Anchor straightened slowly.“What?”
McKayla stepped farther into the room, her eyes sharp and focused again in a way they hadn’t been at the motel.“A girl working in the ghost town recognized me and thought I was Erin.Said Erin worked there for about a week.”
“Ron hired her,” Piney added around a mouthful of popcorn.
Anchor’s expression darkened thoughtfully.“Shit.”
Shay blinked.“So Erin was actually on the island.”
“Looks that way,” McKayla said quietly.
I watched the shift happen in her again.Hope mixed with fear.Before today, Erin had just been a missing person connected loosely to Skull Island.Now there was proof she’d been there.Proof meant answers existed somewhere.
Anchor set his mug down on the bar and grabbed the walkie clipped to his cut.“Cross.”
Static crackled for a second before Cross answered.“Go ahead.”
“You still over at the haunted house?”
“Yeah.Just had some jackass puke in the cemetery room.It’s been real magical over here.”
Pearl snorted.
Anchor ignored her.“Get Ron and bring him to the clubhouse.”
There was a pause.
Then Cross answered, “Ron took off like twenty minutes ago.Said he had paperwork shit to do at home.”
Anchor rubbed a hand over his jaw.“Anything wrong over there?”
“Nope,” Cross answered immediately.“Everything’s smooth tonight.”
Anchor looked toward me and McKayla before keying the radio again.“All right.We’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
“Copy that.”The radio clicked off.
McKayla leaned against the back of the couch and crossed her arms.“So tomorrow we talk to Ron.”
Anchor nodded once.“Tomorrow we talk to Ron.”
Pearl bumped her shoulder lightly against Anchor’s.“See?This is what happens when you let us out of the clubhouse.”She grinned.“We find information.”
Anchor scoffed loudly.“That was a fucking fluke, baby.”
Pearl gasped dramatically.“Excuse you.That was investigative brilliance.”
“You accidentally stumbled into a girl who knew Erin.”
“Investigative brilliance,” Pearl repeated firmly.
McKayla pointed at Pearl.“I’m with her.”
“Of course you are,” Anchor muttered.
Pearl beamed smugly.“The women are carrying this investigation.”
Piney shoved more popcorn into his mouth.“To be fair, we mostly just stand around looking mean.”
