Circle of Fire (Damask Circle 1)

“Odd coincidence that you both happened to be in Taurin Bay at the same time,” Hank continued lightly. “Especially given that you checked into the same inn.”

She licked dry lips. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

“Not married by any chance, are you?”

She smiled grimly. “I was. My husband is dead.”

“Oh,” Hank murmured. “Sorry to hear that.”

He sounds real sorry, too, she thought sarcastically. She listened to him tap his knife lightly against his plate and found herself gritting her teeth again.

“We’ve had a bit of trouble around these parts, you know,” he said after a moment.

Her gaze jerked up to his. His dark eyes were watchful. He was

baiting her, she realized, trying to make her give something away. “Really? What sort of trouble?”

“Kids have been disappearing lately. The only link between any of the disappearances is the fact that the families stayed here in Taurin Bay.”

She swallowed nervously. How much had been written in the local papers about the missing teenagers? Was Hank telling her more than he could have found out from the local news?

“I bet that has played havoc with tourism.”

Hank smiled, though no humor touched the darkness in his eyes. “It hasn’t yet, luckily. But it will if they don’t get some results soon.”

“I’m sure the police are working on it.”

“Oh, I’m sure many people are working on it.”

He smiled when she looked at him, and she was reminded of a vulture hungrily watching its prey.

“Then someone will catch them.”

Hank leaned back in his chair and continued to smile lazily at her. “Personally, I doubt it. So many kids disappear every day in this country that it’s become an unfashionable crime to pursue.”

She frowned. “This is different, though.”

“Oh? How?”

“I remember reading a bit about it in our local paper. Haven’t sixteen kids disappeared?”

He smiled, and something in his eyes suggested she’d just made a major mistake, though she wasn’t exactly sure what it was. “So they say. No one’s really sure of the exact number.”

The exact number was currently seventeen, if you included Evan. Then she remembered that Jon had told her the number when he’d appeared in her bedroom that second time. And realized that meant maybe it wasn’t common knowledge. She swallowed, but had no choice except to continue.

“Well, that’s a rather large number to end up missing from one area, isn’t it? It’d have to raise the police’s suspicions.”

“But they haven’t all disappeared from this area. I said the only known connection between the disappearances was Taurin Bay.”

“Oh. I must have misread it.”

He smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. “So which newspaper did you read all this in?”

She shrugged uneasily. “Just a local paper. The Mail, I think. Or it could have been the Courier.”

“I’ll have to hunt the articles up. I’ve been keeping something of a scrapbook on the cases.”

Maddie returned his smile and hoped it didn’t look as forced as it felt. It would take only one phone call to discover her lie. “Something to show the grandchildren later in life?”