Page 17 of 44.1644° North
“You’re not going to find any place around here still serving dinner.” I managed not to laugh at his expression. “I think there’s a vending machine outside the market up the road. I bet they still have Funyons from 1969.”
He gave me a look of pure horror. “I suppose you ate on the plane.”
“Nope. I had a layover in Denver. I had a nice meal at the Boulder Beer Taphouse.”
To be honest, I wished therehadbeen some place nearby to grab dinner. I was starting to feel the effects of nearly eight hours of flying. Not to mention a long evening of drinking with only pretzels to soak up the alcohol.
I left Rory brooding over his life choices and returned to the table. Simon and George were gone. Hailey had taken up residence again. She too was starting to look a little wilted around the edges.
“Hey.”
“Hey. I’m guarding your drink.”
“Thanks.” I took a swallow, grimaced. “I probably should have had coffee.”
Hailey looked interested. “Are you buzzed?”
“Aren’t we all?”
“Good point.” She yawned widely, then frowned at me. “Is it just me, or did you notice that no one here seems to remember how things were in 2004?”
“I guess that’s understandable. Most of the people here would have barely been in their teens.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“I am. And I’m older than you.”
She laughed. “The hell. I’m forty!”
I peered more closely at her. “What? No way.”
“I’m the same age as Deirdre. Nearly.” There was something odd in her smile. “In fact, I was at UMass the same time she was.”
I sat up straight, took a harder look at her. “You knew Deirdre?”
Hailey shook her head. “No. I was majoring in journalism and communication. I don’t think our paths ever crossed. But it’s one reason I’ve always been interested in the case.”
“How come you never mentioned that? In all the times we’ve discussed Deirdre’s case—”
She protested, “That’s like two or three times in as many years. Anyway, I don’t know. It’s not relevant. I didn’t want to claim a connection I don’t really have.”
“I don’t know aboutrelevant, but it’s interesting. What did people think after Deirdre went missing?”
She lifted a shoulder in dismissal. “That some nut grabbed her.”
“There wasn’t any suspicion that she killed herself or that she ran away?”
“Oh, probably. Whatever the prevailing theory is, you’re going to have those people who justhaveto disagree on general principles.”
“True.”
“Initially, the police started the suicide theory with their endangered-female posting. The Millennials were the ones who really picked up that idea and ran with it. Probably because they all wish they were dead anyway.”
I choked on my Shandy.
Hailey handed me a paper napkin. “But seriously. Why would she kill herself? Because she was having boyfriend problems? Puh-leaze.”
“Well, aside from whatever was happening with Tommy, she did have some stressful stuff going on. Having to leave West Point. Getting caught using someone else’s credit card. Wrecking her dad’s car. That’s a lot to deal with. I don’t buy the suicide theory either, but I can see she might have been struggling.”
