“Why?”
“Something he let slip a week or so back.”
Teal glanced around.For a moment, Kenney believed he was checking that they were unobserved, until Teal signaled to their server.She was young, and wide at the hips and chest but narrow at the waist.Kenney briefly entertained an image of her struggling against him.
“How’s the food here?”Teal asked her.
“It’s good.You like Cajun?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s still good.Have the Butcher Burger.”
“I’ll take it with fries.”
Teal raised an eyebrow at Kenney.
“You?”
“I’m not hungry,” said Kenney.
Teal shrugged.
“I’m not sharing,” he warned Kenney.
“You’re not listening either,” said Kenney, once the server departed.
“Just get to the point.I want to eat, pick up my bag from the hotel, and be gone from here.I never liked the Midwest.It’s too far from the sea.”
Teal picked up his beer again.
“Hey!”
Kenney spoke with an edge, compelling Teal to focus, however much he might have preferred not to.Kenney looked soft, and more than one man had mistakenly judged him to be an easy mark, but he was rock-solid, and ruthless with it.Teal had witnessed that with his own eyes, and as recently as the previous night.But Kenney’s wife and kids adored him, which meant he was very good at keeping this other side of himself hidden.
“Yes,” said Teal.“I hear you.You’re worried.About what?”
“Scott Theriault.And Mallory Norton.”
Now Kenney had Teal’s attention.
“Theriault drowned.”
“So they say.And the girl?”
“Still missing.”
“She’s the Saint’s type.He likes them slim and dark.”
Teal knew that was true.Kenney liked them soft, while the Saint preferred the bones barely to have skin on them.He said it made them easier to snap.
“It doesn’t mean he took her.”
“Hear me out,” said Kenney.
Teal did.When he was done, Teal said: “Were you planning on asking him straight?”
Kenney didn’t reply, because the server had come back with silverware for Teal and a second set for Kenney, “should you change your mind.”
