Page 56 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

I realized we weren’t going to get any more information out of the three friends and stood. “Well, this has been extremely informative,” I said in an appreciative tone. “It’s been very helpful.”

“Glad to help,” Gayle said with a smile.

“Does that mean your client won’t buy the land now?” Linda asked with a frown.

I stared at her, momentarily speechless. My head was spinning with so much information, I’d nearly forgotten our ruse. “I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find out.”

Dixie and I said our goodbyes, and quickly headed out the door.

“I guess we know where we need to go next,” Dixie said.

“The real question is if we need to bring a plate of cookies.”

Dixie laughed. “When in doubt, always bring cookies.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Summer

Ten minutes later, Dixie and I were in my car, headed north of town with a plate of cookies in her lap. Since we had Rachel’s name and the general location of her farm, it hadn’t been hard to figure out where she lived with a map of the town and surrounding area.

“You really don’t know anything about Rachel Swan?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.

“No,” she said, “I’ve never even heard of her before.”

“That’s kind of crazy that her farm butted up against Lila Brewer’s farm,” I said.

“I guess it would have made going back and forth to each other’s places a lot easier,” she said. “My best friend lived on the other side of town, and I always had a hard time getting my mama to drive me over there,” she said, sounding worried. “How do you plan on asking her about Lila and Bethany?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure yet.” Which wasn’t necessarily that big of a deal since I often didn’t plan things out. The questions usually just came to me. But I had to admit I was nervous about talking to her. I wanted to help Magnolia, and I had a feeling that my interview with Rachel would be important.

“Do you think the cover that you have a buyer for the land is going to work with Rachel?” she asked.

“Good question,” I said. “And itistrue. Thereisa buyer for the land. We just don’t know who it is.”

“It sounds like Lila and Rachel were pretty close,” Dixie said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should just go with the truth.”

I bit my bottom lip as I considered it. “You might have a point.”

Except the NDA was a big stumbling block for that plan.

We spent the rest of the ten-minute drive mostly in silence, both of us stewing. Dixie started giving me directions after we passed the Brewer farm.

I turned onto a narrow gravel lane and drove toward an older farmhouse with a small red barn to the right side. The house, freshly painted in white and a cheery red, sported a porch that ran the full length of the front. A chicken coop that was painted to match the house sat next to the barn and a small, penned area full of goats. As I drove up to the house, two big dogs, yellow lab mixes from the looks of them, trotted toward us, their tails wagging.

“Well, at least they look friendly,” Dixie said.

“Thank goodness,” I said. “We’ve had more than our fair share of unfriendly dog encounters.” But given our new professions, I was sure there’d be plenty more.

We both got out of the car and headed up to the front door, Dixie carrying the plate of cookies. I knocked and waited, my stomach doing flip-flops. I wasn’t sure how Rachel was going to react to our questions, but maybe if Ididgo with the truth—or as much as I was able to tell—she might be more inclined to answer.

The door opened and a woman with short brown hair and a warm smile that deepened the wrinkles on her forehead and around her mouth appeared in the opening.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Summer Butler, and this is?—”

“You’re Summer Butler, and you’re atmy place?” she said, her eyes widening with excitement. “Are you investigating another mystery for your show?”

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