Page 618 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Um, I’m sorry I didn’t get around to calling you this week.” His voice trailed off, and he wouldn’t look her in the eye.

Her face burned. He made it sound like she was some task that needed to be checked off his to-do list.

“It’s no big deal. You don’t owe me an apology.” Her words came out clipped and cold. She shrugged. “See you around.”

“I really would like to take you to get something to eat.”

A harsh laugh escaped her throat. She tossed her long hair. “Yeah, I can tell. You made that really obvious a few minutes ago.” She opened the door to her jeep.

“Wait. You just caught me off guard.”

She turned to face him. “I just stopped by to say hello, and now I’m leaving.” She glanced at his attire. “Besides, I don’t want to keep your date waiting.”

A slow smile stole across Kendall’s lips. “You think I’m going out on a date?”

His words smothered her like a hot blanket and she tried to think of a reply.

“Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll show you where I’m going.”

She looked at him.

“I would’ve invited you to begin with, but I wasn’t sure how you would like this sort of thing.”

She frowned. “Where are you going?”

“You’ll just have to find out.” He closed the door to her jeep. “It’s too late to back out now.” He put his arm around her shoulder and led her to his truck.

They drovepast the Alabama state line and into Tennessee. Somewhere near Jasper, they detoured off the main road and headed into the sticks. Kendall seemed to know the back roads like the back of his hand, making turn after turn. Houses and barns were the only structures that dotted the sides of the road. Finally, Kendall slowed the truck and turned down a gravel road where tall pine trees grew in thick clusters.

“Where are we?”

Kendall smiled. “Just wait.”

She only had to wait a couple more seconds before gawking in amazement at the grassy clearing up ahead. It was packed with compacts, luxury vehicles, SUVs, and pickup trucks. People were getting out of their vehicles and making their way to a large metal building. It was a city that had sprung up out of nowhere, right before her very eyes. “How did you find this place?”

“Only those who know where they’re going find this place.” He rolled down his window and reached in his back pocket for his wallet.

“That’ll be ten dollars,” said an old man who spoke with a slight lisp. He was missing his two front teeth.

Ten dollars seemed ridiculously high, considering that they were parking in a pasture. Sydney scanned the tags of the parked cars. Most were from Tennessee, but a fair number of them read Alabama. She was surprised to see a couple from Mississippi and one from Kentucky.

She glanced at her watch—6:00 PM. “Are you going to tell me where we are or are you going to keep me guessing all night?”

He laughed. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

She gave him a blank look.

“We’re at a cockfight.”

Her eyes grew to saucers. “Really? Why is it out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“Cockfighting is illegal. Don’t you know that?”

She stammered. “No, I didn’t know. If it’s illegal, why do they raise those roosters in their front yards where everyone can see them?”

“Because it’s not illegal to raise them. It’s just illegal to fight them.” Kendall spoke in the tone he might’ve used to speak to a four-year-old who was slow to understand.

“Let’s go,” he said, getting out of his truck. This time she didn’t wait for him to come around and open her door. She got out and quickened her pace to catch up with him. She was wearing shorts, and the tall grass beat her legs like a whip. Now she realized why Kendall had worn boots.

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