely he’d easily find out the status of George’s parents at least, whether they were still alive. But before I could call him, I remembered that he was convinced the conspiracy was behind Ariel’s murder. The last thing I felt like doing was arguing about that with him, so I put the phone back down.
    I popped a couple sleeping pills instead and went to bed, leaving my phone on my nightstand. When George called, I’d wake up and ask him to check Hutchkins for me.
    George did call three in the morning.
    “Hello,” I answered groggily, half asleep still.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to wake you. I thought it was urgent from your message. I’ll call you back tomorrow.”
    I sat up in bed. “No, no. I want to talk now.” I rubbed my eyes to wake myself further. “I spoke to Charles Hutchkins tonight. He claims he was in Philly the night of Ariel’s murder because his mother had twisted her ankle and needed to go to the ER for X rays. I think he’s full of it. Can you check if his mother’s even alive?”
    “Sure, I just need to go to my computer. Hang on.”
    I lay back on my pillow and had almost fallen back asleep when George was back on the line again.
    “His mother is not only alive still, but she lives in Philadelphia.”
    I was suddenly wide awake. “You’re sure?”
    “Yeah. Unless she died in the last few days and the national registration hasn’t been updated yet. Do you know what hospital they went to?”
    “Yeah, he claimed they went to Pennsylvania Hospital.”
    “Okay. I’m gonna check his credit card statements again. Hold on.” There was a long pause, then George said, “Bingo.”
    “Bingo what?”
    “There is a charge of $750 to the Pennsylvania Hospital on Friday. My guess is the