Page 33 of Skin Game
He sat back and crossed his arms as if he’d finished the concluding argument in a major court case. Gabriel Karne vs. The World. The server returned to set their meals in front of them, and Gabe relaxed, picked up his spoon, and began to stir the fragrant liquid.
“So, both the library and Public Records were a bust?” Casey asked around a mouthful of noodle.
“Not entirely, but I might need to spend more time at Public Records, maybe head to Olympia.If, that is, I want to track down supposed long-lost relatives or, you know, my mother’s history. Maybe Elton will come up with something because I haven’t been able to find any record of Holly Pritchard existing beyond that yearbook so far, and definitely not an explanation as to why my friend Juliet would know enough to have Pritchard on that paperwork of hers.”
Gabe was fooling himself, Casey figured. He did have more relatives he didn’t know about, and, like it or not, they could be living in Westfort. The young woman, Juliet, might not be his daughter, but having that information meant she could be a cousin some number of times removed. Gabe wasn’t ready to hear that yet, but Casey suspected the conclusion would come to him on his own.
Gabe’s arrival on Heartstone, and apparently by extension to the Westfort area, had stirred a hornet’s nest.
Some as yet unknown event had occurred back in the 1970s, causing Holly Pritchard to disappear and eventually reemerge as Heidi Karne. Additionally, this event was big enough that Gabriel’s mother had waited until after her own death to send her son to the area to—to what? Fix it? Solve it? Reveal something? Heidi had known her son well. Gabriel wasn’t going to rest until he got to the bottom of this current mystery.
With a start, Casey realized that Gabe was still speaking.
“—but we don’t actually live inThe Twilight Zone. I mean, I suppose I could have a doppelgänger wandering around. That said, I’m pretty sure I’m it for this particular sequence of DNA.” Gabe spooned soup into his mouth and moaned appreciatively, then continued. “I did tell her to come back when she had real proof, remember. And I meant it. If she decides to come back andwhat she shows me makes some sort of sense, I’ll send my damn spit in, and we’ll go from there.”
They were quiet as they continued eating, Chenda’s curry being one of the few things Casey knew of that had this effect on Gabe. Casey finished off his noodles, and his bowl was swiftly removed. Casey watched Gabe slurp his curry and make a “yum” sound of satisfaction.
“Any idea what happened with Mickie? And a reason why he bailed?” Gabe asked after he swallowed.
“No. But he said rain check, so I’m choosing to believe something really did come up.”
“This is true. So.” Gabe tried to look nonchalant and failed. “You haven’t been able to confirm if he and Pedro are an item or not?”
Casey, who’d raised his glass to his lips and was mid-swallow, breathed a mouthful of water into his lungs. He gasped and coughed hard enough that Gabe hopped up and came around to pound on his back.
“You okay?” Gabe asked him when he could breathe again.
Casey nodded and rasped out, “Yes. And also no.”
“Pedro’s a good guy. And cute as hell.” Gabe grinned, doing his best Charming Fucker. “If there is a thing going on, I wish them every happiness.”
Opening his mouth to say that, of course, he wanted Mickie to be happy, Casey was instead interrupted by the buzz of his cell phone. Frowning, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
TCSO.
He looked up at Gabe. “It’s the Sheriff’s Office.”
FIFTEEN
GABRIEL – WEDNESDAY LATER AFTERNOON
Gabe unapologetically listened in on Casey’s conversation. Heidi had always maintained you could learn more than you’d think by listening in on one side of a phone call.
Except for mine, of course.
“I do. He’s here with me, actually. We’re in Westfort. Uh-huh. Do you want his number so you can call him directly?”
Gabe pointed at himself and shook his head, mouthing,No battery.
Casey nodded at him and kept talking. “Ah. Okay. He’ll be in as soon as possible.”
As he spoke, Casey’s demeanor changed from casual to stern. Gabe knew that look and it wasn’t the sexy kind of Casey-stern. Something not-good had happened. Casey had many tells, which meant he was a terrible poker player. Gabriel had managed to get him naked both times that Casey had agreed to play.
Clicking off, Casey set his phone down on the table and looked at Gabe.
“A body was discovered this morning.”
Goose bumps rose on his arms and a shiver raced down Gabe’s spine.