Page 54 of K-9 in Pursuit

The question startled Chloe. She stared at Brian, but he kept his gaze on the bartender, his face calm.

“You mean the one they found in our alley?” the bartender asked.

Chloe pressed her hand to her stomach, trying to quell a sudden queasiness. “This was where Sharee was found?” she whispered.

“Right out there.” The bartender pointed to their left. “It was horrible. Cops all over the place, crime scene tape, the whole bit. But I didn’t know her.”

“I thought you might have seen her hanging around,” Brian said. “She liked to come down here late at night and walk around, alone. One of the servers at Murphy’s told me he remembered seeing her.”

A white-aproned server with a face like a bull dog’s had been standing at the end of the bar, waiting on an order. He moved closer. “You’re talking about that girl who was murdered, right?” he asked.

“Sharee Anderson,” Brian said.

“Oh yeah,” the server said. “I saw her around here a few times. A girl alone down here that time of night got my attention, for sure. But she never seemed scared of anything. I even saw her the night she was killed.”

“Where?” Chloe asked, leaning across Brian.

“The parking lot next door.” He nodded to their right. “Behind the ice cream place? She was with another woman.”

“A young woman?” Brian asked.

“No, this was an older woman. Maybe old enough to be her mother even. They were talking quietly. Later, when I heard what happened, I thought maybe the woman had stopped to warn her off wandering around alone. She struck me as the motherly type.”

“What did this other woman look like?”

“I didn’t really get a clear look at her. Short. Not as thin as Sharee. She had on a dark coat and a knit cap pulled down, and a scarf around her neck. It was really cold that night, I remember.” He shrugged. “The way she was dressed and everything—she looked like somebody’s mom.”

“Did you tell the sheriff about this?” Chloe asked.

“If they had come around asking, I would have said something, but they never did. And it was just some woman. She and Sharee weren’t arguing or anything. While I was standing there, having a last smoke before I headed home, the older woman walked away.”

The bartender returned with a pitcher of margaritas and the server took it. Chloe leaned into Brian. “What was all that about?” she whispered.

“I talked to a guy on the mountain today. He was hurt while skiing and had to be transported to the clinic. He recognized me from the news reports and told me he works at Murphy’s and had seen Sharee by herself around here late at night.”

She glanced around them. “Did you know this was where Sharee was found?”

He shifted on the bar stool. “I had an idea. I had heard she was in an alley near a pizzeria. I’m sorry if that upsets you.”

“Her death upsets me, but being here doesn’t change that. And you had good instincts, thinking someone here might have seen her. But what was she doing? Was she waiting for someone?”

“The guy I talked to today—Cary—didn’t think so. She told him she liked being out late, with no one around.”

“So instead of on a date with a guy she’d picked up, she was by herself?”

“Sounds like it.”

Unexpected pain bloomed at the idea of her little sister, alone in the darkness, preferring to walk empty streets rather than return home. Had Chloe been so unwelcoming? Sharee had always seemed so bold—pushing her away even. Yet now, she realized how hard it must have been for Sharee to come here, where she knew no one and didn’t even have the distraction of school. Why hadn’t Chloe recognized that and done more to help her?

“Hey, whatever you’re thinking, this isn’t your fault.” Brian passed her a napkin. “Sharee did a good job of making everyone think she didn’t want them interfering.”

She nodded and dabbed at the tears. The server delivered their pizzas. “I’m not hungry,” she admitted.

“Try to eat something.” Brian picked up a slice. “We’ll take the rest back to the shop. We might want a snack later.”

She took a bite of pizza, but hardly tasted it. The undertow of grief threatened to pull her down. She missed her sister, but even more, she missed the chance to make things right between them.

Chapter Sixteen