Page 77 of Billion Dollar Dispute

He walked her to her truck, then rushed to action. He ran upstairs, took a quick shower, and changed into clean clothes. Then he grabbed an extra shirt out of his closet, and his keys. He locked up and drove to town, parking out back of Sticky and Sweet, but down a row to be sure Allie wouldn’t see him. He put his seat back a little and got as comfortable as possible for the long night of watching her building.

* * *

At a quarter to eight, a text came in from Alana—she was almost to town. Brandon was exhausted, but his mind was sound knowing that Allie was safe. He gave Alana directions to Blue Shadow Café and agreed to meet her there at eight. In his truck, he quickly changed out of his shirt, ran his fingers through his hair, and crammed his Stetson over it, then dashed across the street to the café.

Alana came in shortly after, finding him where they’d seated him in a booth in the back. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her large green eyes were as arresting as he remembered. Instead of the normal Swedish-inspired music the café normally played over the radio, they had elevator music playing this morning. Their server dropped off two mugs of coffee, wearing her dirndl dress even at this early hour.

“Is this place for real?” Alana asked, pointing after the waitress.

He nodded. “Come on your birthday and they yodel for you.”

She raised her brows. “I don’t even like it when my husband and kids sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ I gotta say, I never imagined you in a town like this.”

He waited.

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s beautiful but it’s so small—so much smaller than your place in North Carolina,” she said. “I never pictured you living in a town like this.”

He shrugged. “It suits me.”

She stared at him, and when he didn’t say anything, she nodded. “Okay, let’s go with that then. Now, tell me what happened.”

He gave her the rundown of everything from the day Georgia’s Diner had burned down a little over a month ago, and through yesterday’s happenings. Her delicate features hardened as he spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Georgia’s Diner sooner?” she asked.

“Why haven’t you connected any of the Fort Bragg fires to Grant yet?”

She leaned back in her seat. “Point taken.”

“That’s not all,” he said.

“Did someone die?” she asked, her voice going up a little.

“No, no one was hurt.” He took a big swig of his coffee, deciding how to tell her. She wouldn’t be happy with what he was about to say. “Andrew Phelps is on his way here.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Why?”

“You know why,” Brandon said. “He knows as much about this case as I do, and he’ll be able to see things I might miss.”

“This was supposed to be top secret, Brandon. No one else was supposed to know,” she said.

“He made the same guesses after the fires at Fort Bragg as I did. This was his case too.”

She looked out the window at Maple Park. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to talk to the local sheriff and fill him in on what’s going on. As much as I’d like to keep them out of this, they need to be aware of the danger. And I’m thinking your girl is going to need some protection?”

He nodded.

Alana sighed. “After I get that taken care of, I’m going to your place, taking pictures, and gathering evidence. Then I’m heading home and sending my men here to find Tobias and bring him in.”

Brandon leaned forward. “They won’t find him. Grant is the best at going to ground of anyone I ever saw. Andy, Chris, Pete, Joseph, and I only barely found him.” It’d taken a concerted effort on their part, a few anonymous tips, and some solid detective and tracking work. They’d done their part, but Brandon still saw Grant’s capture as a miracle of God.

She threw her hands up. “So what do you expect me to do? Just let him run free? Let him keep setting things on fire? Let him get his revenge on you?”

“Let me find him, Alana.” Brandon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I can bring him in.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What, he comes after you, so now you want to get even?”

“You know me better than that,” he said. “Andy and I can find him. You know we can. You know we’re the only ones who can. Because we’ve done it before and know how he thinks.”