They were seated in a large booth with another man whose back was to the window. Looked like the three were having a serious conversation, all hunched over and their heads together.
The fans in the store were going, and I thought it might be fifteen degrees cooler than out in the sun.
As if Travis Seeley felt me looking at him, he stopped talking and raised his head, looking directly at me. His mouth fell open. I’d almost forgotten how different I looked in the white blouse and blue skirt, with its tiny white flowers.
I gave him a cheery smile and wave. Seeley nudged Harriet Ritter and jerked his head in my direction. Ritter, too, gave me a startled look. If I hadn’t been so uncomfortable in the new clothes, it would have made me feel kind of smug.
The third person at the table, the one with his back to me, twisted around to see what his friends were looking at. Rogelio Socorro. The suspicion I’d had after he’d vanished from the hospital? Justified.
“Well, well, well,” I said, when we were standing at the booth. “We all meet again.”
Eli said, “Please introduce me.”
“Eli, you met Rogelio yesterday, when he was on his way to the hospital. Because he was so badly hurt.” I thumped Rogelio on what I hoped was his sore shoulder.
We made it clear we were sliding into the horseshoe-curved booth with them, and Rogelio scooted toward the middle. Slowly. I got in next to him. He’d know I had a knife.
Rogelio’s face was a study. The two others from the train were not abashed in the least.
“I have seen your friend, Lizbeth, but we haven’t officially met,” Harriet Ritter said, smooth as glass. She tilted her blond head as she gave Eli a little smile. And a devil bit me in the butt.
“Harriet Ritter, Travis Seeley, this is my husband, Eli Savarov,” I said. “Prince Ilya Savarov.”
Some moments are just perfect.
Eli gave the three a gentle smile all around before leaning in to speak to Rogelio. “Mr. Socorro, we’ve been very worried about you. We talked to Maddy Smith, who is in some difficulty. Then we went to check on you, but you weren’t listed as a patient. Your injuries weren’t as serious as they seemed?”
By that time, Rogelio had gotten his feet back under him. “I didn’t want to take up a bed at the hospital when I could walk out of there,” he said. “I was sure there was someone who needed it worse than me.”
“That’s noble of you,” I said. “And to think you met up with our other two companions on our journey! Miss Ritter and Mr. Seeley!”
“Please, call us Travis and Harriet. All of us who were lucky enough to survive the crash are wandering around Sally,” Travis said mildly. “We were bound to bump into each other. As witness our meeting with you now. And your… husband.” He didn’t try to keep the doubt out of his voice.
We were all doing a lot of disbelieving.
A young waitress arrived just then to ask us if we wanted to order. Eli ordered a glass of ice water and ice cream for us both. I had only had ice cream a handful of times, and I sure wanted to try it again. Especially since Eli ordered chocolate flavor. The waitress brought our water immediately and bustled off to get the ice cream. I took a long and welcome swallow.
“We found Jake’s body at one of the funeral homes yesterday,” I said.
“But I thought he wasn’t hurt too bad. And he had the crate to guard,” Rogelio said, very slowly. I was convinced he was having a hard time believing me.
“While we came over to the tent to talk to you, Jake got murdered,” I said. “Stabbed in the throat.” I let that sit there for a minute. Rogelio was silent, his mouth slightly open. He was staring straight ahead of him. I would swear he was shocked.
“The crate was there, broken open, its contents missing,” Eli said.
“We figured you and Jake were holed up somewhere with your cargo,” Harriet said, looking at me. “We were going to track you down today, Lizbeth. Make a plan for delivery.”
“And how are you involved, Miss Ritter?” Eli asked. He was still smiling.
“How are you involved, Mr. Savarov? When did you get to be part of this mission?”
“My superiors sent me,” Eli said. “To find out what was happening.”
“And who are your superiors?” Travis was doing his best to sound just mildly curious.
“Ultimately, I answer to the tsar.”
Travis’s eyes widened, Harriet’s lips mashed together in a straight line, and even Rogelio seemed startled.
At this interesting moment, we got our ice cream, and the waitress took the opportunity to clear the empty plates in front of the others. I took a bite of the ice cream. It was… so cold and so chocolate. It was all I could do not to close my eyes and go “Mmmmmmm.” I began to eat it steadily. After all, it was lunchtime.
Eli gave me my own little smile. Then he became all business. “Who is your employer, Harriet?”
Finally.
“Iron Hand Security,” Harriet said, after a glance at her partner.
I had heard of Iron Hand, a company that had offices in every country in North America, even in Canada. Iron Hand had a very tough reputation. Very tough was what you wanted in a security company, which was the glorified version of a gun crew, in my estimation. I had dreamed of hiring up with a security company someday.
“Did you send the first two shooters into the car to test our mettle?” I said, leaning forward to look that Harriet Ritter right in the eyes.
“I wouldn’t send two men to their deaths to test how good your crew was.”
I wasn’t sure that exactly answered my question. “Why were you there in the car to watch us? Were you hired as backups?”
Harriet Ritter deliberated. Then she lied. “We were there on another matter entirely,” she said.
“Sure,” I said, not bothering to sound like I believed her.
“I’m sorry you don’t think I’m telling you the truth,” Harriet said, not sounding sorry at all. “But we weren’t there to watch your crew. And we tried to help you out after the train wreck.”
“And yet here you are with Rogelio,” Eli said. “Who didn’t tell the truth about his painful injury.”
“Yet here we are,” Travis said, with a smile and a sweep of his hand. “Survivors of the same disaster, coming together to share our experiences.” He made it sound like they’d been having a fellowship hour, and we’d arrived to add to the fun.
Eli made a little noise expressing scorn. A snort sounded funny coming from his high-bridged Russian nose.
“If you won’t be truthful, we’re wasting our time,” I said, though I had no idea what else we were going to do. I had finished my ice cream and so had Eli. He left some money on the table for payment, and we slid out of the booth. I looked up at him. “Let’s go do some work.”
CHAPTER TEN
What work did you have in mind?” Eli said, once we were out on the sidewalk.
“First, I got to send a telegram to Jake’s boyfriend.”
I found the Western Union shop easily thanks to Nurse Mayhew. I had enough money (from Jake’s pockets) to tell Burke Printer the bad news, but I had to be economical. I finally wrote, So sorry Jake and Charlie killed train wreck at Sally. Bodies Hutchison Funeral. Who is employer? I signed it, though I wasn’t sure Printer would recognize my name. I put our hotel on the form so any reply could be delivered there.