Page 99 of Night Hawk
“But not Sheldon.”
“No, not Sheldon.”
She headed for the door. On the sidewalk, she looked at Drake. “What do you make of that?”
“I think we should get back to the hotel and start looking for a Sharkey who’s related to Sheldon with a name that starts with S.”
24
The room had a kitchenette and balcony, but Toni cringed at the worn comforter with a wavy beach pattern. She set her bag on the luggage rack and unlocked the adjoining door for Drake before sitting on the bed to dial the front desk.
Joy answered on the third ring.
“It’s Toni Long,” she said. “I wondered if you knew of another Sharkey in the area.”
“Might’ve been, but Sheldon didn’t say much.”
“You talked to him?”
“Found him sleeping near our pool. I fed him breakfast and politely asked him to move on. That’s when I learned his name. He was on some elite military team that saw conflict at that time. He said he came here because the beach erased the memories from his service. Was the only place he could sleep, and he didn’t have the money to stay anywhere.”
She paused to draw in a deep breath. “I asked if he had family around, and he shook his head sadly then got up and left. I saw him around the beach after that, but never at our hotel again. I took him food sometimes. I didn’t like to encourage vagrancy, but the guy seemed down on his luck. ‘Course I never went near him at night. He was a trained killer, after all. I’ll ask Earl if he knows another Sharkey and give you a call if he does.”
“Thanks, Joy.” Toni hung up and heard voices in the other room.
“You have adjoining rooms?” Clay’s voice rose. “What’s the point of that?”
“So we can work the investigation together, and I can make sure Toni’s safe,” Drake said. “Why are you here?”
“To update you on the things Trent authorized me to share. He doesn’t have any leads on Hibbard’s location, so he’s issuing a public appeal today. This could put Hibbard on the move or make him take defensive actions. Means Toni could be in danger and you need to be extra vigilant on her safety.”
“Good to know,” Drake said.
“Also, they identified the body at the school,” Clay said. “It’s Naomi Dawson, a runaway from Portland. Trent will make this public today too. What he won’t say is that she’s in the pictures we found at Rader’s house and the photos from Sharkey’s place.”
Toni jotted down the information and noted the additional connections between Rader, Sharkey, and Hibbard.
“Thanks for the update,” Drake said.
“You two finding anything out?” Clay asked.
“Not much,” Drake said. “But we’ve got a few leads that I really need to move on so…”
“I get it. Move on.” Clay sounded disappointed. “Tell Toni I’m thinking about her.”
“Sure.”
She heard footsteps then Drake’s door opened and closed. Drake came to the connecting door, his computer under his arm. “I suppose you heard all of that.”
She nodded.
“Clay’s really down.”
“Yeah, sounded like it. I’ve forgiven him, but I’m not ready to talk to him. The hurt is still lingering, and it’ll take some time to go away.”
“I get that.” Drake dropped onto one of the chairs by a small dining table.
“On his news, I have to believe Rader, Hibbard, and Sharkey were all in cahoots until Sharkey killed Rader. Maybe he killed Hibbard too, and that’s why there’s no sign of him.”
