He glares right at me before charging in this direction.
“Oh my God, it’s him,” I whisper as a breath gets lodged in my throat, and I freeze.
Shepherd
The Sloppy Pelican is clear on the other side of town from the Black Bear, and I’m guessing that’s why Bryson Edwards, one of the owners of the aforementioned establishment, asked to meet me here. I glance up at that oversized Pelican sitting on the roof and glower at it a moment. Of all of the bright ideas my brother has had, opening an eatery with his best friends has been the most unexpected, and for that I’m proud of him. But that bird has always made the place feel a bit cartoonish, and yet the place is packed and pumping twenty-four seven. It wasn’t always that way, but once they revamped their menu, things took a swift turn in the right direction, and I’m damn glad. I like seeing my brother happy and successful.
Emilia comes to mind with her megawatt smile, those bright violet-gray eyes, and I miss her. The Pelican happens to be the last place I saw my sister alive. The place had just crested its opening night and we had dinner, laughed, and I actually danced with my sister to the house band. It was a celebratory night, and as far as memories go, it was a good one.
Teagan pops up from seemingly nowhere and wraps her arms around me with a hard embrace.
“You’re thinking about her.” She pulls back with a pained smile twitching on her lips. She is Emilia’s doppelgänger in every way, and yet it only makes my day to be near my kid sister. “I can tell.”
“That’s because you’re a know-it-all.”
She swats me and winks. Teagan will be a freshman at Whitney Briggs this fall, and she’s made it no secret that she’s already moving her things into Colby’s dorm room. Colby is the sister of the third partner in this place, Brody Wolf. She’s wild and out of control, and thanks to an enormous windfall that Brody came into last fall she happens to be loaded as well. Brody was generous enough to split the money with his parents and sister.
“I’m actually not a know-it-all.” She tilts her head while inspecting someone at the bar. An all too familiar jock from Whitney Briggs. “Believe me, if I were in the know, I’d not only have his name rolling off my tongue, but I’d have his number, too.”
I wince at the thought of my sister wanting anyone’s number. Teagan will always be my baby sister, and thus far too young and immature to qualify to date. Serena and that dating app she dreamed up on the spot come to mind. I’ll be damned if it didn’t sound like a gold mine of an idea, but I’ll be the last to tell her that. As much as I do want to encourage her, and will for the sake of scholastic achievement, I’m slow to stroke her burgeoning ego.
I follow Teagan’s gaze to the bar. “I know him.”
Her mouth rounds out with surprise. “You’re the know-it-all! Perfect. Let’s get him knowing me and let the number exchange commence.”
“Not so fast.” Before I can properly get into the first few hundred reasons why Teagan simply cannot date on my watch, the infamous jock from WB turns and does a double take in my direction.
“Dude.” He hitches his head my way, and both Teagan and I make our way over.
“Eli, this is my baby sister, Teagan. She’s off-limits by the way. And Teagan, this is Eli Gates, the TA in my entrepreneurial sciences class.”
Teagan stomps over my foot while holding out a hand to Eli. “So nice to meet you. Please feel free to ignore any and everything my much older, gray matter challenged brother relays to you.”
He lets out a howling laugh as he shakes her hand in return. “Duly noted. It’s nice to meet you, Teagan. You look familiar. Have I seen you at Briggs? Oh wait, you were at the Beta house party last weekend. You were with Harley.” He grimaces as if that were her only error.
“Beta house?” I lift a brow to my sister, completely unamused. “As in Beta Kappa Phi?” I’m all too familiar with the notorious fraternity. I happen to be a brother.
“I can explain.”
No sooner does Teagan stutter out the words than I spot Bryson at the entry laughing it up with Levi, the other partner in this place.
“Behave,” I say to my sister. “I’ve got a meeting to tend to.”
I head over and slap Bryson five before taking up a booth near the front. Low, Levi’s wife, comes over and takes our orders. Her belly hangs heavy, protruding at least a good foot in front of her. She and Levi are thrilled to be expecting. What I wasn’t expecting was seeing her around the bar taking orders so late in the game. Bryson and I each put in for a burger and two beers, and he stares at me a good long while until Low disappears.
“It’s been over a week and the damn police don’t know a thing.” The muscles in his jaw pop as he says it. He’s pissed. He’s furious. And I can’t blame him. Business has tapered off quite a bit. It’s noticeable. The lunch rush here at The Pelican would be a gold rush of a day at the Black Bear right about now or at any hour. “So, what do we know?”
“Nothing more than where we started. Barry Larson. A welder by trade. Shot twice point blank to the chest with a .45. The end.”
Bryson skirts the periphery of the place with his eyes oscillating as quick as that mind of his is spinning. “He’s a welder. Do we know where?”
“Jepson? There’s a trailer manufacturing plant at the base of town. Only place I know of that might require a welder.”
“Good.” His eyes brighten as if I gifted him the killer. “I’ll get down there and start asking around.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I hold up a hand. “First—the guy was murdered. This is a homicide investigation in the event you’re not aware. Secondly—you’re married. You have a wife to keep safe, a restaurant to run. I don’t think you should be hauling around, landing yourself in dangerous, potentially deadly situations.”
He swallows hard, that look of ripe anger still alive on his face. “You do realize that had Serena been taking out the trash just a few minutes earlier, she herself could have been in a dangerous situation.”
