“Well, we have to find him. We have to get Reyes out of jail. Well, really out of jail. Not just escaped out of jail.”

“I agree. I’m going to grab something to eat at this little café—”

“Oh, you love small-town cafés.”

“I do. I’ll be back in a couple.”

“You know, I had a thought about that,” she said, her voice hesitant.

“Yeah?” I pulled out of Farley’s dirt drive. Circling back around, I missed dismembering Garrett by a hairsbreadth as he jumped back into his truck, then offered me a questioning glare in my rearview. It made me smile.

“Yeah. Why don’t you ride with Garrett and we can pick up Misery tomorrow?”

“Why would I do that?” I asked, appalled.

“Because you haven’t slept in fourteen days.”

“I’m good, Cook. I just need a little coffee.”

“Just make sure he stays close. And make sure Rambo doesn’t come after you. They always come after you.”

I tried to be offended, but just couldn’t muster the energy. “Okay.”

“How was your visit with Kim?”

After a long, labored sigh, I said, “She was really happy when I got there. I’m pretty sure she was suicidal when I left.”

“You do have that effect on people.”

* * *

I pulled into the lot of a small café with about two customers to its name. Garrett pulled into the other side of the lot, turned out his lights, and waited. He had to be hungry, but no way was I inviting him in. He could bite my sexy tailed ass.

“Sit wherever, honey,” a round waitress in jeans and a country blouse said when I walked in.

A bell overhead sounded as I closed the door. The café had all the country charm I loved with none of the commercialism. Antique kitchen items together with farming equipment hung on the walls and sat perched on barn wood shelves. Vintage tins punctuated the décor, everything from saltine crackers to sewing oil, and the nostalgia brought back memories from my childhood. Or it would have, had I been born in the thirties.

It did bring back the memories I’d gleaned off a man who’d crossed through me when I was a child. He’d raised sheep in Scotland, and castrating sheep is a big part of that occupation. Unfortunately, once something is seen, it cannot be unseen.

After a few minutes, the bell sounded again and a tall bond enforcement agent with a fetish for midget  p**n  strolled in like he owned the place.

“Hello, handsome,” the woman said, making me grin. “Sit wherever you’d like.”

Garrett nodded, strolled to a corner table at the opposite side of the diner, and sat facing me.

“What can I get you, hon?” the waitress asked, holding pen and pad at the ready.

“I would kill for a green chile cheeseburger and an iced tea.”

“Green burger and tea it is. With fries?”

“And extra ketchup.”

“I’ll have the same but with chips,” Garrett called out. He probably didn’t want me getting my order first and finishing before he did.

The waitress looked over at him and chuckled. “He must be hungry.”

“I can’t take him anywhere,” I said, shaking my head.

When she walked away to get our teas, I asked him, “Why didn’t you come to my rescue when trailer park guy pulled a knife on me?”

His grin flashed bright in the low light. “I’m just tailing you. I can’t let you know I’m here. If I had interfered, you would know.”

The waitress paused a moment before heading toward me with my tea. “He has a point,” I said to her. She offered a hesitant smile, obviously unsure of what to think. “Hey, can you make sure I get my burger first?”

“Your voice carries really well,” he said, his voice carrying really well.

With narrowed eyes, I said, “Shush, you tailgater, you. This is between—” I glanced at the server’s name tag. “—Peggy and me.”

He shrugged defensively. “I would’ve come to your rescue eventually.”

“Oh, yeah? When? After I’d been gutted and lay bleeding to death in a ditch somewhere?”

“Absolutely,” he said, clasping his hands behind his head. “I mean, I wouldn’t jump in the ditch and try to suppress the bleeding or anything, but, sure. I’d call for help or something.”

Offering my best smile ever, I said, “You’re a real saint, Swopes.”

“My mom says the same thing.”

The realization that Garrett actually had a mother kind of disturbed me. But only for about twelve seconds. I rarely held thoughts in my head any longer than twelve seconds. Damn my ADD.

We sat in silence awhile as I jotted down some notes. I glanced up from underneath my lashes a few times to check on Garrett. He obviously took his tailing duties seriously, considering he had yet to take his eyes off me. The smell of the burgers and green chile on the grill had my mouth watering. By the time Peggy brought our burgers, I was moments away from drooling uncontrollably. Either from the smell or the lack of sleep. I couldn’t be sure which.

“So, why are we here?” Garrett asked between bites. The ass**le slipped Peggy a five-spot to bring him his burger first. Never trust a man with a penis.

“The man Reyes went to prison for killing isn’t dead,” I said, salting my burger before I’d even tried it.