Timepiece

Chapter 21

I held open the elevator of the Peabody Hotel for Lily. We were on a mission that originated from offering to brew Emerson coffee with the maker in the hotel room. She’d thrown a shoe at us.

“I’m sorry.” Lily’s guilt filled the space around us.

“Stop.”

She leaned back against the elevator wall and met my eyes in the mirrored doors as they closed.

“Lily, we’re looking for a desperate man who doesn’t want to be found. You’ve chosen to be involved because of your friendship with Em.” I pushed the button for the lobby. “Finding him doesn’t rest solely on your shoulders.”

“But it’s like he fell off the map. He did fall off the map. How did he disappear so fast?”

“I don’t know, but we aren’t at a dead end. We have the high school information, and we can still look for people who might have known Jack way back when. And there are other options.”

The doors slid open, taking Lily’s direct gaze with them. I stopped at the concierge desk on our way through the lobby to get directions to the closest coffee shop. Both Lily and Em had insisted on a non-chain. Supporting local business enterprise, etc., etc.

“Down the street, intersection of Union and South Second,” I told Lily, and then followed her through the lobby. She had on jeans and some kind of flowy white shirt with brown embroidery on it. It didn’t show any skin or fit tightly, but I could see the outline of her curves through it.

“Are you going to be warm enough?” I gestured toward the shirt, but I didn’t really look at it. Or her.

“Worried I might catch a cold?” There was a hint of a tease in her voice.

“I was raised to be a gentleman.” I still didn’t look at her. “And I follow through. In most circumstances.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s not that far. What’s the name of the place we’re looking for?”

“Cockadoos.”

“Cockadoos,” she repeated.

“That’s what I said.”

The Peabody lobby was grandiose almost to the point of excess. Lots of marble and shiny wood. Intimate groupings of chairs, and jazz playing in the background, softened it just enough to keep it welcoming.

“What’s with Memphis and the bird fetish?” Lily pointed to the splashing fountain full of ducks as we walked past. “They get escorted down here every day on a red carpet, and then go back up to their penthouse. Ducks. Have a penthouse. On a roof. I don’t get it.”

Cold air rushed through the doors as we stepped outside.

Lily rubbed her arms briskly.

I started unbuttoning my shirt.

“Wow, really? Right here on the street?”

“Shut up. You’re cold. My shirt is flannel, and warm, and I have a long-sleeved T-shirt on, too.” I pulled my arms out of the sleeves and held it out for Lily as if I were helping her into a coat. When she didn’t react, I shook it a little.

“I’m not leaving you in a T-shirt and nothing else in this wind. I’ll be fine.” She waved it away and started walking again. “Let’s just hurry.”

“Lily.” I didn’t move.

She turned around. “I’m not going to win, am I?”

“No.”

Giving me a half smile, she walked back and slid her arms into the sleeves. “Thank you. That was very… nice.”

“Sometimes I do nice.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Let’s move. I’m cold.”

She swung out a too-long sleeve and hit me on the arm. I broke into a half jog.

“Okay, I take it back,” Lily said, stopping short once we arrived at our destination. “The bird thing totally works.”

The outside of the café had quaint tables, a bright blue awning, and a neon sign with a picture of a rooster. Inside, we found yellow walls, exposed brick, and comfortable-looking places to sit.

We stood in the to-go line instead of taking a table. I ordered a double espresso for Em and Mexican hot chocolate for myself. Lily ordered a mint tea, and then watched every move the barista made, seeming satisfied with the results.

I paid, Lily grumbled at me for paying, and then we stepped back outside.

“What other options did you and Em come up with for finding Jack?” Lily asked. “Did Dr. Turner tell you something?”

“Not exactly.” I sipped my hot chocolate, grateful for the kick and the heat of cayenne.

“Don’t waste time being cryptic.” The wind blew her dark hair over her shoulders. It was out of the messy bun, sort of half up and half down. It softened her. “We’re all on the same team, with the same goal.”

“He didn’t really give anything away, but some of the conversation seemed odd. I asked him about Teague and Chronos, and then Jack, and he suggested we go sightseeing.”

“That’s weird.”

“And he mentioned an island. Maybe he meant Mud Island. The Pyramid, too.”

“What if that was a hint? Do you think we should try to look for Jack there?” she asked.

“Maybe. Or…” Em’s coffee delivery sloshed around inside the cup as I came to a stop. “Maybe we should focus on looking for Chronos and Teague there.”

Lily removed the bag from her tea and dropped it into a metal trash can on the street. “Would he have given you their location that easily?”

“I wouldn’t think so, but he didn’t claim any affiliation with anyone. Maybe he dislikes Teague and Chronos as much as we do. He didn’t leave the college with Teague.” I shrugged. “There might be some animosity there.”

“It’s worth a try. We’ll hurry back and look at the map.” She replaced the plastic lid and blew into the tiny hole to cool off the liquid.

I was avoiding looking at her lips when I saw him.

Poe, head down against the wind, on Union Avenue. He jaywalked across the street.

I handed Emerson’s espresso to Lily. “Go back to the room.”

“Where are you going?” She followed my line of vision.

“That way.”

“Why? Who is he, Kaleb?”

I downed the rest of my hot chocolate. “His name is Poe.”

Terror. Em had told her about Poe. A truck lumbered down the street, blocking my view. Once it passed, he reappeared.

“I know exactly who he is, and I’m coming with you,” Lily insisted.

“No way.” I couldn’t justify dragging her into an unknown situation, and I never wanted anyone else I knew to end up with a knife at her throat. “I’ve seen what he does to innocent bystanders.”

“And I’ve heard.” She nailed me with a look, standing her ground. “Good thing I’m not innocent.”

I shook my head. “Go back. Tell Em and Mike what’s going on. I’ll call as soon as I know something.”

“I’m coming with you.” She dropped Em’s coffee and her tea into the trash, and then pointed down the street. “You don’t have time to argue about it, either. You need me because Poe’s already gone, and I know exactly how to find his boots.”

“Damn.” I looked both ways, and then we did some jaywalking of our own across the street. “Once I see him, you’re going straight back. If I were just a little bit closer, I could track him by his emotions.”

We stepped up onto the curb simultaneously. “You can do that? Track by emotions?”

“I can if I’m close enough to a person, physically or emotionally.”

She ducked into an alley, gesturing for me to follow her. “How does that work?”

“No one ever feels one emotion-everything is layered. For example, pure hatred is impossible. It’s either tinged with vengeance or sorrow, or something. Pure anything is impossible. Every person has a different… flavor.”

“You feel people’s emotions by tasting them.” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Kind of.”

“What does Poe taste like?”

“The one time I met him? Despair.”

She thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Better than gym shorts.”

I laughed, in spite of the situation.

“Why can’t you track Jack, then?” she asked.

“There are a few reasons. I’m not close to him physically right now, but I was never close to him emotionally. And my dad and I both think Jack could’ve found a way to block me.”

“Why?”

“I thought I couldn’t feel what he and Cat were up to because I wasn’t paying attention. Dad says he’s sure Jack had found a way to keep me from reading him. It would’ve been very difficult for Jack to operate otherwise. I’d have known something was up.” I tried to make myself believe it on a daily basis. If I’d known, things would be different now. We reached the end of the alley. “Which way?”

“Do I get to come with you?”

“Lily.”

She lifted her chin in defiance. “Either agree or you can sniff around for Poe’s despair.”

“Okay, okay. Which way do we go?”

She turned left. We were facing the Mississippi River.

And Poe was climbing onto the Riverfront trolley.