Page 160 of Not Another Yesterday
I glance sideways toward Cormac, who’s still absorbed in whatever he’s doing behind the counter.
“Do you want a bag?” the girl asks, smiling as I hand her a twenty.
“No, I’m good, thanks,” I say. Then, stalling, “Hey, do you guys have a recommendation for a good seafood place around here?”
That gets Cormac’s attention. He finally looks up, eyes narrowing as he takes me in.
“Are you not from around here?” the girl asks, her tone flirty.
“No. New York.”
“City?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place for seafood,” Cormac says, still eyeing me like I’m a puzzle. “You really can’t go wrong anywhere in Camden, but this is my personal favorite.” He walks over and hands me a business card.
“Thanks.” I glance at it, then back at him. He’s still studying me. I wonder if he sees my mom in my face. Or maybe his dad. I’ve always hated how much I resemble her.
“Yeah, no problem,” Cormac says with a nod.
I pocket my change, grab the zip ties, and head out, feeling their eyes on me the whole way.
“We’re set on zip ties for a while,” I mutter when I get back in the Tahoe, slam the door behind me, and toss the container onto the backseat.
“I can’t believe you really bought zip ties,” my dad laughs. “Did you see him?”
“Yep. Talked to him, too.”
“You what?”
“I talked to him,” I shrug.
“Damn, Ran. You’d make a great undercover officer. What’d you talk about?”
“Seafood. I asked for restaurant recommendations.”
“And?”
I hand him the card. “He said it was his favorite.”
“You’re killing me, Ran,” my dad laughs. “Alright, so, Cormac closes up at four. We’ve got about an hour. We can either stay here or go wait at his house.”
“How far is it?”
“GPS says five minutes.”
“Okay. Let’s head there and wait. Better than following him home, right?”
“It’s always better to be in place before your subject arrives,” he says, grinning.
“You’re really having fun with this, huh?”
“Maybe a little,” my dad admits as he shifts the SUV into drive.
***
We pull up to a white, two-story home just a few minutes later. Two cars are parked in the driveway. I take in the large unfenced yard, the red front door, and the rose bushes blooming under a wide bay window facing the street.
