I had no clue what she was talking about andstillthe eagerness in her voice made my stomachclench.
Ash sighed. “Missing and murdered are two different things, Karen. Which is exactly what Carmen told you when she was inhere.”
Si nodded. “We’re investigating it as a matter of course, but we have every reason tobelieve…”
“What about the shots Myrna heard?” Karen demanded. “Gunshotsanda missingcamper.”
“We’re not sure what she heard,” Si said placatingly. “I’m going to speak to them today. The fact remains, it’s extremely unlikely that a random camper with no ties to the area, staying in a mostly-deserted campground, would wind up shot. Especially outside deer season. And it doesn’t do any good to bespreading…”
“Unless we have a murderer right here in town,” Karen whispered. “A serial killer. I’ve seen stuff like this on TV. It can happen literallyanywhere.”
All three men at her table burst outlaughing.
“Think it was David Siegel?” Cal demanded. “I saw him give me a dirty look when I stole a grape from a pre-measured bag over at Lyon’s Imperial and he seemed ready to commitviolence.”
“You should have heard the way Quinn threatened me when he caught us whispering during the Marilyn Monroe retrospective at The Fine last month.” Ash shook his head sadly and held out one rock-steady hand. “To this day, I’m petrified to meet him on thestreet.”
“Ms. Dorian at the library scares the crap out of me,” Mackie admitted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she snapped one of these days. Every time I check out a book, I feel like she’s peering into mysoul.”
The men were silent for a second, and then Si said, “Actually, Mack, I kind of agree with you there. I have theoppositeof a hot-librarian fantasy. Dragon Dorian ruined that forme.”
“You guys are disgusting,” Karenhuffed.
While they were distracted, I dropped my voice to a husky whisper. “You have a librarian phobia? So if your date from last night had said, ‘Silas Sloane, you need topay yourfine…’”
Si looked at me for a long moment, then shivered. “No, okay, Idohave a hot librarian fantasy. I think you’ve curedme.”
I laughed outloud.
“Hey, what about that dude my grandfather was warning us about this morning?” I joked to the others. “The one who shamelessly stole Diane Perkins’s pierecipe?”
“Oh, right.” Si shook his head. “Shane Goode, piethief!”
“Poor Shane.” Mackie sighed. “He’s a goodkid.”
“Not a kid. The guy’s around my age. Hasn’t been the same since Molly died, though,” Cal said. “He was really in love with her. That was a long while back. Ten years ago?Eleven?”
“Twelve,” Si said. “Twelve years inOctober.”
“Oh, shit.” Mackie’s eyes widened and he smacked his own forehead. “I wasn’t thinking, Si. I’m sorry,man.”
“It’s fine,” Si said, waving a hand. “It was a long timeago.”
I frowned. “What happened a long timeago?”
But before he could answer, Karen interrupted. “You all think you’re hilarious, includingmy husband, but you just remember I called it first! There is something going on here. I can feel it. And remember, not every person in this town is someone you all grew up with. You need to be cautious of people you don’tknow.”
She looked at me when she said it, and I blinked. “What?Me?”
“You did arrive last night,” she remindedeveryone.
“Well, yeah, but… I didn’t kill anyone!” I was too busy having visions and nearly killingmyself.
“Of course you didn’t,” Silas soothed, putting his hand on mywrist.
“There’s that Daniel Michaelson,” Karen said. “He lives over by the woods, and never has two words to say to anyone. Same with that guy that looks like Hagrid from Harry Potter and lives up near the State Park. What’s hisname?”
“Francis,” Si said hotly. “Francis Goode. He’s Shane’s uncle, and he’s a greatguy!”
