Page 51 of Honky Tonk Cowboy

Lily took off her sunglasses and whisper-shouted, “Whoa, someone’s been sleeping out here!”

Behind the two of them, Ethan felt Burdick’s interest, but he was several yards away and probably hadn’t heard. He met Lily’s eyes and found them so wide that it felt like he could fall right into them.

Chapter Ten

“Who could it be?” Lily asked.

Ethan had to look away from those eyes to process her question, much less come up with an answer. In fact, he had to focus so hard, he remembered that brown car.

“I keep seeing someone around,” he said. “Well, twice now. Parked on the side of the road, like a hundred yards north.”

“Old brown Buick.” Lily replied. Then she looked around as if to be sure no one else was within earshot. “Willow says there was brown paint on Angus Silver’s Cadillac. As if it had been hit by another vehicle. A brown one.”

He lowered his head. “It was parked there that day.” He checked to be sure the contractor was still far enough away and lowered his voice to a whisper. “It was facing this way when the Caddy left here. It turned around to take the same path, like you’d do if you were following it.”

“Holy…” Lily breathed.

“Silver’s driver denied any other car was involved, though. Said the paint was from a fender-bender a few days ago.”

“Yeah, that’s what Willow told me, only when she wanted to question the driver again, he’d vanished. Nobody knows where.”

“Huh,” Ethan said. “So you’ve seen the brown car too, then?”

She nodded.

“Close enough to get a look at the driver?”

“Momentarily, as I passed. I wish I could freeze-frame it, because there was something familiar about his face, even though I could hardly see any of it. It felt like that was the point.”

“What parts could you see?” he asked.

“Dirty blond beard, long and untrimmed. Sunglasses. He was wearing a bandana but I got the impression of long hair pulled behind his head. Kind of a chiseled face, what you could see of it.”

“Chiseled? You mean as in handsome male model?”

“As in grizzled gunfighter.”

“Older?” he asked.

“No, but hard. Like he’s been through some things, you know?”

“Like this ain’t his first rodeo,” he muttered. Then he looked down at her. “Got all that just from a glimpse as he drove by, did’ja?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Huh.” He tilted his head. “You think it’s the same guy who’s been sleepin’ in the shed?”

“Unless we have two odd strangers hanging around,” Lily said. “I think we need to talk to him. If we can catch up with him.”

“He takes off as soon as he’s seen,” Ethan replied. “The two times I’ve spotted him, anyway. And I could’ve…nah, it’s stupid. I’m reachin’.”

“No, go on. Say it. You could’ve what?”

Ethan sighed. “I could’ve sworn someone was watchin’ that conversation I had with Silver. I assumed it was one of the cousins and then forgot all about it, but it seemed like someone was here.”

“Where?”

He turned and nodded toward the cantina. “Right there, front corner.”