A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2)(25)

“I think we need to be together,” Eli said, sounding real firm.

“Yeah? Why?”

“For one thing, we’re married. For another, women on their own here can…” Eli stopped, at a loss for words.

“Do you think I can’t take care of trouble?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

“You can’t wear your guns,” he said, taking care to speak really quietly. “You don’t want to draw attention to yourself. I know you can take on a small army by yourself when you’re armed. But Dixie is different, and believe me, we want to get in and out of here with as little notice as possible.”

“Why don’t I want to draw attention to myself?”

“Lizbeth, can’t you take my word for it?”

That was a good question. I looked up at him and thought. Eli’s face showed worry rather than anger. Eli was seriously troubled about my well-being in Dixie… yet he’d seen me fight. I had to take him seriously.

“All right,” I said slowly.

He bent to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks,” he said. “This is a terrible place, sometimes.”

“You’ve been here before.”

“Yes, I came last year.”

“With Paulina?” She’d been his partner. She’d died twice.

“Yes. It was a nightmare. You knew Paulina. How could she comply with the rules here?” Eli looked away. And then he said in a completely different voice, “Could this be your gunnie from the train?”

“Yes! Sarah Byrne.”

Sarah was still wearing pants, but she was not toting her guns. She spotted me the next minute, and made haste to join us. “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said. Her eyes went up and down me. “Wow, you look different! Did all your clothes get burned up in the crash?”

“Sarah, this is my friend Eli.” Sarah looked up at him, and a little line appeared between her eyebrows.

“Grigori, huh? I never talked to one before.”

“I am a grigori, yes,” Eli said, springing all his charm on her. He had quite a bit, when he chose. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh-huh,” Sarah said, looking back at me. “Well, if you say so. Lizbeth, your arm feeling better? Any muscle damage?”

“No, just sore,” I said. “Harriet’s salve and Eli’s healing helped a lot.” I paused; this was going to be awkward. “Jake died, though.”

“Sorry to hear it. He didn’t seem that badly hurt.” She shifted her feet. “Well, if you need me… I’m at the Darby Hotel, one block over. It’s real cheap.”

“I’ll remember. Hey, have you seen Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley since yesterday?”

“No, but I ain’t like to. Why?”

“You do see ’em, tell ’em I’m at the Pleasant Stay, and we need to speak. Or Rogelio, too. He kind of vanished.”

“Lots of people trying to find other people in this town. Hope they’re not down at the funeral homes.”

“They’re not,” I said.

Sarah was surprised that I’d checked. “Oh, what happened to your cargo?”

“Stolen from Jake. He was murdered.”

Losing your cargo was a disgrace. Sarah made an effort to look like it wasn’t such a big thing. “Well,” she said abruptly. “You know where I am if you need me. If I’ve left there, I’ve found some means to go on to my sister’s place.”

“Good luck with that,” I said, and Eli told her good-bye. Sarah gave him another doubtful look and was on her way. I had no idea where she was going, but she walked with purpose.

I didn’t feel easy about the whole conversation. I didn’t know for sure why. Eli, too, seemed uneasy. He asked me exactly how I’d met Sarah, where she was from, where her sister lived. I didn’t know all the answers.

We passed a drugstore on our way to the next hotel. The gold lettering on the window read BALLARD PHARMACY, SODAS AND SHAKES. When I glanced in the window I saw familiar faces.

“Speak of the devil,” I said to Eli, gripping his arm to make him stop. “Those two, Eli, are Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley.” I was as proud as though I had planned this. “We been looking for ’em and we found ’em.”

They were seated in a large booth with another man whose back was to the window. Looked like the three were having a serious conversation, all hunched over and their heads together.

The fans in the store were going, and I thought it might be fifteen degrees cooler than out in the sun.

As if Travis Seeley felt me looking at him, he stopped talking and raised his head, looking directly at me. His mouth fell open. I’d almost forgotten how different I looked in the white blouse and blue skirt, with its tiny white flowers.

I gave him a cheery smile and wave. Seeley nudged Harriet Ritter and jerked his head in my direction. Ritter, too, gave me a startled look. If I hadn’t been so uncomfortable in the new clothes, it would have made me feel kind of smug.

The third person at the table, the one with his back to me, twisted around to see what his friends were looking at. Rogelio Socorro. The suspicion I’d had after he’d vanished from the hospital? Justified.

“Well, well, well,” I said, when we were standing at the booth. “We all meet again.”