“I’ll be right back to take your orders.” She hurried away.
They looked over the menus and when she returned with their drinks, ordered. As soon as she left, a man came over and pulled up a chair.
“I understand you want to talk to me,” he said sitting down. “Your waitress said you are the reporter from Altoona, the one who got stabbed.”
“Wow. She deduced that,” Quinn said.
“You are still wearing the hospital ID bracelet.” He pointed out.
“Oh.” She covered it up with her hand. “I was hoping you may have gotten a good look at the three guys that kept sitting in Heather Randall’s section the nights they returned, and if the Lewistown police didn’t give a detailed description of them to a sketch artist if you could tell us if this might have been one of them?”
Grimm showed him the photo he’d taken of Cliff Beamer.
“Yeah, that’s one of them. Why?” the owner asked.
“He dated the other two women who went missing that I’ve been writing about and even though he didn’t date Heather, this gives him a connection to her,” Quinn explained.
“Have you spoken to her parents?” the owner asked.
“I have, and her dad wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. In fact, he wanted me to leave them alone. Her mother, on the other hand, tried to persuade him to listen to me.”
“That’s too bad. If it were my daughter, I’d want to know this fact. Should we call the Lewistown PD and let them know we have an identification of one of the guys?” he said.
“No. We’ll deal with the Altoona detective on this one. The guy is from there. After the reception we’ve received after Quinn’s stabbing, we aren’t going to get too far with Lewistown.”
“That’s too bad,” the owner said. “I’m sorry to hear that.
“We haven’t gotten too far with Altoona either,” Quinn said, “except this detective seems to have taken an interest in my case. The guy in question is from a politically tied family, and we believe that has something to do with it. But that doesn’t mean that if he is guilty he shouldn’t be held responsible.”
“Agreed, the owner said, getting up from his chair as the waitress arrived with their food. “Enjoy your meal. Mandy will take good care of you.”
“Thanks,” Quinn said as he put the chair back at the table next to theirs.
Mandy set the plates in front of them. “Can I get you anything else?”
“It looks wonderful,” Grimm said.
“Maybe a to-go box, but I will let you know that when you return.”
The waitress laughed. “Okay.”
Quinn started eating, but Grimm waited until he said his peace. “You went against me and spoke to the owner anyway,” he said.
She looked up from her plate with her mouth full. A slow nod was her response.
“I should walk out of here and leave you for lack of respect. That’s no way to treat your partner.”
She chewed quickly and swallowed. Her voice came out as a squeak when she said, “Partner?”
“Yes, we’ve been working as a team on this. The two of us since I arrived. I’ve respected your wishes and while what you did gained us the info we needed; it also went against the doctor’s orders.”
“I’m sorry. I’m used to doing what I want when I want it.”
“That’s not how it works in a partnership, especially a relationship, and if you want to have one with someone you have to learn that.”
“Do you want one with me?” she asked.
“I’m not sure you’re ready for one.”
