Free Down Among the Dead Men (Entangled Ignite) by Claire Baxter Page B

noticed any other food going missing?”
    “No.” Max chewed on her bottom lip. “But I haven’t really thought about it. I just eat what’s there.”
    “We’ll have to pay more attention to that from now on as well.”
    “Okay.” Max scraped back her chair. “When you get a chance, you’ll have to drive the tow truck so we can fetch the Valiant.”
    “Sure. By the way, Dale wants you to babysit tomorrow for the whole day.”
    Max did a double-take. “All day?”
    “Yes, we’re going to Coober Pedy, following a lead about Chet.”
    “Okay. That’s cool.”
    Caitlyn watched her go. Max did a good job of pretending not to be scared, but there was no way she could be as unaffected as she seemed.
    …
    On Wednesday morning, Dale collected Max and took her back to his house, then returned to pick up Caitlyn. When she was in the truck, he opened his canvas bag and removed a small bottle. “For your eyes,” he said, holding it out to her.
    “Eye drops? That’s really thoughtful.” Smiling, she took the bottle, grateful for the offered relief. Her eyes weren’t as painful as they had been, but they were still painful.
    “Hey, no problem. I know what it’s like. I used to wear lenses myself, but I find glasses more practical out here in the dusty environment.” He glanced across at her. “If you want music, it’s old school. You’ll have to find a CD.”
    She opened the glove box and sorted through dozens of CDs.
    “Max said something about the Valiant being defective? Engine trouble?”
    “No, it works just fine, but Sergeant Peterson said the exhaust is too noisy.”
    Dale laughed but stopped abruptly. “You’re not joking?”
    She shook her head and selected a CD. “Abba. Who will you be, Agnetha or Frida?”
    “Agnetha,” he said promptly. “The blond wig suits my coloring best.”
    That made her smile and she slotted the CD into the player. The first notes of Dancing Queen came from the speaker. “Anyway, never mind about Michael. I have to tell you what happened once I got home last night.”
    “Is this about your date? If so, I’m not sure I want to know.”
    “My date? What, Steve? No, he wasn’t my date, and I definitely didn’t take him home.”
    “Oh. Okay.” He sounded relieved. “What happened?”
    “I think I saw Wally.”
    He shot her a frowning glance. “What?”
    She told him about the man in the kitchen and the missing food. “My theory is that he’s alive but running scared.”
    “If it was him.”
    “He could be hiding from someone he expects to come looking for him at the servo. But why doesn’t he care about Max and her safety?”
    “You could have it right about him hiding out. From what I know about him, I wouldn’t put it past him to think of his own skin and forget about Max. But I’m not convinced it was him last night.”
    “Why not?”
    “Someone could have manipulated the lock.”
    “It didn’t look like it had been forced.”
    “But it could have been picked, and you’d never know.”
    She was silent. She’d felt better assuming it was Wally, stealing food. At least the intruder wouldn’t have been a threat to Max’s safety, but a complete stranger picking the lock was a different matter.
    Dale seemed to pick up on her concern. “Another possibility is that Wally’s murderer could have taken his house key from his body.”
    “Oh, great.” She made a face, trying to make light of the worrisome thought. “That makes me feel much better.”
    He shrugged. “I’m only pointing out that there’s more than one answer.”
    “I know.” She grimaced. “Say it was Wally’s murderer. What do you think he was looking for?”
    “Who knows? Money. Opals. Whatever this whole thing is about.”
    “Okay, so how do you explain the missing food?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe Max used it. Maybe you’re not used to the amount of food a teenager can put away?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Max is always hungry, but it’s not that. I know for a fact