“Lots—and he has a really terrific assistant, Melanie, who’s great at online research. Between them, they’ve tracked down missing persons the cops didn’t even know were missing. Guaranteed they’ll see this as a challenge.”

“Your recommendation means a lot to me,” Shallie said. “Now, what do I have to do?”

“I’ll tell him you’re ready to go with this. Can I give him your phone number?”

She recited it, and Eli tapped it into his phone. “I’ll ask him to get in touch with you, and you can email him this info.” He paused. “Eddie will probably want to come here. Start from scratch as it were. You okay with that?”

“Where will he stay?” Cord asked.

Eli immediately said, “Don’t worry. He can stay at my place. It’ll be good to see him again, catch up on things. He’ll be one of the gang.”

“And speaking of the gang, guess who just arrived? Right on cue!”

J.P. and Trooper ambled toward them and took their usual places, with the dog lying half under the table. Brynne appeared a moment later, carrying a dog treat and a glass of draft.

While Cord quickly filled him in, Shallie said, “Thank you, Eli. I appreciate this so much.”

“I’m willing to do whatever I can to help.”

“Me, too,” Cord said.

“And me—or rather, us, as well,” J.P. told them, pointing at Trooper.

“Are we ready to order?” When everyone nodded, Cord waved Brynne over. “It’s on me,” he said. They all objected, but to no avail. “Hey,” he reminded Shallie. “You paid for our group last night.”

They spent the next couple of hours enjoying their food and drinks, and discussing how things had changed in Painted Pony Creek. J.P. contributed a few ideas to the search plan—like tracking down Christine Fletcher’s car, if possible. Maybe there’d be some information about her license plate hidden in some messy drawer in the motel office. And he suggested finding out if Russ remembered anything at all prior to the overheard phone call. He acknowledged that as an experienced investigator, Eddie would naturally pursue those options. “Can’t resist trying to do my part,” he said.

Shallie wrote down, “License number in office? Russ: any memory of what happened before phone call?”

At around ten they left, with Brynne giving Shallie an unexpected hug. “Bye, sweetie. It’s so good to see you again.” She took Cord’s credit card, and as soon as the transaction was complete, they were off.

ONCE IN HIS TRUCK, Shallie turned to him and said, “I know I keep saying thank you—but thank you, Cord. I’m so grateful for your help.”

“I owe you this. And more…”

“Why?”