Page 136 of Long Gone

Then he rattled off the number.

First, I was surprised he’d gotten back to me so quickly. His assistant had said he was busy with a court case. Second, his request to call him on his personal cell was unusual. Law enforcement officers had a separate phone for work. We took photos of crime scenes with our phones, and there was a chance they could be taken as evidence. No one wanted their personal phone—including texts, photos, and who knew what else—submitted to the court as evidence. That could only mean what he had to tell me was of a more personal matter. That didn’t surprise me given Rose Gardner had been his girlfriend at the time of Simmons’s arrest. What did surprise me was that he was so open to talking to me about it.

I stared at the number on my screen. Did I want to call him back? Calling him now felt even more like a betrayal. I decided to put off making the decision until tomorrow. Hopefully, I’d be in a better headspace to figure it out.

Plenty of customers were spread out across the dining space. Misti was still behind the bar, and Malcolm was mixing drinks down at the other end. I started to walk toward him, then changed my mind and sat on a stool in front of Misti.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” she said with a wide smile. “Or are you Goldilocks and about to run off before I can give you your bowl of porridge?”

I laughed at her mixed metaphor. “I’m not running off. Not without your boss anyway.” Then I added, “Hey, thanks for putting that blanket over me while I was sleeping. I was out.”

Confusion crossed her face, then a sly grin lit up her eyes. “I didn’t cover you with a blanket.”

I narrowed my eyes. “So who did?”

“James,” she said, shooting him an appraising look before she turned back to me.

“Are you sure?” I asked. It definitely didn’t sound like something he’d do.

“He wouldn’t let anyone else back there. Said you needed your sleep. He even made sure the back door was deadbolted. He said he didn’t want some random supplier walking in and waking you up.” Her eyebrows waggled. “So what exactly is going on with you two?”

“It’s strictly work related.”

“Are you sure?”

I laughed. “Positive.”

“Well, too bad, because he’s been different over the past few days.”

“Maybe he’s just getting off on helping me investigate this missing person case.”

Misti made a face. “Maybe…”

He walked over and set a glass of ice water in front of me. “You hungry?”

“Sure.”

“Good, because I put in an order for you. Now drink that water.”

He started to walk away, but I called after him, “Do we have plans tonight?”

Misti waggled her eyebrows again.

I rolled my eyes at her as he turned back.

“We’ll hang around here for another couple of hours and then head up to Wolford.”

Which mean he’d gotten Brett Colter’s schedule. I was sure Carter Hale had something to do with that.

I picked up my water glass and took a long drink as he walked to the other end of the bar. Less than five minutes later, Malcolm hand-delivered a plate with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans, then walked off before I could thank him.

“I don’t remember ever seeing fried chicken and mashed potatoes on the menu,” I said as I stared at the plate, my mouth watering.

“Petey cooks something for the staff every night,” Misti said, giving me a pointed look.

“What?”

“He’s never given the staff’s dinner to anyone but us.” She shrugged. “Well, other than Carter, but he’s still staff.”

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