Page 46 of Escaping the King
There wasn't much here.
Except for a truck stop diner directly west of this place.
Hmm.
It was worth a trip over there to ask a few questions.
So, that was what I did.I slid back into my car and headed on over to the diner.
I parked in the busy parking lot.It looked like the lunch rush was still in full force when I walked in.
“Take a seat anywhere you like,” an older woman with gray hair piled on top of her head called out to me.
Before I could say a word, she was gone.Off serving the many customers.
I waited at the counter and leaned on it.I looked around.I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I'd know it when I saw it.
“Hey there, son.You can—” she started to say, but I cut her off.
“It smells great in here, but I'm just passing through.I was told my sister and my niece stayed at that hotel last night.”I jerked my thumb in the direction of the hotel.“She's not answering her phone and my parents are worried sick about her.”I made sure to look her in the eye and seem concerned.Which wasn't difficult because I was fucking worried as shit about them.
She gave me a sad smile.“Look, son.I see hundreds of people a day here.There's not much chance I'd remember them, I'm afraid.”
I nodded and pulled out my phone.Then I clicked on the same picture that I showed the old man at the hotel.
Her eyebrows rose on her forehead.“Oh, Giselle's your sister?”
I felt the tension in my shoulders release.“You bet she is.”
The woman nodded and kept her eyes on my phone.“That Daniella is quite the little character.”She let out a small laugh.“Haven't been that entertained in a while.”
I turned my phone off and stuck it back in my pocket.“Did she say where they were going next?”
Her eyes met mine and she shook her head.“Uh, gee.Let me think.”She frowned and looked down at the floor.“I'm on my second shift and dead on my feet.Two servers called in sick.I'm a little tired.”
I gave her a minute to think and hoped I'd had enough patience to wait.
“Oh, you know what?”she said as her hand dove into her apron.“Little Dani did some coloring.It was so sweet.I folded it up and kept it.Those two were so nice.”She pulled a folded piece of paper out and started opening it up.
Familiar squiggly marks on the paper hit me first.Then seeing Giselle's drawings on there smacked me right in the face.
Yeah.
This was definitely theirs.
“Do you mind if I take a quick look at that, please?”I turned on the charm and grinned.My eyes darted down to her nametag.She handed the paper over, and I said, “Thank you, Sheila.”
She nodded and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.“How did they seem?”I asked while my eyes scanned first one side and then the other.“Were they okay?”
I looked up just in time to see her expression change.
A change that I didn't like.
“Uh, well, to be honest, Giselle seemed a little—” she hesitated and then said, “sad.She cried a bit.We talked for a short time, but she looked really emotional.”
Fuck.
Me.
