Page 79 of Hold Your Breath

“I’m in Liverton for the weekend,” he said.

“I could meet you there,” she said. Liverton was only a half hour or so from Callum’s house. There was a silence that stretched long enough to make Lou wonder if the call had dropped. “Hello?”

“Don’t think that would be a good idea,” Ian finally said.

“It doesn’t have to be at your…um, club.” Lou wasn’t sure what the correct terminology was for the lair of an MC. “We could meet at a coffee shop or something.”

“Coffee shop?” He sounded like he was choking a little. “In Liverton?”

Lou ran through her limited memories of Liverton. It wasn’t really on the way to anywhere, so she’d been through it only once the previous fall, and that was because she’d been lost. It was small, she recalled. Very, very small. And a large percentage of the residents owned several pickup trucks, most of which had been parked in the scrubby yards of the couple dozen houses and trailer homes. For some reason, the Livertonites liked to keep their driveways clear.

“Is thereanywhereto meet in Liverton? A diner or a gas station or something? This shouldn’t take too long.”

Instead of answering, he asked his own question. “What’s this about?”

“I’d rather tell you in person.”

After another long pause, she heard him exhale. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the Liverton Bar at eleven.”

“The bar will be open that early?” she asked doubtfully.

“It’s Liverton,” he said, as if that explained it.

“Okay. Thanks.”

With a grunt, he ended the call. Lou looked at her phone thoughtfully. When she’d seen him at Station One or even at the scene of her cabin fire, he’d been a lot more…easygoing. Relaxed. Definitely more friendly. With a shrug, she dismissed his abruptness and tapped on Callum’s number. Although she hated to interrupt his work yet again, he had possession of a truck she needed to borrow.

* * *

It seemed that Callum and his pickup were a package deal.

“I could’ve gone by myself so you had more time to finish your work,” she said as they sped along the highway toward Liverton. “At this rate, you’ll never catch up on everything.”

He just shrugged off her concern. “You weren’t going to Liverton alone.”

“Why not?” Lou cocked her head curiously. “It’s just to see Ian.”

Giving her a steady look before returning his gaze to the road, he said, “Ian’s not just Ian, firefighter. He’s a member of a motorcycle club—one that looks to be the sheriff’s main suspect in a murder.”

“Oh!” The mention of the murder brought her mind back to her earlier discovery. “Guess what? I might have found out HDG’s name! Well, his first name, at least. Maybe.”

“What?”

“I called some of the support group numbers, and one in Otto was answered by the coordinator, Mary. Mary didn’t recognize our HDG, but she said someone named Baxter had called a few days ago looking for his brother, who matched HDG’s description, down to the missing toes. Baxter said his brother’s name was Willard something.”

“Willard…something? His brother didn’t know his last name?”

Lou shook her head. “He did tell her Willard’s last name, but Mary couldn’t remember what it was. She just remembered the Willard part because it was unusual.”

“So you think Willard is our HDG?”

“It seems possible, doesn’t it?” She twisted in her seat to face him. “If it was just a gray-haired guy, I’d think it was probably a coincidence, but two missing men, both with diabetes and eight toes? I think that lowers the odds of it being two different guys considerably.”

“I agree.” He shot her a sideways grin. “Nice work, Nancy Drew.”

“So what’s our next step?” she asked, smothering a proud smile at his praise. It warmed her more than was probably good for her future mental health.

He thought for a few seconds before he spoke. “I think we should pass this along to the sheriff’s department. They have the resources for this information to really be helpful.”