Free Dead on the Island by Bill Crider

memorize every feature of the girl's face. "Could
be," he said. "I'm not really sure."
    Well, well, I thought. "She was probably
with a boy," I said. "Terry Shelton."
    He held the picture between his thumb and
forefinger and tapped it against his knee. "Shelton. Shelton. Can't
say it rings a bell."
    "You'd notice them for sure," I said. "They
don't look like your regular customers down there." I could feel
the vibrations from the bass working its way though the floor, into
my legs, and into my heartbeat again.
    "You can't tell by the way they look down
there," Ferguson said. "Why, some of those people are probably car
salesmen. Insurance peddlers. Postmen. Housewives. Most of those
tattoos wash off, the hair combs out, the clothes change. You'd be
surprised."
    I said that I probably would. A particularly
thunderous bass line rippled up the walls from below.
    "Great little band, isn't it?" Ferguson
said. "Those kids are destined for big things."
    "I can tell," I said. "You own this
place?"
    "Sure do. Lock, stock, and rain barrel."
    "You should do something about that
extension cord running across the parking lot," I said. I reached
and took the photo from between his thumb and finger. "Sure you've
never seen her before?"
    "If I did, she didn't look like that. What's
your interest, anyway?"
    "She's missing. Her mother hired me to find
her."
    "That was her mother who called saying you'd
be around to see me?"
    "That was a friend of the family."
    He nodded. "Uh-huh."
    I stood up. "Well," I said, "thanks for your
time and for taking a look. I heard she'd been in here a time or
two. Just thought I'd better check it out."
    Ferguson stood, too, sticking out his hand
again. Everyone in Texas likes to shake hands. I shook.
    "Sorry I couldn't help you more," he
said.
    "Just one stop on a long road," I said.
"I'll find her sooner or later." Unless she's like Jan , I
thought. Jan . Without a trace .
    "Good luck, then," he said, easing me toward
the door.
    "See you," I said as I left.
    "Sure," he said.
    The door closed behind me.
    ~ * ~
    The fact that Ferguson was lying didn't
especially bother me. I'd dealt with liars before. Of course it
could have been Stan the Cop who was the liar, but I didn't think
so. My money was on Ferguson.
    Now wasn't the time to press him, however.
He was on his home ground. Besides, I didn't know a thing about
him. He may have thought my "See you" was a casual good-bye, but it
wasn't. I'd find out things, learn which buttons I could press, and
then for sure I'd be seeing him again. He might not tell me the
truth then, either, but at least I'd have some kind of handle. I
was sure Dino could help me find one.
    I went out through the downstairs, past the
blasting sound of Amyl Nitrate, past the drinkers, past the few
dancers. The night was chilly, and the humidity hung in the air
like a wet sheet. I was almost to where I'd parked the Subaru
before I noticed that it was gone.
    One reason that I drove a '79 Subaru was
that it was cheap and it got me where I wanted to go. But another
reason was that while Houston and Dallas probably average something
like one stolen car a minute, no one would ever want to steal an
old Subaru with dead paint and a dented back bumper. The thieves go
in for things like Camaros and Suburbans, never faded little
Japanese jobs that look about ready for the scrap heap.
    There was a black Ford parked where my car
had been. I looked at it and then looked around the parking lot.
Sure enough, there was the Subaru, pushed off to one side, about
twenty yards away. I never bothered to lock the doors. There was
nothing inside worth stealing.
    I thought for a second about going back
inside, rousting the owner of the Ford, and telling him what I
thought of him. If he'd wanted a close parking spot, he could have
waited for one. He didn't have to roll my car away.
    But the confrontation wouldn't be worth the
effort. It might make me feel better, but then again it might not.
The owner might be bigger