Page 12 of Tempting Fate
“Coming right up.”
He checked his phone while he waited for his food and returned a quick email to a tactical equipment manufacturer that he and Logan were doing business with. Things were slowly getting back to normal after the holidays. Before he knew it, it would be February. Tonight, he was joining Logan and his parents for dinner. It had been a year since he’d last seen Nick, Logan’s stepdad. The guy, a kickass former frogman, had good stories about the teams back in the day. Gabe never tired of hearing that shit.
Friday was the rehearsal dinner, and Saturday the wedding. After that, Raylene would go back to LA and his chaperone duties would be officially over. So far, it hadn’t been too terrible. For all her faults, she made him laugh with that attitude of hers, especially the way she poked fun at his accent.
Logan said she was talking about starting some kind of horse ranch in SoCal, which would suit her. Supposedly, she was quite an equestrian and a former rodeo queen. Gabe didn’t know how someone went about getting the title, but he figured it had something to do with her riding skills. Or maybe it was based on beauty. She had that, too.
His breakfast and coffee came and he devoured the entire meal. He was just about to pay his bill when Rhys came in and grabbed the seat next to him.
He waved to the McCreedys, then said, “You have time to take a ride with me?”
“Sure. What’s going on?”
“Not sure yet but I’m a little short staffed. The flu…vacations.”
“Dude, you’ve got to hire more cops.”
“Working on it, but it’s not easy getting good people up here.”
No question the town was isolated, but it was a fine place to raise a family. That had to be a good selling point, Gabe thought. “Let’s go.”
He slapped a twenty down on the table, shrugged into his coat, and followed Rhys outside. The temperature had dipped ten degrees since yesterday, too cold to snow.
Rhys led Gabe to his SUV. All the officers in the Nugget PD drove one. They were all-wheel drive, with plenty of bells and whistles. For a tiny force, the equipment was top of the line.
“Where we going?”
“You’ll see,” Rhys said. “You carrying?”
“Nope. Should I be?”
“Maybe,” was all he said, then he started his engine.
Chapter 4
Raylene walked into Nugget Realty and Associates. The office had been there since before she was born, but she’d never been inside. It had a professional appearance—new carpeting, taupe walls, a few plants, and a television screen that played a loop of house listings. She stood in front of it for a few minutes, watching. There were a couple she recognized, homes of kids she’d grown up with who had since moved away. Their parents probably wanted to be closer to them and the grandkids.
After Ray was busted, her own mother had relocated to Denver, just a few minutes from Raylene. Why, she never knew. It wasn’t as if they were close. When Raylene left Butch, it was Logan and Gabe who came to help her put all her things in storage. Her mother had been too busy pretending that everything was fine. Raylene supposed that’s what weak women did when they were married to cheating, abusive husbands. She ought to know, having been married to one and the daughter of another.
“Raylene?”
Raylene recognized the woman from the dinner party the previous night, though they hadn’t been introduced. She wasn’t much older than Raylene. Maybe in her mid-thirties. Very polished in a black pantsuit and a red silk scarf.
“Yes. Are you Dana?” Raylene had hired Dana over the phone to sell her property.
“That would be me,” Dana said, then stood up to shake her hand. “I meant to introduce myself last night but the time got away from me. I’m glad to finally meet you in the flesh.”
Dana was a newcomer, otherwise she wouldn’t have been so friendly. Then again, she stood to make a great deal of money from Raylene.
“Come sit down. Can I get you a cup of coffee…a soda?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I figured your message to meet you here was because you want to lower the price.” They’d listed the land last summer and hadn’t gotten so much as a bite.
“No.” Dana grinned. “We actually have an offer. Apparently, the interested party talked to your dad about buying the parcel before he…”
“Went to prison,” Raylene finished. There was no need to protect her delicate sensibilities, because she had none. The ranch, the Rosser legacy, had to be sold to pay Ray’s legal bills. And, to be fair, the leftover money had made them all wealthy. Raylene hadn’t been too smart with her share, though, and now it was gone.
“Right,” Dana said. “But he wouldn’t sell.”
