Page 31 of 44.1644° North
So much had happened over the last twelve hours that I’d almost forgotten my troublingly close encounter with the hooded figure who’d seemed to be following when I’d left the Swiftwater Pub to stretch my legs.
I filled Rory in on that episode, and I could see he thought I was crazy for not mentioning it sooner.
“You couldn’t take a guess as to who was following you?”
“I could take a guess, but that’s all it would be. He was never close enough to identify.”
“But it was a he? You’re sure of that?”
“I’d say so, given his general size and the way he moved.” I was relieved to be able to give him that much.
“Tall? Short? Thin? Wide?”
“I’m not trying to be unhelpful. He was literally one more shadow in a night full of shadows.”
Rory continued to gaze at me as though I was sure to pull a rabbit out of a hat if he just waited long enough.
I said finally, “Well, he seemed to know his way around.”
Rory nodded encouragingly.
I tried to think it through. “He didn’t run. He was confident of his surroundings; confident he could disappear before I’d be able to catch up to him. I’m not sure that means he’s from around here. It could mean he’s attended these get-togethers before. Or it could mean he’s used to getting away with…murder.”
Not literally murder.
Or maybe yes literally.
Rory said, “Given the circumstances, it might be wise if we stayed close this weekend.”
“Meaning what?” I spoke automatically, still trying to make sense of the last three minutes.
“Just that.” He studied my expression. Maybe I didn’t look too excited at the idea of staying close because he said, “If you feel like I’m liable to cramp your style, so be it, but I think it would be a good idea to, for example, allow me to track your phone, and maybe arrange to check in with each other every hour or so?”
I let out a long, slightly shaky breath. “Yeah. Sure.”
He continued to regard me in that steady, serious way. “Look, even last night could have been nothing more than an attempt to scare you. You’ve got some real jokers in this community. The online community, I mean. That said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“Is that according to your boss?”
Rory’s mouth quirked. “No. He’s not much of a slogans or adages guy. Other thanDo it right the first time, or I’ll have your head on a platter.”
“I don’t think that’s an adage.”
Our meals arrived, and the next few minutes were spent exchanging dirty silverware for clean, asking for condiments, and refilling our cups.
When we had our booth to ourselves again, I said, “The problem with the theory that someone was just fooling around, pretending to break into my cabin, is that person would have known I was down for the count and would miss their performance.”
“If the would-be intruder was the same person who slipped you the Mickey Finn.”
I eyed him with exasperation. “I know I’ve got a few online critics, but noteveryonein the community is out to get me.”
He offered that half-grin. “No, I know. And the odds are, your would-be intruderisthe same person who doctored your beer. Which is why I’d prefer we worked together.”
“Well, that brings me to my next question. Since you didn’t expect to see me here and weren’t planning to play bodyguard, whatwereyou supposed to be doing this weekend?”
“Same thing as you. Poke around, get a feel for the scene and the players—”
“You weren’t planning to talk to local law enforcement?”
