Page 58 of Bishop's Flight
Nineteen
They met Miguel at a twenty-four-hour coffee shop on Desert Inn Drive. They walked in to see a glass case full of brightly colored donuts with bizarre toppings like giant strawberries, breakfast cereal, and bacon.
There was a bearded man in drag behind the counter, waving them in while he perused a magazine. “Welcome to Night Cup. You can order at the counter or seat yourself.”
Brigid couldn’t stop staring at the donuts. “Why are American donuts so good?”
She wasn’t really expecting an answer, but the man behind the counter muttered, “They’re made from fat, sugar, and an overinflated sense of historic purpose.”
The corner of her mouth turned up, and she stepped closer. “And bacon.”
The man cocked a bright purple eyebrow. “Honey, that’s our bourbon, bacon, and maple-glazed long john. You want heaven in your mouth, you try one of those.” He glanced at Carwyn. “Is that your man?”
She looked over her shoulder. “Himself?”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid so.”
The man pursed his lips. “Never mind. I bet you get heaven in your mouth anytime you damn well please.” He waved her away. “You don’t need a donut.”
An unexpected laugh burst from her mouth.
Carwyn had been looking around the coffee shop. “What’s that?”
She turned and angled his shoulders toward the booths on the right. “You don’t wanna know.”
“Miguel’s in the booth in the far back.” Carwyn glanced at the man behind the counter. “Oh, hello. How are you tonight?”
“And an accent too?” The man behind the counter winked at Brigid. “Just let me know what I can get you. Sally’s your waitress, but she’s on break.”
Miguel was eating a simple glazed donut and drinking a cup of coffee. The man looked exhausted.
And defeated.
Brigid knew the feeling. They had just over twenty-four hours to find Lucas, and she still felt lost.
Carwyn sat down in the booth opposite Miguel, and Brigid slid in next to her husband.
“None of the people we talked to were leads.” Carwyn didn’t beat around the bush. “Jessica Mathis was like a big sister. All we got from her was worry.”
“And Wayne Song is… unusual.” Brigid couldn’t deny it. “But he seems harmless and nearly as big a chess addict as Lucas. He knew the boy purely from their online tournaments.”
“Same.” Miguel gulped his coffee. “I’ve got one more lead to go look at—the Clarence Johnson guy—but I’m not optimistic. I mean, I guess I should have expected that a vampire wasn’t going to go hunting for a kid online, but I thought we’d maybe get something.”
“We did have one question.” Carwyn glanced at Brigid, then back at Miguel. “Jessica Mathis mentioned that Lucas told her he’d met… How did he put it?”
“An angel,” Brigid said. “He told her he’d met an angel at a gas station. Would that even be possible? I can’t imagine Lucas was getting his own petrol. He had a driver.”
Miguel’s cheeks reddened a little. “That’s my fault. I mean… Okay, so Rose and Agnes were manic about keeping the kids’ diets really healthy, right? But Lucas started high school and starts asking me about different snack stuff. What are Doritos? Why was everything flaming hot? I figured it was no big deal, right? He’s old enough to make some of his own choices, so whenever we’d stop for gas, I’d let him go into the gas station and pick one snack. Just one. The rule was he had to eat it in the car and he had to brush his teeth before his moms woke up that night so neither of us got in trouble.”
Brigid shook her head. “So you’re saying that Alina was able to target Lucas was because he stopped at gas stations for crisps?”
Carwyn shrugged. “That may have been the only time she could get him alone. I’m sure they followed him, figured out his routine. Was there any particular place he liked to stop?”
Miguel nodded. “There’s a Rebel convenience store not too far from his school that was near an In-N-Out Burger. A lot of kids from his school liked to hang out there. I figured since it was a familiar place, it would be safer.”
“She probably blended in with the kids,” Brigid said. “I doubt you’d have noticed her.”
