Page 63 of Diamonds in the Mud

The man’s eyes narrowed, but then he shook his head slowly.

“DOA,” he answered.

“Bummer,” I said, trying to act casual. Since the guy was now staring me down, I shoved my hands in my pocket and turned to head back to the bar.

I was half a block away when I realized my mistake. I’d asked if she was okay. The cop had just told me it was a hit-and-run. Not that a woman had been hit. No wonder he looked at me funny.

Shit.

Okay, I was losing it. Get yourself together, I told myself as I stepped through the back door to the bar.

Seeing Felix sitting at the bar alone, I moved to sit next to him.

“Hey,” I said casually.

Felix glanced over at me. “Your day off?” he asked.

I nodded. “Heard there was a hit-and-run,” I said, keeping the details to a minimum.

“Evelyn Hart,” Felix said and then downed the shot sitting in front of him.

“What?” I acted shocked, then I glanced around. “Does Declan know?”

“We’re taking care of him,” Felix said. “How’s the head?” He motioned to the small bandages I’d put on the spot after my shower that morning.

“I’m okay.” I ran my hand gently through my hair, as if I wasn’t emotionally affected by Evelyn’s death. In truth, I was. I was pissed that a kind young woman had her life snuffed out because she’d fallen for the wrong kind of man.

Faye, one of the other bartenders, moved over to take my order. Her eyes were puffy and red, and I could tell that she was upset about her coworker’s death.

“Beer,” I said, and then motioned to the empty shot glass. “And two more of those.” Faye moved to fill my order. “What now?” I asked.

Felix shifted towards me. “For now, you and Ben have a meeting tonight. After, you’ll fill in for Declan for a while longer. Until he’s… back in the game.”

I nodded, taking in this information. “Sure,” I said as the drinks were set in front of me.

“To the family,” Felix said and tapped my shot glass against his.

“Family,” I agreed and downed the drink.

We sat at the bar for a few hours while I nursed a single beer. When Ben and a few of the other guys finally strolled in after work hours, we all grabbed burgers and sat in a booth.

Shortly before dark, Ben slapped me on the shoulder and nodded and we took off. I’d walked over, so he met me at my place and waited while I grabbed my jacket and changed into my bike boots. I also slipped my other gun and my knife under my boot.

I followed Ben as we weaved our way down county roads. Honestly, if I hadn’t studied the entire surrounding area on a map, I would have been lost.

When we finally stopped along a branch of the Red River almost thirty miles outside of town, I mentally made a note of the exact spot.

“What now? Another hike?” I asked, shutting off my bike.

“For a while. There is too much sand on the pathway for the bikes. After that, we take a boat.” Ben started walking down a dirt path. We walked for about ten minutes before coming to the edge of the river, where a small jet boat was tied to a dock.

Ben got behind the wheel, and we headed downriver. Several times we had to duck to get under the overgrowth. We made our way more than ten miles down the widest part of the river. Ben pushed the boat at top speeds while I held on and tried to pretend that I was enjoying myself. When he finally cut the engine, I wondered just how in the hell he knew where we were going in the pitch dark.

Then I saw the green light he was aiming at. It flashed a few times, and Ben cut the engine as we coasted towards the shore.

I was surprised to see Declan standing on the dock.

“Hey,” Declan said, grabbing the rope to the boat and tying it off.