Gritting her teeth to keep from glaring at Rick who was quite happily placing his order, Janet drummed her fingers on her thigh and then ordered coffee once the waitress had turned her attention from Rick. As soon as they were as alone as they were going to get in a room full of customers, Janet hissed, “What do you bet she’s going to go call Miss Oremun right now and describe us to the girl?”
Rick leaned in and lowered his own voice. “I rolled the dice. You don’t come in small towns like this and start flashing your badge around.”
Sighing in frustration, Janet sat back and pinched the bridge of her nose. Every delay in this case was just adding to the body count. Was the killer even now considering her next target?
Riley “Coop” Cooper was laying on a Winnie the Pooh blanket on the floor, demonstrating This Little Piggy to his twin baby girls on his mate Tara’s toes and eliciting giggles from all three of his redheads when the phone rang. With a groan, he dropped his head but raised his hand to accept the cordless from Tara. “Yeah,” he barked out in annoyance at the interruption.
“Sorry to bug you, Coop. But this is important.” Lucy said on the other end of the line.
Pushing to his feet, Riley made kissy faces at all three of his girls before he moved into the kitchen to ensure he could hear. “What’s up, Lucy?”
“We’ve got two folks here in the diner asking about Lily. They’re saying they’re old friends, but I’m pretty sure both are wearing shoulder holsters under their jackets and, well, you know her past.”
Riley grunted. Lillian Oremun had previously been Lillian Munroe-Kramer before she’d escaped a death sentence by relocating to Malsum Pass and had been given a new identity. Had her pride found her? “Shifters?” Riley asked moving toward the stairs to go fetch his badge and sidearm.
“Human. A black woman and a wannabe Magnum PI. I told them she was out of town visiting her sister for a few days.”
Riley nodded though Lucy couldn’t see it. “I’ll be right there.”
Less than ten minutes after kissing his mate and his baby girls before heading out the door, Riley was walking into the diner. His eyes went immediately to the two strangers, the woman looked frustrated as she glared at the man filling his face full of Lucy’s pie.
“Hey there, folks.” Riley said pleasantly as he approached the table and watched their eyes drop to the badge he’d attached to his belt. “Welcome to Malsum Pass. I’m Sherriff Riley Cooper.” He finished trying not to cringe. It always felt weird attaching the title to his name. Everyone in town knew who and what he was, so it was rarely necessary.
The woman eyed him up and down for a moment, taking his measure before thrusting out her hand to shake. “Detective Janet Sanford. This,” she said motioning with her chin to the man who was wiping his mouth with a napkin, “Is my partner Detective Rick Gimbal.”
Riley shook both their hands and then examined the credentials they placed before him. Satisfied that they were indeed legitimate, he looked from one to the other with a frown. “And you’re here to see Lillian Oremun?”
At their identical sharp nods he waited a moment more to see if they were going to be a bit more forthcoming. When neither volunteered anything further, he pressed, “Care to share why? I mean, if Miss Oremun is in some sort of trouble, as a professional courtesy…”
The woman, Detective Sanford, shook her head. “Right now, we just want to ask Miss Oremun a few questions. She may have information that will aid us in an ongoing investigation.”
Riley nodded thoughtfully and picked up the card the detective had slid across the table toward him. “As soon as she comes back to town, I’ll have her give you a call.” With a nod and smile he was far from feeling, Riley backed away from the table and tucked the card in his pocket. “You folks have a safe trip home.”
