Page 18 of Tempting Fate
“I definitely think Butch was calling the shots as far as cutting Logan out of his inheritance. But helping her old man set up Lucky on murder charges…that was cold. Lucky loved her.”
That was the thing. Nothing about Raylene struck him as cold. Self-centered? Yes. Destructive? Maybe. Mean? Gabe didn’t see it. And he’d been up close and personal with some of the meanest hombres on the face of the earth.
“It didn’t work,” Gabe said. In the end, Ray Rosser went to prison for killing that cattle thief and died in his cell.
“Because Jake and I are damn good cops,” Rhys said.
“And modest.” Gabe laughed, because listening to Rhys’ bravado while riding shotgun, armed to the hilt, reminded him of being back in the teams with his brothers.
“For Cecilia, Tawny, and Lucky’s sake, I want her out of here,” Rhys said. “And I’m not the only one. But folks care too much about Annie and Logan to make a scene. So, until they leave on their honeymoon, everyone’ll be on their best behavior. After that, all gloves come off. I wouldn’t put it past Cecilia to run Raylene out of town.”
Gabe sighed. “I hear ya, and I don’t think you’ll have to wait long. As soon as the wedding’s over, I suspect she’ll hit the road. My sense is she’s not feeling the love.”
Rhys chuckled. “She’d have to be pretty warped, otherwise. I hear she talked to Dana today about a buyer for her property.”
“I hadn’t heard, but I’ll take your word for it.” Gabe knew she wanted to unload the property and use the money toward her horse ranch or whatever scheme she was cooking up. It was a valuable piece of land, and with the market the way it was, he wasn’t surprised she had an offer.
“Hopefully it won’t hold her up.” Rhys pulled into the square and parked his SUV in front of the police station. “See you around, Moretti.”
“Later,” Gabe said, and ducked inside the barbershop.
Owen, who’d been threatening to retire ever since Gabe rolled into town last summer, was giving some poor kid a jarhead buzzcut and talking the kid’s father’s ear off about politics. Gabe tuned him out, learning long ago to avoid that subject. Especially with Owen, who got most of what he talked about wrong.
“You got an appointment?”
Gabe scanned the empty waiting room. “No. Since when do I need an appointment?”
“Since I got a date with a new fishing pole.”
“You’re seriously wanting to fish in this?” Gabe stared out the window where the condensation on the rooftops had turned to icicles.
“Toughen up, boy. You’re not in New Jersey anymore.”
Gabe had more than a dozen ways he could respond to that but decided to leave it alone. “You gonna give me a trim or not?”And don’t butcher my hair like you did the kid’s, he wanted to say. But again he left it alone. Diplomacy. He was practicing diplomacy.
“You’re next, then I’m closing the shop for the day.”
“Where’s Darla?” Gabe got a kick out of the hairdresser’s colorful clothes, and she was a lot less surly than her old man, though he got a kick out of him too. Everyone in town had their own unique thing going. It was part of the reason Gabe fell in love with the place.
“It’s her day off. She and Wyatt went to Sacramento to visit her mom.” Owen finished up with the boy and motioned for Gabe to hop in the chair.
He squared up with the kid’s father at the cash register and returned with a clean cape, which he snapped around Gabe’s neck. “You want a shave, too?”
Gabe eyed his chin in the mirror, turning his head from side to side. “What the hell? Go for it.”
“That way you won’t look like a derelict for Annie’s wedding.”
A derelict?Gabe had to suppress an eye roll. “What’s new around here?” The barbershop was gossip central, and Owen was usually king rumor monger. Sometimes he got it right. More often than not, though, he embellished, putting his own bizarre spin on things. Gabe had learned how to muck through the bullshit in order to glean some semblance of the truth.
“That Rosser girl is all anyone is talking about.” Owen pulled a pair of shears from his drawer and started snipping away at Gabe’s sides.
“Not too much.” He covered the side of his head and Owen slapped his hand away. “What’s everyone saying?”
“That she’s selling that land behind Rosser Ranch. Folks are worried about what’ll go in there. No one wants a Hilton.”
Gabe stifled a laugh. A Hilton? As if that was even a remote possibility.
“The Millers are worried a big-box store will come in and put Farm Supply out of business.”
