Her Scream in the Silence (Carly Moore #2) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,42

in trouble.”

He nodded. “Yeah, me too, but you have to promise me you won’t go off and try looking into this by yourself. It’s too damn dangerous, Carly.”

“You’re going to help?”

“Only if we do it together.”

“Really?” This felt too good to be true. I’d been prepared to make a half dozen other arguments to turn him around.

“Look,” he said. “It’s like I told you, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands, and I’m worried about her too. I could get in trouble running an investigation on my own while I’m on medical leave, but if you’re searchin’ with me, it’s just two people lookin’ for a friend.”

I raked my bottom lip with my teeth. “Do you think I should call in sick to work tonight?”

“If we had a solid lead to follow, then yeah, maybe. But we’re chasin’ our tails at this point, and it’s Friday night. Max and Ruth need you. Plus, maybe you can pick up information from the customers.”

He had a point, but I still hated the idea of doing nothing until tomorrow. If someone had taken Lula against her will, we didn’t have much time to help her. Given she was gone, I’d be pulling a double on Sunday and Monday. Tomorrow would be my only chance to look into her disappearance for the next few days.

When I raised my concerns to Marco, he released a long groan. “How about this? I’ll drop you off at Watson’s so you can see if Greta’s there. But I’ve got the waitress schedule there down pat, and she’s typically off on Fridays.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know the waitresses’ schedules?”

“Hey,” he said defensively. “When I’m on shift, I usually eat lunch there.”

“Not Max’s?”

He grinned. “I can’t look like I have favorites.”

I snorted. “Let me guess—they hire pretty waitresses.”

His grin lit up his eyes as he stole a glance in my direction. “It certainly doesn’t hurt.”

When we got into town, he found a parking space on Main Street, a few shops down from Watson’s Café.

“You don’t have to wait for me, Marco,” I said. “I can just walk down to the tavern when I’m finished.”

“I’ll stick around in case she’s there. I want to see what you find out.”

“Okay.” I got out and strode down the nearly deserted sidewalk to the café, tugging my jacket tighter around me. The wind had picked up, and it was colder than it had been earlier. I wondered if another storm was moving in. That wouldn’t bode well for my search for Lula. I’d been warned that the mountain roads sometimes became impassable when there was a heavy snow. I’d already stocked Hank’s cupboards with enough staples to keep us fed for a week if, or more likely when, that happened.

The smell of fresh apple pie hit me full in the face when I walked through the door to Watson’s, and my stomach grumbled. I took a second to orient myself. Although I’d had their breakfast sandwiches, I’d never been inside the café before, but I’d walked past it a dozen or so times on my way to the library.

The dining area was smaller than in Max’s Tavern, and the tight space was crammed with tables, but the walls were a pale blue and the large windows made it seem lighter and airier. Only a handful of tables had customers—a group of teens and an older couple. I didn’t see any waitstaff, but as I walked toward the back, a woman called out, “Just take a seat anywhere.”

“Thanks…” I said, realizing I should have come up with a script. “I can’t stay, but I was hoping to put in a to-go order.” I hadn’t intended to get anything, but now I was starving and it gave me an excuse for being here. Even if Greta wasn’t working, the other waitstaff might know something useful about Lula.

A young woman popped out of the back. “Sure thing.” She was wearing a pink waitress dress with a white collar, plus white sneakers with white cuffed socks. Thank goodness Max didn’t make us wear anything so cheesy. Her head tilted as she studied me, her long blonde ponytail swishing to the side. “Say, aren’t you the new waitress at Max’s?”

“Sure am,” I said in a cheery voice. “Marco Roland tells me he eats here all the time, so I thought I’d pick up something for the both of us.”

Her blue eyes narrowed, but it looked more like confusion than any sort of malicious intent. “I thought you