Page 16 of Bad to the Bone
Chapter Nine
“SOwhat do you think after the town hall meeting?” Sam asked over breakfast the next morning. “Do you have a feel for how the council’s going to swing?”
“Thanks for starting my day with that mental image.” Alex pushed at his order of hash and eggs with his fork and sighed. “I’m not sure. I think the information we presented is persuasive, but Odell and his supporters are taking a hard-dollar approach—expansion will bring in more tax revenue and create more jobs. Those are hard to argue against.”
“As long as it doesn’t mean sacrificing a major town service to get them.”
“Preaching to the choir, Sam, but thanks. I know you would have been there if you weren’t on duty.”
“Trust me, I would much rather have been there than dealing with a single-car accident that didn’t turn into more through pure luck.”
Sam’s expression was dispassionate, but Alex had known her enough years to read the emotion in her eyes. “Fatalities?”
“Not yet, but it’s not looking good that the driver’s going to make it. We got two separate calls about a pickup swerving all over the road on I-70 at high speed. Apparently it crossed the center line several times. The driver ran off the road and hit a power pole before he could crash into another vehicle. No seat belt, of course, so he was in pretty bad shape by the time we got there.”
“DUI coming from one of the casinos?” The Comanche Nation operated several casinos in the county, and while they were no more likely to contribute to driving under the influence than any other bar or restaurant that served alcohol, I-70 was the nearest route to several of them.
“We won’t know for sure until we get the blood work back, but there were signs that it might be drug related. And this isn’t the first one. If we’ve got a spike of drugs coming in, that could lead to all kinds of ugly.” Sam shook her head and signaled to Brigit for more coffee. “On a cheerier note, I see Ricky Lee and his friend are still in town. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“I haven’t seen him since the reunion. No, that’s not true.” Alex couldn’t hold back a smile at the memory of Ricky Lee seeking him out. “I ran into him—not literally—while I was running Monday morning. He said he has business keeping him in town, at least through the week. We’re going to get together on Saturday, make some time to catch up.”
“Catch up?” Sam waggled her eyebrows. “Is that what they’re calling it now?”
“C’mon, Sam,” Alex protested, glancing around though Brigit had already topped off their cups and returned to the front counter. “We were best friends once, and we haven’t seen each other for almost a dozen years. I’d like to know what he’s been doing since then.”
“Nothing to show up on any law enforcement radar,” Sam said. “I told you Chief Cowart wanted us to run a more comprehensive background check than just traffic records. Ricky Lee’s jacket is clean ever since he left Freeland.”
“That’s good to know, though I didn’t expect anything different. I hope that will get Cowart off his back.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. That man has a bug up his ass about Ricky Lee, and not in any good way.” She slanted a considering glance at Alex. “I wonder what kind of ‘business’ Ricky Lee has in town, considering he didn’t come back even when his father passed away. You’d think if there was anything related to the estate to take care of, that would have been the time.”
“I doubt there was any kind of estate.” Alex frowned, remembering how little Ricky Lee had back in high school. “You know Billy Joe didn’t work a day for years even before Ricky Lee left, and almost everything he got from his disability or Social Security or whatever went to cigarettes and booze.”
“It still makes me wonder about Ricky Lee’s source of income. He must have a job that doesn’t mind him taking a big chunk of time off to ride halfway across the country and back, not to mention however long he’s planning to stay in Freeland.”
Alex filed the reminder that Ricky Lee would be leaving soon underissues to think about later. “Maybe he just had a lot of vacation time saved up. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll talk about who he’s working for on Saturday.”
“Maybe I’ll do a little more digging too, just in case you get too caught up in ‘catching up’ to remember.”
Alex sighed.So much for thinking about it later.“Look, Sam. He’s here for maybe ten days or so, and then he’ll be heading back to Portland or wherever he lives now. I’m not masochistic enough to start something under those circumstances.”
“Just because most of the town thinks we’re a couple doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you happy.”
It was a natural assumption, even though they’d dated in high school more because it seemed expected for the star athlete and head cheerleader to be a couple than for any other reason. Neither of them had been heartbroken when graduation took them in separate directions. When Alex returned to Freeland after his father’s heart attack, they’d tried getting back together, but the spark just wasn’t there—never had been, really. Despite what public opinion might think, they were much better friends than lovers.
“Just because I told you I experimented some in college doesn’t mean I’m interested in trying it again.” He pulled out his wallet and extracted a twenty to pay for their meals.
“Not with just anyone, no. But Ricky Lee isn’t just anyone, is he? He never has been.”
As always, Sam saw him far too clearly. “Maybe that’s all the more reason not to risk it. Besides, what about you? When are you and Crae getting together for some bonding over Muay Thai?”
It wasn’t often Alex got the last word with Sam. He put the twenty on the table and headed out while it lasted.
SATURDAYmorning dawned to clear skies and a burst of Indian summer warmth. Alex was downing the last of his cup of coffee when the telltale grumble of the Harley motor announced Ricky Lee’s arrival.
“Not today, sorry,” he told Buck, who tried to dash ahead of him down the stairs. “The last time I brought you to a build, you brushed against a wall, and we not only had to repaint it, I spent the entire next day getting ‘Frank Lloyd White’ out of your fur.”
By the time he maneuvered around Buck and made his way down the stairs, Ricky Lee had parked alongside the Morrison Hardware pickup truck at the side of the building. “Good day to work outside,” he observed. “Should I follow you, or do you want to ride with me?”
