Page 92 of The Midnight Knock

“Let’s not get hung up on details.” Kyla sat at the bar, pulling loose a handgun from behind her back and placing it near the shotgun. Ethan did the same with his Python, Fernanda with her own pistol. It was a relief to sit without chunks of metal digging into their backsides.

Tabitha said, “It’s a shame Sarah isn’t alive. She could probably explain this better than I can. She was a physicist. A very good one, at that.”

Ethan said, “Sarah Powers was a scientist? I thought she worked for Frank.”

“She was a tenured professor from Austin.” A small, sad smile crossed Tabitha’s face. “My brother and I were so proud when we learned that today. It’s strange—we felt rather paternal about her, proud of our little cousin, when she was almost a decade older than us. Depending on how you count.”

“What the hell was a tenured professor of physics doing working for Frank O’Shea?” Ryan said.

Kyla said, “One thing at a time. Twelve people checked into this place in 1955, right? And let me guess—they got stuck living the same night over and over again, just like us.”

“I believe they did, yes,” Tabitha said. “We don’t exactly have a way of checking. There were eight guests that evening. A pair of newlyweds, the two women selling makeup, two young hikers, an insurance salesman, and a professional Negro.”

The woman reallyisfrom 1955, Ethan thought. Everyone blinked at the word.

Everyone except Kyla. When an awkward pause threatened the cafe, she twirled two fingers in the air, the universal sign forkeep it moving.“Eight guests. Plus you and your brother. And I assume your dad was here?”

“Yes. It had been Father’s idea to buy this place.”

“That makes eleven,” Kyla said. “Who was the twelfth person?”

“Our father’s business partner. A strange man. He must have told us his real name at one point, but I forgot it ages ago. We always called him The Chief.”

RYAN

The Chief. The name sent alarms ringing up and down Ryan’s mind.

“Tall Native dude?” Ryan said, interrupting Tabitha. “Long gray hair? Turkey feather necklace?”

Tabitha seemed surprised at the question. “Yes. We met him when Father came to buy this place.”

“Did he happen to have a kid? A son?”

“I think he mentioned one, yes. There was some difficulty in the family. He wasn’t able to see the boy often.”

Ryan shuddered. This whole night had been loaded with fucking coincidences: What was one more? But judging by the way the others were studying him, it looked like he needed to give some sort of explanation.

He shrugged to Ethan. “I’m sorry, kid, but Kyla was right, earlier in your room. Me and your man were cellmates back in Huntsville. He was a friend.Justa friend, before you give me that look. When he and I bumped into each other tonight for that smoke, Hunter asked that I not mention anything about his time in prison. He didn’t want you to think less of him.”

Kyla said, “You know what he was in prison for, don’t you?”

Ryan saw a look of blank horror cross Ethan’s face. The boy clearly didn’t want to know, and Ryan didn’t see how it would help them. “Let’s talk about that later. I only mention it because of the guy who slept in the cell next door to me and Hunter. He was an old Native dude who mostly kept to himself. He said he was the last man standing of his tribe. Everyone around the prison used to call him The Chief.”

“What are the fucking odds?” Kyla said, though she almost didn’t sound surprised. Tabitha blinked at her language.

“It gets weirder. A few months ago, Sarah Powers—yes,thisSarah Powers—turned up at Huntsville and paid The Chief—our Chief, the man who slept next to me and Hunter—a visit.”

“Sarah visited Huntsville?” Ethan said. “Does that mean Hunter knew her too?”

“Not much better than me, I don’t think. I never saw Sarah in the flesh until today. The guards at the prison pulled pictures of her from the surveillance footage, of course, showed them around. No one could believe it. The Chief was just some old man spending thirty years on a big counterfeit charge, minding his own business, and suddenly this beauty with long hair and longer legs comes striding up to the visitor center asking to see him. We thought she was one of those weird girls who get obsessed with guys behind bars, but The Chief swore it was nothing like that. He said he’d been wrong—apparently, hedidhave some tribe left in this world. That girl, Sarah Powers, was a distant relation. But that’s all he ever really told us. Me and Hunter both were curious why she kept coming to see him, but The Chief just said that he and Sarah were catching up on old family business. And before we could learn more, The Chief died. I’d thought that was the last we’d ever hear of Sarah.” Ryan felt a tingle on his arms: he was skirting, very carefully, around something he really—really—did not want to talk about.

“When was this exactly?” Kyla said. “When The Chief died?”

“Maybe six or seven weeks ago. Why?”

“That’s around the time Sarah turned up at the steakhouse and started having those dinners with Stanley and Frank. Again, totally out of the blue,” Kyla said. “Whatever work Sarah was doing with those guys, it started after your friend The Chief died.”

“Is that another coincidence?” Fernanda said. “Or could the two events be connected?”