“Hi,” Delores echoed. She looked around seventy, with steel-gray hair braided down her back and darker skin marked by laugh lines spreading from her deep black eyes. “Welcome to my home.” She gestured for Ophelia to take the seat next to her.
Ophelia sat, and Flossy took the head of the table on her other side.
Monica grinned. “I need to go through some of my boxed winter clothes for you. It’s nice having another woman with decent height around here.”
Ophelia chuckled. “I agree. I never could share clothes with many friends. Too gangly.”
“Ditto, sister,” Monica said, her hands full of quilt, a beautiful solitaire diamond sparkling on her ring finger.
“What a lovely ring,” Ophelia said.
Monica smiled, glancing at her ring. “Thank you. David bought it in Anchorage, and it’s exactly what I’ve always wanted. The plow business pays well, and I make good tips at the diner. I’m hoping we can save enough to go to the Caribbean for a honeymoon after the wedding.” She looked up. “I also hope you’re still in town to attend in August.”
Would she be? Did Ophelia want to stay in Knife’s Edge? She did like the charming small town, and she wanted to find those missing persons. But if she arrested one of the Osprey brothers, the town would most certainly turn against her.
Loretta sat across from her. “Hi.” The pretty blonde had sparkling brown eyes and a genuine smile. “I hoped we’d get a chance to meet.”
“Me, too,” Ophelia admitted. She couldn’t just launch into her questions now, but maybe she could ease some information out of the woman. “I have to admit that I’ve never quilted before. I might just have to watch.”
Flossy smacked her arm. “Don’t be silly. The only way to learn how is to do it.”
“Same with shooting,” Ophelia murmured.
Delores reached for a stand-up tray next to her. “Red, white, or pink?” She gestured to the three already open bottles of wine.
“Red,” Ophelia said automatically.
Delores poured everyone glasses, apparently already knowing what the others wanted. Full glasses—to the brim of thick and tall wineglasses.
Ophelia took hers and smiled. “I didn’t know quilting involved copious amounts of wine.”
Flossy had to hold her glass with two bony hands. “When the fabric patches become blurry, we stop quilting.”
“And keep drinking.” The doctor snorted, accepting her glass of white wine.
Ophelia laughed. “Can I ask how Wyatt is doing without sounding like an agent, Doctor? Just sounding like a…person?”
“Call me May, and of course you can. He’s much better, and the frostbite doesn’t look permanent. I think he’ll keep his limbs.” May smiled and took a healthy drink of her wine. “He’s still babbling about monsters in the woods, although he didn’t see any.”
At least he was still in the hospital. Ophelia had contacted the attorney in Fairbanks but he wouldn’t be able to get a hearing until Monday. Once the judge signed the warrant, Ophelia could take Wyatt into custody.
Delores leaned forward. “Are you any further on the case? Who killed that EVE guy?”
Ophelia shook her head. “No clue, and according to the folks at EVE, he didn’t work there. Their theory is that he acquired the coat with the logo on it from somewhere else.”
“Right,” Flossy muttered. “Tons of secrets out there, I’m tellin’ you.”
Including the identity of the new head of security, a fact Ophelia would not share. “Do you all really think that place just studies the ionosphere?” She couldn’t wait until she received the information about EVE from DC. If she received the information.
“Who the heck knows,” Delores said.
Flossy took out her supplies and handed over a blue square of material with a majestic eagle already stitched on it. “You can stitch this to the quilt. He reminds me of Brock.”
“Thanks.” Ophelia looked at the material. Brock as an eagle? Made sense, somehow.
Flossy removed another square. This one had a bunch of owls scattered across it, looking like a bunch of kindergarteners. “I’ve always had fun with the rumors about EVE, but to be honest, I’ve never seen anything odd. Sure, the talk is crazy, but life gets boring out here in the winter when we’re not trying to survive.”
Doc nodded. “I’ve only been here a couple of months, but I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary either.”
