Page 8 of Kiss Marry Kill

“That’s good to hear,” I said.

“He’s such a dear man,” she cooed.

River definitely had the town eating out of his hand. It seemed only Max, me, and Girdy saw through him. I didn’t dislike him as much as Max, but I certainly understood why Max was ready to throttle the guy.

“Do you by any chance know why River was so keen to own that particular piece of land?” I asked.

She frowned. “Not really. He told me it was for investment purposes.”

“There’s lots of land around here for sale.”

“That’s true. He definitely had his sights set on that one.”

“You said he talked the original owners into the sale. He must have given them a better reason for wanting the lot than simply for investment purposes. They’d expressed a desire to keep the land in the family before.”

“I agree. He must have said something more to them. But he didn’t share what he spoke about with them. I simply know they called me the very next day and said they were willing to sell to him.” She smiled and glanced at her watch. “Oh, I’m late. Sorry to rush off, but I have a meeting I need to get to, Sheriff.”

“No problem,” I drawled. “You’ve satiated my curiosity.”

“Wonderful. You have a good day, now.” She gave a breezy wave and headed toward her car.

I turned and walked back in the direction of the station. Even after talking with Mrs. Numi, I had no clarity on why River had been hell-bent on owning that piece of land. Had it been so he had power over Maxwell? Why would he want that? If Timothy Beckett hadn’t already confessed to setting the blaze that had destroyed Maxwell’s clinic, I might have been suspicious of River. He seemed fixated on Maxwell.

I was halfway to the station when a sleek black limousine stopped next to me in the middle of the road. One door opened and a group of college-aged guys spilled out of the vehicle. They were laughing, rowdy, and obviously inebriated. The driver also climbed from the car, looking harassed.

Limousines weren’t common in Rainy Dale, but there was one new company. I recognized the driver of the vehicle as Archie Brady, the owner of Fantasy Time Limousine Service. Archie was in his midthirties and seemed to be a real go-getter. He’d moved to town last year, after the death of his wife. I didn’t know him well, just enough to say hi. He was a pleasant enough guy, as far as I could tell, although at the moment, he didn’t look happy.

I met his frazzled gaze and moved toward him. “Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He let out a shaky breath. “I should have known better than to take that booking. Those assholes broke half of my champagne flutes and spilled booze all over the seats. It’s going to take me a week to get the car clean.”

My gaze followed the group of guys heading down the sidewalk. “Are they from around here?” I didn’t recognize them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t from around these parts.

He shook his head. “No. They go to UTD.”

“What are they doing in Rainy Dale? Dallas is more of a party town than Rainy Dale.”

“I know.” He sighed. “One of them was born here but moved away when he was ten. It’s his birthday, and he wanted his buddies to taste the waffles at the Pancake Cottage. Truth be told, they’re all so wasted, I doubt they’d know the difference between the Pancake Cottage waffles and an Eggo.”

I smiled, keeping my eyes on the group as they moved in the opposite direction. If they kept drinking, odds were they were going to start trouble. “When are you taking them back to Dallas?”

He glanced at his watch. “Their booking ends at 5:00 p.m.” He groaned. “God, this day will never end.”

“I don’t envy you.”

“No one would.” He pulled his cap off and ruffled his auburn hair. “These kinds of bookings are my least favorite. But I gotta pay the bills, ya know?”

“I hear you.” I glanced at the limo still parked in the middle of the road. “Uh, how about you pull out of the street and park behind the hardware store? There’s plenty of room back there.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” He grimaced. “Sorry. I got distracted. That’s how my brain is lately. Too much on my mind.” He moved back to the car and climbed in.

I watched him pull away and then continued my trek toward the station. I’d be ready for a phone call from the Pancake Palace. I had little doubt those guys were going to be a handful. But they hadn’t broken the law yet, so all I could really do was wait and see if I was right. I didn’t have enough manpower to go set up surveillance on a bunch of drunks. Deputy Juan had asked for a few extra days off so he could spend some quality time with Lola, and today was Deputy Dusty’s anniversary, so he’d also asked for the day off. If trouble started, it would be up to me and Deputy Sam to keep the peace.

When I got back to the station, I busied myself with paperwork. I felt a little on edge, waiting for a disturbance call from the Pancake Palace. I really hoped those guys from the limo would just eat their waffles and leave town.

But, of course, they didn’t.

It was almost 5:00 p.m. when the call of a disturbance at the Pancake Palace finally came in. I’d really hoped we’d dodged that bullet because Archie had said his booking with those guys from Dallas ended at 5:00 p.m. Apparently, drunk people didn’t adhere well to schedules because they were still in Rainy Dale, causing trouble.