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“Gave them all the day off. Besides, I bought enough for you, too. This is me inviting you to dinner.”
Logan hesitated for a moment, then said “Sure, Dad. I’ll be there in a bit.”
Not feeling like walking all the way home just to get his car, he decided to use the old Isuzu Rodeo they kept around the shop. When he arrived at the Round Up, he found not just one pizza waiting for him, but three. All large. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one joining his dad and Tooney for dinner.
Harp lived on Princeton Lane in the Marine Terrace section of town. His place was on the down slope of the hill that led to the beach, and had a near 180-degree view of the Pacific Ocean. Years ago, before Logan’s mom had died, and when land prices were still relatively cheap, his parents bought the property behind theirs so that no one could ever build on it and obstruct their view. Logan was willing to bet most of his father’s neighbors wished they’d done the same.
The house was two stories, but because of the slope, the front door opened onto a foyer between the two levels. From there, stairs led up and down. On the bottom floor were Logan’s old room, the guest room, and his father’s home office. Up, though, was where Harp spent most of his time. That’s where the kitchen, the combo dining room/living room, and the master suite were all located. The top floor also had a deck off the back where the WAMO guys liked to enjoy a glass of wine as they watched the sun go down when it wasn’t too cold.
When Logan pulled up, he wasn’t surprised to find several other cars parked out front. It looked to him like the whole damn gang was there. He guessed they probably wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to blow their lie.
Before he even climbed out of the car, he decided he’d only stay long enough to have a slice or two, then get the hell out of there. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about what had happened that morning, and he thought it better to just make a quick exit than get annoyed.
“Thank God,” Jerry Kendrew said as he opened the door to let Logan in. “Come on, come on. I’m starving.”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize I was on the clock.”
Upstairs, the others were all sitting in the living room. The TV was on, but no one seemed to be paying it any attention. On the screen was a selection menu for one of Harp’s video games.
Harp had told Logan each of his friends had purchased game consoles so they could rotate locations from week to week. “Kind of like the Pro Bowlers Association,” he’d said. A bunch of old men eating pizza and playing video games, Logan had no idea what that said about society.
“Food’s here!” Jerry called out as Logan set the boxes on the table.
The others stopped talking, and pushed themselves up, some with more dexterity than others.
“Thanks, Logan,” his father said as he walked into the kitchen. “Who wants a beer?”
Three of the guys said yes, while Will Jensen asked for water.
“Logan, what about you? A beer?”
Logan shook his head. “Water’s fine,” he said, then looked around. “Where’s Tooney? I thought he was supposed to be here.”
Harp jerked his thumb toward the master bedroom. “On the phone.”
The dining table looked pretty full with the six of them around it. For the first few minutes, they ate in silence, Logan because he wanted to finish and get out of there, and the others because they seemed nervous to talk to him.
Finally, Logan asked, “How’s he doing?”
His dad shrugged. “Sore, but he’ll be okay.”
“Glad to hear it. What about you?”
Harp touched the bandage on the side of his head. “Going to tell everyone I was in a bar fight. The chicks will dig it.”
That just made Logan want to eat faster.
As he neared the end of his second—and last—slice, his dad said, “Logan, we…uh…want to talk to you about Tooney.”
Logan leaned forward. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to say anything. If you guys want to lie to the sheriff, then have at it.”
His father’s face scrunched up, his brows dipping so low his eyes became slits. “What are you talking about? Of course you’re not going to say anything. You already promised us that. That’s not what I meant.”
That wasn’t the response Logan was expecting. “Okay, what then?”
Harp looked around the table at the other men, then turned so that he was fully facing his son. “Tooney needs help.” He paused. “And I, well…
“If he’s in trouble, he should call the sheriff. That’s their job, Dad.” Logan looked around the table. Along with Barney the retired doctor and Jerry the retired accountant, there was also Alan the retired teacher, and Will the retired scientist. “What in God’s name has gotten into you guys? You’re acting like this is some kind of game. If your friend has a problem, then he
“What do you think we’re trying to do?” Harp asked. “We’re asking you.”
“I don’t mean me. I mean from someone official. Like, you know, the sheriff’s department?”
“If we do that,” Barney said almost in a whisper, “they’ll kill her.”
“What?” Logan was sure he’d misheard him.
“Are you sure you don’t want that beer?” his father asked.
“No, Dad. I don’t want a beer. I want to know what the hell you guys are talking about.”
“Whoa. Calm down. No need to get all up—”
Suddenly a tired voice called out from behind them. “I…I could use a little help.”
5
Logan turned.
Tooney was standing at the end of the short hallway that led back to the master bedroom, leaning against the wall for support.
Harp and Jerry were the first out of their chairs, but Logan was the first to reach him.
“Shouldn’t you be lying down?” Logan asked as he put his arm around Tooney, allowing the older man to lean against him.
“I lay down long enough already. Besides, I’m hungry.”
“We can bring you some pizza to the bedroom,” Logan suggested, then tried to turn Tooney around, but the older man showed surprising strength for a guy in his condition, and didn’t budge.
“I want to eat in here.”
“Bring him over to the table,” Harp said.
Logan wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but it seemed to be what Tooney wanted, so he carefully led him over, and helped him into a chair. As soon as Tooney was settled, Barney had him open his eyes wide, asked him a few questions, then declared him healthy enough to eat. Sometimes it paid to have a doctor around, Logan thought, even a retired one who was apparently okay with lying to the authorities.
“Any news?” Harp asked.
The rest of the men stopped what they were doing, interested in the answer. But Tooney shook his head. “Tried five times. Same as before.”
Logan felt the tension level in the room rise a notch. “Somebody want to tell me what’s going on?”
There were shared looks, then Harp leaned toward Tooney. “I think we should do what we talked about. Logan can be discrete.”
Tooney sighed, then nodded. “Okay. I don’t know what else to do.”
Logan prepared himself to once again direct Tooney to the Sheriff’s department. He was so expecting to hear something like, “please find out more about the guy who attacked me this morning,” that he only partially heard what Tooney really said.
“What?” he asked, his focus returning to the here-and-now. “Say that again.”
“I want you to find my granddaughter.”
Logan took a second to let his mind adjust. “Your granddaughter’s missing?”
“I don’t know. I think so, yes.”
“You think so. Look, I hate to sound like a broken record, but if she’s missing, you should call the police.”
“No,” Tooney said quickly. “I…I might be wrong. And I don’t want to cause any…problems.”
“Well, when did she go missing?”
“I don’t know if she is missing. She was supposed to arrive this afternoon.”
“Here? In Cambria?”
Tooney nodded. “She goes to school in Los Angeles. She was coming up to spend a few days of spring break with me. But she not show up.”
“Well, you’re here,” Logan pointed out. “Maybe she’s at your house right now.”
“Alice and Glenda are over there,” Barney said. Glenda was Barney’s wife, and Alice was either Alan’s or Jerry’s, Logan couldn’t remember which. “They’ll call us if Elyse shows up.”
“That’s her name? Elyse?” Logan asked Tooney.
He nodded.
Logan looked at the clock on the wall. It was only a few minutes after six. “It’s early. She’s probably still on the way.”
Tooney looked unconvinced. “She supposed to leave at ten this morning. Even if she stop for lunch, she here by three.”
Glancing at the others, Logan asked, “Has anyone checked traffic? Maybe there was an accident on the one-oh-one that slowed everything down.”
“No accidents,” Alan said. “We also checked hospitals, just in case.”
That was going to be Logan’s next question.
“I been trying to call her all day,” Tooney said, “but only get her voicemail.”
“All day?”
“He wanted to tell her about this morning,” Harp explained quickly. “Didn’t want her to be surprised when she showed up.”
In Logan’s experience, people liked to delay news like that, especially if the other person was traveling so as not to worry them.
“We were thinking,” Logan’s dad continued, his voice now tentative, “maybe you could pop down there tonight. See if she’s home. You know, make sure she’s all right.”
Logan felt an uneasy tingling under his skin. “Go to Los Angeles?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Dad, I’ve got work tomorrow.”
“But I’m the boss. I’ll just have Alejandro take care of anything you’ve been working on. And whatever expenses you have…” He looked around the table. “We’re going split them among the group.”
“I would probably just pass her on the way down,” Logan argued.
“Great, then that would mean everything’s fine,” Harp said. “We’re only asking because Tooney wants to go himself. So far we’ve been able to talk him out of it. If you don’t do it, I’m afraid he won’t listen to us any more.”
A thousand thoughts swirled through Logan’s mind. Thoughts about his routine and the dream and the past. He looked at Tooney, whose eyes were full of desperation, and then at his father, whose eyes were full of hope.
“What’s her address?”
6
Logan went home to exchange the Rodeo for his own car, a 1969 electric blue Chevrolet El Camino. It was more vehicle than he needed, but it was in a hell of a lot better shape than the SUV.
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