"I'm writing a book.Small coastal towns, local history, that kind of thing."
"Uh-huh."The bartender set down her drink."I'm Nadine."
"Holly."
They shook hands.Nadine's grip was firm, her eyes sharp.
"Where are you staying?"
"Sarge's.One of the bungalows."
"Good choice.Sarge doesn't ask questions."
Nadine let that sit for a moment, polishing a glass, before adding: "Not everyone around here is so discreet."
"So who should I talk to?"Harper wrapped her hands around her glass."For the book.Who knows the most about this town?"
"Depends on what you want to know."Nadine leaned against the bar."History, you go to the library.Gossip, you come here.Business, politics, the way things really work—" She paused."That's harder."
"Why harder?"
"Because people who know things don't always want to share.And people who share don't always know what they're talking about."
"That's true everywhere."
"It's more true here."Nadine picked up a glass and started polishing."Blossom Springs looks sweet.Cute downtown, nice beach, friendly folks.But every place has layers.Things that don't show up in the brochures."
Harper kept her face neutral."What kind of layers?"
Nadine held her gaze for a long moment.Her polishing hand slowed.
"The kind that bite if you dig too deep."She set down the glass."You want another?"
"I'm fine."
"Mm."Nadine moved down the bar, conversation over.
Harper sipped her club soda and watched the street through the window.A man in paint-spattered jeans walked past—the same man from the bakery this morning.A woman with a stroller paused to check her phone.Normal.Ordinary.
Then the door opened behind her.
She didn't turn.She watched the mirror behind the bar instead, tracking the reflection as a man stepped inside.Older, maybe sixty, with silver hair and a tan that spoke of golf courses and boat decks.He wore a pale blue linen shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, and he moved like someone who expected the room to notice him.
He paused at the hostess stand.Scanned the room with the easy confidence of a man who owned things.
His gaze found her.Passed over.Came back.
Two seconds.Maybe three.Long enough to file her face away.
Harper's fingers tightened on her glass.She forced herself to look away first.To pull out her phone as if she had just remembered something.To be boring.Forgettable.Not worth a second glance.
When she looked up again, he was gone.Seated somewhere behind her, out of her line of sight.
"Nadine."Harper kept her voice light."Who was that?"
Nadine glanced toward the dining room."Harrison Montgomery.He owns half the light fixtures in Florida.Lives here part of the year."
"Important guy?"
