His mouth flattened into a grim line. “You’re kidding?”
She gave him a cold stare.
“Okay, so you trust him. I get it. Family friend. But you’ve been gone for a while. Are you sure nothing’s happened to him financially? Maybe he wanted to make some cash on the side? Or maybe someone asked him to leave something out of his report.”
“There’s no way he’s involved. I know you want to find a link, but it’s not Gene. This isn’t the first time that minor family wrongdoings have been left out of the public record. Gene’s old school. My grandpa agrees. Now, let me tell you—”
“Have you seen Gene since you’ve been home?”
His continued interruptions had her tapping her feet. “Sure. Ran into him at Jill’s. He said he envied my parents for their trip to Arizona. Gene was supposed to retire this year and begin what he calls Fishing Paradise. But the stock market didn’t cooperate, so he’s got to cut people open for another year. Said it’s good practice for all the fish he’s planning to gut.”
“So he does have financial—”
“Jeez, are you always this suspicious? Tons of people had to delay their retirement because of the stock market.”
“I always keep an open mind, like any good reporter.”
She pulled on her hair. “Shut it. I have more to tell you.”
“Why are you so pissed?”
“Because you keep interrupting me, and I have something to tell you.” She took a breath. “Keep in mind that I decided not to tell you this when we were at my grandpa’s house because I knew I needed to talk with him first. He’s agreed we can share the info with you. He trusts you.” She couldn’t add that she did too.
The look he gave her could have petrified wood.
“Okay then, so before I came home, Grandpa’s famous gut was twitching about an increase in the number of college kids ending up in the ER. The tox screens only showed alcohol and marijuana. He had me do some research on any new developments in the Dare drug trade. Nothing popped. The market is too small for bigger networks to be involved. I told Grandpa it was only binge drinking, which is an increasing problem on college campuses. Like your source’s supplier said.”
His gaze met hers dead on. Damn his chocolate eyes anyway. She wrung her hands in the silence.
“I understand you wanting to talk with Arthur first. I would have done the same thing. But I’m damn glad someone trusts me enough to share information like this.”
She crossed her arms. “Then you’ll be even more pleased to learn Grandpa wants to discuss everything with all of us together.”
His exhale could have sent paper airplanes across the room. “I take it you guys have a file.”
“Yes.”
“I want to see it. Set up a dinner with your grandpa. I want everyone to put their cards on the table.”
“You don’t have to sound so bitchy.”
“I forgot to take my nice pill today.”
She smiled—all teeth. “Fine, then you should know that I already told Grandpa about our cover.”
He growled. “Great. Now, what do you know about Barlow? Ray said he was the officer who showed up first at the scene.”
The name made her stomach clench. “Well, he’s the deputy sheriff of Eagle County, but not a local boy. Only moved to the area sometime this year, I think.”
“Not a crime, but worth looking into. Did you go out with him?”
“You really are in a shitty mood.”
“Meredith.”
Her mind flashed back to Barlow’s grip on her arms, the uninvited kiss to her neck. She shivered. “He’s…pushy. Not afraid to use force.” Telling him Barlow couldn’t have been more different than Nora’s hero, Alex Stanislaski, didn’t seem like an important detail. Tanner wouldn’t know what she was talking about anyway.
“Did he hurt you?”
Goosebumps broke out across her arms at the utter flatness of his voice. “No. Let’s leave it at that.” The sound of a dog barking filtered into the room, and she turned and looked at the back door.
Tanner walked over and opened it. A golden dog with prominent ribs jumped on Tanner, who rubbed his ears.
“Hey, boy. You done playing?”
The dog barked in three short bursts and then raced to a nearby water bowl, slurping heartily.
“I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“He wore me down. Kept hanging around the house.”
She couldn’t imagine anything wearing Tanner down. She certainly couldn’t.
“What’s his name?”
“Hugo.” He laughed when the dog raced over. “I wasn’t talking to you. Silly dog.”