Page 44 of Jack

“It’s in my feed. She could have prescheduled it.”

He put the car into reverse. “Or,” he said, pulling toward the exit, “she could be hanging out at the coffee shop while we’re running all over town looking for her.” He pulled out. “Hate to say I was right, but . . .”

Then he looked at her and smiled.

Smiled.

Not a laugh, a smile, like . . . well, with the coffee, maybe he was attemptingfriendship?

“We’ll do a drive-by.”

He headed toward the shop, which stood where the old Duck Lake Diner had stood.Shame.The lot was scattered with a few cars—an orange Subaru, a beater sedan hand-painted and graffitied, and a grimy blue Taurus that had seen better years.

Pulling into a space, he put the car into Park. “Run in and check.”

She nodded and got out.

Inside, the place smelled like old records, probably the array of LPs that hung against a backdrop of orange walls. A long counter that held thousands of records lined the far wall. A real trendy feel. An LP played on an old-style console phonograph. The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”

In the middle of the room, a number of round wooden tables and molded vinyl chairs, also orange, filled the space. A few patrons, mostly millennials, sat at tables, typing into their laptops, nursing mugs of coffee.

A real Penelope vibe, but no Penny.

A coffee counter on the other side of the room listed the specials, scrawled on a black chalkboard wall. At the counter, a woman with short purple pigtails and an orange apron greeted her, the name Quinn on her tag.

Harper flashed Penny’s picture. “Hi. Have you seen this woman?”

“Why?”

“She’s missing.”

“Like as in?—”

“Like she might have been kidnapped.” She lowered her voice, and Quinn’s eyes widened.

Quinn, too, lowered her voice. “Sorry, no. I’ve been here all morning, but I’m filling in for Tallulah. She usually works the morning shift. She should be in this afternoon.”

“Would she have been here last night, or yesterday morning?”

Penelope had gotten to town before Harper, so the post could have been scheduled yesterday.

“Yes,” Quinn said.

“Okay. I’ll be back. Thanks.”

Jack was reading his own phone when she climbed back inside. He looked up at her, startled, then tucked the phone away.

“Everything okay?”

“Mm-hmm. What did you find out?”

“No luck. But Tallulah is coming in this afternoon.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Problem is, it seems like she took this shot during the day.” She showed him her phone again. “See the light? It’s daylight.”

“So . . . yesterday, before the event?”