Wyatt did a perfect three-point turn to reverse course and head back to town, laughing boisterously the whole time.
Standing on Francine’s landlady’s porch, Raphael didn’t think he’d heard Mrs. Greenstone correctly and repeated what he’d said, hoping for clarity. “What do you mean Francine didn’t come home last night?”
She frowned. “I don’t think I can be any clearer than that, young man.”
He snapped his fingers. “But she must have been here at least once because I had her luggage brought over from the transport. They sent me a text confirming it had been delivered.”
Mrs. Greenstone shook her head sadly. “No. I took delivery of her luggage.” She opened her door wider and he saw Francine’s bags stacked neatly by the wall, the two she’d brought at the start of their trip and the two filled with the clothes they’d picked up from Jacques Pierre on Ichor-Delta.
“Did you see her last night? Did she talk to you at all?”
“No. I assumed she was with you.”
Lucy gave him a worried look and his gut twisted in true concern for the first time since waking up. He’d head to the Big Bang Truck Stop security office and file an official missing person form with Cam. Then he would call together as many folks as he could to search the area and discover what had happened to her.
“Maybe she had to go to work,” Mrs. Greenstone suggested. “Usually she works nights, but since she’s been gone so long, perhaps they called her in for a special shift.”
Raphael actually exhaled in relief at the suggestion. That made perfect sense.
“Thank you, Mrs. Greenstone. That’s probably what happened.”
He and Lucy waved goodbye to Francine’s landlady and got back into Lucy’s vehicle. It was a large SUV, which Raphael appreciated, since he was tall and usually his knees rested against any other vehicle’s dashboard.
Lucy drove to the Supernova Supermarket, parking in the first available space near the front entrance. They got out and headed into the grocery store.
Before they made it ten steps inside the door, they heard someone say Francine’s name. He and Lucy shared a concerned look. They pivoted and headed in the direction of the female voice expounding on some dramatic story.
“…and then she said a bunch of bad words—I can’t repeat them, of course, but you all get the idea—and then she quit. Just like that!” the cashier said with a flourish, snapping her fingers in the air like a flamenco dancer. Raphael had seen them in an Earther video.
“That doesn’t sound like Francine,” said the customer in line, an older woman in a loud, flowery print outfit.
The cashier shrugged exaggeratedly. “All I know is that even if Francine wants to come back and work here again, Mr. Petey probably won’t let her. He’s pretty chapped about the whole situation, know what I mean?”
“I want to know what you mean!” Lucy said angrily.
The cashier, whose nametag said, “Hi, I’m Roberta. How can I help you?” blanched when she saw Lucy.
“In fact, I don’t believe a single word of that,” Lucy added.
Roberta held her hand up like she was about to swear on a Bible before giving testimony in court. “It’sprettymuch exactly what happened,” Roberta whined, making Raphael’s back teeth ache.
The customer in the flowery print outfit snorted in obvious disbelief. Roberta sent her a dirty look.
“Oh? Pretty much? Don’t you have anything better to do than spread gossip all over town?” Lucy asked, clearly about to vent her frustration on the gossipy cashier. Roberta looked puzzled by the question. Maybe gossip was her mainstay in life.
Raphael prepared to grab Lucy if she made any move to launch herself at Roberta. He understood her fury, but didn’t want her to end up in jail for assault.
“Well, she asked,” Roberta said, throwing the customer under a bus.
The lady in the loud print floral outfit huffed. “All I said was that I hoped Francine had a nice vacation.” She sent a frown at Roberta, adding, “She deserves it.”
Lucy moved behind the cashier area, stalking within six inches of Roberta. “Tell me everything you know! Not gossip, just the facts. Now!”
Roberta backed up into the register. “Mr. Petey, the assistant manager, was handing me some change from the back office when he got a text from Francine saying that she quit and wouldn’t be back. That’s it. That’s what happened. Mr. Petey got mad and stomped off, mumbling about calling her to get an explanation. That’s all I know!”
Raphael asked, “Where can we find Mr. Petey, the assistant manager?”
