Page 51 of Texas-Sized Secrets

“If you aren’t going to follow Dusty, move over so that I can drive.” She started to unbuckle her seat belt.

“I’ll drive.” But he wasn’t too happy about it. He glanced at Mona several times along the short trip to the town square where the bank was located.

Mona glared at him. “Stop staring at me. I’m not going to break. Where the heck is he?”

When neither Dusty nor his truck could be found on the square, Reed circled the block behind the bank and crept down the street, trying to catch glimpses of the alleyway between the businesses and the bank. “There.” He stopped and pointed at the dark metallic gray pickup parked in front of Daisy’s Florist Shop. Dusty wasn’t in the truck. Reed pulled around the corner and parked. “Stay here. Do you understand? If you follow me, I’ll personally carry you back to the truck and all the way to Amarillo to the hospital.”

“You can’t do that. It would be kidnapping.” Mona crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to see who he’s meeting as well as you do.”

“Who’s to say you won’t get another stitch in your side?” He gave her a stern look and appealed to her in another way. “You could slow me down.”

Her dark brows arrowed downward. “Okay. But hurry. I have to pee.”

A smile curved his lips as he climbed down from the truck and entered the alley behind a building farther away from the bank. He peered around the corner of the building and spied Dusty facing the back of the bank, apparently talking to someone standing in the back door. Dusty didn’t look happy, his voice rising.

“I need more. Either you give me twenty thousand or I go to the newspaper with the story.”

Another voice murmured in low tones Reed couldn’t hear. Who was it? Easing around a Dumpster, he worked his way closer to the pair in the alley.

“You’ll pay one way or another,” Dusty said.

Reed stepped around a stack of cardboard boxes with flower petals and leaves clinging to them. Just as he was about to lean around another Dumpster, he must have nudged the stack. A dozen boxes toppled over.

On the other side of the Dumpster, Dusty muttered, “Damn.” He made a break for an alley, cutting through to the street where he’d parked his truck.

Leaping over the fallen boxes, Reed landed in the middle of the alley in time to see Dusty disappear between buildings.

Reed raced after him. As he passed the back door to the bank, the door slammed shut. Pausing long enough to grab the door handle, he tried to open it to see who was behind it. The door was locked.

If he got to Dusty, he might wring a few answers out of him. When he emerged on the street where Dusty was parked, the other man had already backed out of his parking space. Reed ran out in front of the truck.

Dusty didn’t stop. He shoved the shift into drive and raced toward Reed.

With only inches to spare, Reed dived to the side, hitting the pavement and rolling out of the way of the truck’s wheels. By the time he leaped to his feet, Dusty had rounded the corner, squealing tires leaving a long trail of black rubber burned into the pavement.

His only hope of catching Dusty was to get to his truck quickly. Reed ran to the end of the street and turned the corner. Only his truck stood there. Empty. Where was Mona?

* * *

MONA NEVER CLAIMEDto be good at waiting. After two torturous minutes, she gave up and climbed down from the truck. She couldn’t go after Reed without possibly alerting Dusty to his presence.

Since Dusty was meeting someone behind the bank, what could it hurt to go inside the bank to see who was moving around? She could go in on the pretense of speaking with Mr. Kuhn about foreclosing on the loan. Maybe even try begging for a change. Anger and disbelief hadn’t done a thing for her. It galled her to consider getting on her knees to save her ranch. But hadn’t she said she’d do anything to protect her child’s heritage? So eating a little crow couldn’t be too bad.

She tugged her shirt, the long tails draping down almost to her knees. Before too long someone was going to wise up and notice she was preggers. Word would get back to Sheriff Parker and she’d be in the custody battle to end all custody battles. She really had to stop coming to town. But first, to find the lowdown, sons of a gun preying on her ranch.

Mona pushed through the glass doors and stepped into the cool bank lobby. Two tellers smiled at her. The first one, Doris Liehman spoke. “Good afternoon, Miss Grainger. What can I do for you today?”

“Is Mr. Kuhn available? I’d like to speak with him.”

“Let me check.” Doris stepped around the counter and crossed the tiled floor to the hallway leading into the back office area.

Mona followed and waited while Doris knocked on Mr. Kuhn’s door. She waited and knocked again. Finally, she opened the door and peered inside and then closed the door. “I’m sorry, he’s not in his office right now. He was here just a minute ago. If you’ll have a seat in the lobby, I’m sure he’ll be right back. Or I could leave a message.”

“I have a few minutes. I’ll wait.” Mona eyed the end of the hallway that led to the bank’s back door. Only employees could go in and out of the back door. Was Mr. Kuhn the man Dusty was meeting outside in the alley? If so, why?

Doris returned to her teller window with an apologetic smile.

Mona took a seat in the lobby that afforded her a view of the hallway and the back door. She didn’t have to wait long.

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