Chapter 27 Luke
Luke
The shaft of sunlight that streamed through the front door as it opened temporarily blinded me as I framed out what would eventually be the pass-through for the kitchen. Blinking several times, then squinting against the bright light, I set my nail gun down when I saw Mina enter.
“Hey.” I smiled and crossed to her.
“Hey, yourself.” She grinned up at me, then stood on her toes to peck a quick kiss on my lips.
That familiar swirl of desire stirred in my blood.
I was very happy we’d made up last night.
I’d missed her touch. Missed her. “What brings you by?” I kept a loose grip on her hips as she settled back onto her feet.
“It’s not lunchtime.” I frowned, bringing up my watch to look at it.
“Is it?” The watch face read ten-forty-one.
“No. We had a lull, so I thought I’d come update you on a couple conversations I had this morning.”
“Oh?” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Ozzie stopped in. I forgot to tell him about talking with Rich Stevenson.” She wrinkled her nose.
“When Claire came in for coffee early this morning, I mentioned it to her. She told him, and he stormed in an hour or so later on the war path. Anyway, he’s aware now, but the interesting part of that conversation is he mentioned his brother, Ellis, heard some fishermen talking about a young woman coming down to the docks back around the time Moira disappeared, asking questions about some of the property along the waterfront. ”
“Really?” I clucked my tongue. “That’s interesting.”
“I thought so too. Ozzie’s following up on it, as well as talking to Rich. That’s not the only interesting conversation I had, though. Do you know a man named Toren? He says he’s new around here. A hunting guide. Super tall. Dark hair.”
Slowly, I shook my head. “No. Doesn’t ring any bells. Why?”
“He’s been in a couple of times. Today, though, he asked if I was the person who found the woman in the wall.”
My muscles tensed. “Are people bugging you about that?”
“Some.” She waved a hand. “But that’s not why this is important. He wasn’t curious about what we found. He wanted to know who was in charge of the case, because he found something interesting in the woods.”
“What did he find?”
“An old man at a campsite.”
My eyebrows winged upward. “That’s not exactly unusual for Alaska. People—young and old—camp here all the time.”
“I know, but he said the guy was squirrely and that the interaction felt off.”
“Was it Shuman?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think to ask what the man looked like until after he left. I also didn’t ask where it was. He just said he was out scouting and came across the camp. I told him to go talk to Ozzie.”
“Probably a good move.” I looked over her shoulder, not really seeing my crew hard at work as I thought about what she said. The encounter this stranger had could have been nothing. Or it could be the break needed to find Walter Shuman and finally get some answers.
“Yeah. I just wish I’d asked more questions.” She sighed, sounding wistful.
I smiled down at her. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, babe.”
She chuckled. “I know. But I still want to know more about Toren’s mystery encounter. I might take a quick walk around town and see if he’s still here.”
“Let Ozzie take care of it, please? Someone already thinks you know too much.” As much as I also wanted to know more about the man in the woods, I didn’t want her to draw more attention to herself.
Her mouth thinned. “Fine. I’ll go back to work.”
I pecked a quick kiss on the end of her nose. “Good girl.”
She shot me a heated look. “You wanna call me that later? I can stop at the grocery for that strawberry syrup.”
My blood heated. I pulled her in close. “You’re on.”