LeRoy paid for the coffee and blocked the drive-through line while he added sugar to his cup. He cussed when he stirred his coffee and the line of cars behind him honked. “When in the hell did I start taking orders from a student in college? Damn, next thing I know, I’ll be carrying around a fluff ball and calling it a dog.”

Hank decided the old guy was growing on him. “I’ll be there, but it’ll be a plus-two for me.”

“I’m not eating at the table with that dog.”

“No. I’m bringing the librarian and a kid.”

LeRoy didn’t seem surprised. “You and the librarian are moving fast. You might want to talk your father into marrying the two of you if you’ve already got a kid.”

“I’ll do that.” Hank laughed, figuring that LeRoy probably knew about the boy’s arrival last night. The old guy might be slowing with arthritis, but he still knew what was happening in his county. “So, what are we doing out here this morning, Sheriff?”

“We are mapping the spots where all the bombs have been found. I’ve already made marks for the hospital, the library, and the professor’s stairs.”

Hank opened the map and marked off the house next to his dad’s place.

LeRoy drove, and Hank marked locations as they drank their coffee. Then, as promised, the sheriff dropped him and his dog off at the library.

“See you tonight before dark. Ketch told me twice that if I didn’t turn into the drive before the sun went down I might not be able to find the house.”

When Hank told Millie about the meeting, she started worrying about what to bring. When he got back from buying groceries, they all went home for a nap, then Millie and Simon made gingersnaps and he checked his email.

Hank’s mind was already leaving Clifton Bend and headed back to work.

He’d be fine in the days to come, he thought. He could forget about all the problems in his hometown and sink into Houston’s crime.

But during the nights he had a feeling he’d be thinking about Millie and would wonder how she was doing. Of all the women he’d known, she was the only one he thought of as “his lady.”

Chapter 34 - Ketch

Chapter 34

Ketch

Tuesday shook her head. “I’ve never had company. Never.” She stared at him as if he was asking the impossible. “I can’t.”