Page 45 of Little Last Words

He blinked at me, and I blinked back, and then he stood there, staring at me, like he was waiting for me to say something more.

“Do you expect me to believe you picked this gas station out of all the stations in town to gas up?” I asked.

“There aren’t many gas stations in town, are there?”

“Only one right across from Dean Barlow’s hotel.”

Whitlock threw his hands into the air. “What can I say? You got me. How do you know where good ol’ Dean’s staying?”

“I saw his car parked outside. You can’t miss it.”

“You two have a good conversation?”

It was his way of implying he knew I’d been to see Dean without coming right out and saying it.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Standing here, talking to you. What areyoudoing?”

I finished pumping the gas and placed the nozzle back on the lever. “I was just leaving.”

“Now, hold on. Wait a minute. Please.”

“I have somewhere I need to be.”

He moved his hands to his hips and said, “I feel like our first conversation wasn’t … you know, as good as it should have been. I’d like to try again.” He stuck a hand toward me. “Hi, I’m Amos Whitlock. Now you go.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh, to accept his hand, or what.

All I knew was that he was a nutty, oddball of a man.

And getting odder with each encounter.

“You already know my name, so we can skip the pleasantries,” I said.

“If you like.” He ran a hand along the side of the car. “Say, I’d love to go for a spin in this ole’ beauty one day …ifyou’ll have me as a passenger.”

I felt like I was in small-talk hell.

And I wasn’t any good at small talk.

Whitlock, on the other hand, seemed to have a gift for it.

Small talk may not have been my jam, but questions … I could ask those all day long.

“What made you return to Cambria to take up a detective position again after all these years?” I asked. “You were retired, right?”

“Straight for the jugular, I see.”

“Excuse me?”

“You like to dive right in, don’t you? It’s fine. It’s fine. I don’t mind at all. Your father was the same way.”

“And what way would that be?”

“He had a soft, gooey inside. Took a while to get to it. Outer circle, inner circle kind of thing. Makes sense you’d be the same. I know what I need to do now.”

“You know what you need to do about what?”