Gone The Next by Ben Rehder Read Free Book Online Page A

Lafite Rothschild Pauillac. Bring the whole bottle. I’m celebrating my expulsion from the priesthood.”
    She knitted her brow for a second. Grinned just a little.
    I said, “No? Okay, let’s go with iced tea, please.”
    She handed me a menu and came back a few minutes later with a large plastic tumbler full of tea. “Have you decided?”
    I was still looking at the menu. “How are the migas?”
    “Really good. They taste a lot like eggs.”
    I like a waitress with a sense of humor. “That’s what I’ll have, then.”
    She started to write on her little pad. Now that I was getting a longer look, I could tell that she was in her late twenties or maybe even early thirties.
    “With or without chorizo?” she asked.
    “Don’t be ridiculous. With.”
    “Cheese?”
    “Please.”
    “Refried beans?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Tortillas?”
    “Of course.”
    “Flour or corn?”
    “Both.”
    “Potatoes?”
    “You bet.”
    “Salsa?”
    “No, I’m watching my figure.”
    “I’ll have that right out.”
    While she was gone, I pulled out my cell phone and checked the news on the Internet. Still nothing new about Tracy Turner or her parents. No emails for me. No texts. Fine. I had other things to do.
    About seven minutes later, the lovely Jessica returned with a large platter of food. It smelled great. Then she refilled my tea and said, “Anything else I can get you right now?”
    “Yeah, I was wondering — is Brian Pierce working today?”
    “No, he hasn’t been in for about a week.”
    “Vacation?”
    “No, he hurt his arm.”
    “Bummer. Please tell me it didn’t involve some sort of high-powered kitchen implement.”
    “No, he slipped on a wet floor, I think. I wasn’t here.”
    “Did he break it?”
    “What, the floor?”
    I laughed. I liked this girl.
    She said, “I think he tore the ligaments or something.”
    “Oh, well. Guess I’ll catch him next time. Haven’t seen him in like forever.”
    “How do you know Brian?”
    “We went to the same high school.” I could see her checking me out, looking slightly puzzled, wondering why, if I was the same age as Pierce, I looked ten years older. “I was several years ahead of him, though. He hung around with my youngest brother.”
    “Oh, yeah?”
    “I saw on Facebook that he worked here, so I thought I’d drop by and see if he was around. Surprise him, if he even remembers me. No big deal.” I tried to get an amused, sort of gossipy look on my face — one that said: This is just between you and me. “How did ol’ Brian turn out, anyway? He was sort of a strange little kid.”
    She grinned. “I don’t really know him that well.”
    “Yeah? But you’re smiling. Is he like a major loser or something?”
    Her grin got even larger, though I could tell she was trying to suppress it. “That’s mean. Brian is fine.”
    “Big hit with the ladies? You and him are an item?”
    “No!” Boy, did she say that quickly.
    “Well, I guess that answers my question.”
    “No, Brian is just a little quiet, that’s all.”
    “You mean creepy.”
    “I didn’t say that.” She was keeping her voice low, glancing around, worried about being overheard.
    “So, deep down, he’s a rock-solid, salt-of-the-earth type, huh?”
    “You got me. He’s a good dishwasher.”
    “Wow. A good dishwasher. High praise. So he is absolutely, without question, not creepy?”
    She squinted her eyes at me, playful, like, Why are you trying to get me in trouble? “I’ll be back to check on you later,” she said.
    She was true to her word, and when she returned, midway through my meal, I changed courses. “Listen. I wasn’t totally honest with you earlier.”
    “Oh, yeah? About what?”
    I handed her one of my cards. “I’ve never met Brian Pierce in my life. I’m a fraud investigator. Kind of. I was hired by the restaurant’s insurance company to double-check on him. To make sure he really did injure his arm.”
    It was a gamble — she might get pissed that