Read Online What She Saw by Rachel Lee - Free Book Online

make ends meet.” Then he shook his head. “Only one problem. In all their lives, they’ve never done one thing wrong.”
    “Except for that scrape Ray got in right after he graduated,” Micah said.
    “Alcohol and tough words don’t mix well,” Gage remarked. “I’ve seen worse sins in my day. He paid for it.”
    From Buck’s perspective, it was interesting to hear how well these lawmen knew the people of this area. He’d almost never had that advantage in the army. “So,” he asked slowly, “who might be up to something?”
    “That’s the question, isn’t it?” Gage regarded him thoughtfully. “All right. When can I call your boss?”
    Buck looked at his watch. “Right now if you want. He’s on until midnight Pacific time. Ask for Bill Grayson.” He recited the phone number and Gage scribbled it down.
    Gage called, waited a few minutes, then started speaking to Bill. From Buck’s perspective, it was interesting.
    “Your employee didn’t have much choice, Mr. Grayson. Strangers around here get a lot of attention. We’re a small town. We wanted to know why a truck driver was hanging around. This isn’t exactly a vacation destination. He’s sitting in my office right now. Yes. No, we’re not getting directly involved in what he’s doing. It might create more problems. Yes. I’ll tell him.”
    Gage hung up. “That’s one upset man.”
    “He wants this quiet so the company doesn’t lose business. It hardly looks good for a trucking company to keep messing up its manifests.”
    “Doesn’t look good at all.” Gage sighed. “Okay, you’re legit. I see two problems here. First, you stick out like a sore thumb. Second, you’re right, if we start doing anything different, half the county will be wondering what’s going on within a day or two. So I’m going to give you free rein. Within the law, that is. As for Haley...”
    Buck waited while Gage frowned. “Why couldn’t you have picked someone else?”
    “Like I said, it’s Haley I’m worried about. Micah knows she reported that something was going on in that parking lot that night. So two deputies and at least two other people know what she thought she saw—the guy everyone calls Hasty, and the other waitress. I gather folks around here talk about nearly everything.”
    “The downside of a small town,” Gage remarked. “If you want to know what you’re doing, ask a neighbor.”
    That surprised a laugh from Buck. “That bad?”
    “Damn near. On the other hand, nosiness doesn’t keep people from hiding things they want to hide. It just makes them a damn sight more cautious.” He looked at Micah. “If Buck here is right, these folks are willing to kill.”
    “We won’t know that until the reports are back.”
    “No, but can we afford to take the chance? So I guess we’d better let Haley know Buck is okay. She can decide how much she wants to trust him or help him.” Then his gaze returned to Buck, as strong as laser beams. “You be careful of that girl, hear? She’s strong, but there’s a part of her that’s fragile. No hanky-panky with her. No leading her on. You’re here for a few days or weeks, and I don’t want to see any broken hearts.”
    “That’s not on my agenda. At all.”
    Gage continued to study him. “Why do I get the feeling you like to give people a hard time?”
    “I’ve heard that before.” And damned if he was going to apologize for it.
    “I bet you have.” A lopsided smile appeared on Gage’s scarred face. “You know you’re at a disadvantage. Being an outsider, nobody around here is going to tell you much.”
    “I’m used to that.”
    “I’ll bet,” said Micah. He looked at Gage. “If you think a stranger investigating around here is going to be tough, watch an MP looking into a unit of Rangers. You’d think they all became instantly deaf, dumb and blind.”
    At that Gage cracked a laugh. “Okay. I’ll call Haley and tell her you check out. But that’s all I’m going to tell