After a moment’s hesitation, Natalie took the small piece of plastic. It was a flash drive. “What do you think is on it?”
“I’ll tell you after I try it out on Butch’s laptop when we get to the bar.” She made a face. “Shoot! I forgot I need to open the bar. If we get to have a phone call, we need to tell Ronnie to go open for me.”
Twenty minutes later, the deputy returned. “Sheriff Harrison was busy,” he explained the delay. “He said to tell you two that he’s already contacted your sister and someone is on the way here to get you.”
“Why doesn’t he let us go right now?” Kate asked. “My car is right across the street. We can forget this ever happened.” She waved her hand back and forth in front of the deputy’s face, as if she had mind powers or something.
He scowled at her hand. “Because your black Volvo was towed about ten minutes ago, so you need a ride.”
“What?! Why didn’t you stop the tow truck driver?”
“Because I didn’t see him until he was driving off with it and passed in front of the window.”
He started to walk away and then stopped, adding, “Oh, the sheriff also said to tell you that Veronica will open The Shaft for you, so there is no need for anyone to break any speed limits on your way back to Jackrabbit Junction.”
Kate growled at his back as he walked away. “Damned tow truck driver.”
“I told you not to park there.”
“I was only partially in front of the hydrant.”
They waited another twenty minutes with Kate bitching and cursing the whole time. Natalie stood at the window, staring out into the back lot through the bars, half listening to her cousin’s rants. It was just like old times.
The buzz of the front door opening made Natalie wince. If it was Gramps who’d come, there’d be an ass-chewing for both of them all of the way home. She crossed her fingers Ronnie had sent Claire or even Chester.
“It’s about time,” Kate grumbled, brushing off her work shirt. She looked around the cell with a wrinkled lip. “I’m going to buy Grady some air fresheners for this place. That urinal cake isn’t cutting it.”
Natalie looked back out the window and sighed. Two days in Arizona and she’d already spent time in jail. That might be a new record for her.
The sound of footfalls on cement drew near—two sets of them.
“Your ride is here, ladies,” the deputy said.
Kate let out a small screech. “Galloping Gadzooks!”
Natalie turned from the window and gasped, falling back against the wall.
On the other side of the bars, Detective “Coop” Cooper stared back at her, looking as heartbreaking in his black leather jacket and blue jeans as when she’d left Deadwood mere days ago. His blond hair was wind ruffled, but his face was chiseled smooth where there were usually furrows and ridges.
When she met his gray eyes they searched hers, looking for something—probably the reason why she ran all the way to Arizona to get away from him.
She schooled her expression, trying to pretend her feathers weren’t ruffled that he’d tracked her down a thousand-plus miles later. “What are you doing here, Coop?”
Chapter Seven
“Katie, you have to at least try to stay out of jail, darn it,” Ronnie said.
“You promised before we left The Shaft that you wouldn’t lecture me on this trip,” Katie reminded her.
Ronnie parked Claire’s Jeep next to the Hummingbird Towing sign in front of a single-story concrete block building painted bright yellow. According to Claire, this was the same tow truck service that had hauled away the RV in which they’d found the diamonds.
The towing company looked more like a flower shop from the outside with the multitudes of red hummingbird feeders dangling from green plant hangers staked here and there into the desert dirt. The concrete walls were lined with a white picket fence, giving the place a cottage-like air. A long corrugated tin wall branched off to the left of the business. The tin was painted the same bright yellow as the building, giving a happy vibe in spite of the razor wire strung along the top. A rolling gate with spiky posts divided the parking lot from the side and back of the building.
Katie’s Volvo was undoubtedly caged on the other side of the barrier. Ronnie just hoped they could free it without having to involve Grady. Lord only knew how much longer he’d want to put up with her family’s shenanigans.
“I know what I promised,” Ronnie said, shutting off the Jeep. “But—”
“No buts, no coconuts. And for your information, I had a legitimate reason for going to the sheriff’s office this morning.”
“Really? What was so damned important that you had to rush in there and get your ass thrown in jail?”
Katie glared across the console at her. “I don’t feel like telling you right now because you’re just going to be a big, dumb doubting-dolly about it.”
Ronnie glared back.
Earlier, upon returning from jail, Katie had shown up at The Shaft a few minutes after they’d opened, grabbed an order pad, and started right to work. Ronnie hadn’t had a chance to find out any details about what happened at the sheriff’s office beyond what Grady had told her when he called to say someone had to go get her sister out of jail … again.
It had been Claire’s bright idea to send that detective from Deadwood to Yuccaville, figuring he was less likely to end up behind bars with Katie and Natalie than Claire was if she were to go get the two jailbirds. She was probably right.
Ronnie had yet to hear Natalie’s side of this morning’s debacle. She’d only seen her cousin long enough to smile and wave when Claire and Natalie came to cover for them after the lunch crowd petered out. Undoubtedly, her tale of woe would end with “Kate’s crazy,” same as Claire’s story
