Kelsey Lake?”
“Near Delta, our hometown,” I said haltingly, trying to digest this news.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“It depends on who hired him, I guess. I gotta go, Dawn, he’s leaving now,” I said as I put my van in gear. “Call me when you’re done work. Or better yet, drop by if you want—but call first!”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Fifteen minutes later, P.I. Ellerby entered the Great West Library to continue his investigation. I established a position in the parking lot of a nearby plumbing supply store. The irony that I was doing surveillance on a fellow P.I. while at a plumber’s place of business was not lost on me. I was fairly certain, however, the day’s events would not end in a hail of police bullets and two deaths. Then again, the P.I. who had followed Samantha and me to the Tecumseh Motel had probably believed the same thing and, man, was he wrong!
Although Ellerby was in the library for about an hour, it seemed like five. As the great Tom Petty famously observed, the waiting really is the hardest part. When Ellerby did return to his van, I couldn’t tell from his expression if things had gone well or not. He had the look of a juror walking into a courtroom to pronounce the verdict on the accused: cool and detached. I was about to follow Ellerby when I noticed Linda’s co-worker, Amanda Masterson, slip out a side entrance and start toward the bus stop. I made a snap decision to let my new friend carry on his journey alone and walked to where Amanda was now standing.
I had only met Amanda briefly a few times, when I had dropped by the library to visit Linda or to pick her up at the end of her shift. Amanda was in her late 20s, with a slim build, naturally golden blonde hair and soulful, hazel-coloured eyes, which I’m sure had made more than a few men’s hearts flutter, sputter and stop in mid-beat.
“Amanda—hi,” I said when I came within a dozen feet of her.
When she turned to face me, I had no clue how she would react. In the split-second before full recognition hit her, she had a smile on her face, probably thinking I was one of her many adoring library patrons. When she figured out who I was, I was glad the smile didn’t completely slip.
“Steve, I didn’t expect to see you today,” she said as she took a few steps toward me and gave me an awkward hug. As we stepped away from each other, we took in our surroundings to confirm our friendly embrace had gone unnoticed. “Have you heard from Linda yet?” she finally asked.
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t deserve a call and don’t expect one. Still, I was hoping she’d made contact with someone at the library.”
“Not yet. We’re getting kind of worried. The administration is dealing with this as if she’s on emergency stress leave, so when she does hopefully return, her job will still be here.”
“How long can they do that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Amanda said with a sigh. “It’s not a situation that comes up every day. You know, everyone really likes Linda and can’t imagine what she’s going through right now.” Amanda looked me in the eye as she finished her sentence, yet somehow I didn’t feel she was condemning me for my past actions. She was simply being straightforward, which I appreciated immensely. I was the first one to break our connection, as I sheepishly looked at my shoes. “I bet your ears have been burning the last hour,” Amanda said, thankfully changing the subject. “There was a P.I. here asking the same questions as you. Do you know him?”
“No. I just became aware of his presence in our fine city a short time ago. I’m sure we’ll come face to face when he thinks the time is right.”
“For what it’s worth, he seemed like a pretty decent fellow,” Amanda stated.
“Did he tell you who he was working for?”
“We asked but he said he couldn’t tell us because of privacy issues.”
“Which is true,” I said. “So, what did he ask you—if you don’t mind me asking? If you do, I’ll understand. I’m not the most popular person these days and wouldn’t want to get you into any trouble.”
Amanda gave me a little smile and said, “I’m a big girl, Steve. I can handle the condemnation of my spinster colleagues, but there really isn’t much to tell. He asked the date of her last shift and if she had called to take any time off. Then he wondered if we had heard from her since she had gone missing or knew some place she may have gone.”
“All pretty standard stuff,” I interjected.
“And then . . . he asked our opinions about you.”
“I can only imagine what Dolores had to say.”
“Under the circumstances, she was pretty supportive, saying you had your faults—”
“Obviously,” I concurred.
“—but she couldn’t imagine you harming Linda in any way.”
“Was that the general consensus amongst you ladies?”
“Yeah, pretty much. We all knew you two were having a bit of a rough stretch. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives.”
I was tempted to ask Amanda if Linda had ever brought up any concerns I was cheating, but let the idea fall away. Of course she had, I concluded, feeling like a fool all over again.
“Did Mr. Ellerby say where he was going next?”
“Not really. All he said was he had other people to talk to before returning to Kelsey Lake.”
“I’m sure I’m on his wish list,” I said, shaking my head in disgust. “I think I’ve talked to everyone else, except the one person I really want to speak with.” The sentence drifted off as the city bus arrived.
“This is me,” Amanda said, as the bus doors opened and several passengers brushed by us.
A young man in his mid–teens said, “Hi, Mrs. Masterson,” as he walked toward the library.
“I hate when they do that,” Amanda said with a smile.
“It’s a sign of respect,” I countered. “Be thankful they don’t call you ma’am.”
“They do sometimes, that’s the scary part,” she said, stepping up into the bus. “If Linda contacts any of us, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. I’ll do the same.”
I watched Amanda take her seat near an open window. “If you need to talk, give me a call. My number is listed in the staff directory.”
“I’ll do that,” I lied, knowing Linda’s staff directory was no longer at the house. “Take care,” I said with a wave as the bus pulled away.
“You too, Steve.”
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