Page 109 of The Newcomer
Letty bit her lower lip. “So you really think that was Rooney? And he’s watching me—and Maya?”
“Now that we know what we do about Chuck, I’m afraid it’s safe to assume that Rooney could be in the area,” Joe said.
“Here’s a thought,” Letty said. “The Surf is part of a LISTSERV of motels and hotels from Clearwater south to St. Pete Beach. Managers put out advisories and alerts, you know, like if they want to warn the other motels about someone stealing from cars, or whatever. I can post a message to the list with Rooney’s photo, asking people to contact you if he’s staying there or if he’s spotted.”
“Perfect,” Joe said. “I’ll email you the photo with the beard drawn on. I’d forgotten about the LISTSERV. The good news is, Rooney probably won’t come near the Murmuring Surf. Too many people know him here. Still, it’d be best if you don’t leave again without letting one of us know where you’re going.”
Ava emerged from the back office area with her car keys in hand. “Yes, please. I don’t need another panic like we experienced this morning. I’m off for now.”
Isabelle and Maya pushed through the office door. “Letty, Letty!” Maya cried. “We found Midnight’s kittens.”
“Where were they?” Ava asked.
“You know that big concrete pipe, at the edge of the parking lot?” Isabelle asked.
“That old drainage culvert?” Joe asked.
“Whatever you call it. Yeah. It’s full of a lot of old weeds and trash and stuff, and she made herself like a little nest in there. Maya heard them mewing just now when we were getting my book bag out of my car and we followed the sound to that pipe.”
“Four little kitties,” Maya reported, holding up four fingers. “I want a kitten, Letty.”
Letty knelt down beside her niece. “Those kittens need theirmama right now. Midnight is feeding them and taking care of them, so we can’t take them away from her. They’re her kittens, not ours.”
“I would feed my kitten,” Maya protested. “And I would take care of it and it could sleep in my bed with me.”
“I’m afraid not,” Letty said, shaking her head. “It’s Midnight’s job to take care of her babies. Just like it’s my job to take care of you. Besides, Miss Ava doesn’t allow pets in the motel, do you, Miss Ava?”
“She doesn’t,” Isabelle volunteered. “My whole life I’ve wanted a dog, and my whole life she’s said pets don’t belong at motels.” She glared at Ava. “Super unfair.”
Maya’s lower lip began to tremble. “But I waaaaaant a kitten!”
Letty tried to put her arms around her niece, but Maya pushed her away. “No! I don’t like you, Letty. I want my mama to take care of me. Not you.”
“Maya!” Ava said. “That’s not very nice.”
Isabelle sat down on the floor and pulled Maya onto her lap. “Letty’s right, Maya Papaya. We can’t take those kittens away from Midnight, or they might die.”
Letty winced at the teenager’s reasoning, but Maya’s deep blue eyes widened at the mention of death. “Do kittens go to heaven when they die? Like my mama?”
“I don’t know,” Isabelle replied. “But if heaven is where everyone is happy, then yeah, I bet there are kittens and puppies and all kinds of animals in heaven with the people we love.”
“Oh. But I still want a kitten now.”
“Someday,” Letty said. As soon as she made the vague promise she recognized it as the same lame response her own mother gave over the years whenever she and Tanya begged for a pet, or a house with a real yard, or a trip to the beach. “Someday.”
She stood up and dusted off the seat of her shorts. “Someday,” she said, “I promise we will have a house of our own and you will have a pet. But in the meantime, you and Isabelle could help Midnight by putting out some extra cat food for her, couldn’t they, Miss Ava?”
Ava sighed. “That cat’s supposed to be earning her keep chasing rats away from the dumpster. But I guess I could pick up a bag of food when I go to the store.”
ThePublix bag “boy” leaning against the shopping-cart corral and taking a smoke break was a wizened seventy-something white man dressed in a green apron and wrinkled khaki pants. His name badge saidTOMMY. He looked down at the photo Joe offered and nodded.
“I think he’s been in here a couple times lately. He kinda stands out, ya know, dressed like that?”
“Like what?”
“Black shirt and black pants and the ball cap and beard. He reminded me of Zorro.”
“Did you ever see what kind of car he was driving?”
