Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Candy’s eyes darted across the tavern. Then she froze, pointing toward the fireplace. “Hey. Those guys talked to her a little early in the night and asked her to play pool with them. She might have after I left, I guess.”
Three men sat around a table scattered with maps. One of them looked up, then the others. They were older than Candy’s group, maybe in their thirties or forties, dressed in flannels despite the warm morning.
Brock stood. “Candy, you have a picture of your friend?”
“Yeah.” She pulled her phone from the back pocket of her shorts, fingers fumbling as she scrolled. “Here. That’s Laura.”
Brock studied the image briefly and then took the phone, moving toward the men, Ophelia a silent shadow at his side. The tavern quieted again, tension tightening across the room.
Ace watched from his stool, easily hearing the conversation since the tavern remained mostly vacant at this hour.
“Morning,” Brock said. “Did any of you see this woman last night?”
The men looked at the phone.
“Yeah,” the first one said. He wore a blue flannel and jeans. “We played pool and darts with her.” He extended a hand. “I’m Mick Thompson. These are my brothers, Greg and Tommy.” He pointed to Greg, who wore a green flannel, and to Tommy, who wore red. They all had lighter brown hair, various shades of brown eyes, and rather full looking beards.
“Where are you from?” Brock asked.
“Southern California,” Mick said easily.
Brock widened his stance. “What brings you here?”
“We’re waiting for our guide to go fishing after the storm passes,” Greg said. “He said we’re heading toward Bear Creek later this afternoon.”
Brock glanced at the phone. “Tell me about last night and Laura.”
“We bought her a couple drinks,” Tommy added. “Then we played pool and darts with her. She seemed out of sorts because of a fight with some dude named Tyler, who kept glaring at us from across the bar. Looked like a rich kid pussy, if you know what I mean. Laura is a cute gal who’s pretty funny.”
“Then we headed back,” Mick said. “She was still here when we left.”
Brock’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you staying?”
“We rented a house up at North Reach Alcove from a lady named Delores Jerky.” Greg folded a map. “Why do you ask?”
“Because no one can find this woman,” Brock said.
A flicker of unease passed between the men.
Tommy’s eyebrows rose. “Missing? That’s not good. We didn’t leave with her. I’m married, man.”
Greg lifted a shoulder. “Ditto.”
Concern filtered across Mick’s expression. “I’m not married.” His tone stayed almost cheerful. “I asked Laura to come back with us, to be honest. She said no and told me her mind was still into Tyler.” He shrugged. “I thought that was odd that she said mind and not heart. The new generation, man. I can’t figure them out.”
Ace could totally agree, even though he was only in his late twenties. Maybe early thirties. Who knew for sure? There hadn’t been any records recovered when he and his brothers had been rescued after the avalanche and adopted by Hank.
Brock’s mouth flattened. “So Tyler didn’t approach you at all?”
Mick scratched at his jaw. “No. I think he got into some kind of scuffle earlier. The guy had a hell of a shiner.”
“With whom?” Brock asked.
“I don’t know.” Mick shook his head. “We played pool with Laura and talked about the Olympics. Hockey. That’s about it. We didn’t get into her love life beyond that Tyler mention.” He spread his hands. End of story.
Brock moved toward Amka, holding out the phone. “Do you recognize her?”
Amka nodded immediately, her expression tightening. “Yeah.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward Ace. “She was here last night. Along with Candy and that whole Montana group.”
“Did you see her leave?” Ophelia asked.
Amka bit her lip. “No. We were slammed with tourists well past midnight.”
Brock gestured subtly toward the Thompson brothers. “What about them?”
“I remember them,” Amka said. “They tipped well and left.”
Ophelia glanced at the men, who were obviously listening. “Did Laura leave with them?”
“Not that I noticed,” Amka said.
Ace leaned forward to stare at the photo still displayed on Candy’s phone. Oh, crap. Laura was the pretty blonde with bright blue eyes. Hard to miss. “Damn it.”
“You recognize her?” Brock asked.
Ace straightened. “Yeah.”
Ophelia’s attention snapped to him. “You do?”
Ace remembered back. “I got into that scuffle with Tyler about her. Two scuffles, actually.”
“Seriously?” Ophelia planted her hands on her hips.
“Yeah.”
Brock’s jaw flexed. “When did you leave the bar?”
Ace regretted messing with that jerk. “I took off a little before ten last night, after my second run-in with Tyler, although Laura had moved on to talking to the flannel trio by then.” That had been when he’d gone to see May.
Ophelia’s brows lifted. “Did Laura leave with you?”
“No,” Ace said.
Brock seemed to vibrate in place. “Where’d you go?”
Ace so didn’t want to go into this, but he wasn’t lying to his brother. “I went to see the doc.”