Page 85 of The Fragile Ones

“How many kids do you have?”

“I have two sons who are in the military—one army and one navy.”

“You must be proud,” she said.

“Absolutely.”

Katie didn’t know what possessed her to share about her personal life, but she said, “I served two tours in the army as a K9 explosives handler. This is Cisco, my partner. I was lucky enough to bring him home with me.” She sipped her coffee.

Betty turned around and studied Katie for a moment. “I knew there was something special about you when you first walked through that door.”

Katie smiled.

“Where’s your partner?”

“My guess? He’s probably talking to his girlfriend.” She petted Cisco as he gently begged for something off the table. “He’ll be here shortly.”

Two people came through the front door and Betty handed over pre-made breakfast packages for them to take with them.

“Betty, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, spit it out. I had a feeling you wanted to ask me something.” She pulled up a chair and sat down. Cisco seemed interested in her, sniffing her shoes and nudging for a pet, which she obliged.

“Why don’t I see children around town?”

Betty seemed shocked by the question and thought a moment before she answered. “Well, I don’t know. How much time have you spent here?”

“Enough.”

Betty looked down. “People don’t come to Rock Creek to raise a family.”

“Why is that? It’s nice and quiet here.”

“Well, the school isn’t the best. Hard to get good teachers and all. It’s more of a town for tourism because of the fishing and hiking. And I guess people like me getting close to retirement age.”

“Oh.”

“C’mon, Katie. There’s something else you want to ask me.”

“How well do you know Chief Osborne?”

“Richard? I’ve known him a long time. He’s a good man—as good as they get. I’d stake my life on it.”

Katie watched Betty closely and it was obvious that she truly felt that way about the chief. But Katie wasn’t so sure. “Does he have a family here?”

“No, his wife passed about ten years ago."

“How lonely.”

“Not really, there are a lot of good folks here and it’s like family.”

“Oh, one more thing. Is there someone staying here that drives a big gray truck?”

“No, I haven’t seen one. We are barely at half capacity, so I would have seen it if it belonged to a tenant. Why?”

“I just saw one late last night.” She didn’t want to divulge too much information or worry her.

“Maybe someone visiting?”