Damaged (2010) by Kava Alex - Maggie O'dell 08

Author:Kava, Alex - Maggie O'dell 08 [08, Kava, Alex - Maggie O'dell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-14T19:12:26.796000+00:00

CHAPTER 31

"Don't take this the wrong way, O'Dell, but you look like something the cat dragged in."

Maggie didn't want to tell Charlie Wurth that she felt a little bit like she had been dragged. She'd been up all night with insomnia.

After her helicopter adventure she should have been exhausted enough to fall into bed and sleep. Instead she found herself on the beach from midnight till two in the morning walking the shore and watching the full moon light up the waves. Liz had warned her that it wasn't safe to be alone on the beach at night. But Maggie figured that advice didn't apply if you carried a .38 Smith & Wesson stuffed in your waistband.

"Couldn't sleep," she told Wurth and left it at that. No sense explaining about leaky compartments in her subconscious and ghosts from past murder cases keeping her awake at night.

Wurth had promised a real breakfast. Now, as he held open the door to the cafe, Maggie realized that she shouldn't have been surprised to see a number of strangers waving and saying "good morning" and "hello." Less than twenty-four hours in the city and Charlie Wurth not only knew his way around but also seemed to know the hot spot for breakfast.

The Coffee Cup in downtown Pensacola was crowded, some clientele in shirts and ties with BlackBerrys and others in boots and jeans with the local newspaper scattered across the tabletop.

Despite the clatter of stoneware, the sizzle of bacon, and the shouts of waitresses to the short-order cooks, several customers immediately recognized Wurth. A businessman at a window table waved a hello and another at the counter looked up from his conversation to nod at him. A tall, skinny waitress called him "hon" like they were old friends and led them to a table that was still being bussed. As soon as they sat, she handed them menus.

"Two coffees?" she said, plopping down stoneware mugs in front of them.

"Black coffee for me, Rita. Diet Pepsi for my partner, here."

"Diet Coke okay, hon?" But she asked Wurth, not Maggie, while she retrieved the mug in front of her as quickly as she had set it down.

Wurth looked to Maggie and waited for an answer, which made Rita look to Maggie. She had to give him credit. It would have been so much easier to just say yes. But it was a big deal to Charlie Wurth that the people surrounding him were always acknowledged.

"Diet Coke's fine," Maggie said.

She waited for the waitress to leave while taking in the cafe's surroundings. Then she leaned across the small table. "How do you already know all these people?"

"Had coffee here yesterday. You can meet all the movers and shakers in a community if you find their watering hole."

He paused to wave at two women who had just come in.

"And believe me," he smiled and leaned in, "with a hurricane coming, the federal guy who's promising to bring the cavalry is much more popular than Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel.

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