Page 30

“Good.” I nodded like they could see me.
“Turns out someone came by yesterday, after us?—”
“Who?”
“Some woman. The priest said she seemed to know Talya. I guess she left a mark on the sisters, enough to convince them to give her the birth certificate.”
I rubbed my head. “My guess would be Talya’s friend.”
“That’s ours too. I asked them to describe her. They just said she was slim with dark hair. Not much, but it might give us a clue.”
I had no idea what her friend looked like, but Cole was right. Even the smallest detail could help. “At least we know Talya and the baby were there, and that’s something.”
The sound of an engine as it fought to change gears ground through the speakers. I wondered what the hell they were driving. “Damn this thing,” I heard John complain.
“You have to baby her, John, go easy.” Cole chuckled. “So, tell me you found the place Talya talked about in the letter.”
“Yeah, I’m here now. I spent the night and dug around a little. I haven’t gotten much from the locals yet, but I will.”
“All right, text me the address. We’re on our way.”
“Pastels, fedoras, and boat shoes,” Mark hooted, and it made Cole laugh. I shook my head. You never knew what went on inside Mark’s brain.
“Hold on, Cole.” I spotted Nicole by the front desk. “You know that war correspondent Ben Bale was worried about? She’s here.”
“Nicole Winter. Really?”
“Mmm.” I watched her show something to a guy, who shrugged at her then waved her off.
“I suppose it’s not surprising. Frank said she’s working in that area. She had a clip on the news about that Cartel hit on the motel. Ben was relieved when we told him. She’s probably working leads.”
“Hey, man,” John’s voice came through, “ask her if she’s heard if Bruno Perez is alive. It would be good to have confirmation on that.”
“Yeah, good idea.” He had a point. She’d have a lot of connections, probably more than I even realized.
“Handing you back to Cole.”
“Okay. See you soon, buddy.”
“John’s right. That’s not a bad idea. Have you talked to her yet?” Cole was back.
I turned my back on Nicole in case she read lips. “Yes, but not much, a bit of a closed book. She’s a pro. I gotta respect that.”
“Me too, but give her ten minutes with Mark and we’ll see how true your theory is.” He chuckled, and I grinned at how true that statement was.
“Did you give her much?”
“She was watching me, so I let her know I knew her. Just enough to bait the hook, nothing more.”
“Good. Okay, I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Copy that.” I hung up.
I looked back at Nicole. She seemed to be studying something. Curious, I walked toward her. She stood next to the front desk and stared at the wall above the attendant’s head as he answered phones and tended to guests.
She must have sensed me next to her because she pointed with her chin toward the emblem on the wall. “That’s a strange looking shell, isn’t it?”
I studied the oddly shaped shell for a moment and remembered Talya’s words. She said she wanted a special way to remember this place. Our special spot, she called it. I remembered her smile as she told me what it looked like to her.