Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank

Author:Denise Grover Swank [Grover Swank, Denise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DGS

Chapter 22

The parking lot was full at Scooter’s when I pulled in a few minutes after eight. I saw Louise’s car in the back, so I knew she’d beat me here.

When I walked in, I let my eyes adjust to the light before I found Louise at a table with Nate and a man I didn’t recognize. Empty baskets had been shoved to the side of the table, and the three were deep in conversation when I approached them.

Louise glanced up at me as I pulled out a chair. She was wearing a cream-colored cable-knit sweater over jeans, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders.

“I see you’ve met Nate,” I said as I slipped my coat over the back of the chair.

“They found me,” she said with a laugh. “They realized who I was and invited me to their table.”

The man next to Nate glanced up at me, his face expressionless.

Nate saw where my gaze had landed and said, “I’m sorry. Harper, this is Drew Sylvester. Drew, this is Harper.”

I wasn’t sure if Nate had purposely left off my last name, but I was guessing Drew knew exactly who I was.

“Nice to meet you,” I said with a nod, not sure if he was up for a handshake.

“Likewise,” he said with a slight dip of his chin.

“I’m going to get a drink,” I said, thumbing toward the bar. “Can I get anyone anything?”

They glanced down at their fresh-looking drinks. “I’m good,” Louise said.

“Same,” the men said in unison.

I headed over to the bar, not surprised when James Malcolm walked over to me with an expectant look.

“Your usual, Detective?” he asked in a sly tone.

“How would you know my usual?” I asked flippantly. “I’ve been in here twice and ordered different things both times.”

His eyes shifted to the side toward Nate’s table, then back to me. “Jack and Coke.”

I lifted a brow. That was what I’d planned to order, but I wasn’t about to give this man the satisfaction of thinking he was right. “Wrong. I’ll take a beer.”

Releasing a short laugh, he shook his head. “Right. The draft you had this afternoon?”

“You don’t remember what I got this afternoon.”

“Try me,” he scoffed, then headed down to the draft taps.

Asshole. I could read the labels on the taps, and sure enough, he was getting my order from hours before.

I didn’t see a point in making him bring it all the way down to me, so I walked over to that section and sat on an empty stool.

He lifted his gaze, still filling the glass. “Make any progress on our mutual interest after you left?”

“Maybe,” I said, glancing around the room. A rough-looking crowd was gathered around the pool tables again, but there were a fair number of more upstanding citizen types hanging around too.

Leaning closer, I whispered, “Know anything about a janitor at the elementary school? Eddie Johnson?”

His face went rigid. “He’s a regular here. What about him?”

That was an interesting reaction. I doubted he’d be so concerned about any old regular.

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