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“Who? Why?”
She appreciated the fact that he didn’t cast doubt on her statement. But she couldn’t fully answer his questions, at least, not yet. “I can’t say for sure,” she said vaguely. “A few strange things happened. There was a note under my door at the hotel. A waiter knocked a glass of orange juice out of my hand before I could drink it. He wouldn’t say anything, he just kept shaking his head at me. Then I saw atuk-tukfollowing me while I shopped for Christmas presents at the market. There were two men inside snapping photos. I left Thailand early and nothing like that has happened since then. So that’s my story.”
He absorbed her words as he sipped his coffee. “That’s definitely not the whole story. What aren’t you telling me?”
Plenty. But it didn’t really matter now, did it? “It’s just another one of my near-disasters,” she said lightly. “And hopefully I successfully outran it. I’m good at that.”
He scrutinized her with narrowed eyes. “Will you promise to tell me if you notice anything similar happening here?”
She gave a Boy Scout salute. “Absolutely. Now back to Kendra and the Blue Drake. What’s going on there?”
Maybe her partial confession about Thailand had worked, because he actually answered her question. Albeit, with another question. “How well do you know the Carter family?”
She startled at his tone, as if there was something suspicious about her father’s oldest friend. “Very well. Alvin’s my godfather. Kendra’s a little older than me, so she’s closer to my sister Carly. But she was always sweet to me. Why?”
“I want to meet them.”
Puzzled, she finished off the rest of her muffin. “It’s not hard to meet them. They’re always at the Blue Drake. Alvin’s a half-owner now, and Kendra’s managing it. Even though they’re closed until after the wedding, Kendra’s already been doing prep work.”
He gave a tight nod. “I haven’t seen Alvin.”
“Well, he’s probably taking a break. He and Ruth might be back in Arkansas for Christmas.”
“They’re not.” He winced, as if he’d revealed too much about his spying.
“Should I ask how you know that? Never mind. FBI agent. You know things, let’s just leave it at that.” She studied him for a long moment. “I can talk to Kendra and see if they’d be up for a visit. But you have to tell me what’s going on. I’m not going to bring someone to see my father’s oldest friend unless I know why.”
“Fair.” After another long pause, he got up to clear his plate away. “I gotta think about it.”
“Wait. After all that, you can’t even tell mewhyyou want to meet Alvin?” She jumped to her feet too. “Is he in some kind of trouble? Is this an official FBI thing?”
He shot her a look that might as well have been a load of bricks. She sat back down. “Of course not. I’m on vacation.” In the kitchenette, he washed his plate, while she admired the sight of such a large man handling a bright pink scrubby.
“Seems like a funny kind of vacation, hanging out in a tiny random town in Minnesota.”
“It’s not random. It’s an enchanting winter wonderland.”
His dry tone compared to his flowery words made her laugh. “I know you came because of Kirk, but I don’t think he needs you anymore. And you’re not actually working for me, remember?”
“That’s why it’s a vacation now.”
“Vacation, hm?” She wasn’t buying it. He didn’t seem like the “vacation” type. “Just out of curiosity, what was your last vacation before this one?”
He appeared to think about it. “I spent some time in a warm climate a few years ago.”
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Are you talking about Afghanistan? When you served with Kirk?”
He didn’t answer, which as far as she was concerned, was confirmation. “That is beyond tragic. Everyone needs to relax now and then.”
“Why?” He grabbed the frying pan. “Want any eggs before I wash this?”
“Don’t change the subject. What do you do to relax?”
He turned his focus to washing the frying pan. “Target practice can be very relaxing. Really focuses the mind.”
“You mean withguns? How can guns be relaxing? They’re…loud.” Not to mention potentially lethal.
“I also spar.”
