“Let me get this straight. You got offered ten grand to verify Gracie—I mean Ms. Medeiros’ location,” Nick caught the slip with her name and corrected himself, but knew Rafe noticed. “You did what you were hired for, found her, and confirmed she was here. You were then offered another ten grand to scare her, is that correct?”
Rudy nodded. “Yep. Should have been an easy 20k. Instead, you jumped me and ruined everything.” The glare he shot Nick would have melted a weaker man, but he’d dealt with people a lot scarier than Rudy Wilkins. He was a two-bit hustler who’d take a dime to intimidate his own mother.
“This job came straight from your cousin? Your cousin know Ms. Medeiros, ever met her before?”
“Nah, he told his old lady he was getting paid good money to get the information and he was willing to share it with me, if I’d do the legwork. Guess somebody in Huntsville wants your gal pretty bad and has deep pockets.”
“Rudy, I’m going to need to talk to your cousin.”
Nick had barely gotten the words out before Rudy sprang to his feet and bolted for the door, cursing a blue streak. Rafe raced around the table and grabbed one of his arms while Nick latched onto the other, and they wrestled him to the ground, with him finally screaming for a lawyer. Nick knew they wouldn’t get another word out of him, which was too bad, because he had a few more questions for Rudy.
Rafe frogmarched him out of the room and probably back to his cell, at least that’s what Nick figured. Pulling out his cell phone, he looked up the number for Frank’s Garage, since that was the place Rafe had mentioned earlier, and made arrangements for his car to be picked up from the B&B and have the tires replaced. He gave them the name of the rental agency, knowing they’d get the paperwork started for the insurance.
“Well, that was fun.” Rafe smiled and nodded toward the chairs. “Now it’s your turn.”
“My turn?”
“Question and answer time. I ask the questions and you answer them.”
“I’ve already made arrangements for the rental to be handled. What else is there?”
Reaching behind him, Rafe closed the door softly. “In all the hubbub of the last couple of days, I never got the chance to ask. Why exactly were you outside Gracie’s apartment?”
Oops.
“I was there when you talked to her about Brewster, remember? Offered to post somebody outside to watch her place? Since she refused your request to have an officer posted outside her apartment, and I had the time, I decided to keep watch for a couple hours.”
No need to tell him exactly how long I sat there, waiting for her to come home. That way I’ll feel less like a stalker than Rudy.
“Uh-huh. Nothing better to do with your time. I’m sure Momma will be thrilled to hear that.”
“Don’t you dare tell her I said that.”
Rafe chuckled. “Just kidding. I am serious though about Gracie. Was there a reason you felt you needed to be there? I planned to have the late duty patrol do a couple of drive-bys during the night shift, to check and make sure everything looked okay.”
He wasn’t about to tell Rafe he was obsessed with Gracie. After spilling his guts earlier, he didn’t want to seem like some lovesick sap. Nope, what he was feeling wasn’t anything like love. Not that he’d know what love felt like, at least not romantic love. He’d cared about women, sure, but never felt that magical connection like Ms. Patti and Douglas had. Or that Calvin and Gemma shared.
“I’m not sure exactly. Call it gut instinct, but after you got the call from the Texas Ranger about her ex, something felt off. Your officers are busy, and I was getting antsy staying in my room at the B&B. Figured it couldn’t hurt to keep an eye open.”
“How come I didn’t see your rental outside her apartment? I know most of the vehicles here in town, and I would have noticed yours, especially since you called me to come and arrest Rudy.”
“I might have borrowed a car from the B&B owner.”
Rafe chuckled. “You borrowed Ms. Edna’s car? She’s had that hunk of junk forever. Sometimes I wonder how it’s still running. I swear it’s held together with duct tape and bubblegum.”
“True, but it tends to blend in, whereas my rental would have stood out since it’s still got that new car appearance, not to mention the rental car agency sticker.”
Rafe stood and Nick followed suit. “I’ll give you a pass this time, because your instincts were on point, and you caught Rudy before he could do any damage. But next time, I’d appreciate a heads up if you’re going to be staking out one of my citizens. Got it?” He held out his hand.
Nick grasped it, knowing he’d dodged a bullet. “Understood. How’s Gracie doing since the whole Rudy thing? Between that and her ex’s call, she has to be rattled.”
“I’ve had Momma check on her and Tessa dropped by this morning. She swears she’s okay, and I’m going to believe her. She knows we’re here and we’re not going to let anybody, especially Jeremy Brewster, get anywhere near her.”
“Good. You need help with that, let me know.”
“You need a lift back to the B&B?”
Nick shook his head. “I’ve got a couple things I need to do. I spoke with Dante at the garage, and he said it shouldn’t take that long to fix the tires. Figured I’d stick close to town and pick it up when it’s ready.”
