Aria thought about telling Taylor about the first items that she had found in the exact same place, but decided against it. “I’m totally keeping this, then,” Taylor said, lifting the sunscreen into the air. “I’d like to avoid looking like a tomato, thank you. I’m so white I’m practically see-through.” He stashed it in his backpack. “Oh, and this. I have to keep this because you never know when that shit’s gonna start,” he said, framing the feminine hygiene pads between his hands as a joke. Aria started laughing and so did he. “Come on, I know what we’re gonna do today!” he said, displaying the Subway gift card between his fingers.

Taylor began to open the door of the car, taken by the wave of the impulse to walk with Aria straight to the store. “OK, wait just a minute. I’ve got to go ask Mike about something. Give me ten minutes,” Aria said.

“OK, hurry up ’cause I’m hungry.” Taylor said, lifting the newspaper back up in front of his face.

Mike was cleaning the dirt off of a pair of Carhartt working boots. He stopped what he was doing when Aria approached him. “Hey, did you see anyone put stuff on the hood of our car?” she asked.

Mike peered around her in the direction of the Land Cruiser. “Nah, I can’t say that I did. Course I’s gone most o’ the day.” He went back to his work on the boots as if their conversation were over.

“Do you know if anyone was here today?” Aria asked. Given the proximity of his tent to the Land Cruiser, Mike was her best chance at finding out who was leaving things on the hood of the car, so she was grasping at straws.

“Ya might try Bob. I don’t think he went no place today.”

“OK, thanks anyway,” Aria said, running over to Robert’s tent instead. True to form, he was there, whittling away on a little wooden statue of a bluebird. “Hey, did you see anyone put stuff on the hood of our car?” she said, startling him out of the asylum of his artistry.

Robert stopped to think. “As a matter of fact I might’ve. There was a willowy fella here earlier today. I figured he was one a’ Luke’s friends or somethin’ ’cause he ran over toward his place.”

“Well, can you remember what he looked like or anything?” Aria pleaded.

“Well, lemme think. He was a tall, skinny fella. He was dressed proper. And he might’a had dark skin. But it could’a just been cause the light was shinin’ in my eyes. Ya think it might’a been a friend o’ yours?”

“I don’t know,” Aria said. “If you see him again, can you stop him and ask him who he is?”