Page 88 of Cougar Point

The guy took a step forward to take a closer look at his badge, then nodded at the back. “What were you doing around back?”

Interesting that he had asked that first, rather than the more standard,Is there a problem,Sergeant?Or even the blunterWhy are you here?

“I knocked on the door and didn’t get an answer, so I tried around the back.” Lucas kept his voice casual, not a hint of defensiveness. “Are you Duke Scanlon?”

The guy opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind, then glanced back at Lucas’s car, probably checking if he had a partner.

“What’s this about?”

“Are you Duke Scanlon?” Lucas asked again.

“No. Duke crashed here for a while after he got out of the joint. I let him use the address.”

“I see. You got some ID?”

After a moment of hesitation, he reached into his back pocket, took out a wallet and handed over a driver’s license.

“‘Len Thundercloud’,” Lucas read, then glanced over at the Chevy. “This your car?”

Thundercloud nodded.

“Do you also own a Nissan Frontier pickup?”

“What’s it to you?”

Lucas put his badge back in his pocket, taking his time. He put his hands on his hips and looked past the guy at the Tahoe. There was a woman in the passenger seat, looking away from the two men on the driveway. He looked up at the sky, which seemed to be preparing for rain. He let about a minute elapse between the guy’s question and his answer, taking all the time in the world.

“Look, if you want to make it official, we can do this down at the station. But if you can give me five minutes of your time, we can clear this up and I’ll be on my way.”

Thundercloud’s eyes narrowed. “I think Duke does, I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“You know where I can find him?”

“Why would I?”

“You said he was a buddy.”

“Drinking acquaintance. I don’t know everything about him.”

Lucas stared back at him, waiting for him to fill the silence. Eventually, Thundercloud relented.

“Ask over at the No Name in Chester.”

“I will. When was the last time you saw him?”

“Why’s that relevant?” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, if I had to know what was relevant before I asked it, I wouldn’t get very far. Humor me.”

Thundercloud sighed. “I don’t know. Last month?”

Lucas noted with approval that Thundercloud’s initial hostility had abated since he had seen the badge. He just wanted to get this over with. But Lucas wasn’t quite done.

He walked around to the passenger side of the Tahoe. The woman in the passenger seat was also wearing sunglasses. She had been watching the conversation intently but averted her gaze as Lucas approached. He tapped on the window with one knuckle. Reluctantly, the woman lowered the window. There was a purse in her lap. Lucas gestured at it.

“You got some ID in there?”

Without speaking, she took out her own license and handed it over without protestation. It identified her as Melissa Milligan, twenty-eight years old. Lucas took a mental note of the details.

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