Page 171 of It Runs in the Family

Garrett looked anxious when I found him in the waiting room. “How’d it go?”

“Great,” I said with a bright smile. “He just had a few routine questions. Dottin’ his Is and crossin’ his Ts.”

“Then why’d I have to leave the room?”

“Because he’s a narcissistic asshole?” I said. “Let’s go.”

Silence sat between us as he drove the car. I was surprised he wasn’t bringing up any of my statements from the interview he’d sat through, and after ten excruciating minutes, I said, “Go ahead. Ask your questions.”

“Who said I had questions?”

“I know you, Garrett.”

His hand twisted on the steering wheel. “Why’d you really hang out with Boone all day?”

“He felt safe,” I said truthfully.

“You barely knew him. Not to mention he showed up at Granny’s with Billy, which in and of itself made him untrustworthy.”

“I just did.” When I could see that wasn’t appeasing him—not that I was surprised—I said, “I had a vision of him. And in the vision, he was tryin’ to save me in the warehouse.”

He was quiet, looking like he was working things out. “He was the mystery man who tackled Voss.”

“The mystery man was dressed all in black. When he showed up, I had no idea who he was.”

The look on Garrett’s face told me he knew I’d figured it out later.

“Why’d that Ranger really want to talk to you?”

I considered not telling him, but then I decided there was no reason to keep a secret. “He said Boone was a former Texas Ranger.”

“Did he coerce you to go with him, saying you had to because he was a Ranger. You told me you were with a Ranger.”

“No. I went willingly.”

“What did the Ranger want to know?”

“Like if he’d tried to get information about Rebecca from Deanna. I think he thought Boone was using me for my connections.”

“Was he?

“Hardly,” I said. “I was the one making the connections. He was following along.”

“Why was Rollins so interested in a former Ranger?” he asked with a frown.

“I asked the same thing, and he claimed it wasn’t important. But I pointed out that he wouldn’t have driven over from Austin if it wasn’t.”

“That wasn’t super smart,” he said. “No good can come from pissin’ off a Ranger.”

“Maybe not, but it was the truth.”

We drove in silence for a few moments, then my stomach growled.

He shot me a grin. “What do you say we go out for lunch?” When I hesitated, he added, “We can find somewhere here in Dalton County. No one knows us here, and we’ll escape the gossips around Chaffney.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Especially since you need to go to the grocery store.”

He found a diner off the county road. It was at the tail end of the lunch shift, so we didn’t have any trouble getting a table. I ordered comfort food—country fried steak and mashed potatoes, smothered in gravy with a side of green beans. Garrett ordered the meat loaf special. I only ate half my food and had the waitress bring me a box. While Garrett waited for the check, I excused myself to go to the bathroom.