Page 22 of You Can Trust Me

“Yes.” After sending the message, she tucks her phone back into the pocket of her jean shorts.

“Great, so we’ll start there. Maybe someone who works here will recognize him if you can describe him.”

“Sure.” She nods and follows as I head toward the lounge. We pass through the casino, and I approach the counter, flagging down a bartender.

“What can I get you?” she asks with a thick Caribbean accent. She’s tall, with buzzed hair, dark skin, and a purple nose ring that pulls my attention. Her name tag readsAdanna.

“Oh. Nothing, thank you. I was wondering if you could help us locate someone.”

She checks behind her. “Who?”

“A man who was in here last night.” I look over my shoulder, waving for Florence to step closer. “He was here around…”

“Midnight, I guess,” Florence says. “He had on a suit with this bright-orange shirt underneath. He was”—her eyes dart to me as if she’s embarrassed—“handsome. Dark hair. Sort of tan. He was drinking bourbon, I think. Something dark on the rocks. He danced with my friend.”

The woman’s head bobs slowly. “I worked last night, but we see so many people…” One side of her mouth draws in apologetically. “Sorry, I wish I could help.”

“Is there someone else who might know?” I ask before she can walk away.

She turns her back to us. “Jay! Elijah! Come here.”

Quickly, the other two bartenders approach us.

“They’re looking for some guy that was here last night.”

Florence describes him for them, and the one with a name tag that saysJaynods. “Yeah, I think I remember him. He’s been in here a lot. I didn’t help him last night though. Did you?”

Elijah shakes his head. “Musta been Benny.”

“WhereisBenny?” I demand.

“He has the morning off. He’ll be in later,” Adanna says.

“Great.” I look at the men again. “Did you happen to get his name any of the times you’ve seen him?” I ask, practically begging them to give me something to work with.

“Nah, sorry,” Jay says.

“Would Benny have?”

“Doubt it. We don’t really have much time to chat, especially at night. It gets crazy in here once all the shows start shutting down.”

“What’s this about?” Elijah asks. “What’d the guy do?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly. If they’re trying to protect him, I don’t want them to think he’s in any danger from us. “We’re trying to find my wife, and he was with her last night. I think they might’ve known each other. We were just hoping he could tell us if she mentioned going anywhere this morning.”

The men exchange glances and shake their heads almost in unison.

“Sorry, man,” Elijah tells us.

“I didn’t see him with anyone,” Jay says.

Adanna steps forward again. “What’s your wife look like?” She leans on the bar, suddenly appearing interested.

With a bead of hope in my chest, I open my phone and show her a photo of Mae. “Her hair was down last night, though.” I swipe to a new photo. “Like this.”

She snaps her fingers and points at the phone. “Yeah, nowherI remember. She was here. Don’t remember seeing her with a man, though. She was alone.”

“She was with me,” Florence corrects. “But I’m the one who ordered our drinks, so maybe you saw her alone while I was doing that.”