The dinner crowd had cleared out, and we were alone at the bar with Sammy, the bartender.
'What're you guys doing out so late?' Sammy said, as we sat down.
Logan grinned. 'Looking for a needle in a haystack.'
Sammy put Logan's Scotch in front of him and reached into the cooler for my Miller Lite. 'You trying to get laid again?'
Logan laughed. 'Go to hell, Sam. We're trying to find a missing girl. Matt's ex-wife's stepdaughter.'
Sam set my beer on a coaster. 'What's that all about?'
I told him about my conversation with Laura. 'Peggy was probably on one of the islands in this area, but we didn't have any luck on Anna Maria.'
'Got a picture?' Sam asked.
I showed it to him. 'Good looking girl,' he said, handing it back. 'I'd like to meet her.'
'Sam,' I said, 'she's young enough to be your daughter:'
Sam grinned. 'Everybody I date is young enough to be my daughter. Let me see that picture again.'
He took the photo to the back of the bar and held it under the light that hung above the mirror. 'You know,' he said, 'I think I did see her in here one night. She was with a group of people who sat at the high-top right behind you.'
'When?' I asked.
'A couple of weeks ago, maybe. There were five people, I think. One was an older guy, and there were two girls and two young men together. I assumed they were couples out with somebody's dad.'
'What else do you remember?' Logan asked.
'Not much,' Sam said. 'They seemed to be having a good time. The girls didn't have IDs and were drinking cranberry juice. The guys were old enough and were drinking mixed drinks. I don't remember what.'
'Stretch your brain,' I said. 'I need anything you can remember.'
'I'm not sure why, but for some reason I got the impression they were staying across the street at the Sea Club. You ought to talk to Chris, the manager. She'll know if they were there.'
CHAPTER FOUR
The Sea Club is a small condominium complex that rents by the day and week. It sprawls along a stretch of beach across from Pattigeorge's and hosts the same guests year after year. During the off-season, Longboat Key is a small place, and most of the year-round residents know each other. Chris and Bill, the husband and wife team who managed the resort, are friends of mine.
'Matt, how've you been?' said Chris, as I walked into the small airconditioned office the next morning.
'I'm fine, Chris. Kind of glad the season's about over.'
'I know what you mean. What can I do for you today?'
'A young woman named Peggy Timmons stayed here a couple of weeks ago. She's the daughter of a friend, and she's missing.'
Chris turned to her computer, stroked a few keys, and said, 'I don't have her in the system. Are you sure she stayed here?'
'Sam Lastinger over at Pattigeorge's said she did.'
I handed her a copy of the Peggy's picture.
'Sure,' said Chris. 'I remember her. But she was using a different name. Came here with a group of people. They took one of the two bedroom units.'
'How many people?'
'Five, total. I figured them for two couples and one older guy, maybe somebody's dad.'
'How long did they stay?'
She stroked the computer keyboard again.
'Three days,' she said.
'Names?'
'Matt, if it wasn't you, I wouldn't give these names out.'
'This is important, Chris. The girl is eighteen and her parents are worried sick.'
A few more strokes.
'Linda and Larry Olsen, Yvonne and Patrick Walsh, and Jake Yardley. That was the older guy. He paid for everything in cash.'
'Do you remember which name this girl used?' I asked, tapping the picture.
'No. Sorry.'
'Addresses?'
'Yeah, but they're probably as bogus as the names.'
'Got to check them out.'
'I guess so.'
She stroked the keyboard a few more times and the printer next to it came alive, spitting out a single sheet of paper.
'Here you go,' said Chris. 'The young people all have the same address in Athens, Georgia, and the older guy gave a Tampa address. The phone numbers are there too.'
'Thanks, Chris. You've been a big help.'
I left the office, stopping for a moment on the shell parking lot. The Gulf was turquoise and still, stretching to infinity. A lone pelican soared overhead, rising effortlessly on an air current, heading to the Gulf for breakfast. High cumulus clouds drifted lazily, and the smell of frying bacon rode the onshore breeze. I could almost hear it crackle in the quiet of the early morning.
This was truly a paradise. How could anything bad happen here? But bad things did happen in beautiful places, and we usually didn't see them coming.
There's a darkness lurking deep in the souls of us all. Our parents instill in us a modicum of civilized behavior and that usually keeps our baser instincts at bay. But sometimes that blackness seeps to the surface and a monster walks quietly among us. Because we are not attuned to evil, we don't see it rise up until it strikes us down without warning. I was afraid that Peggy Timmons had stumbled into the darkness and met the beast.
CHAPTER FIVE
I went home and called Laura in Atlanta. She confirmed that the address in Athens was the house in which Peggy had lived with her friends. The phone number was Peggy's cell. Laura had never heard any of the names I got from the Sea Club, and she couldn't imagine why Peggy would be with a man of Yardley's age. I told her I would keep looking and keep her posted.
I called the number in Tampa, not expecting much. A man answered.
'Is this Jake Yardley?' I asked.
'Yes.'
I was surprised. I didn't expect to get a working number, much less Jake Yardley.
'Mr. Yardley, my name is Matt Royal. I live on Longboat Key. Were you here about three weeks ago?'
'Yes. Why do you ask?'
'Did you stay at the Sea Club?'
'Yes. Who are you?' He had a southwestern accent, probably Texas.
'I'm sorry, sir. I'm trying to find a young lady who has disappeared. I've heard that you were with two young couples at the Sea Club.'
'I was. What's the missing girl's name?'
'Peggy Timmons.'
'Don't know her.'
