“I’m Tucker, her boyfriend.”
The man waved at another server, a woman with big hair and a tray. “This guy’s here looking for Ava,” he said.
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you the reason she ran off?”
My breath caught. “So you’ve seen her? Tonight?”
“Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t. If you want to know anything, you’ll have to ask Big Harry.” She cocked her hip, clearly none too pleased with me.
“This is important,” I said. “Ava was in the hospital today. She’s sick and scared. I need to find her.”
The woman’s body relaxed from its hostile posture. She glanced over at the other bartender. “What kind of sick?”
“She has epilepsy. Seizures.”
“She never had none of that when she worked here.”
“It’s true, though,” the bartender said. “I once asked her why she didn’t drink. She said she took pills.”
“Bloody hell,” the woman breathed. “She left with Big Harry. Wanted to go to an address she’d written down.”
My heart hammered. “What address?”
The woman bit her lip. “You’re welcome to get it out of Big Harry.”
“Do you have his cell number?”
“We always call him here. He practically lives here.”
Damn. “Can I wait?”
She tilted her head toward the back wall. “Wait in his office.”
She led me back, and I sat on a folding chair among the stacks of receipts and paperwork.
I had nothing to do but sit and think. What address would have been in the notebook? It was too old to have Gram’s or her father’s house.
I snapped my fingers. The old duplex address was in the scrapbook multiple times. She knew to trust Grandma Flowers.
Despite the hour, I had to call her. If Big Harry had taken Ava there, she’d be up, anyway.
The phone rang for several long moments. I was about to give up when a sleepy voice said, “Hello? Tucker? That you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Ava’s gone missing, and I thought she might have found your address. Have you seen her?”
She cleared her throat. “No, son. But I will keep a lookout. Did she lose her memory?”
“Yes, earlier today. I was in the kitchen and something in her old notebook spooked her and she took off.”
“Oh, Lord. I’ll keep the light on just in case.”
“She might show up with her old boss from the diner.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please call me the minute you see her.”
“Of course, my boy. I will.”
