The contents of a folder were spread across his desk. His blue uniform shirt was neatly pressed, and he wore a tie, although the knot had been pulled six inches from his throat. His spiked, sandy-colored hair was slightly mussed, as if he’d been worrying it.
“What can I do for you?”
She entered his sparse, white-walled office. The edge she’d come to expect in his voice hadn’t surfaced yet. She held out Bonnie’s cell phone. “I wanted to show you a message that just came to my sister.”
He took the phone and studied the message quietly. When he looked up, steel shuttered his eyes.
“Do you have any idea why he’s still threatening her?”
“No. We don’t think it makes sense.”
He sighed. “Is this the only communication you’ve had with him?”
“I got a text last Thursday. He knew the car was taken from the impound lot.”
“And you didn’t think that was important enough to tell me?”
He was right. She’d promised to let him know. “I did, actually. I’m sorry. I should have come in; I’ve just been so busy . . . No.” She met his eyes. “I was . . . nervous. I know you don’t like me.”
“What makes you say that?” He sounded genuinely surprised.
“The warning that you don’t want big city troublemakers like Bonnie and me around has been crystal clear. But I’m sorry. I didn’t come to accuse you of anything. I knew I had to show you the messages. Maybe the Minneapolis police will want to know, too.”
“They will. Believe it or not, we have been in regular contact.”
“Oh. Well, thank you. That’s all I wanted.”
He straightened in his chair and indicated she could sit in one of the two facing his desk. “Will you tell me what was in that last message you received? I’d . . . like to know.”
“Yes, I can show you.”
She handed him her phone and he studied the last several messages. “Have you responded?”
“No. I don’t know how realistic it is for someone to trace cell phone calls, but I don’t think it would be smart to engage him anyway.”
“And you’re absolutely right.”
“I am worried about one thing. Hector’s been using my brother’s cell phone all this time. I assume my brother is fine, but if you ever hear . . .” She hesitated over the awful thoughts in her mind.
“I’m sure if anything had happened to your brother, the police would let us know. My guess is Mr. Black is using the phone hoping you’ll contact Paul.”
“Or he stole it.”
He acknowledged the possibility with a nod. “I know this is your sister’s phone, and she probably won’t want to be without it. But if I could hang on to it for twenty-four hours, I’d like to try and get a subpoena for Mr. Black’s and your brother’s cell phone records.”
“She’ll understand.” Relief spread over Rio’s worry.
“Bear in mind, things don’t happen in real life as quickly as they do on television shows. This isn’t CSI.”
“I live in the heart of the city. I know how long things take with the police.” She had a harder time keeping the bitterness out of her voice this time. For a second he tensed as if he had a retort of his own, but he composed himself.
“I’ll do my best to get this back to you tomorrow.”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
“Anything else?”
She shook her head.
“I’m glad you brought this to my attention. I’m . . . sorry you’ve felt you couldn’t come to me. I’ll do my best to help locate your brother and Mr. Black.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond. It was almost easier to be wary of the man. “Thanks.”
He paused, then spoke reluctantly, as if he rarely explained himself. “I know you think I don’t understand what’s what around here, but all too often I’ve seen crime seep out from the city and overrun pristine little towns like this one. I didn’t ask to come here, but now that I have, I don’t want to see bad things happen. It’s a nice enough place.”
High praise from the cold chief, Rio thought.
“I’ve been here less time than you have, Chief Hewett, but I already agree with you.”
He nodded and let her walk out the door.
BY 1:30 P.M. on Saturday, JW Kennison Memorial Park, two blocks south of Main Street, looked to be packed with every resident in Kennison Falls. Rio had learned Fallsians loved their community parties, and this cause—money for library books—was dear to them. People missed having a full library building after two years of housing books in a tiny room above the Belly Up, one of the three bars in town.
The Wonder Weenie Mobile held two cooks barely comfortably, and even with an exhaust blower and a small metal industrial fan above the three-foot roller grill, sweat ran down Rio’s spine and plastered her thin bandana to her head. When she leaned out the small window on the side of the giant hot dog to take her next order, the line that had been ceaseless since she’d entered the wiener at 11:00 a.m. had grown so long she couldn’t tell where the end melted into the general crowd.
Her four-hour shift would be done by three, but Bud planned to stay, and she had no idea where he got his stamina. He handled all the grilling and still remained endlessly cheerful and full of jokes and laughter. Bud Jorgenson definitely loved food, loved people, loved his job.
Rio didn’t know many people, but she saw every single one of those she did. Chief Hewett, more cordial than usual, and one of his officers ordered their dogs early. Dewey Mitchell ordered three at once. Jill and Chase showed up with an elderly man who limped slightly and smiled crookedly.
“Rio,” Jill greeted her with genuine affection. “I’d like you to meet Robert McCormick. He owns the farm we moved into last October. He’s kind of our keeper.”
“That’s for ding-dang sure,” the man retorted. “How do you do, Rio? I’ve heard an earful about you.”
“I’m really sorry.” Rio laughed.
“Yah. Well, I’m sorry we couldn’t have you and your little sister at the house. Things still ain’t right, all torn apart. You wouldn’ta liked it much.”
“Thank you, Mr. McCormick. Your offer means a lot even if it didn’t work out.”
The minutes ticked past and Rio moved from being hot toward being liquefied. At last she looked up from handing over an order to see a finite number of people in line. She searched their faces, eagerly looking for the one person she hadn’t seen yet today. She handed out the last rush of hot dogs until, for the first time, the line vanished.
“Holy crap.” She sagged against a curved metal wall.
“Is that what you find in a heavenly toilet?” Bud wiped his forehead with a towel kept for that purpose.
“You are horrid.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much. I’m here all day. How you holding up?”
“I’ve sweat off five pounds. And it’ll probably be a long time till I eat another hot dog.”
“Amen. Well, you might be interested in knowing that we’ve sold about six hundred of the greasy little tube steaks.”
“Really? Wow. That’s three thousand dollars.”
“A job well done, wouldn’t you say? And we have tonight and tomorrow yet.”
“Good afternoon, hot dog maiden. Is this where we can purchase the famous Kennison Falls hot dogs?”
Her lips curved into a grin. David stood at the window, flanked by Kate and Stella.
“I was wondering when the Bridge Creek contingent would show up.”
David grinned back, and for a moment they didn’t say a word. They’d passed all week on the way to jobs, and shared brief conversations at dinner, but there’d been no more surreptitious kisses, as much as Rio wished there’d been. Even had there been time, Kate had turned herself into David’s shadow when she wasn’t comparing paint samples to fabric swatches with Stella.
“Three more, Bud,” Rio called, then turned back. “Did you just get here?”
Kate beamed, grasped David�
��s upper arm, and drew herself to his side. “It’s my fault, I’m afraid. I heard he was going to ride the cross-country courses this morning so he could check the lines and put up the flags, so I begged him to take me along. We had a lovely ride, but I admit I slowed him down. Even though Tully is a dream, it’s been a while since I’ve jumped. Still, I made it through the water complex.”
The thrill at seeing David sank in a pit of ugly, clawing jealousy. Kate had ridden with him? Ridden Tully, Rio’s horse? Jumped?
The memory of David’s arms around her in that water obstacle swirled through her belly and followed all the other memories into the jealousy pit. This was ridiculous. So she had a crush on David. That didn’t give her private claim to him. And Tully wasn’t any more hers than David was.
“Here you go.” She held the hot dogs out the window.
David disengaged from Kate’s hold and took the dogs. His fingers grazed Rio’s, but this time she turned away from his gaze, embarrassed by her thoughts.
“You look very hot,” he said.
Her mouth twitched in spite of herself. “Thanks. Best line I’ve heard all day.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “You look like you could use a cool swim.”
Even Kate looked askance at that, and Rio flushed to her roots. As far as she could tell, David ignored both reactions.
“Doesn’t sound half-bad,” she managed to say.
“How long does Bud have you trapped in that thing?”
She checked her watch. “Another half hour. Then Claudia comes.”
“We’ll come back for you then?”
Her heart swelled just enough to peek out from the hole of childish envy she’d dug for it. “You don’t have to worry—”
“Not worried,” he said.
“Do you have things to drink back there?” Stella asked. “You look positively wilted.”
“A few bottles of water. A little warm now, but wet.”
“There’s a lemonade booth just back where we entered the park. We’ll go and get you a cold drink so by the time you’re done, you’ll be a little more refreshed.”
She started to protest, but this was Stella being honestly kind, and the thought of something cold and tangy made her mouth water. “I would absolutely love that,” she said. “Bud, would you like a lemonade? I can give you some money,” she said to Stella.
“Nonsense. You’re doing a lovely service to the town. Our treat.”
“I’m good with the water,” Bud said. “Lemonade’s too sweet. But thanks.”
“One lemonade it is,” David said. “Be back in a jiff.”
There was no way Rio could miss how Kate linked her arm through his as they sauntered off. He held his elbow stiffly, but he didn’t remove her hold. Rio swallowed her anger.
Oh brother, she was in deep, pathetic trouble.
Chapter Eighteen
* * *
THAT EVENING, AFTER everyone but Bonnie was home from the park, Stella announced that she’d “done up a roast and set it in the slow cooker” before she’d left home. Dinner would be at six, and afterward they could all have a relaxing evening, perhaps even “watch a nice film on the telly.”
To Rio’s disappointment, Stella had pretty much usurped the dinner hour over the past week and planned it with the same flair that she planned her two room redecorations. She was a decent cook, if a little like Julia Child on crack. As much as Rio loved cooking in David’s amazing kitchen, she quickly learned it was better to let Stella go it alone.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t imagine a worse time than sitting around the perfect living room with perfect Katherine and bubbly Stella, staring at a movie. Worse were the quilting fabrics and paint swatches temporarily spread across a table and two chairs, ostensibly so David could have input into the colors. Rio already knew David couldn’t have cared less. The only place he seemed to have any color opinion of his own was in the paint schemes for his jumps. He would simply look at his mother’s suggestions and rubber-stamp them. Knowing this irritated Rio as much as losing her cooking privileges did.
She formulated possible excuses for him right up until David arrived from the barn, where he’d fit in two quick rides after getting back from town. The instant he appeared, breeches stained along the inner leg from saddle polish, hair flattened from his helmet and then finger-combed, and his soft leather belt holding in only half his shirt hem, Rio almost lost her breath. She had no explanation except that he looked ruddy and pleased and content, and as sexy as any soaked T-shirt could have made him look. She would sit through the worst movie ever made if he’d sit and watch it, too.
“Goodness, look what the wind blew in.” Kate looked up from setting the kitchen table. “Smart fellow. In plenty of time to change from those barn clothes. By the time you shower, we’ll be all ready.”
David actually looked down at himself and shrugged. “Not that bad, is it? Change the breeches and Bob’s your uncle.”
“Really, David.” Kate gave a polite, airy laugh. “You wouldn’t want to ruin the amazing aroma of your mum’s dinner with barn smells, would you? You’ve got plenty of time.”
Bonnie interrupted the scolding by breezing in, flushed with excitement.
“Hello, Bonnie, my pet. Did you have fun at the park today?” Stella cooed at her. Bonnie, unlike Rio, was positively adored.
“It was great! I had a blast. Rio, would you care if I spent the night with Kim? Dawson’s dad is home. I’d get to hang out with Gray Covey!”
Rio’s heart sank. So much for a comrade to suffer with her, yet she could hardly say no.
“It’s fine with me if it’s all right with Kim’s mom. But I didn’t cook tonight, so you really should ask Stella if she’d be offended if you didn’t stay for dinner.”
“Goodness, no, this isn’t a formal event.” Stella waved her hand to dismiss the concern. “Have a wonderful time, pet.”
“Just you behave yourself with that boy, young lady.” Rio grinned and stuck her tongue out.
“You’re completely mean.” Bonnie returned it.
“Nice to know I’m not losing my touch. Oh, and sis?”
“What?”
“Have fun.”
When she was gone, David put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re good with her,” he said. “You’re relaxing a little and worrying less. It’s nice to see. You okay?”
How did he seem to know just what to say?
“Yeah. About her, I am.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “As for you—I like a little barn mixed with my roast.”
DAVID RETURNED TO the kitchen after defying Kate and changing without showering. He hadn’t argued. Arguing never went well for him. He was used to losing control of his life with his mother. She didn’t muck in his affairs when she wasn’t here, so he didn’t really mind giving her free rein when she was. Kate, on the other hand . . . Why she felt she had regained the authority to tell him when to shower he didn’t know.
At least he had Rio. Practical with a dash of subversiveness. Her naughty little grin when she’d told him he smelled fine had delighted him to the core.
He returned to the kitchen to find Kate and his mum, but no Rio.
“I’m the luckiest man alive to have a house filled with good cooks right now.” David kissed his mum on the top of her head, making her beam.
“Not much better than compliments from your son, is there?”
“We’re just about ready.” Kate smiled, too.
“Where’s Rio?”
“She went outside. Asked if we’d be upset if she waited on dinner, too. She said she’d eaten several hot dogs and wasn’t hungry.”
That didn’t sound right. Rio loved her food—making it and eating it.
“She’s a bit of an odd thing, isn’t she?” Kate asked. “You never quite know what’s going to set her off.”
“Set her off? Hold on. What actually happened?”
“Not a thing. We started talking about riding, and I mentioned what a wonderful jumper you had i
n Tully, and she got a bit testy. A few minutes later she was out the door.”
“Ah,” he said, although he didn’t understand a thing. “She’s been riding Tully, too.”
“Yes, she said that.” Kate shrugged. “I thought perhaps that would give us something in common.”
That seemed logical. But there was nothing logical about dealing with women. Likely Tully had nothing to do with anything. And likely Rio had told the truth about not being hungry. Although that still didn’t sit right. He sighed and rubbed one temple and gave up. Call him clueless.
He didn’t have to say but ten words during dinner. The two women regaled him with stories of his old hometown, his mother caught him up on how things were going with the bed-and-breakfast, and Kate waxed on, as she’d done for the past week, about how fortuitous her entire trip was turning out to be. He listened with half an ear wondering how so much chat in such a perfectly appointed, cheery room could be so colorless and dull.
“You’ve built a lovely place here, David, in case I haven’t told you. Thanks ever so for being gracious about me showing up with your mum.”
Kate dragged him back into the present with the compliment.
“I’m sorry it’s such a busy two weeks. I hope Mum is offering to show you ’round the area. There’s a lot to see. In fact, you two should plan to take a few days and go up to Minneapolis. Stay in a posh hotel, visit the Guthrie Theater, shop at the Mall of America.”
“But we couldn’t do all that without you.”
“I’ve been to the Mall. You most certainly can do it without me.” He smiled.
“Never mind, we’ll get time with him after the show.” Stella patted Kate’s hand. “Speaking of, David love, I’ve looked through your calendar, and I saw the weekend of September the fourth is free. I’ve taken the liberty of sending out a few feelers to some friends, asking if they can come for a small party. Perhaps twenty or thirty. Just something simple. Let them meet Katherine and—”
“Mum, now hang on. What the bloody hell?”
“David, really.”
“Oh, sod it.” He slapped his fork onto the table, making both women jump. He sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just, that’s my only free weekend between now and the end of September. I wish you’d asked before making official plans.”
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