Never, and I mean never, tackle more than one room at a time. Do the one job first or you’ll end up living in a disaster zone for months or even years.
—HAMMER GIRL BLOG
Gray parked in front of a run-down brick building with one E out in the neon beer sign hanging in the window. “It just opened, and it doesn’t look like there are any customers. You sure you want to go in by yourself?”
She opened her door. “I want to do it.”
“I’ll keep watch out here and come get you if anything looks dangerous.”
The store looked empty when she approached the plate-glass window. Glancing inside, she saw a skinny male clerk behind the counter. When she opened the door and stepped inside, the place smelled yeasty, like spilled beer, and it was none too clean.
The clerk glanced her way. His black eyes examined her face. “Can I help you, miss?”
“Um, I’m looking for a missing woman I thought you might have seen.” She pulled out her phone and showed him Mac’s photo. “Recognize her?”
The clerk stared at it. “I think I saw her a few weeks ago. She didn’t buy anything, though. She just strolled through the aisles and kept looking at the door every time someone came in. I thought maybe she was supposed to meet a boyfriend here or something, but he never showed. She left after about an hour.”
Ellie dropped her phone into her purse. “Did you speak to her at all?”
“I asked her if she needed any help about three times, but she always said no.”
The guy was readily answering questions, so Ellie decided to take a chance. “You know Tarek Nasser?”
The clerk rubbed his kinky hair and backed away, glancing at the door. “Everyone in this part of town knows him.” He dropped his voice. “Or knows of him.”
“Did the woman ask about him?”
The clerk shook his head. “She just hung out watching the door.”
“Did she speak to anyone else?”
The young man shook his head again. “That’s all I know. I only remembered her because she was a looker.”
Ellie knew it was a long shot. “Thanks anyway.”
“If she has anything to do with Nasser, though, she’d better be careful. We had two kids in my neighborhood killed in drive-by shootings last month. They were part of Nasser’s gang.”
“Do you know anyone else who is with him? Or any idea where he is holed up?”
The man’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head, and he stepped back. “Don’t ask and don’t tell when it comes to Nasser. I’ve heard he flays the skin from his enemies. It might just be a rumor, but I don’t want to find out.”
“Thanks for your help.” Ellie started for the door when the guy called her back.
The clerk looked down at the floor. “Look, don’t say where you heard it, but you might check out the cabin at the end of Gandy Lane. It’s not here in Port Angeles, but up in the mountains. Not many know it’s back there. Don’t even try to drive there. You’ll have to walk, and be careful.”
“You must want this guy caught to risk telling me where to look.”
The man nodded. “My younger cousin got mixed up with him and he’s dead now, thanks to Nasser. I’d like to see him shut down.”
“Does he have many men working for him?”
“Probably ten or so.”
Enough to mount a formidable defense with the right weapons, and Ellie suspected the guy had the best weapons out there. “Thanks again.”
She exited into a fine drizzle that had already dampened the sidewalk and road. She slung herself into Gray’s SUV. “He remembered Mac, but she didn’t talk to anyone. She kept looking out through the window like she was watching for someone.”
“Probably Nasser.”
She told him about the Gandy Lane cabin. “Maybe the FBI could check it out.”
“I’ll call Lance.”
She listened with half an ear as he told Lance what they’d learned. It felt important, and she prayed they managed to stop the attack before it began. Surely the FBI was making progress. She had to believe that.
He ended the call and glanced over at her. “How about we get out of this neighborhood and get some lunch?”
She forced herself to smile and nod, though she wanted to rush out to Gandy Lane and see what was happening there. “Sounds good.”
Grayson had found a surprisingly good hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with picnic tables looking out on the fall foliage. The temperature hovered near seventy, so it was pleasant enough to sit outside at a secluded table and eat their lunch. Ellie had fallen into silence again, and she kept looking out at the glorious landscape of gold and orange as if it held the secret to all her questions.
The spicy aroma of cumin and peppers mingled with the scent of pine and loamy soil. It was a feel-good kind of moment, but he couldn’t seem to get to that emotion with her staring anywhere but at him. There was a curious tension coiled around her, and he was on tenterhooks waiting for the hammer to fall.
He scarfed down his enchiladas. “I think I’ll see if the sheriff has any idea about that body he found.”
“Oh, would you? I’ve been trying to be patient.”
“He probably doesn’t know anything yet, but I’ll ask.” He texted the sheriff and got a reply in seconds. “The blood type is wrong for Mac. It’s not her.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Oh, Gray, that’s wonderful.”
But it didn’t mean Mac wasn’t dead.