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Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to spend a little time with him away from the watchful eyes of the townsfolk of Ryansville, and try to ferret out more information that could be useful. “Just casual friends having lunch?”
He held up his hand. “Scout’s honor. Nothing more.”
She glanced around but didn’t see anyone else in the backyard. Then she climbed into his cruiser.
“I feel like I’m being arrested,” she murmured.
He grinned at her. “I’d have you handcuffed and in the back seat if you were.”
She glanced at the molded plastic bench seat in the back. “I think I like it up here better. What, the county can’t afford upholstery for the back seat?”
He slid a wry glance at her as he checked the rearview mirror and backed into the alley. “Not for the drunks who leave all sorts of reminders of their presence.”
“That’s disgusting!”
“Believe me, you have no idea.” He called dispatch and announced his lunch break, then headed out toward the edge of town.
As they traveled up the highway toward Newbrook, Sara continued to mask her familiarity with the equipment inside the cruiser. “Fancy laptop,” she murmured, eyeing the mobile data computer mounted in front of the dashboard. “What does it do?”
“It accesses the state computers, so I can run warrant checks, vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses, check for stolen vehicles, you name it.” He touched the screen, and a county map appeared. “It has a GPS and more functions than you can imagine.”
“Not your average little laptop, then.”
He laughed. “Not exactly. One of these costs a fortune. Few small towns have them, but our County Sheriff’s Office did well at getting special grants this past year. Since I’m covering a large area on my own, distant from the central county office, I got lucky.”
Sara settled back in her seat and studied him as he drove. Away from Ryansville and her responsibilities there, it felt good just to relax. Seeing Nathan’s genuine pleasure over his career made her view him in a whole new light. The rich kid was now a fellow officer—one whose dedication and professional pride made him more appealing.
He shot a quick glance at her, then turned his attention back to the winding road leading from Newbrook to Hidden Lake. “What are your plans if Sanderson doesn’t start hiring?”
“I expect I’ll go back to Dallas in a few months. I’d hoped to stay here, but there’s bound to be better accounting opportunities in a big city.”
“But you don’t have relatives there, right?”
“Nope.”
“Close friends?”
“Sure, some.”
“Anyone special?”
“Not for a while.” An image of Tony’s laughing face drifted through her thoughts, but it wasn’t as painful to think about him as it had been before.
Nathan gave her a knowing glance. “Was that guy the one who owned Harold?”
“Yeah...it’s been a few years now, though. I guess if he’d died of some disease, I might have had time to prepare. But when he was shot, I was completely devastated. You keep thinking just a few seconds difference either way and maybe he would be alive. The unfairness of it hurts all the more.”
“I know. When my partner in Minneapolis was killed, I ended up taking almost a month off. I just couldn’t concentrate.”
Nathan flipped on the turn signal and took a left onto a narrow gravel road, then drove in silence until the road opened into a parking area adjacent to a low log building hugging the lake.
Though it was only eleven-thirty, there were at least a dozen cars already parked close to the door.
“Popular place,” Sara said when a waitress seated them by a large picture window overlooking the lake.
“They don’t take reservations, so by noon, there’ll be a line of people out the door.” After the waitress took their orders, he leaned back and smiled at Sara. “Was it the orange roughy or was it me?”
“That lured me here? Definitely the fish. No offense.”
