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“Great, that’s down the middle there.” He points us in the right direction, then turns his attention back to the thick ledger on the desk, brow furrowed in concentration.
“Cool, thanks,” King grumbles before ducking into the center aisle.
Trailing my hand over the packaged foods, I pluck a bag of salt-and-vinegar chips from the shelf. King adds some cheese puffs and a package of beef jerky; then we move to the next row.
Household goods. Nothing we need here. We march up and down every aisle systematically, killing time, picking up things here and there.
“Damn, maybe we should have gotten a basket.” An apple escapes, bouncing on the wood floor and tumbling down the aisle. The thump echoes through the quiet store, and the cashier appears at the end of the row, holding a green basket.
“Thought y’all could use this.” He holds the basket out to me, and I drop everything in, then take the basket from him.
“Thanks.” I shoot him a grateful smile. King squares his shoulders next to me, scooting in closer and taking the basket from me.
“No problem. You staying through Peach Fest? That’s a big haul there.” He eyes the overflowing basket.
“No, don’t think so. We got into town late last night, though. Kind of a last-minute trip.” King shoves a hand in his pocket.
“Too bad. It’s always a good time. Where y’all visiting from?”
“Seaglass Beach.” I try to sound bright and friendly—the opposite of King.
“Where’s that? Florida?”
Interesting. Probably not a sibling of Lacey’s then. Chances are she would have told her brother about reaching out to her birth mother.
“East Coast, north of Daytona. Kinda sleepy, but a nice spot.” I drag my finger through the air like I’m drawing a straight line from north to south on an invisible map.
“I’ll have to check it out. I’m Liam, by the way. Liam McCauliffe. If you need anything else, give me a shout.” He walks away, and King’s shoulders slump.
“Now what?” I whisper as soon as Liam’s out of earshot.
King shrugs. “No idea. I should’ve sent Rome up here. He’s a lot better at this shit than I am.”
I squeeze his forearm, his muscles as strong as steel beneath the skin. “Hey, I think we’re doing great. We at least talked to her extended family. They all have to be related somehow.”
He presses his lips together in a tight line. “I suppose. Seems like we should have more info by now.”
“We’ve been here less than twenty-four hours. This has been buried for how many years? Give yourself some grace.”
Sighing, he doesn’t say anything, and I’m not sure my pep talk was all that effective.
“We better check out before Liam gets suspicious.” I jerk my head in the direction of the register.
“Fine.”
We head to the register with our bounty, setting the basket down on the counter. King unpacks the groceries, Liam ringing up each item. Then King slides his credit card through the reader.
“Here’s the receipt. Y’all have a great trip, and if you need anything, we’ll be here!”
“Thanks.” I shoot him another wide smile, and we walk out of the store, carrying all the groceries to the truck.
“That wasn’t particularly fruitful,” King grumbles, shoving the paper bags into the back seat.
“At least we have enough snacks for the next few weeks.”
“That’s true. I won’t have to shop for a while.”
“Let’s walk up and down Main Street, see what we can see.”
