Page 66 of Sapphire Nights
Walker shrugged and hid a grin behind his water glass. “No ghosts,” hereported.
She took the plastic menu from him and swatted his hand. “Dinah is fixing muffulettas tonight. You’ll havethat.”
“I don’t likeolives, so give me a burger.” Walker didn’t bother snatching back the menu. Dinah would give him whatever she wantedanyway.
Keeping her voice low, Mariah wrote down his order. “You’re so boring, I don’t know what Sam sees in you. You can’t even give us information that might be vital to our survival. We should know if we’re living with a killer in ourmidst.”
“I can tell you thatthe sheriff can’t find Daisy to see when she left her lamassu at Sam’s door.” Walker grinned at Mariah’s disgruntledexpression.
She huffed and stuck his order on Dinah’sspindle.
Sam came over, but not to rescue him. “The detective who checked my place went over to the Kennedy vault. Did he find the gunthere?”
Exasperated, Walker narrowed his eyes at her. “You know I can’ttell you that. Do I need to eat up at thelodge?”
She leaned over to kiss his cheek. “No, honey pie, because we’re just looking for confirmation of what we already know. They took fingerprints of the entire lodge staff, including Uncle Lance and all available Kennedys, so they’re matching against something. And the sheriff personally returned my key, so I’m hoping I’m not a suspect,yet.”
Dinah emerged from the kitchen and slapped a sandwich in front of him, with fries big enough to feed a family of four. “No olives. What’s the word onXavier?”
“Cass didn’t call you?” Surprised, Walker bit into his sandwich. He was starving. Filled with thinly sliced hams of various types, topped by an Italian style dressing and fresh tomatoes, whatever in hell he was eating made hismouthwater.
“She did, said he was rambling,” Amber said as Dinah stopped by her table to turn another tarot card. “We thought you’d know what happened tohim.”
“That’s private information,” Walker said between bites. He wished for a beer, but Dinah didn’t have an alcohol license. Felons couldn’t getthem.
“We need a mind-reading psychic.” Sam refilled water glasses up anddown the counter. “Xavier knowssomething.”
“Daisy might help. Anyone seen her around?” Aaron the antique dealer spoke up from the end of the counter, where he’d been checking hisphone.
“You got reception on that thing?” Walker asked,curious.
“Nah, I can pick up the mayor’s wi-fi. Someone ought to check on Daisy, though. I saw her taking that golf cart of hers toward theburn area after Mariah’s meeting lastnight.”
Walker wanted to question how Aaron had the password to Monty’s private communications, but the question about Daisy had silenced theroom.
“She left a stone butterfly on my stairs,” Sam offered to the room in general. “But she may have left that before themeeting.”
“Isn’t she with Valdis?” Dinah called from thekitchen.
“Haven’t seen Valdis since the meeting either,” Amber said, inching out of her booth. “She didn’t come toCass’s.”
All around him, the locals were paying their bills and gathering up their dinners. Mariah rushed out of the kitchen to distribute recycled paper bags—no Styrofoam containers for the tree huggers. Walker finished off half his sandwich and stuck the other half in a bag Sam handedhim.
“They can’t wander off for a day without everyone getting worried?” he asked in a lowvoice.
“Apparently not. I’m guessing I better go with them.” Sam removed herapron.
“They’re adults. I can’t radio the sheriff unless we know for certain they’ve been missing at least twenty-four hours. And there isn’t much we can do now. It will be dark in a few hours.” Walker stoodup and followed Sam and the rest of the crowdout.
“Where did we see them last?” Aaron asked of the gathering circle in the parkinglot.
“Daisy drove me into town on her golf cart after we left the vortex,” one of the more frail, elderly ladies said. “I thought she was headinghome.”
“Anyone else see Daisy or Valdis after that?” Mariahasked.
Aaron gestured toward theburned-out hill looming over the town. “I saw Daisy driving that way. Anyoneelse?”
Silence. Out of curiosity, Walker waited to see what they would do next. He checked his watch. The public meeting at the vortex had started breaking up after ten last night. In a few hours, he could call the office, but no one would instigate a night search unless he reported the women had fallen off acliff.
