“You sound pretty confident about that.” I narrowed my eyes. “You must have worked here a while. Were you here last summer?”
He laughed. “Seriously? After what I just said?”
“You gave me no reason to be afraid of the question.” My tone was serious, but I let the teasing show in my expression. “Come on. I won’t tell anyone. Just… did you? You did, didn’t you? Work here.”
He laughed again, shaking his head. “Shit. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Let me see the picture.” He looked around once more before taking it from me. After only a second of studying it, he returned it. “That’s Ms. Pries.”
“Yes! Yes, that’s her!” It was surprising how overcome I was just by the simple sound of her name. How happy I was to find someone who had, so far, only verified that Amber had been there. A fact that wasn’t at all new to me. “So you knew her?”
“I knew of her. Everyone knew of her. Never talked to her or anything, but I saw her around.”
“Okay, okay.” I was too excited to think. “Do you know anyone who did talk to her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone at the spa. I heard she was there a lot. But no one’s going to tell you shit there, so don’t bother.”
I made a mental note to book a massage and admonished myself for not thinking of that already. “Do you know when she left?” He was shaking his head again so I encouraged him. “A ballpark time frame. The season. Anything.”
His knee bounced as he considered. “She left in June maybe. Probably. Same time as Sallis did. Before you ask, no, I don’t know where they went. Sallis didn’t come back here until Halloween.”
“With her?”
Another head shake. “Alone.”
I bit my lip. “And you don’t have any idea where he went? No guesses?”
“You don’t give up, do you?” He laughed again. “I honestly don’t know. Doesn’t Sallis have a home somewhere? Maybe there. Or another resort. I’m sure he stays in some of his other places throughout the year like he does here.”
There were nearly a hundred Sallis resorts around the world. Saying he could be at any one of them provided no help. “Who would know what his schedule is?”
“Beats the shit out of me. And probably not a good idea to go asking around about that either.”
“Well, thank you. I appreciate this.” I fished in my bag for my wallet and pushed a hundred toward him.
He waved my bill away. “No way. It was bad enough I was saying things I shouldn’t say. I don’t want to be accused of taking money for it. I’d rather have my excuse be that I was dazzled by a beautiful woman.”
“You flatter me.” Part of me wished I could be charmed so easily. Wished I could be charmed at all by someone like him.
“Nah. I still think you’re crazy.” He hesitated. “But if you’re into a crazy good time, come by here when I get off work at seven. I’m Greg, by the way.”
“Trish.” I didn’t shake his hand. And I wouldn’t meet him. I’d gotten everything I wanted from him already. But he’d been helpful so I said, “I’ll consider it. Greg.”
I wondered if he would have asked me out or been as forthcoming if he’d known I’d been on a date with his boss just two nights before. Did that put me in the unspoken category of untouchable? I decided it was best not to ask.
I sat back on the deck chair and considered my next move for several minutes after Greg left. According to him, there wasn’t any reason to continue my interviews of the resort staff since they wouldn’t tell me anything. Of course, he’d still given me information even after he’d said asking anyone was pointless. Which meant that I might still have a chance to learn something. If I got lucky. Or if I played my part well.
Either way, I was too tired to keep at it that day. A growl of my stomach led me to La Cabana, the poolside cantina. Not wanting to wait for table service, I settled at a counter seat and ordered chicken street tacos and a glass of Sauvignon blanc from the bartender – Lucy, according to her name tag. I kept the wig on, but took off my hat, careful not to disturb the piece underneath, and set it on the counter. While I waited to be served, I pulled out my cell phone from my purse and looked up the number for the resort spa. By the time Lucy returned with my food, I had an appointment at ten the next morning for a massage.
As I ate, I realized that though speaking with Greg felt satisfying, I really hadn’t learned anything useful. I knew before he’d told me that Amber had been at the resort the previous summer. Now, I supposed, I knew she was gone by the end of June. Maybe. Probably. He’d also told me that by Halloween she was no longer with Reeve. But I’d already guessed that because of the picture from September that showed Reeve with another woman. Actually, the most interesting thing I’d discovered from the conversation was that at least some of Reeve’s staff believed that he wouldn’t want them talking about him.
And that information was definitely not helpful.
Sighing, I pushed away the remainder of my tacos and laid my head on the counter.
“Looks like you need a refill,” Lucy said.
I followed her eyes to my empty wineglass. “Yeah. I think one more.”
“I’ll have to open up a new bottle. Give me just a minute.”
She left and I propped my head up with my elbow and dazed absentmindedly at the wall only a handful of feet away from me. One section of it was covered in framed pictures, a variety of sizes. As I continued to stare, I realized the pictures were of people, sort of like the display found in the home of a grandparent, not a bar. Intrigued, I rose to check it out more closely.