that girl. She tipped—not ridiculously, but consistently—and better than that, she had a smile for everyone,” Gregory assured him.
Axel thanked him and paid for the drinks. He and Raina left the bar, and he looked across the room for Nigel, who was heading toward them.
“Anything?” Axel asked.
“Yes. Everyone loves Wong. He must be the best dentist in town. I think I’m going to make an appointment for myself,” Nigel said, letting out a weary sigh. “You?”
“Maybe. Our boy Gregory over there says Jennifer was here often, repeats she was about the nicest human being walking the earth. And she did see Jordan Rivera while she was here, and our kindly chaperon, Frank Peters, tried to buy her a drink. An offer she rejected. Oh, and Frank was here with the other kindly chaperone, Loretta Oster, when he did so, and Loretta pretended not to see the exchange, but she did.”
“So Loretta Oster has spent the last thirteen years or so killing people and dumping them in the Everglades?” Nigel asked skeptically.
“I came to no such conclusion. But I did decide she and Frank are worth more of our time,” Axel said.
Raina was shaking her head. “If you’re putting everything together, it would have been impossible for Loretta or Frank to have taken the victim thirteen years ago. They were with us that night. The night she disappeared. It’s hard to chaperone forty-something young teens and escape for even ten minutes alone,” she said.
“They were with you all day and all night?” Axel asked her.
“Well, no. Not all day. We were in school and had an orientation there at 3:00 p.m., and then the buses came at about four or four-thirty. When we arrived, we received another orientation and culture lesson from your friend Jeremy and then we had our campfire meal. Then you started with the pirate ship story, Axel.”
Axel glanced at Nigel. “We need to go back and look at the old records. See what time people discovered the victim’s car and found it abandoned.”
“That’s a long shot, isn’t it?” Raina asked.
“It’s all a long shot,” Nigel told her, smiling ruefully. “All we’ve got is long shots. Anyway, I’m going to keel over. Tomorrow is another day. Axel, I’ll get my people on records first thing in the morning,” he said.
They all headed out together. Raina was silent as they walked to the car.
“What’s wrong?” Axel asked her.
She shook her head. “It’s just so insidious. Sometimes you can almost understand murder. Someone kills someone who has hurt someone else. A domestic situation out of hand. Greed, jealousy, but just killing time after time for no apparent reason?”
“We don’t know if that’s the case yet,” he said quietly. “We’re going on theory now, not facts.”
She nodded. “But it is going to turn out to be the girl who disappeared all those years ago,” she said.
“You touched the skull, and you know that?”
She shook her head. “I just know it. Your way. Intuition.”
He was driving, but he reached out to set his hand on her shoulder. “Hey. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have been dragged in on this.”
“No. I’m glad I was. But I need you to do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
She turned to look at him. “I want you to stay with me tonight.” She winced. “At my house, I mean. Not with me. You don’t have to sleep with me.”
The intense look he gave her had her rambling further. “Unless you want to. But you don’t have to. It’s a big house.”
He smiled. “I don’t have to?”
“No. That was terrible of me. I mean, people keep assuming we’re together, and I’m hearing it so much—”
“Does it sound bad?”
“No, not at all. I just...”
“Does that mean I can sleep with you if I want to? It’s not the criteria for me staying. I’ve got a hotel room. It’s no problem.”
She wasn’t sure how serious he was being. “Is there anything wrong with me?” she asked anxiously.
He looked at the young woman he’d first met so many years before. And he remembered his first impression when they’d met again. She’d grown into a stunning young woman. She had confidence, but no idea of just how attractive she was, not just in her looks, but in her manner, her way of looking after others, being firm and assertive without aggression, and charming those around her with a smile. Those amber eyes of hers seemed to have a touch of gold from the sun in them, dazzling even in the shadows of the car.