“You know, they do actually, but I’m a little distracted.” She realized that she’d just confessed to staring at his chest. “Not by your…you…that…” She waved at his bare torso. “It’s not that, it’s Maya. So uh, have a fun night and I’ll eat you for breakfast…see you for breakfast tomorrow.” Sweet goddess, this was spiraling out of control. “Bye.”
She whirled around and fled for the staircase before she could embarrass herself any further.
Chapter Seven
The Sweet Harbor Bakery didn’t serve food after the lunch rush, so Ethan chose one of the town’s burger joints for dinner. The Burger Queen was mostly a drive-through, but it had a few picnic tables set up on a grassy knoll outside. If you could ignore the faint stench rising from the nearby mudflats at low tide, it was even scenic.
But Ethan wasn’t there for sightseeing. The Burger Queen was S.G.’s favorite place to eat. Maya had noted that she loved cheeseburgers, perhaps because she’d never tasted such a thing before coming to Lost Harbor. He saw no reason to bring his investigation to a stop just because Maya had had to cancel their meeting. He’d flown all the way up here, might as well start poking around.
He’d already finished reading Maya’s notes, and now he really wanted to meet Spruce Grouse for himself. Maybe even interview her.
To give himself the best chance of success, he’d stopped at the Lost Harbor firehouse on his way and invited Darius Boone and Nate Prudhoe to join him. He knew both of the firefighters from his previous trips to Lost Harbor, and they both knew S.G. well.
Perfect chance to glean more information over some greasy hamburgers with a view of mud.
With a bag full of extra cheeseburgers and fries, he settled onto one of the picnic table benches outside the Burger Queen. A black bird landed on the grass about ten yards from the table. Raven? Crow? He didn’t know much about birds, or wildlife in general, other than the mountain lions and coyotes who sometimes showed up in the hills of Los Angeles.
The bird cocked a beady eye his way and gave a croak. “That sounds ominous,” he told it. “If that’s some kind of dire warning, don’t bother. I already nearly died before I came here.”
He picked off a bit of his bun and tossed it to the bird. “But if you’re just hangry, I got you.”
“You must be new here.” Darius Boone slid his big body onto the bench on the other side of the picnic table. He wore his regular clothes and a black cowboy hat, so he must be off the clock at the fire department. “The ravens will always outsmart you.”
“Should I be insulted?”
“Nothing personal. They’re just damn intelligent birds, that’s all. I saw a raven figure out how to get a solar streetlight to go on so he could warm himself up. He covered the light sensor with his wing.”
Ethan waved at Nate Prudhoe, who was striding across the grass holding a takeout bag. With his easy smile and playful manner, Nate was the first person Ethan had gotten to know in Lost Harbor on his first visit. Nate was close friends with Padric Jeffers, the rock star who was the cause of Ethan’s original trip to Lost Harbor. On his second trip, he’d been sent to find Kate Robinson, who was now Darius’ girlfriend.
That was small towns for you. Everyone was connected.
He stood up to grasp forearms with the firefighter. “Good to see you, man. Thanks for coming.”
Nate grinned at him. “I knew you’d be back. What’s this, your third trip? One more and we’ll have to make you a resident.”
“Don’t worry, this is it for me. This is the famous ‘one last job.’ After I crack this case, I’ll be a boring old married man whose biggest risk is ordering sushi from a food cart.”
Darius put down his burger, eyebrows lifted. “You’re quitting? Big news.”
Ethan shrugged. “My fiancée doesn’t want me getting into so much trouble. I have some ideas for apps I’m working on. I originally got into the PI game doing computer-based research for my sister, so I have the background.”
“Congrats, dude. On all of it.” Nate dipped a French fry in ketchup. “So what do you need from us? Maya gave us the heads up that you might want to ask us some questions.”
“Actually I think I got what I need from her notes. The real missing piece is the girl herself. It’d be helpful if I could talk to S.G, but according to Maya that might be a problem.”
Darius squinted at him from under the brim of his cowboy hat. “How so?”
“Maya said it can take her a while to warm up to new people. But she trusts both of you. I’m hoping that if you can vouch for me, she’ll talk to me.”
Nate nodded thoughtfully as he chewed his french fry. “You picked the right spot. That’s how I earned her trust at first. I kept bringing her cheeseburgers until she stopped threatening to stab me again.”
Ethan patted the bag next to him on the table. “I stocked up just in case. I heard she comes here just about every day.”
Darius laughed. “Sounds like you have it all figured out. What do you need us for?”
“Nothing has gone right with this job.” Ethan grinned at the two of them. “Consider yourselves my insurance policy for the next disaster.”
The two firefighters exchanged an amused glance. “Have you heard the saying ‘strange things happen around Lost Souls Wilderness?’ You might be getting a taste of that,” Darius told him. “I didn’t believe it when I first moved here, but I sure as hell do now.”
“I never doubted it,” said Nate. “The best part is, ‘strange’ doesn’t mean bad. Just…odd. Unexplainable.”
Ethan ate a few French fries while he let that word “unexplainable” sink in.
It made him think of Jessica, of course, and her belief in intuition. But it also reminded him that he himself had experienced something unexplainable. The image of the meadow and the golden grasses flickered through his mind. He had no explanation for that…vision. Delusion. Whatever you wanted to call it.
But maybe someone with more knowledge would. Everything was explainable if you knew all the facts.
“I’m a stick-to-the-facts kind of guy,” he said lightly. “That’s what’s worked for me so far.”
“Fair enough. Hey, where are you staying?” Nate asked him. “We have extra space up on the hilltop. Bethany’s taking some time off to get our wedding squared away. It’d be great to have company.”
Ethan’s stomach dropped at the mention of preparing for a wedding. The argument with Charley still bothered him. They always seemed to be talking past each other and he had no idea how to fix it.
“Maya gave me a voucher for Sweet Harbor. I’m staying in one of those rooms above the bakery.”
“Then you scored yourself a sweet situation,” Nate told him. “Jessica Dixon will take good care of you.”
Ethan snorted with such force that he nearly inhaled a scrap of his bun. “I guess that’s one way to put it. Just promise me that most of her guests survive. That’s all I ask.”
Darius lifted his eyebrows, while Nate frowned at him in confusion.