Page 24 of Seeking Evil

At this time of year there were plenty of climbers. He’d have his pick. Maybe he’d tell T it would take a while in order to buy himself time to come up with a plan. He’d take care of things. Make it better. Like he always did.

Chapter Ten

“Ihad a message to call you.” The female voice snatched Zeke away from the file he’d been reading. The Pinedale Diner’s number appeared on his phone screen. This had to be Florence.

“Yes, Florence. Thank you for calling me back.”

She made a grumbling noise that passed for an answer. “What can I help you with?”

Florence was clearly unhappy about having to speak to the FBI.

“Did Vernon tell you we’d stopped by earlier?” Silence met his question. “I asked him about Dawn Collins’s disappearance. What can you tell me about her?”

“Tell you? Why would I know anything about her? She stopped by the diner from time to time for a meal. She tipped nicely. That’s all I know.”

Florence’s sharp answer sent up all sorts of warning signs. “I’m just wondering when you last saw her. I’m not accusing you of anything.”

“Oh.” She huffed out a breath. “It’s just that this whole thing has everyone on edge. It’s like what happened . . .”

“You mean the other women who disappeared before? Were you living here back then?” There was something about Florence he couldn’t pin down, but she sure sounded defensive.

“Irv and I moved here a little before those disappearances started.”

“Irv’s your husband?”

“That’s correct. It was a terrible thing. We thought it was over—whatever it was—it’s been years. Now this.”

Zeke made himself a mental note to check out Florence and Irv’s story. “What can you tell me about Sierra Parker?”

“Who?”

He believed she didn’t recognize Sierra’s name. “She came to the diner recently. She hasn’t been in the area long.”

“She’s gone missing too?” Florence’s surprise sounded real.

Zeke swallowed back the lump in his throat. “Yes, the last time she was seen was yesterday morning by Inez.”

“She must have been the girl who came into the diner the evening before. She asked a lot of questions about the older case where the girls went missing.”

“She’s an FBI agent. She’s one of our own.” And I love her.

“I had no idea. I thought she was being curious. Lots of people have come here through the years to try and figure out what happened to those women. There have been several podcasters in recent times.”

“Did everything seem okay with her?”

“Okay? What do you mean? How would I know?”

Zeke swallowed his frustration with this very strange conversation. “Did she seem nervous or anything like that?”

“Now that you mention it, she did seem sad. I noticed it from the first time she came into the diner.”

Sierra had been sad. When she left him, she’d been crying. He thought she’d take a few days and then they’d be fine. Only she’d run off to Wyoming, and now she was missing, and it scared him to death thinking he might never see her again.

“Thanks for your help, Florence,” he forced out. “If you think of anything—no matter how small it might seem—give me a call.”

“Yeah, sure.” The call ended. Zeke ran his hand through his hair and tried to gather his composure. Emotions needed to take the backseat right now. Sierra’s life was in danger.

He stared out at the street in front of the station as the morning traffic passed by. People going to work. Living their lives. Some would be heading out for a day of climbing unaware of the danger nearby.

---