by Liz Mugavero
“Why don’t you stay with us?” Stan said. She had no idea why the words even left her mouth. Jake’s gaze bored into the side of her head, a silent What the heck are you doing? She ignored him. If Kevin had more information about Seamus and Ray, it might be good to have him close by.
Kevin’s face lit up. “You’re serious? Well, I accept!” He bounced to his feet and bent to kiss Stan’s cheek. “I knew Seamus’s family were good people,” he declared, throwing his arm around her shoulder. “Shall we go?”
Chapter Twenty-one
“Stan. I just told you I don’t know this guy,” Jake said. “What were you thinking?” He’d dragged her back into the pub’s kitchen, under the guise of needing her to bring something home.
Stan shrugged. “It’s your uncle’s friend, right? Your uncle’s a good guy.” She let the silent challenge hang in the air for a minute, daring him to disagree. He didn’t. “Besides, that’s what friends do,” she said. “He made this trip down here because he was worried about Seamus. It’s the least we can do.”
Jake didn’t look convinced. “I appreciate that, but I don’t want you taking some guy home that I don’t even know. I’m leaving with you.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s only eight. Maybe I’ll come back and help Scott close up if my cousins are sticking around. Does that work?”
“Of course.” She leaned in and kissed him. “Maybe we can ply Kevin with alcohol and get to the bottom of this. He could know more than he’s telling. Or he could have other insights about your uncle. Other than what he already told you sober.”
Jake shook his head, a small smile spreading across his lips. “I should’ve known you weren’t offering out of the pure goodness of your heart.”
“Of course I was,” she defended herself. “He’s a guest in town and Char would want someone to help him if she couldn’t. Plus, your uncle will be grateful.” If we ever find him.
Jake didn’t look entirely convinced, but he didn’t argue the point. He handed her a bag of potatoes.
She looked at him. “What’s this for?”
He shrugged. “I said I had to give you something to bring home.”
Stan snorted. “You could’ve at least turned them into fries. Did you see him eating my fries?”
“Hey, you’re inviting him to come stay with us,” Jake pointed out. He grabbed his coat and followed her back out to the bar, where she pulled on her own coat and scarf and bundled up against the winter night. “Scott. I have to run out for a bit. I’ll be back to help you close up.”
Scott flashed him a thumbs-up.
“Now. Do you have a car?” Stan asked Kevin.
He shook his head.
“You don’t? How did you get here?”
“Train,” he said.
Stan glanced at Jake. “There’s no trains that come to town.”
“No, but they go nearby and I found a bus. I’m resourceful, you know.” He winked at her.
“Okay. Come on, then. Jake, you following us?”
He hesitated.
“It’s fine,” she said, sensing his worry. “We’re just going down the street.”
He sighed. “I’ll be right behind you.” He went out the back door to grab his truck while she and Kevin went out to her car. She beeped it open. Kevin settled into the passenger’s seat and closed his eyes.
“Don’t get too comfortable.” Stan laughed. “We’re only going down the street.” She pulled out onto Main Street. Out of nowhere, a car came out of a side street somewhere behind her and raced down the road, coming uncomfortably close to her bumper. She kept an eye on it as she accelerated.
Kevin opened one eye and peered at her. “This really is a wee town, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” Stan said, glancing in the rearview mirror as she put on her left turn signal. She hated tailgaters.
“So what do you do for fun around here? There can’t be much action, right?”
Stan chuckled. “We get plenty of action,” she said. “Probably more than we need. Depends on what kind of fun you mean, though. We have McSwigg’s, thanks to Jake. That’s where people hang out.” She cruised past the green, deliberately going slowly. The car, some kind of black sedan, was still behind her, sticking close. She could see Jake’s truck a distance behind it. Who was driving so badly in this weather? The roads were slippery most nights, given the cold and the on-and-off snow they’d been getting.
Kevin didn’t look all that impressed. “One bar? That’s all there is in town?”
“That’s all we need. It’s a pretty great bar,” Stan added. She cleared her throat, not finding another opening to ask the question she really wanted to ask. “Kevin. This … incident up in Boston. Did you talk to the police at all? Tell them you think Seamus was there? Since you think he might be in trouble?”
Kevin chuckled. “I don’t tend to hang around with the police too much. They never did seem to like me any.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to know why. She braked as she came up on her driveway, then swore as the car behind her didn’t appear to be braking at all. “What is going on with this guy?”
Kevin turned, craning his neck to see. “That ain’t nothin’,” he said. “Boston drivers’ll push you right outta the way.”
Stan pulled into her driveway. The car slowed, and a chill crawled over her skin. Was this person following her? Maybe it was just someone lost, she reasoned with herself. Someone from out of town looking for a street number. It made sense.
Kevin watched her curiously. She shook off her general unease and smiled. “Here we are.” And from the looks of it, they had company. Jake’s dad’s car was in the driveway next to Declan’s. Liam’s rental was parked at the curb.
“Great. Can’t wait to get into a comfortable bed. It’s been a long day.”
“The couch is the best I can do, but it’s pretty comfortable.” She waited for Jake to park. “Did you see that car in front of you?”
He nodded. “I thought it was driving pretty erratically. Couldn’t see the license plate though.”
Kevin followed them to the house. The dogs were all clamoring at the door. Stan could hear them as she inserted her key. They went nuts when they realized she’d brought a visitor home—barking, wooing, whining, tails wagging as they all struggled to be the first in line to meet the new person.
“Easy, guys,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind dogs. Or cats. We have both.”
Kevin grinned, scratching behind Henry’s ears. “I’m an animal bloke through and through.”
Once they’d gotten past the dogs, they headed into the kitchen. Liam, Declan, and Jake’s dad were all in the kitchen. Liam had a beer bottle in front of him. The other two appeared to be drinking tea or coffee. They glanced up, trailing into silence when they saw Stan and Jake had a guest with them.
“Hey there,” she said, smiling brightly. “This is Kevin. He’s one of Seamus’s friends from Boston.”
The three exchanged a look. “Kevin,” Liam repeated. “My father’s friend, you say?” He took a swig of his beer and set the bottle down. “What brings you to Frog Ledge, Kevin? My father isn’t here.”
Stan could see Jake silently imploring Kevin to keep his mouth shut. Luckily, Paul McGee jumped in. He shot his nephew a warning look, then rose and offered his hand.
“Good to meet you. I’m Seamus’s brother Paul. These are his sons, Liam and Declan.” He pointed to each. Declan still hadn’t said a word. Now he nodded stiffly.
“Good to see you all.” Kevin nodded, then took off his hat and ruffled his hair. “Mind if I get a shower, lass?”
“Sure. Kevin is staying here for the night,” Stan explained when all eyes turned to her with a question. “The B and B is full and, well, he came all this way, worried about Seamus.”
“Worried, eh? So you didn’t see my dad this weekend?” Liam asked.
Kevin shook his head. “No. He was supposed to be, ah, at our gathering, but he didn’t show. It’s not like him, so I thought I’d
come down and have a look. See if I could track him down. He’s got the lot of us worried, for sure.”
Liam frowned. “That’s a long way to come look for a missing buddy you only see once a year.”
Kevin’s smile faded. “He’s a good friend. You’d do the same for your friends, yeah?”
“Come on, let me show you the guest bathroom,” Stan interrupted, turning Kevin and giving him a gentle shove out of the room. “I can put some tea on if you’d like.” What the heck was Liam so angry at this guy about? Did he know him? Or did he just hate all his father’s friends on sight?
“No, a shower and a sleep will be just fine. So what’s stuck in his arse?” he asked as they walked up the stairs.
Stan shook her head. “You’ll have to excuse them. We’re all worried about Seamus.”
“That didn’t sound like worry to me,” Kevin said. “I’m worried for him. That man has a knack for trouble.”
So she kept hearing. “How do you mean?” she asked.
Kevin shrugged. “You know, some people don’t have the best decision-making skills, sweetheart. A good heart, but not good common sense. Seamus is one of those.” He yawned. “I can barely keep my eyes open.”
She wanted to ask him to elaborate, but he was clearly ready for bed. She showed him to the bathroom. “I’ll make up the couch downstairs for you. I hope that’s okay. We’ve got a full house this week and I don’t have that many bedrooms.”
“That’s wonderful. You’re a gem.” He blew her a kiss and disappeared into the bathroom.
Stan grabbed some blankets and a pillow to make up the couch and headed downstairs. Liam met her in the hall and pulled her into the den. “What are you doing with this guy? You don’t even know him,” he said. “You shouldn’t be having people like that just stay at your house, Stan.”
“He’s your dad’s friend, Liam. Why are you so upset about it?”
“Because you don’t know my dad’s friends.” His piercing blue eyes were serious. “My dad has friends in all different places, if you get my drift.”
Stan sighed. “He came to see Jake and needed a place to stay. We didn’t think it was wise to send him to Char’s. And I don’t get your drift, actually. No one will tell me anything about him except these vague, general statements about how he makes bad decisions and has sketchy friends. Miss Viv said he had some big successes at work and just came into some money. That they’re going on a trip. Did you know anything about that?”
Liam’s face said that he didn’t. “Came into some money, yeah? She say how?”
“His ‘global’ job.”
“And she didn’t say what this job was.”
Stan shook her head.
“Because that doesn’t sound suspicious,” Liam muttered. He turned and paced the room, clearly agitated.
Stan watched him for a minute. “What are you afraid your dad’s doing, Liam? If you don’t believe he has some sort of good paying job?”
For a second, she thought he might actually tell her. He stopped pacing and looked at her, as if gauging how much he could get away with saying. Then he seemed to change his mind. “I don’t know. Believe me, I wish I did.” He blew out a breath. “So my cousin agrees with this guy staying here?” He lifted his chin to indicate their guest up in the bathroom. Stan heard the shower stop above them.
“Yeah, he does. It was all me doing the offering, though.”
“Jake always was too soft when it came to my dad.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s got the favorite uncle thing going on. It’s always clouded his judgment.”
“What’s wrong with your dad being his favorite uncle?”
“Nothing.” Liam smiled a little. “My dad just doesn’t always deserve it.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Liam was clearly done talking. He went back to the kitchen. Stan went to the living room and arranged the blankets and pillow on the couch for Kevin. When she returned to the hall, he was just on his way downstairs, hair still damp.
“Lovely shower,” he said when he spotted her.
“I’m glad. Your bed’s in here.” She showed him to the living room. “I hope it won’t be too noisy.”
“It’s perfect.” He winked at her. “Thank you again.”
So much for her plan of plying him with alcohol and getting information. She left him and went back to the kitchen. Liam, Declan, and Paul were all sitting in silence. Liam was tightly wound—she could feel his energy crackling through the room. The set of Declan’s jaw said he wasn’t happy. Paul smiled at Stan, but it seemed to be a strain. Stan felt sorry for the whole family. This couldn’t be an easy time for them. Jake had taken the dogs out back. She could see him standing under the floodlights, waiting for them to do their business.
“Can I make you some coffee or anything?” she asked.
Paul shook his head. “I need to get home. Nora will wonder where I’ve gotten off to. I’ll see you kids tomorrow, most likely. Heard you were getting the Christmas tree and doing some decorating?”
Stan had nearly forgotten about that, with all the excitement. She and Jake were taking Caitlyn, Eva, and Kyle to Lester’s tree farm to get their Christmas trees and officially kick off the holiday decorating. The annual house-decorating contest was next weekend, and they needed to get a move on. But she didn’t much feel like doing anything holly jolly at the moment.
“Yes, that’s the plan,” she said, a little unenthusiastically.
Jake came back in. “What’s the plan?”
“Christmas tree decorating.”
Paul squeezed her arm. “You’ll feel better if you do it,” he said. “My nephews would do well to join in on the fun.” He sent both of them a look. They both looked away.
Paul left, and Jake went back to the pub after making sure Liam and Declan were sticking around for the night. Stan itched to head upstairs and make the calls to the Boston hospitals. She spooned the cats’ and dogs’ dinners into their bowls and took a bottle of water out of the fridge. “I’m going to head upstairs. I’m beat.”
“Night,” Liam said. “We’ll stay up and keep an eye on things until Jake gets back.”
“Thanks,” she said. She had to admit it made her feel better, having them there to keep an eye on things. Stan fished in her purse for her phone and headed upstairs, all four dogs on her heels. They all went into her bedroom. She shut the door, leaning against it with her eyes closed for a minute. Then she flopped onto the bed and picked up her phone.
Half an hour and four hospitals later, she tossed the phone onto the far end of the bed out of frustration. None of the hospitals had any record of a Seamus McGee in their patient listings. No one would give out any information relating to the prior evening’s “events.” And the only John Doe patient one of the hospitals would admit to was a “known homeless person.” On the one hand, it was good news. Maybe Seamus hadn’t been involved in the cargo ship debacle. On the other hand, it still didn’t tell them where he and Ray were.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to find someone. It’s not that big of a city,” she said to Scruffy, who was sprawled on the bed watching the whole ordeal. Scruffy didn’t even raise her head. Stan decided to go downstairs and get more water and maybe sneak a snack. She wanted to wait for Jake to get home from the pub before she went to bed anyway.
When she opened the door to her room, she jumped a foot to find Kevin standing outside it. He looked almost as startled as she was. The dogs were startled too, and all howled.
“I’m sorry, lass. Just needed the bathroom again. Too much whiskey earlier.” He winked at her.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Liam and Declan must be in the kitchen still and didn’t hear him. So much for their guard dog skills. “It’s fine. There’s a bathroom downstairs, though. I should’ve shown you.”
“Ah, it’s fine. I’ll find it next time.” He slipped into the other bathroom and shut the door.
Liam appeared at the sta
irs. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Fine.” Stan stood there for a moment after he went back to what he was doing, wondering if Kevin had really needed the bathroom or if he’d been listening at the door to her conversations. Jake and Liam were right, after all. If they didn’t know the guy, they couldn’t vouch for his character. Or maybe he’d heard her asking about Seamus on his way by and wanted to hear if there was any news on his friend. Or maybe he hadn’t been listening at all, and she’d simply opened the door as he’d been on his way past.
She made her way downstairs and ate some cashew-milk ice cream out of the carton until Jake came in. “Hey, babe. Any luck?”
Stan shook her head, swallowing the rest of her food. “No Seamus McGees and no John Does. Other than a homeless guy.”
“Well, that’s good,” Jake said. “Don’t you think?”
He looked so hopeful. “Of course, it’s good,” she said. “Not finding someone in a hospital is always a good thing.” She paused as she heard the creak of the stairs. Kevin on his way back down from the bathroom.
Jake heard it too. “Our guest?”
Stan nodded.
“Everything okay?”
“I think so,” she said, linking arms with him. “Let’s go to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be busy.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Stan set her alarm for the crack of dawn Sunday morning. She wanted to be at the café early enough to bake a fresh assortment of treats. Early services at the churches around the green—a range of Baptist, Catholic, and Unitarian—let out around eight thirty. Plenty of time for them to go home, get their dogs, and head out for their morning coffee and pupcakes by nine thirty or so. Which meant she needed to be in the kitchen by eight. Plus, tonight was Christmas-tree night, so she had to be back early. And she wanted to stop by Char’s to see if her friend needed anything.
Plus, she needed to figure out what her new houseguest was up to. She wondered if he’d left, or if he was still sacked out on her couch.
She couldn’t imagine what Char was feeling right now. If Jake had been missing for nearly two days with no contact, she would’ve gone crazy by now. And they hadn’t even been together that long. With as many years as Ray and Char had in the same house, his absence must be like a sinkhole in the middle of the living room floor.
