A pairing of Fall River royalty,Amy had said.They may not wear crowns, but the old guard likes matching their offspring.She’d added that hanging with the commoners was one thing for the town’s upper crust, but if they were getting married and creating babies, it was with others from the same caste. Not that Hailey was looking for matrimony and motherhood—yet—but that sort of mindset didn’t bode well for a long-term relationship between have and have-not.
Hailey’s heart sank. Who would have thought that sort of interplay existed in a little old mining town, especially when one contemplated the hard cut of a nineteenth-century miner? Then again, it wasn’t unlike surfing royalty where the “best of the best” intertwined with the other cream of the sport.
She was no refined princess, nor would she ever be. She was sand and grit from the pauper class and wasn’t suited for someone of his status. But damn it, there was an undeniable charge between them, and she wanted to know where that could lead. Maybe he wanted to take a break from the upper crusties and slum a little, and if that was the case, did she want to be that girl?
So many mysteries. Friday night would be a good start to solving them.
Chapter 20
Just Doing My Job
At a quarter tonine the following morning, Hailey stepped outside the Loose Moose. No wildlife greeted her. Did that mean bad luck awaited? Not likely, and she was ready for whatever inspections Cliff had lined up. She had checked the department’s database the night before but hadn’t seen any restaurants flagged in the county, which baffled her—unless they crossed county lines, which would be even more puzzling. But this was Cliff, the guy so focused on his upward mobility that he often lost sight of dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s. The guy who rarely did an inspection and probably didn’t know they had systems in place. The guy who leaned heavily onherto check the details and follow the protocols. The guy who, when he fell flat on his face, would foist the clean-up on her. When that inevitably happened, she’d be tempted to virtually rub her hands together with glee, except she’d be too busy brooming up his mess.
If only she could think up a way to expose Cliff, to give Dan a firsthand look at his incompetence, but that would entail Dan not being blind and her being as crafty as Cliff.
She arrived at the lobby before he did, and when he did appear, he sported an extra dose of smugness in his expression.
Guess his early-morning meeting went well.
He herded her toward his SUV—thecounty’s brand-newvehicle—and soon they were on their way to a tiny pub in an unincorporated part of neighboring Ouray County. No wonder she hadn’t found it in the database. Different county.
The inspection, conducted by Hailey while Cliff chatted up the restaurant manager, was complete an hour and a half later. There wasn’t much to the place, but she still had to check the same boxes for hygiene policies and habits and a host of other requirements as she would for a larger operation.
“Where to next?” she asked as they settled back into the Ford.
“You’ll find out.”
Why was he acting so dodgy? “Can you at least tell me what county it’s in?”
“San Juan,” Cliff crowed as he headed back in the direction they had come.
A bad feeling formed a knot in the pit of her stomach before spreading through her limbs.
At a fork in the highway, she prayed he’d veer to the right, but he took the turn toward Fall River. The foreboding inside her blossomed, and she struggled to control the panic in her voice when she said, “Where are we going, Cliff?”
Very un-Cliff-like, he didn’t utter a word until they pulled up in front of the Miners Tavern. He cut the engine and turned toward her. “I got a tip about this place. My suspicions were already high when I learned you got sick from eating here—”
“But I didn’t get sick!” she yelped. “And don’t forget webothate here last night, and I didn’t get sick then either. Did you?”
He rapped his knuckles against his abdomen. “No, but I’ve got a cast-iron gut, so that’s not necessarily a good barometer.” His expression grew eerily solemn. “Last night’s meal was undercover work. I wanted to watch the employees while they were oblivious to being observed, and I saw some practices that raised red flags, so I did some more digging. This place needs a thorough going-over, and you’re the best man for the job.”
Questions flew from her mouth. “What red flags? A tip from whom? Where did you dig, and what did you find?”
“You’ll see.” He released his seat belt. “We have one more inspection after this, and it’ll be quitting time when we return. I want to catch these guys at a busy hour, like now, while they’re gearing up for the lunch crowd.”
“It’s only a little past eleven on a Tuesday,” she pointed out. Silence charged the air. “Let me ask you something. Why did you give Dell’s advance notice but you’re not extending the same courtesy to the Miners Tavern?” She was grasping at straws, trying to slow down this locomotive.
“Because there are reports of rodents at the Miners Tavern that just came to my attention. Rodents, Hailey.”
Rodents?She gasped before she could stop herself, but he didn’t seem to notice. No way were there rodents in the tavern.
“If the allegation is true, then it’s a very serious situation, and they don’t deserve a heads-up. It’s ourjobto protect the public, Hailey.” He gave her a pointed look, as if she didn’t understand what the exact nature of the job was, the asshole.
It’s also our job to treat these businesses fairly. Every inspection was supposed to be unannounced … except that Bruno Keating’s place had gotten special treatment. Why? A memory of the chummy way Cliff had treated Bruno and their disappearing act surfaced.
“Where did the tip come from, Cliff?” she repeated. “A rival restaurant owner with an ax to grind?” He didn’t acknowledge the question, and her indignation got the better of her. She ran on without a filter. “You’re not being fair! As of last night, you said nothing about inspecting the Miners Tavern, yet your mind was already made up after we went to Dell’s yesterday. The tavern’s not even down for an inspection in the database like Dell’s was.”
He side-eyed her. “That’s just an oversight. And why are you snooping around?”
