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"You order yet?" I asked.

"Just water. Figured I'd wait for you, and hydration is important." Which was also his way of saying, "You're buying."

I held up two fingers to Moop to order. He knew our routine too. It rarely changed. "Is Cassie coming?"

"Not today. She had a late client." Mac had been dating a dental hygienist—or, I should say, the dental hygienist; she worked at the only dentist office in our area. He'd been seeing her for four or five months. I told him it was a bad idea, because if he ever broke up with her, where was he going to get his teeth cleaned? He took it as a joke, which it was. Mostly. Seriously, the next dentist is over a hundred klicks away, and it's not like you'd want an ex putting a dental instrument in your mouth. "She did mention that she has a friend she wants you to meet."

"I told her I didn't want to be set up."

"We're in the middle of nowhere. How else are you going to meet somebody?"

"I'm not," I said. "That's kind of the point." Moop arrived with two beers, and I hoped that would put Mac off the subject, but no such luck.

"My therapist says people are important."

"That's why he's not my therapist," I countered.

"Come on. It'll be fun..." Mac's voice trailed off, and his eyes went to the door. Sure, he gave me crap about never dating, but he was good at his job. I didn't bother to turn around. He'd let me know if we had an issue. "Who's that kid?" He said it more to himself than to me, but it got my interest, and I turned to look. There was a girl with light brown skin in jeans and a dark green sweatshirt standing in the door, silhouetted by the outside light. She looked like she was maybe twelve or thirteen, but that was a guess. I'm not very experienced with kids, and those are awkward years.

"Never seen her before."

She'd definitely seen me, because when our eyes met, her face lit up and she headed our way. Mac didn't stand, but he slid closer to the outside of the booth. Apparently a young girl didn't rate the full treatment in his mind. Not yet.

She stopped a few steps short of us and eyed Mac warily before turning to me. She stood maybe one and a half meters tall with short brown hair cut in a bob, all pointy knees and elbows. I reaffirmed my age estimation. "You're Colonel Butler." I couldn't read her tone—there was no awe or hero worship in it. More flat and even. Matter-of-fact. She wasn't asking.

"I am," I said.

"Move along, kid. Pick somebody else to do your research assignment on." Mac saw it as his job to keep dangerous people away. That worked for me. His take on the girl was a fair assessment. She wouldn't be the first kid who wanted to interview me for a school project, and every so often a reporter would come around wanting to talk. And once, a reporter had tried to use a kid. I almost had to give that interview just for the ingenuity. Mac put the kibosh on it, said it would encourage others. As usual, he was right.

Confusion crossed her face. "I'm not doing research. I came from New Gaston because I need Colonel Butler to find somebody."

New Gaston? That was...far. I don't know how far. Far enough where you don't think about how far it is because it's too far to worry about. The other side of the planet. Nine, maybe ten thousand kilometers. I said I'm not experienced with kids, and I'm not, but a twelve-year-old that far from home on her own triggered even my protective instincts. "What's your name?"

"Eliza. Eliza Ramiro."

"Do your parents know you're here, Eliza?" I tried to keep my tone from sounding condescending, but I'm not sure how you do that with that question.

"My father is the one who is missing. I stay with my aunt."

She hadn't answered my question, but I could tell from the way she held herself when she said it that her aunt didn't know about the trip. But it's hard to push a girl who just told you that her father is missing. I mean, I'm an asshole, but not that much of one. But I did need to keep her talking until I got a better handle on her situation. "How did you get here from New Gaston?"

"I flew and then I took a bus to Eroka, which is as close as I could get to here. From there I hired a bot car."

 

"I meant how did you pay for it?" I said. "That had to cost a lot."

She smiled, clearly proud of herself. "I crowdfunded it." "

Crowdfunded?"

"That's right. I took donations for travel costs and the cost of hiring you to find my dad."