Dragos Takes a Holiday (Elder Races #6.5)(19)

Pia’s eyes narrowed. The man stood in the shade, and it was impossible to make out his features from the parking lot. His hair was dark, not blond. Could it be the human male from the bar?

If so, it was a hell of a coincidence for him to be hanging out here, after their run-in last night. She thought of how the two males had gone silent and tense while she and Dragos had talked. What exactly had they discussed?

They couldn’t have mentioned the lighthouse. She had only found out about it this morning when Eva told her. But Bermuda was a small place. “Eva, you didn’t find anywhere else for us to do research, did you?”

“Nope, unless you want to check out the Bermuda Maritime Museum. That’ll be focused more on human history, so I think you might want to call first before making a trip over there.”

Pia stepped out of the Mercedes, shading her eyes. Moving quicker than his nonchalant attitude would have suggested, Hugh joined her. The man pushed away from the building in the other direction and disappeared.

Hugh asked, “What’s up?”

“Come with me.” She told Eva, “Watch the baby.”

She strode across the parking lot with Hugh at her side. Hugh said, “If you saw something you think is dangerous, you’d better tell me.”

“I don’t know what I saw.” Unsettled, Pia’s gaze swept over the people at the picnic tables again. “Just a man leaning against the side of the building, here at the corner.”

They reached the spot where they could see the far side of the building. A narrow path led alongside the building and down the hill. Pia rubbed the back of her head and tried to decide how paranoid she was, while Hugh stood watching her patiently.

She started on the path but was brought up short by Hugh’s hand on her arm. “You wanna see what’s down this path, okay, but I’ll go first.”

Impatiently, she gestured for him to go ahead of her then followed close behind, glancing up once at the lighthouse that towered high overhead. They reached the farthest corner of the building that faced the ocean, and walked to the edge of a sharp drop where they surveyed the scene.

The path cut down a short, rocky bluff to a pier where a motorboat carried a single male occupant with a dark ponytail. The boat headed out to sea.

Hugh angled his head at Pia. His usual sleepy expression had vanished, and he looked alert and interested. “What now?”

She blew out a breath. “Now we go back to the car, and I’ll tell you and Eva about what happened last night.”

They retraced their steps along the path. Pia paused where the man had been standing as they pulled up. She caught a faint whiff of cigarette smoke, along with a male scent.

Hugh inhaled deeply. “I’ll remember his scent.”

“So will I.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Does this guy have anything to do with what happened last night?”

She shook her head. “I can’t tell. We were in a bar with cooking food and a lot of people packed up against each other, and I didn’t get close to him. Come on, let’s get back to Eva and Liam.”

The Mercedes idled, engine running, in the parking space. When they approached, she heard a mechanical click as Eva unlocked the doors. She and Hugh climbed into the air conditioned vehicle.

Pia told them about the men at the bar. She frowned. “I’m pretty sure that Dragos and I talked about starting the search for the Sebille, but I can’t remember what exactly we said to each other.”

“And you feel like they didn’t recognize you or Dragos.” Eva didn’t frame it as a question.

Pia shrugged impatiently. “I don’t even know that the man today had anything to do with last night. I just saw a guy with a ponytail and remembered the men at the bar. Maybe I’m being paranoid.”

“Paranoid is a lot better than stupid, sugar.” Eva drummed her fingers thoughtfully against the steering wheel. “And we’re gonna keep on being paranoid. Hugh, go scout out the museum before we head inside.”

“Be right back.” Hugh slid out of the SUV and ambled toward the building.

He returned in a few minutes. Eva rolled down her window as he approached the driver’s side. “The guy’s scent is definitely inside, but the museum’s all clear.”

Pia unbuckled the straps on Liam’s car seat and lifted him out. “Let’s take a look around.”

Chapter Seven

Inside, the museum took the entire ground floor. Aged wooden floors, colorful posters and display cases lured the eye. One section of shelves, lined with books, was roped off and someone had taped a computer-printed closed sign to the rope.

Normally Pia would have been interested in looking around, but at the moment, she was too focused. Flanked by a watchful Eva, she walked through the museum and looked for a curator or attendant while Hugh strolled through the displays.

After some searching, she finally located a dwarf sitting at a desk in a back office, and she paused. The dwarf was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with the museum’s logo, and had a beard, but that was no indication of gender.

The office also carried a distinct male scent, with a whiff of cigarette smoke. Pia told Eva telepathically, The man from outside has been in here very recently, within the last couple of hours.

The plot thickens. Eva looked happy, but then Eva loved a challenge, and she usually looked happy when something got complicated or went wrong. I didn’t even know we had a plot on this trip.