“You’d win that bet.” Kate looked at Jake. “What do you know about this second person or party who’s begun to look for our Jenny?”
“Not much, yet. That’s why I asked Kat to join us.”
“Do you think whoever’s looking for her might be another hired private investigator?” Kat Lawson Jessop asked.
“I do. And I thought that since they’re snooping around Dallas, you might be able to reach out to any of your contacts who might have business there,” Jake said.
Kat nodded. “Consider it done. If the investigator is legit, he or she might be willing to tell me who their client is. I have a friend who is based in Austin, but she takes cases all over the state. I’ll give April a call. She might be able to steer me where I need to go.”
“If you find them, and they don’t tell you, or if they’re not legit, let me know,” Adam said. “I can get some assistance on that from some of my contacts.”
“Will do.”
“Big brother, why don’t you let Jenny, Parker, and Dale know what measures we already have in place, security-wise?” Jake looked at Adam.
Adam nodded and directed his comments to her. “We’ve installed surveillance equipment at both ends of Main Street. We did this independent of this current situation. All vehicles passing through Lusty are photographed, and the plates are run through an automated program. The process is instantaneous. When a vehicle comes through that doesn’t belong, we know. The plates are run, and within a few minutes, we know who’s driven into town.”
Jenny knew she must look like a fish because her mouth was gaping open. Beside her, Dale and Parker both looked surprised.
“That sounds like something out of a spy novel,” Jenny said. She flicked a look at Grandma Kate and wondered about the expression that crossed her face just then. It was there and gone so fast, Jenny thought maybe her mind was having fun with her.
“We have some good technological brains in the family,” Jake said. “Makes sense to make use of them. We initiated this protocol shortly before you hired on at the roadhouse. We’d had enough instances of ‘dustups’ over the last few years to warrant it. It took us several months to have the system designed and then implemented.”
“There’s a separate computer on its own power source that monitors the system, and that’s at the sheriff’s office,” Adam said. “So, for the time being, the situation in town is in hand.”
Beside her, she felt Parker’s tension. “Jenny works at the roadhouse,” he said. “That’s not inside town.”
“It’s not, no,” Jake said. “We’re going to install two more cameras, front and back entrances of the parking lot there. It won’t take much, and the system is set up to incorporate several more feeds beyond the two current ones.”
“Once we have reason to believe a person of ill intent is in town, then I’ll activate the reserve deputies.” Adam grinned. “That’s more than half the male population—and yes, several of the women have been deputized, as well.”
“We wanted you to be assured that we’ve got your back,” Kate said to Jenny. “And as soon as Jake, Adam, and Kat figure out what’s going on, they’ll let us all know.” Grandma Kate looked around the table.
Jenny couldn’t hold back her smile. Two male faces that nearly scowled smiled instead, and heads nodded. No one, apparently, wanted to go against Grandma Kate.
I want to be her when I grow up.
“Now, there is just one more item for us to touch on,” Kate said. She turned and looked at Jenny. “The Sheriff and Jake both believe the apartment building you’re in, while very nice, does not present a good, defensible position. They have some background experience to justify that opinion.
“So, as a precaution, they’d like to move you into a house. As well, I’m sure you’ll feel safer—and they would feel better about this situation themselves—if Parker and Dale were there with you. So, if you have no strong objections, we’ll take care of that little thing right now.”
Chapter Nine
The sound of the front door of the two-story house closing was followed by absolute, stunning silence. As she stood in the living room, Jenny’s gaze left the door, only partially in view from where she stood. They didn’t even give me time to walk them all to the door! It was like a buzzer sounded, and they all just fled!
That was an inane thought. In the almost deafening silence, Jenny turned a slow circle, taking in the furniture which hadn’t been there just a couple of hours before. She began a slow walk through the downstairs of this house, peering into each room, now fully furnished, and came to a stop in the kitchen.
Parker and Dale were leaning against opposite kitchen counters, facing each other and looking as gobsmacked as she felt. Between them, a pretty kitchen table and chair set stood ready to host them for their next meal. The counter held a one-cup coffee maker, a carousel of coffee pods, a toaster, and a roll of paper towels on a dispenser. She’d passed a dining room that was just as attractively furnished. She’d bet if she opened the cupboards here she’d find dishes and canned goods and that the fridge would be at least partially stocked.
It was just coming up on three in the afternoon, mere hours after seeing her parents off.
Jenny shook her head. “What the hell just happened here?”
Parker met her gaze. “I know exactly how you feel. We’ve been trying to find the answer to that very question ourselves. I was good through the meeting this morning, and I got that the big worry was that someone was looking for you, and for some reason, that had Jake, Adam, and Grandma Kate, especially, really worried.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Jenny said.
“Then they suggested you consider leaving your apartment, so you could move into a house because it was a…more defensible position?” Dale seemed to be running those
