“She said she was going to have Max drive her home,” Greta said, her tone softening, but her guard was still up.

I understood. It wasn’t smart to blindly trust the citizens of Drum. There were many lines in the sand, and the wind was always blowing. Someone loyal to Bart Drummond one week might fall in line with Bingham the next, especially since Bart’s right-hand man had killed so many people. I wasn’t sure where Greta’s loyalty lay, but I was hoping it was with her friend.

“With our new shared hours, Max was upstairs,” I said. “She asked Ruth for a ride home, but I offered.”

Frown lines creased her forehead. “She must have been desperate if she asked Ruth. That woman has it in for her.”

Marco had said something similar, although not quite in those terms. I understood why Ruth struggled with Lula—her behavior was frustrating, and sometimes it required the people around her to work twice as hard. Still, there was something about Lula that made me want to save her from that one-room shack. To protect her from her mother. To show her that she had more worth than the men she slept with. To help her make sure her baby was healthy and had a safe delivery.

But I had to find her first. And hope to God she was still alive.

I shuddered and Greta’s eyes narrowed even more.

“You have no reason to trust me,” I said. “I’m new to town, and now I’m asking about your friend after I told you she’s missing. It’s suspicious. I have no idea how to prove myself to you, but I hope you can see my sincerity. I think she’s in trouble and I’m trying to find her. I’ll do everything in my power to save her job and help her with the baby.”

Greta gasped and jerked backward, her back slamming into her seat.

Oh crap. “You didn’t know she was pregnant?”

“You did?”

I gave her a sad smile. “She let it slip. I take it she’s five or six months along. Her mother apparently wants her to deliver the baby in that uninsulated shack. Without a midwife or any medical supervision. I knew I couldn’t change her mind, at least not during the drive to her house, but I did get her to agree to take prenatal vitamins if I got them in Greenville this morning.”

Greta watched me for a few seconds. “I should have thought of the prenatal vitamins.”

“My friend is pregnant. She was kind of beside herself when she found out she was two months pregnant and hadn’t taken any. I guess it really stuck in my subconscious.”

Greta relaxed a little. “I told Lula that her mother’s crazy. She needs a doctor, but she won’t listen.”

“How long have you known?”

“Not long,” she reluctantly admitted. “She told me in October, a few weeks before she took off last time. Honestly, I don’t think she’d known that long herself. Her periods have always been irregular. In fact, she thought she couldn’t get pregnant, so she’s never been too careful.”

“That’s why she’s not sure about the due date?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Did she tell you who the father was?”

Her eyes hardened. “How is that any of your business?”

“Because the father could be unhappy he’s about to be a daddy. Maybe he’s the one who carted her off.”

“The father doesn’t know.”

“But you know who the father is?”

She inhaled a deep breath and slowly pushed it out. I could tell she was buying herself a few seconds to consider her response. “I don’t feel comfortable telling you anything else.”

I resisted the urge to groan. While she’d shared helpful information, none of it would help me find Lula.

“I know you don’t trust me,” I said. “And I understand why—truly, I do. But Marco and I are the only ones who think she didn’t leave on her own, which means the sheriff’s department won’t look into it, and Max will never give me time off to search. I only have tomorrow to look for her, from morning until early evening, so the more I know, the better my chances.”

“Marco doesn’t think she ran off?”

“No, which is why he’s helping me.”

Her frown deepened. “If Marco’s involved, I can’t tell you anything.”

“Was she doing something illegal, or was she associatin’ with people who wouldn’t like a deputy sniffing around?”

“Both.”

I sat back, pressing my lips together as I thought her predicament through. “Marco assures me he’s just looking as a friend. He’s still on medical leave, so this isn’t official.”

She snorted. “What else would you expect a cop to say? It’s unofficial until he finds something good.”

She had a point.

“Marco protected her,” I said, still hoping to convince her. “A few months ago. She stayed with him after an ugly breakup. Why would he have given her a place to stay if he was so interested in busting her?”

Her frown deepened.

“Especially when it likely put him on Todd Bingham’s bad side.”

Her jaw dropped like a trapdoor, but she quickly recovered, jerking her gaze around the room.

“Who told you she was seein’ him?” she whisper-shouted as she leaned forward.

“Bingham himself.”

Her face paled.

“So Bingham’s the father?”

Leaning an elbow on the table, she covered her mouth with her fingers. I could tell she was frantically sifting through her options. She landed on belligerence. “I don’t believe you. Bingham doesn’t talk about his personal business with anyone, let alone an outsider.”

She had a point, and now that I thought about it, I had to wonder why he’d been so open. Had I caught him by surprise? That seemed highly unlikely. Todd Bingham hadn’t gotten where he was today by being sloppy.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “I knew she was scared of him last night, and now she’s missing. He seemed to be a likely suspect, so I paid him a visit.”

She shook her head in disgust. “You’re either reckless or a fool, and neither option is good.”

I suspected I was both.

“Greta, yer order’s up,” a man called from the back.

Greta slid out of the booth as quickly as if a zombie were trying to bite her on the butt. I reluctantly followed her, and she grabbed the bag from the server’s ledge and thrust it at me. “That’ll be $14.60.”

Reaching into my purse, I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to her, but when she grabbed hold of it, I didn’t let go.

“I know you don’t trust me, Greta, but I swear I only want to protect Lula. If you can think of anything that will help me find her, I’m begging you to tell me.”

Her response was a glare.

I’d screwed this up. I should have given my approach more thought, but I hadn’t, and now Lula would pay the price.

My voice wavered as I pushed past the lump in my throat. “If you change your mind, I’ll be at the tavern until it closes. You can come by and see me or you can call. I’ll stop whatever I’m doing to talk.”

Her determination seemed to waver for a second, but then the steely resolve returned to her eyes. She tugged harder on the bill and I released it, making her stumble backward a half step.