Silver Linings, стр. 85

“Didn't see Silk last night in the Hellfire, come to think of it. Hang on a second.” Derek yelled across the room. “Ray, you seen Silk lately?”

“Not for a couple of days at least.”

Mattie felt herself getting increasingly tense. “Derek, listen, this is important. If you see Silk or Hugh, please ask them to call me or Charlotte Vailcourt immediately.”

“Right. I'll leave a message on Abbott's desk, and I'll take a note down to Silk's boat. I'll also let Bernard at the Hellfire know. That do?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Mattie hung up the phone and looked at Evangeline. “That man who broke in here said Hugh and Silk were headed for a trap.”

“Uh-huh.” Evangeline spread marmalade on a slice of toast. “Sure did, honey. What are you going to do?”

“I don't know. I can't reach Hugh. No one's seen him, but he should have gotten to St. Gabriel yesterday.”

“Could have had trouble with connections.”

“Not this much trouble.”

“No, guess not.”

“I'm worried, Evangeline.”

“Don't blame you. But I don't see what you can do except try to get word to Abbott that he might be walking into a setup of some kind.”

Mattie jumped to her feet. “I'm going out there.”

“St. Gabe?” Evangeline stared at her in amazement. “I don't know if that's such a good idea, honey.”

But Mattie was already heading for the closet where she kept her suitcase. “Something's wrong. I can feel it. I told Hugh he should have taken me with him. Damn it, I told him. He never listens to me.”

“So what else is new? Men never listen to women.”

“I've got to go out there and find him. There's a flight at six. If I hurry, I can just make it.” Mattie hauled the suitcase out and opened it on the floor. She went into the bathroom and started collecting her toiletries. “As it stands now, I know more than anyone else does about this whole mess, and I can't get the information to anyone who can help. So I'm going to go look for Hugh myself.”

“You think he'll appreciate that?”

“Probably not, knowing him. But he isn't here, is he? So there's nothing he can say about it.”

“You got a point.” Evangeline looked around. “I'll check into a motel or something.”

“You're more than welcome to stay here.” Mattie looked up suddenly. “Unless, uh, you're planning to go back to work?”

Evangeline grinned. “Don't worry, honey. I never work when I'm in the States. Too risky what with the cops and diseases and pimps with guns and everything else you folks have back here. Relax. When you return, your snow-white reputation will still be intact.”

Mattie grinned. “Pity.”

It started to rain just as Mattie's jet touched down on the St. Gabriel runway. She made the mad dash across the tarmac to the small terminal along with the rest of the handful of passengers who had been on board.

Inside the terminal building she paused briefly to try another phone call to Hugh's house and the office of Abbott Charters, but there was no answer at either place. Hoisting her suitcase, she went over to see about renting a car.

“You're Abbott's lady, ain't ya?” the man behind the counter asked, peering at her intently. “What are you doin' back here without Abbott? He still in the States?”

Mattie frowned as she picked up a pen to sign the brief contract. “You haven't seen him? He was supposed to be back here ahead of me.”

“Nope. Ain't seen hide nor hair of him. Course, he could've come through on the evening flight. I don't work evenings.”

“Yes. Maybe that was it.” She quickly signed her name and collected the keys.

It took her a few minutes to get the hang of the stick shift in the battered green Jeep, but Mattie eventually pulled out of the small parking lot and onto the main road into town.

In spite of her deep fears, she was amazed at how comfortingly familiar everything seemed. It was like coming home, she found herself thinking. But that made absolutely no sense. No sense at all.

She stopped briefly near the harbor to check Silk's boat for signs of occupancy. But there was no one on board the Griffin. Mattie hesitated and then stepped into the stern to check the paints and brushes that were sitting near the easel.

The brushes were not even damp. Silk had not been at work here recently.

On a hunch she went across the street to the Hellfire.

“Well, hello, Mattie,” Bernard said in obvious surprise from behind the bar. “What are you doing here? Where's Abbott?”

“You haven't seen him?”

Bernard shook his head. “Sorry. Derek said I was to have him call you if I saw him, but he hasn't been here. I thought he was in the States with you. Supposed to be on a short vacation or something.”

“He left three days ago. He should have been back here by now.”

“Unless he stopped off in Hawaii or one of the other islands to pick up some supplies or see some business contacts. He does that, you know. He has a lot of clients scattered all around out here.”

“I hadn't thought of that,” Mattie admitted. “But what about Silk?”

“Like I told Derek, Silk hasn't been keeping to his usual routine for the past few days. But I sort of figured that's 'cause Abbott left him in charge of his business, and Silk knows there'll be hell to pay if he tries to run Abbott Charters and drink at the same time.”

“Thanks, Bernard. If you see either of them, tell them I'm on the island. I'll be at Hugh's house.”

“Sure. You're finally ready to move out here, huh? Abbott said it wouldn't take long.”

Mattie wrinkled her nose but declined to respond. She got back into the Jeep. She fumbled with the gears again and headed along the island road toward Hugh's small beach cottage. She was not certain what to do next, but she told herself she felt a little better knowing she was on the scene and not sitting thousands