Heck of a kiss

Chapter Fifteen

The next day, I was preoccupied at work, trying not to think about, or anticipate the looming conversation with Jabe that evening.

Tasha of course wanted all the details and had been suitably horrified. I left out some of the information, like the fact I was one of the riders who had roped the bull, but Tasha was still attentive.

“There were five kids in that car? Good grief, I hope they catch whoever let it out because that is just awful.”

When I finally climbed into my truck and got on the Claude Highway my stomach was tied in knots. I really didn’t want to tell Jabe about Josh’s suspicions but I also knew that Jabe was way too stubborn to let me get away with shirking details.

I walked into Lulu’s and saw Jabe sitting in ones of the booths, his hat sitting next to him on the bench. Quickly I crossed the café and slipped into the booth. He looked up, his baby blue eyes peeking out at me. I gave him and tight smile and tried not to fidget. We exchanged rather stiff greetings and were saved from awkward silence by the cheerful teenaged waitress. I ordered some fries and a cup of iced tea and Jabe ordered a slice of apple pie and a Dr. Pepper.

When they arrived I picked at my food and watched in amusement as Jabe dug in. He glanced up and saw my smirk and shrugged. “What? It’s homemade apple pie. But we aren’t here to talk about pie, you said you would explain, start talking.”

“Well, yesterday, when I brought the bull back to the pens, the lock was gone and the chain was thrown aside. That tells me that whoever did it did it deliberately. Josh was there, and he told me that the same thing had happened when Chad was attacked.”

Jabe interrupted. “So you’re saying the attacks are connected.”

“No, I’m saying that it’s merely a coincidence that two bulls manage to escape their pens on two different occasions and the locks magically disappear. Yes, of course the attacks are connected. Plus I think I know why Chad was attacked, although I don’t have evidence yet. Lesley told me a couple weeks ago, that Chad found out about a drug ring, operating out of the rodeo, he had some kind of evidence, but he never told her where it was. He was going to go to the police when he was killed.”

“The dealer found out.”

Reluctantly I nodded. “Presumably, but I don’t who it was, or anything like that so, I’m kinda flying blind.”

“What are you going to do now?”

Shrugging I bit into one of the fries. “Hopefully find Chad’s evidence. He would have put them somewhere Lesley wouldn’t find them; he wouldn’t want to put her at risk.”

Jabe scraped his now empty plate with his fork getting the last remaining syrup up. “Like it or not, you guys are at risk, if the dealer found out about Chad, he might think Lesley, or you knows where it is.”

“Crap, I didn’t even think of that.” I bit my bottom lip, trying think of somewhere Chad would have hidden something that could take down a drug dealer. “I don’t even know what it is. So of course I have no idea where to start looking. Going through Chad’s office might be a good start though.”

“Who’s your sidekick?”

Giving him a sarcastic glance I asked. “My sidekick? This isn’t a cop show Jabe I don’t have to have a sidekick. Besides, I think the less people involved the better, I’m in this because I don’t have much choice, I need to find that evidence because I have to protect Lesley and Mila, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“So, you’re going to go through Chad’s office, what if it isn’t there?”

Shrugging, I bit into another fry despite the fact I had lost my appetite. “Then I guess I will have to either leave town, or hope that the dealer doesn’t suspect anything.”

Knowing from Jabe’s look that he wanted my fries, I pushed them over to him and he flashed me a smile before speaking. “Both of those options aren’t exactly concrete. Or safe.”

“Not a lot I can do about that.”

“I could help.”

Narrowing my eyes I crossed my arms on the table and leaned forward.

“How exactly would you do that?”

“Other than you and Lesley, I knew Chad the best, and we talked about things that Chad wouldn’t talk about with either of you.”

“So you think you know where he might have hidden the evidence.”

“I have some ideas.”

Silence fell as I considered his words. Jabe was right, he had known Chad better than us because Chad would talk about different things with Jabe than he would with Lesley or I. If I did let Jabe help, that might be a bad thing, because we would be spending a lot of time together again. That would be good for the investigation but bad for my heart. Except, what if he could help? Would I risk Lesley and Mila’s life just because I couldn’t stand to work with Jabe?

Blowing out a heavy sigh, I ran a hand through my ponytail and then looked up at Jabe who was polishing off the last of my fries. “Okay, you can help; don’t make me regret saying yes.”

            “You won’t I’ll come over next Sunday after church and we can work of the office.”

            I nodded and then curious, I asked. “What church?”

            Giving me an incredulous look, Jabe said. “St. Mary’s where I’ve been going literally all my life.”

            I shrugged. “I didn’t know you were still going.”

            “Well thanks for that vote of confidence.”

            From the smile on his face, I knew that he wasn’t actually offended, so I stood, giving him a smile. “See you next Sunday.”