Page 30 of Bad to the Bone
“Is that Ricky Lee? Give him a high five from me,” Alanna said, grinning.
See you there in fifteen minutes, Alex texted back.
RICKYLee was already seated at the same booth he’d met Alex and Sam at for breakfast.Was it really only three hours ago?Alex slid into the bench across from Ricky Lee and shook his head. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“If I hadn’t taken off, I would have decked the fat bastard, and they really could have arrested me for that.”
Brigit bustled over with menus but looked askance at Ricky Lee before setting them on the table. “You’re not going to start any trouble in here, are you?”
“Only if I have to wait too long for my burger.” Ricky Lee flashed a smile that made Brigit simper. “I’m kidding. Where would I eat lunch if I caused trouble at the best restaurant in town?”
Alex watched a visibly charmed Brigit take Ricky Lee’s order but shook his head when she asked what he’d like. “I’m still too full from breakfast,” he told her, though he was actually still too shaken from the morning’s events to want to put anything into his stomach.
When Brigit headed to the kitchen, Alex tried again. “I don’t think you understand what you started. The gossip mill is already turning what happened into something out ofThe Fast and the Furious. You saw how Brigit reacted.”
“And you saw how easy it was to win her over. You worry too much, Alex.”
“Maybe you don’t worry enough,” he retorted. “People are already wondering how you could afford to pay in full for a luxury SUV. I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about”—he lowered his voice—“your money.”
“And I still don’t intend to tell them.” Ricky Lee leaned closer. “People are going to believe what they want to believe, and it doesn’t make a rat’s ass of difference to me whether that’s good or bad.”
“I think you like making them believe the worst.”
“In this town, I don’t have to work at it.”
Brigit arrived with Ricky Lee’s burger, fries, and iced tea, and as soon as she set the order on the table, he took a bite of the burger. “Delicious. Definitely worth waiting for.”
When Brigit smiled and walked away, Ricky Lee picked up a fry. “See? I have at least one fan.”
“I give up. I’m obviously not going to be able to influence you.”
“Now there’s where you’re wrong. You’ve been the single best influence in my life.”
Alex was about to dispute that when the chatter around them in the diner suddenly fell silent. He looked up to see Chief Bert Cowart approaching them. The older man stopped in front of their booth and leaned toward them, resting his palms on the edge of the table.
“I don’t need riffraff like you causing a commotion in my town,” he told Ricky Lee gruffly. “You were nothing but trouble when you lived here, and I’m not about to put up with you disrupting our businesses and harassing our citizens.”
“Unless I break the law, you can’t do anything to stop me.” Ricky Lee picked up another fry and bit into it.
Chief Cowart flushed with anger. “You tell yourself that, boy. I know you’re up to no good, and I’ve got my eyes on you. If you were smart, you’d head out of town now, before I find a reason to arrest you that I can make stick.”
“I must not be very smart, because I have no intention of leaving town until I’m ready to go.”
“Where does someone like you get the kind of money you dropped this morning?” Cowart demanded.
That was about all Alex could take. “Ricky Lee is—”
“—under no obligation to tell you anything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m trying to finish my lunch.”
The chief straightened and glared at Ricky Lee. “Just give me a reason, and I’ll pull you in so fast your head will spin.” He stalked off, and everyone in the diner seemed to be staring at their tables before resuming their conversations, no doubt about what had just happened.
Ricky Lee calmly finished his burger while Alex tried to quiet his jangling nerves. “How can you let him talk to you like that?”
Pushing aside his empty plate, Ricky Lee shook his head. “Every interaction I’ve had with him since I was a teen has gone pretty much the same way. I could tell him that forty thousand dollars is a week’s interest on my portfolio, and he wouldn’t believe me. As long as I know the truth and you know the truth, what does it matter what he thinks?” Before Alex could answer, Ricky Lee smiled. “Anyway, I’ve spent all the time I intend to discussing Chief Cowart. I’d much rather make plans to take you to dinner tomorrow night.”
As annoyed as he was at Ricky Lee’s failure to take the situation seriously, Alex wished he could accept. “I’d like to, but I have to work tomorrow night.”
“I thought you said Alanna closed the store on Wednesdays.”
