Jean and Myra dropped their fingers off their noses.
“All I can think of,” Roy said. “Well, we could check with his deck hand.”
“Heim had a deck hand? I thought he let Rufus go.”
“He did.” Roy looked up at the ceiling a moment. “I think the man’s name was Walter. Came hitching into town on his way to California. Fresno. Heim picked him up for a couple whale-watching runs.”
“Did he go out with him last night?” I asked.
Myra walked to her desk and plucked up a file folder. She flipped through a few pages. “Coast guard didn’t find anyone else on the boat. No missing persons report.”
I typed him onto the list. “Not that a hitcher working day jobs is really going to be noticed as missing.”
She frowned at the file and nodded.
We all knew we didn’t have much to go on. I found myself wishing we had a dime-store prognosticator on call.
“This is a good start,” I said, trying to bring up the mood. “Let’s divvy it up and cover ground, ladies. Roy, you got the fort?”
“I’ll keep the coffee on.”
“What about Ryder?” Jean asked.
Oh. I’d forgotten our fifth wheel. We all raised our fingers at the same time and jabbed our noses. Roy sighed like a veteran kindergarten teacher.
I glared at my sisters through my fingers.
“I already did ride-along,” Myra said around her palm.
“My shift’s almost over.” Jean had chosen to use her middle finger on her nose, of course.
“I am not going to drag him around behind me all day,” I said.
And then the door opened and a man walked into the lobby.
Chapter 12
MYRA DROPPED her finger a split second before the rest of us and squared off toward our visitor. Not Ryder. It was Cooper, my ex-boyfriend.
“Can I help you?” If Myra’s words could invoke weather, Cooper would be buried under a snow pack.
Cooper wore a dark blue T-shirt that was tight enough to show his muscles, and jeans that belted low on his hips. His light hair was pulled back into a band at the base of his neck. Daylight did good things to the angles of his face and lit up his deep brown eyes. He gave Myra an embarrassed smile. “Hi, Myra. How have you been?”
“Busy. As a matter of fact, we’re all busy.” Not snow pack. Glacier.
“Right, sure,” he said. “I just…” He glanced over at Jean, who shook her head like she couldn’t believe he was dumb enough to be here.
Cut your losses, turn around, don’t look at me,I thought.
When his eyes turned to me, he had that gonna-hurl look of a man begging for a second chance. His gaze strayed to my lips.
“What’s up, Cooper?” Yes, I took pity on him. Yes, I heard both my sisters’ disgruntled sighs. No, this wasn’t a second chance. This was me being polite and doing my job. He’d come to the station. Maybe there was a problem.
“I thought maybe you’d have time for lunch?” He finally looked back up and met my gaze. His eyes were amazingly deep, and warm as an endless summer.
An electric zing rattled through me so hard and fast, I felt like someone had punched me in the sternum. I held my breath as the buzz grew and grew into something bigger, louder, intense.
Holy crap.
