I looked to Rios. “Divide and conquer? You wanna take Tito? I can start with the card players in the corner.”
“Works for me.”
When he only continued to study me, I asked, “What?”
“I just kinda expected you to be like… a grilled chicken salad kind of woman.”
Under most circumstances, I was. But something about that description rankled, so I simply arched a brow. “Does this look like the kind of place that would serve a good salad?”
The corner of his mouth gave the faintest twitch. “Fair point.”
Without another word, he slid back his chair, leaving me wondering yet again what a full-blown smile from him would look like.
I took one last sip of my tea to wet my suddenly dry throat before heading toward the card game. Both men glanced up as I approached, and I stood straight in the face of their assessing gaze. It didn’t feel skeezy. More like absent appreciation for a decent-looking woman.
The one on the left tipped his well-worn captain’s hat back an inch so he could see me better. “There something we can do for ya, missy?”
I tried a polite smile and let a little more of the southern drawl that I’d worked to stamp out bleed back into my voice. “I sure hope so. I’m looking for somebody. A girl. Wanted to know if you’d seen her.” I showed them Priya’s photo.
Both men set their cards down and pulled out reading glasses to study the photo more closely.
“I reckon I’d remember seein’ a pretty little thing like that,” hat guy said.
“She in some kinda trouble?” the other one asked.
“We’re not sure. Nobody’s seen her in a couple of days. She was here two nights ago, so we’re checking with the staff and patrons.”
Hat guy stroked his beard. “We’re not usually here that late.”
I shoved down the sense of disappointment. “Thanks for looking all the same. Keep your eyes peeled?”
“Sure.” Hat guy nodded at his companion. “If there’s anything to hear down on the docks, Earl will have heard it.”
Earl frowned, his bushy gray brows drawing together. “Not sure if it has anything to do with this, but I caught wind somebody saw somebody almost get mugged right outside not too long ago.”
I straightened. “Outside here?”
Earl nodded.
“When was this?”
“More than a week ago, I’d say.”
“Any idea who the witness was? Or the victim?” I pressed.
Earl shook his head. “’Fraid not. Wish I could be more help.”
There was no way to know if this was related to Priya’s disappearance or not, particularly without speaking to the source. “I appreciate y’all’s time.”
I made the rounds to the other occupied tables, showing Priya’s photo and getting a lot of concerned glances but no actual information. No one else mentioned the mugging. Then again, daytime patrons were probably a whole different set of people from the night crowd.
Spotting Kelsey swinging out of the kitchen with a couple of baskets in hand, I returned to our table.
I thanked her for the food just as Rios slid back into his chair.
Once she’d walked away again, I asked, “Any luck?”
“Bartender’s seen her before with the other students, but not recently. He’s gonna ask the staff in the back. Didn’t get anything out of anyone else. You?”
