“I’m going to need something stronger than wine.”

“Martinis on me.”

Downstairs we greeted Mom, who was in the middle of showing her granddaughters the new board game she’d bought them. After Ike was introduced, and before the front door closed behind us, she managed to get me to one side. “I’ll be waiting to hear about the trip.”

I put my hand over hers. “Listen, no matter what, don’t answer the house phone tonight. Okay?” I had turned off all the ringers, but I needed to be sure.

“Are you going to explain why?”

“It’s complicated.”

“The new normal.”

At Seabank Seafood Teo had managed to secure the same patio table where I’d sat with my nieces. I made the introductions, and Sophie hugged Teo like an old friend. We chose seats so our guests had the best view of Little Mangrove Bay and the last vestiges of sunset. Tonight the band on the other side of the patio was playing light rock, and the air was filled with laughter and conversation. We added to the cacophony as Sophie and Ike asked Teo about Confidence K-9s.

Our server, a bearded blond with a man bun, arrived with a basket of hush puppies, and Sophie ordered lemon drop martinis for everybody. After he left, I suggested bowls of Key West chowder, followed by a couple of giant seafood platters. When he returned with the martinis, Teo made the order and added two pounds of boiled shrimp to arrive immediately.

Once we were alone I got down to business. “Teo has an idea for finding my sister.”

Sophie was instantly intrigued, and Ike knew enough about Wendy’s disappearance I could tell he was interested, too.

Teo took over. “A friend in the sheriff’s office explained a sneak attack he uses to locate suspects who’ve moved away. He has to have their former address, and it only works if their mail is being forwarded.”

“Is Wendy’s?” Sophie asked.

“Not yet.”

“This is getting good.”

Teo smiled at her enthusiasm. “He sends a letter to the last address he had and types ‘return service requested’ over the address. And here’s the important part. The post office doesn’t forward the letter. Instead they return it to him with the suspect’s new address on a sticker. The person he’s trying to find is never notified.”

“Moral to the story,” Ike said. “If you want to keep your location a secret, keep it secret from the good folks at the post office.”

We waited to continue until our server set a bowl of cold shrimp on ice in front of us. Sophie was ready with a question for me.

“But you’re still getting Wendy’s mail at the town house, right?”

“We’re hoping to change that tonight.”

Her eyes were dancing now. She loved a good challenge.

I filled in details for Ike, since I knew Sophie wouldn’t have shared most of this, if any. “There’s a safe in the town house laundry room with things inside that my sister wants. A friend of hers was supposed to help her get them. He had a house key, but it didn’t work, and he couldn’t break in. Let’s just say that under pressure, he gave us the combination.”