“Worse. It’s Peregrine.”
“Peregrine McKee?”
Peabody laughed. “His mom is a bigLord of the Ringsfan.”
“You’re right. Bug is better.” I told him the story of finding the kids on the road and the donut stop. “What worried me a bit is that it didn’t sound like there were any adults there to help with breakfast or a way to school.”
The janitor’s blue eyes widened. “They’re in sixth grade. That’s plenty old enough to get their own breakfast and catch the bus.”
Thinking back, I realized he was right. I’d been getting my breakfast from the time I was even younger than that, since Uncle Jeremiah’d had to open the shop every morning.
“I guess I’m out of touch.”
He turned and leaned against my truck, looking across the lot at the school. “Yeah. I, ah, heard that you were in some rough places. Thanks for what you did.”
Soldiers always recognized each other, and I heard it in his voice. “You, too?”
His nod was grim. “The early days of the vampire wars. Not a great time. Almost didn’t make it home.” He pulled the collar of his coat aside, and I saw the distinctive slashing scar of a vampire attack. “Took me a while to get over the urge to take my shotgun to the sheriff’s brother’s house when he showed back up.”
“Carlos is one of the good guys. Most vampires just want to live their lives in peace, like the rest of us. But I understand the urge. I fought in my share of those battles.”
We were both quiet for a minute, lost in our memories of a time that would hopefully never come again.
“Hey, one more thing. Lily asked me about showing up as a tiger to protect her from bullying cousins. You know anything about that?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I keep an eye out, and so do the teachers, but we can’t do anything about what happens at home. The McKee family’s naming philosophy may beLord of the Rings,but their parenting philosophy is moreLord of the Flies.”
“I may have to stroll by their place sometime—with fur and four legs.”
“I hope you do. She’s a great kid. Bug is a good kid, too, just a little wild. Anyway, nice to meet you, Shepherd. Please don’t bring any pigs to the school now that I’m here, or you and I will have a talk about who’s cleaning up pig poop.” He chuckled and turned to go.
“Hey, Peabody, you mind if I ask you a question?”
He gave me a curious look. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Did you hear Mrs. Gonzalez was missing?”
“Yes, of course. That town text loop is nonstop about it today.” He rolled his eyes. “She’s a nice old lady, but maybe a few fries short of a Happy Meal these days. I wish they’d keep better track of her.”
“Well, it’s funny, but Lily said she saw Granny G in a car yesterday with a man who looked like you.”
Peabody raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me if I’m having a secret fling with an octogenarian?”
“Not exactly,” I drawled. “No, I’m wondering if you know anybody in town who looks like you. Got any cousins or brothers who may have picked her up to save her from her wanderings?”
“Nope. No cousins in town, and I only have sisters. But from a sixth-grader’s point of view, any guy between thirty and sixty with blond hair probably looks like me. I’m thirty-six, and I’ve had kids here guess my age all the way up to seventy-five.” He grinned, but then shook his head. “With five thousand people in Dead End, there are bound to be a lot of blond guys. Sorry. That’s no help.”
“Wasn’t much of a lead, anyway. She may not have seen Granny G in the car at all. Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m going to get back on the road and keep searching.”
“Good luck. And if you want to get together for a beer sometime andnottalk about the wars, let me know.”
“Will do. The guys out at Swamp Commando Airboat Rides and I get together once in a while to do just that. I’ll call you.”
“Great. Those are good guys. Well, I need to get back to work.” He shook my hand again and headed back to his cart while I climbed back into my truck.
One of the worst things you learn during desperate times is that everybody lies, so I took everything that anybody said to me with a hefty dose of salt. But if this guy had been lying to me, he was an Oscar-worthy actor. He just hadn’t given any signs of concern, deception, or nerves.
Lily may have seen Granny G, and she may have seen her with somebody who looked like the janitor, but I was pretty sure it hadn’t been Rick Peabody.
