“I am.” She glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the nightstand. She’d yet to tackle the decorating, make anything hers, but she still felt at home. “Boone will be here in about thirty minutes, right?”
Cooper nodded. “Yeah. He wants to talk to us ... and I’m guessing it’s not going to be a fun topic since he’s insisting on being here first thing in the morning.”
“Then we should probably get cleaned up.”
“Yeah.” His gaze was intense as he stared into her eyes. “Do you want to conserve water and shower with me?”
He was so earnest when he asked the question she giggled uncontrollably. “That could be the most environmentally friendly invitation I’ve ever received.”
“Is that a yes?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Then we have to take Jinx for a walk before breakfast. Usually I would just let him head down to Tyler’s place on his own but given everything that’s going on ... .” She trailed off, biting her bottom lip.
“We’ll take him together,” Cooper promised. “The good news is, I think these ... creatures ... are more interested in us than animals. The bad is, if they get desperate enough, I can see them trying to use Jinx as a weapon. We’ll make sure they can’t do that.”
“Thank you.”
“I love him, too,” Cooper reassured her. “We’re a family. All three of us. We won’t let anything happen to him.”
And that, Hannah realized, was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
BOONE BROUGHT BREAKFAST. HE WAS LADEN down with a huge box full of takeout containers when he breezed through the saloon doors and he flashed a friendly smile for Jinx, who yipped excitedly at the scent of bacon and sausage.
“Who’s a good boy?” Boone intoned, sliding the box on the table and immediately dropping to his knee so he could shower attention on the dog. “Are you a good boy?”
Jinx’s hindquarters danced to let Boone know that he was indeed a good boy.
“You should really get a dog,” Cooper noted, smirking as he started rummaging through the food.
“I would love a dog. Lindsey is allergic, though.”
“Oh, no!” Hannah was appalled. “That’s horrible.”
Amusement lit Boone’s features. “I’ll just borrow your dog when I come to visit.”
“Of course.”
Jinx seemed thrilled at the prospect as he danced around Boone.
“I even brought sausage for you,” Boone promised. “I mean ... if he can have it.”
“He can have it,” Hannah reassured him. “It’s only Mexican food that gives him the toots.”
It took Boone a moment to realize what she was saying. “Oh, well ... that is lovely.”
“Isn’t it?” She squeezed his arm as she passed on her way to the bar to collect napkins. “So, what do you have for us?”
Boone turned serious, drifting toward the window so he could look out before answering. “Where is Agent Hoffman?”
“We haven’t seen him this morning,” Cooper replied. “We’ve been looking, too, because we want to keep an eye on him.”
“I think he’s still sleeping,” Tyler offered. “I made a point of walking past the brothel and there was nobody moving on the second floor.”
“So ... he’s sleeping in?” Boone made a face, as if that was the most horrible thing in the world. “That is just unbelievable.”
Hannah and Cooper exchanged amused looks behind his back.
“To be fair, he was up late walking the streets,” Hannah offered. “He seems desperate to come up with a rational way to explain away what happened.”
“He’s still looking for a bullet,” Cooper explained.
Boone made a growling sound deep in his throat. “The coroner told him that there was never a bullet in the body.”
“Apparently he doesn’t believe that. He’s making them look again.”
“I can’t even—” Boone broke off and rubbed his forehead. “What else? Did he say anything to you?”
“Basically he ignored our existence,” Tyler replied.
“Even though your face looks like that?” It was the first time Boone had commented on the bruises his friends were sporting and Hannah was thankful he wasn’t making a big deal about it.
“We told him the horses got loose and we needed to track them down,” Cooper explained. “He seemed willing to believe that.”
“Then he must not know a lot about horses,” Boone grumbled.
“In his defense, I probably would’ve believed that, too,” Hannah said. “I mean ... it sounds reasonable. Horses are big.”
Boone slid his eyes to her and shook his head. “No. You’re smarter than that. You might’ve tried to force yourself to believe but, in the back of your head, you would’ve wondered if we were telling the truth.”
“It’s possible he doesn’t believe us,” Tyler offered. “I mean ... he’s obviously out here because he thinks he’s going to catch us doing something nefarious. Maybe he thinks that if he pretends to believe, we’ll be more likely to drop our guards around him.”
“I guess, although that seems ludicrous.” Boone rubbed his chin as he sank into a chair, his lips spreading into a smirk when Jinx rested his head on the sheriff’s knee and offered up a pleading expression. “Does the good boy want his treat?”
Cooper practically choked on his laugh as he shook his head. “Listen, I’m not saying Agent Hoffman is the smartest guy in the Bureau. It is possible that he’s messing with us, though. If he is, I have to give him credit. We have no idea what his intentions are, and that means we’re on our toes constantly.”
“He didn’t see anything last night, right?” Boone queried.
Hannah shook her head. “Everyone was quiet and went to bed early. We ate tacos for dinner and then separated. Cooper checked the street a few times before we knocked off for the night but all he saw was Jacob out there walking the street with his tape measure.”
“Tape measure?” Boone’s eyebrows practically shot off his forehead. “Are you kidding me?”
“No.”
“I just ... he is unbelievable.” Boone let loose a sigh and then grabbed the takeout container Cooper handed him. “Okay, let’s talk about serious stuff. From the text I got, two of our enemies are down. That means five are left.
