First Girl Gone(21)

He neatly quartered a lime with a serrated knife and grabbed another before glancing her way. “What’s that?”

“Do you know if a girl named Kara Dawkins works here?”

He scrunched up his face into something like a wince.

“I’m bad with names. Brain’s like a sieve for that stuff. Hold on a sec.” He dropped his knife to the cutting board and called out to a waitress folding napkins at the other end of the bar. “Hey, Lindsey. Come here for a minute.”

The girl crossed the room, her blonde ponytail swinging from side to side.

“What do you need, Glenn?”

“You know a…” The bartender glanced back at Charlie. “Shit, what was the name again?”

“Kara Dawkins,” Charlie said. She pulled out her phone and showed them a photo of Kara. “I was told she worked here.”

Hovering over the screen, the bartender shook his head, but Charlie thought she saw a flicker of recognition flit across the girl’s face.

“She a local? Goes to Salem High?”

“That’s right,” Charlie said, feeling suddenly hopeful.

“I thought so,” Lindsey nodded. “She and my sister played soccer together back in middle school, I think. As for working here? No. Not since I’ve been here.”

“And how long is that?”

“Almost two years. I train most of the new servers, too, so I would know if we’d hired her.”

Charlie forced a smile onto her face and thanked both of them for answering her questions.

Feeling lost, she settled into her seat at the bar, glad for the drink in her hand. The Lakeside Tavern had turned into a dead end, and she had no idea where to go next. She stared at the hazy reflection of her own face in the polished surface of the bartop, trying to untangle all the loose strands from the case.

Kara had been sneaking out at night, but why? She supposedly had a job no one knew about, but where? Every answer seemed to lead to more questions.

Then there was the mysterious email containing the “white rabbit” riddle. Someone was trying to tell her something, but Charlie had no idea what it was.

“Hey, stranger,” a voice said from over Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie spun around on her stool. When she saw that it was Zoe Wyatt standing there, she grinned.

Zoe was one of Charlie’s oldest friends. With the last names Winters and Wyatt, Charlie, Allie, and Zoe had been assigned lockers side by side from sixth grade through graduation. It hadn’t taken long for a friendship to develop between the girls.

These days, Zoe was a deputy at the local sheriff’s department, so maybe the day wouldn’t be a total bust after all. Charlie wasn’t above prodding Zoe for inside information.

“What’s up?” Charlie asked, picking up her drink and taking a sip.

The front of Zoe’s uniform pulled taut as she crossed her arms.

“I’ll tell you what’s up. I’m majorly pissed off at you.”

“At me?” Charlie pointed at her chest with her free hand. “Why?”

“Uh, because I’ve been trying to get you to come out for drinks since you got back, and all I keep hearing is a crapload of excuses about how busy you are.”

It was true. Zoe had invited her out at least three times now, and Charlie kept begging off.

“Now I walk in here and find you, alcoholic beverage in hand,” Zoe went on, pretending to get choked up now. “Is it me? Am I not one of the cool kids anymore?”

“Zoe, I hate to break this to you, but neither one of us was ever one of the cool kids.”

Zoe sniffed a half-laugh at that. “So what are you doing here? Meeting someone?”

“Nope. I was following a lead.” She lifted her drink. “If you couldn’t tell by the fact that I’m now sitting here drinking alone, it was a dead end.”

“Oof. That sounds sad.”

“Pretty much,” Charlie agreed. “What are you doing here?”

“Celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

“The end of another tedious workday. Turns out law enforcement work is about ninety-five percent paperwork, the bulk of it utterly unnecessary. The other five percent is comprised of listening to people complain. How society hasn’t crumbled by now, I have no idea. Even so, another day is done. Let us celebrate with strong drink.”

Charlie laughed. Signaling to the bartender, she ordered two bottles of Bell’s Amber Ale. She waited until they were nearly through the first round before she started pressing Zoe for information.

“So speaking of work, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions.”

Zoe made a tsk sound with her tongue.

“More work is no way to celebrate the end of a workday, Charlie.”

“I understand, it’s just I’ve really hit a wall,” Charlie said. “Besides, the one bonus of moving back here is having an old friend in the sheriff’s department. Makes me feel like a real big shot.”

She nudged Zoe with an elbow before plucking a menu from a clear acrylic stand resting on the bar. “You want to order some food? I’m starving. Plus, beer always makes me crave something salty.”

Squinting, Zoe took a slug of beer.

“Are you trying to bribe me with food now?”