Page 36 of The Last Grift
Elton cleared his throat. “Hungry? I know it’s not lunchtime, but I’m craving a grilled cheese. We can talk while I cook.”
Did he want to talk? It didn’t seem as if Elton had given him a choice.
And grilled cheese did sound tasty.
SEVENTEEN
GABRIEL
Thursday
Elton slatheredbutter across four thick slices of sourdough bread and then set two of the pieces butter-side down in the warm pan. He added slabs of cheddar and lay the other two slices of bread over the cheese before shooting Gabriel a calculating glance. Then another one. Gabriel was learning that Elton had a whole stock of those looks saved up.
“Gordon MacDonald, he doesn’t go off like this. Boy’s a homebody.”
Gabriel liked the older man more than he wanted to, liked that he cared about his friends. But attachments were murky territory and liking people had always been a problem for him. He wondered again, had Peter found the note he’d left him?
People always want something in return, Chance, that’s how this works.
But Elton had yet to play that game. Gabe thought that maybe he was one of the few people he’d met that didn’t. And he liked that Elton was concerned about the AWOL Gordon.This was the only explanation he had when he opened his mouth. “I could poke around?”
What are you thinking, Chance?
Searching for a possible missing person was not keeping a low profile. The Colavitos loomed large in his mind. Peter too.
But on the other hand, few people on Heartstone knew him, so the risk was negligible.
Keep telling yourself that, Chance. Maybe you’ll start to believe it. But believing won’t make it true.
A stranger asking a few questions might get some easy answers, though. Then again, Gabe might get run off the island. However, the idea of heading to theTicketfor another day of deep cleaning had his body contemplating revolution.
“Are you experienced in this kind of thing? Finding people?” Elton asked, his attention focused on the hot pan and flipping the sandwiches over. “Have you done it before?”
The dubious tone indicated that Elton wasn’t sure if Heidi Karne’s kid was a tad more diversified, incomewise, than she’d been. Why not? Gabriel was turning over a new leaf, after all.
“No,” Gabriel admitted. “But it can’t hurt for me to nose around, can it? If you make me a list of people and places…” He let the sentence drift to its end. Saying the words out loud made him realize how much of a problem his offer really was. “People and places” meant going to places and talking to people.
Gabe’s true Achilles’ heel was that he genuinely liked most people. People were interesting puzzles to figure out, and he enjoyed listening to their stories and learning what made them tick. An extrovert, he’d always made friends wherever he and Heidi had ended up. It was a knack, maybe a survival instinct. It didn’t, however, make for a very good con man.
People aren’t friends, Chance, they’re opportunities.
Too late. He already liked Elton and possibly had agrudging respect for Ranger Man—if he would quit being such a tool. The man wanted Elton to get a dog.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Elton admitted before Gabe could rescind his offer. “I just can’t imagine where he’s gotten himself to. Gordon’s one of those people who is permanently naive, that’s how he gets into trouble.”
“You checked the gas station already?” Gabe asked.
Elton nodded. “Yesterday. Shaw, the asshole who runs it, hasn’t heard anything and had the gall to tell me to let Gordon know he’s fired.” Elton added a twangy whine to his raspy voice. “‘Can’t have unreliable staff and I’d been doing him a favor.’” He made a frustrated sound. “Personally, I think he’s just pissed off because no one else will cover those shifts. He’s not worried about Gordon.”
“Noted. Probably not worth it to stop by again, then.” He might though. He was curious to know what had happened after he’d left, which would mean talking the owner into letting Gabriel see the security feed.
“Shaw did tell me something interesting though.”
“Oh?” Something in Elton’s tone had Gabriel on alert. Dammit already. And there was one of those glances Elton had stored up.
“There was an altercation recently while Gordon was working. Apparently, a couple known troublemakers had a run-in with someone Shaw’s never seen around before. Mid-forties, wearing a cap. But Shaw thinks he had dark hair, was a little over six feet tall. Drove an older silver Honda.”
“Huh.” Gabriel picked invisible lint off his sweatshirt so he wouldn’t have to meet Elton’s knowing gaze.
