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Rusty had spotted the man with the camera over fifteen minutes earlier and thought he looked familiar. Then as she got closer, she recognized Vanzant from the photo in his file. At that point she began following him from the other side of the street, and the first thing that struck her was that he was on the hunt. He was leaning slightly forward as he walked, with both hands on the camera hanging from around his neck. Every now and then he would pretend to pause to take a photo of some building, when she knew it was actually of the person in front of the building. The fact that they were all young, attractive women was not lost on her, either.
Then she saw a beautiful, dark-haired girl walking toward him and made a bet with herself that he’d snap a picture of her, too. When he did, she grabbed her phone and began videotaping him until he’d passed her. Then Rusty ducked into a store before he spotted her.
She paused in a corner of the store to view the video she’d just taken. It made the skin crawl on the back of her neck. If girls had been going missing from Jubilee, and Vanzant was in town taking pictures of young women he didn’t know, then Special Agents Howard and Pickard’s suspicions were right. He might be part of the reason for the women’s disappearance.
She glanced at the time. It was nearly noon. Time for her to get back to the inn and send this info to Frankfort, then play nice with her family for a while. So she slipped out of the shop and returned to where she’d parked. Knowing there was a predator in Jubilee made her antsy enough to keep looking over her shoulder until she was in the car. Then she sent a text to her Aunt Pat to let her know she was on her way back.
***
Kevin Vanzant was tired and hungry. He’d stopped in at the Ragin’ Cajun for a bowl of gumbo and a basket of shrimp before going back to the campground, but his timing was off. It was noon, and the place was packed when he walked in. There were people in the lobby waiting to be seated, and he was debating about going somewhere else when he heard someone call out his name. He looked across the dining area and saw Leslie Morgan wave at him and point to the empty chair at her table.
Grateful for the offer, he told the hostess he was joining his friend, so she led him across the dining room and put a menu at his chair.
“Hey, Leslie,” Kevin said as he shed his coat and camera and sat down in a chair beside her.
“Hi, you,” Leslie said.
“Your waiter will be with you shortly,” the hostess said, and walked away.
“Thanks for the seat,” Kevin said. “I was too hungry to leave town without getting something to eat.”
Leslie smiled. “Happy to share the space, and it’s good to see you. I haven’t heard from you in a while. Guessed you were busy.”
“And you would have been right,” Kevin said. “Trying to wind everything up. How’s the cat and dog business?”
She grinned. “Scratchy and barky.”
Kevin chuckled, and when the waiter swung by, he gave his order.
A short while later, Leslie’s food came.
“Don’t wait on me,” Kevin said. “Eat while it’s hot. You have to get back to work, and I’m on my own time clock.”
Leslie picked up her sandwich and took a bite. “Umm, I’ve been thinking about this all morning. Shrimp po’boys are the best.”
They talked as she ate, and when his food came, they spent more time eating than talking. They were almost finished when Leslie’s phone signaled a text.
She glanced down, checked the message, and then sighed. “Gotta go. Emergency coming in. Great seeing you,” she said, and left money on the table for her tab and tip.
“Oh. Yeah, sure. Take care,” Kevin said, and watched her go, then finished up his meal and headed back to camp.
***
Rusty got back just in time to have lunch with the family. While she was poking around in Jubilee, she’d purchased presents for them from different shops. Homemade fudge for Uncle Ray, a jar of local honey for the breakfast table, and bars of handmade soaps for Pat and Liz. They were surprisingly pleased by her choices, which made her happy, and when they opened the box of fudge and passed it around the table in lieu of a dessert from their chef’s kitchen, she sampled a piece, too.
“Ooh, this is good. Really creamy,” Rusty said. “It reminds me of the fudge my mother used to make at the holidays.”
“It’s wonderful,” Patricia said.
“It’s going right on my hips,” Liz drawled, and licked her fingers. “What’s on your agenda for this afternoon?”
“I’ll be in my suite for a while. I need to check in at the office,” Rusty said.
“I have a hair appointment this afternoon,” Patricia said.
“And I’m getting a mani-pedi,” Liz added.
Ray grabbed a second piece of fudge. “And I’m going back to the office. Thank you for the goodies, Rusty.”
