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“Marten has mentioned this friend before, and why would he warn me about unsavory characters searching for Marten if he were an unsavory character?”
“Maybe to gain your trust. Does this Joost know who these people are?”
She wrote an address on the back of the napkin. “Nope, just that they’re pretty shady looking.”
“Joost...” He stopped and scratched his chin. “What kinda name is Joost, anyway?”
“He’s Dutch, like Marten. Has a very slight accent.”
“So... Joost didn’t think there was anything strange about Marten not returning to his place?”
“Marten warned him that he might be taking off at any time and told him if he did, he was supposed to call me.”
“And tell you what?”
“That he wants me to pick up whatever Marten left behind.” Hailey’s gaze had locked onto her crumpled fortune on the table. “Joost wants me to come by and get Marten’s stuff.”
“From your side of the conversation, I gather you’re going to pick it up now at Joost’s place?”
“Of course. Whatever Marten left for me might contain a clue or something as to what he was doing here and why he wanted to see me.”
“You’re not going alone.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the plate-glass windows overlooking the chaos of Chinatown. “There still might be someone following you, although I kept a close watch on the way over here.”
She put a hand over her mouth. “You were watching to see if we had a tail? I didn’t even notice. Why didn’t you let me in on it?”
“And make it obvious that I was on the lookout? We weren’t followed here, and we’re not going to be followed to Joost’s.” He gulped down some water and put the glass on top of the fortune that had spooked Hailey. “Where does he live and how do we get there?”
“He’s in the Sunset District. We’ll need a car to get there.” Hailey picked up the bag containing their leftover food and swung it from her fingers. “I suppose I can’t lug this around the city.”
“We can have the car make a stop at your place and put it in the fridge. Then we can pick up your car at the same time.”
“That’s okay. I don’t want to drive over, and I know how to make good use of the food without throwing it away.” She pointed to the cell phone in his hand. “You want to order a car on that app? Have him pick us up two blocks down so he doesn’t have to drive into this mess.”
“Sure.” While he tapped his phone, Hailey spoke with Lottie and put something in the bag with the food.
On the way out the door, Joe waved to Lottie, who gave him a secret smile. She had planted that fortune, and he just might follow its advice.
They meandered down the sidewalk, their pace slowed by the tourists ducking in and out of the shops and restaurants that lined the streets.
When they reached the end of Chinatown, Hailey tapped his arm. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.”
He watched her walk, her long stride eating up the pavement beneath her feet, the plastic bag banging against her leg. When she reached a small park, she cut in toward a set of benches where a couple of homeless guys were lounging. She held out the bag to the man on the first bench, said a few words and spun around, heading back toward him.
Joe mumbled under his breath, “Do-gooder.”
Hailey reached him seconds before their car pulled up to the curb. He got the door for her, and as she slid onto the back seat, he asked, “Do you do that often?”
“Give my leftovers to the homeless? When it’s convenient for me to do so, like today.”
“Yeah, right. Don’t downplay your charitable heart.” He squeezed her knee. “I told you, I’m impressed as hell.”
The driver twisted his head over his shoulder. “How are you folks doing today? Sunset?”
“Yes.” Hailey pulled the napkin from her pocket and rattled off Joost’s address. Then she turned to Joe. “I hope he’s there before we are. He was on his way home.”
“We’ll wait for him outside. At least it’s not raining.”
The driver sped up and down the hilly streets until they reached wider roads with more suburban-type housing.
