Chapter Four #2
Their gazes locked, and for long instants Sarah was wholly unable to look away. Out of the blue, an errant thought trailed across her mind. I can trust him.
She broke the link and took an awkward breath. “Let’s hope you won’t have to.” She started to open her car door.
“Wait.” From his shirt pocket he took out a cell phone. “Put my number in your contact list.”
She reached for her phone in her shoulder bag and gave him her number. He sent her the details and she added it to her list. She said, “I’m going to meet with the property owner, Donovan Sinclair about this building to discuss a lease. Not to be rude, but do you have to be there?”
“Depends. How long have you known this guy, Sinclair?”
“For over a year.”
“All right, I’ll walk you in, then I’ll snoop around town. When you want to leave, text me. I’ll be close by. Don’t leave the building until I get you.”
Sarah gave a nervous glance around her. While she felt safe with Ben now watching over her, she couldn’t forget that here in town was where her stalker had left that damnable note. Was he still there? Was he observing her, even now?
As promised, Ben walked her to the door. “Still have the peashooter?”
Shrugging off her misgivings, she raised her chin. “In my shoulder bag.”
“Good. Just curious .... why do you want to lease this building?” He held the door for her.
“I guess it’s no secret.” For the first time that day, she allowed herself to smile. “I’m planning to open a feed barn store here in town. We don’t have one and people have to go all the way into Billings to get supplies.”
He frowned. “Aren’t you still a little high profile for such a public business?”
“You mean because I was a model?”
“Your face is known to the world, Sarah. Don’t underplay that. You’re internationally famous. A celebrity. Aren’t people gonna bother you?”
She spread her hands. “When I first came home, I admit there was a bit of a fuss. Mostly by out-of-area folks wanting selfies and autographs. In time, things died down and I was glad. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. The townspeople know me. They know my dad and Rio. I belong here. They don’t bug me.
To them, I’m not Super Sarah. I’m just Sarah. ”
From a store two doors down, a mother and a young girl of about eight years old, spotted her, smiled, and waved. The girl called out, “Hi, Sarah!” They kept moving.
“See?” She beamed at him. “The people here are nice.” She watched the mother and child walk away.
“All right.” He didn’t appear at all convinced. “Text me when you’re ready to go.”
****
Ben figured he’d start right next door. The town was small enough that everyone would pretty much know everyone else, yet it wasn’t so tiny that every stranger coming through would be noticed.
Mentally checking his weapons, he touched his Glock inside his waistband in a concealed holster.
His shirt was pulled out to hang over the bump.
In an ankle holster, he carried a sweet little secondary weapon, a small, Sig Sauer 938 handgun.
Attached to his belt he had his trusty rusty, his Ka-bar knife. One couldn’t be too prepared.
He felt pretty good about leaving Sarah inside the office building. There were others around. She’d be safe and should she need him, he’d be only a store or two away.
He pushed through glass doors into a gift shop, and a woman behind the counter called out a friendly hello. He introduced himself as a family friend, visiting Big Jim and Sarah from Texas.
“Welcome! How is Rio? Isn’t his wife due to have her babies soon?”
“Any minute now,” Ben said. “Can’t wait to see those rug rats.”
“Saw you pull up with Sarah. I sure hope she can open her feed barn next door. Love that girl.”
Tipping his hat, Ben went into the next shop in the square.
It was a clothing store featuring women’s dresses in one window and men’s farm clothing in the other.
They were attractively displayed, with scarves and shoes smartly shown to complement each outfit.
There, too, the proprietor greeted him, a man in his early forties. “May I help you?”
“Just getting to know folks around town,” Ben said. “Ben Paxton, staying at the Lang ranch. With Big Jim and Sarah.”
The man’s expression warmed. “How is Sarah?”
“She’s well.”
“A friend of hers is a friend of mine. It’s good to meet you.” He offered to shake and pumped Ben’s hand.
Ben finished his rounds by hitting up four more storefronts.
Introducing himself at a barbershop, grocery store, and small salon.
He was beginning to get an idea of Sarah’s impact on her hometown.
He discovered the bakery was owned by the mayor, a rotund little man given to over-sampling his own products.
At last, Ben found Milly’s Diner, where Jim had told him he ate his breakfast. It featured red vinyl booths with white walls pinstriped with red and black.
The place was half-filled with patrons enjoying breakfast. Around him, the booths buzzed with conversation and the clinking of forks on plates.
Smells of fresh cooked bacon and brewed coffee wafted toward him, too tantalizing to resist. With no food since the day before, he was hungry.
Big Jim, a tall, fit man nearing sixty, sat over a nearly clean plate that had held eggs and sausage. A portly, fiftyish woman in an apron and gesturing with a half-full coffee decanter stood over him. They were glaring at each other.
Big Jim held out a chipped white ceramic mug. “Can I get some of that coffee, or do I need to go behind the counter and fix a pot myself?”
“Do I look like your maid?” the woman Ben guessed must be Milly, shot back. “Besides I just filled that mug a minute ago.”
“Thirty minutes ago,” Big Jim corrected. He rattled his cup.
“Don’t think you can come in here and order me around, Jim.” Milly tapped her index finger on his shoulder. “That fish won’t hunt.”
“A fish doesn’t hunt,” Jim said, looking pained. He waved his mug again. “A fish gets hunted.”
Ben raised his brows, but Milly went on, “Dang it, hold the mug still unless you want to wear this hot coffee.”
Ben stopped beside the table. “Am I interrupting?”
Big Jim looked up. “Sit down, Paxton. Have some eggs. Milly, get the man something to eat.”
As Ben took the other side of the booth, Milly sized him up.
Her eyes were china blue and piercing. He got the impression that this woman would miss nothing.
She wore an apron over a waitress uniform, which didn’t go with her pink shoes.
Her brown hair showed flecks of gray, and her cheeks and lips were free of makeup. “So, you’re the one,” she said to him.
“Ma’am?” Startled, Ben wondered at her choice of words.
“The one Rio sent. I sure hope you can figure out who’s been scaring Sarah. We can’t have anything happen to her.”
“You must be Milly. Pleased to meet you. Uh, about Sarah, I’ve been asking around town. Everyone here really seems to like her.”
“Of course. They have reason to. When she finally came back to settle here a few months ago, she helped folks out. Still does, when there’s a need.”
“Helps them out?” Things were beginning to make sense.
“She paid young Amanda Metcalf’s dental bill when she needed her wisdoms out and her mama was dead broke. She bought Old Man Turner a new plow when his got busted and he couldn’t replace it to seed his fields.”
“Ah.” The picture was now clear.
Milly went on. “You know the clothing boutique down the block, the one with the mannequins in the windows? She bought him new fixtures, so he could show off his clothes. And since Sarah knows fashion, she gave him merchandising tips.”
Big Jim piped up. “Maybe Ben would like some coffee.”
Milly propped her free hand on her hip. “He asked me about Sarah, so I told him. You won’t brag on her, but I will.”
“Sarah’s my daughter. She doesn’t need me bragging on her. She’s the best, and that’s it. Now, can Ben get something to eat or will he sit here and starve, like I normally do?”
After Ben gave his order and Milly left, he leaned over the table. “What do you know about this crazy jerk that attacked Sarah five years ago?”
“They locked him up, thank God.” The older man gnawed on a last bit of toast.
“Yeah, but do you know his prisoner release date?”
The other man’s eyes sharpened. “Hadn’t thought about that. I’m not sure.”
“Does Montana have a VINE system?”
“A who-sa?”
“You have to register for an alert. I’m guessing you guys didn’t. It’s the Victim Information & Notification Every Day. You can be notified when a criminal you may be concerned about is released. I’ll just step out and make a few calls.”
Taking his phone, he went outside the diner and started digging for information. Ten minutes later, jaw locked, mood soured, he reentered the diner.
His food was hot and ready for him on the table.
Yet his appetite had vanished.