The likelihood of her seeking treatment seemed slim. “I think we need to follow Teagan discreetly when she leaves here. See where she goes. Maybe we can figure out who’s behind this. The cops said there was over a hundred thousand dollars of heroin in her apartment. Where the hell did she get that kind of money?”
“I d
on’t know, man. But I think we should watch her. We can take shifts. Kane’s getting back this evening.”
The one person who could track a person without anyone knowing about it was Kane. “I’ll call him and ask. He said Dixon was a normal stupid-ass city slicker. What’d you think of Chazz’s brother?”
I’d run into Dixon in town once. He’d been helping Elvira across the street with a heavy load. If it had been Chazz, he’d have walked past her without a second thought.
“He’s different as day and night from Chazz. He’s personable and seemed to enjoy himself. He wasn’t a half-bad shot, either. And you could tell he knew his way around a fishing pole.”
“That’s good.” So we were on the same page when it came to Dixon.
“Has Chazz caused you any more problems?”
“No, not since my liquor issue. He lost several customers, so I imagine that had something to do with him backing off.”
At the quarterly business meeting, I’d confirmed it. Several owners had changed over to Reeser.
Lex shifted slightly in my lap. We paused our conversation to see if she was waking, but she took a deep breath and settled back to sleep. I brushed my thumb along her cheek and remembered that earlier, Dad had said he needed to talk to me. I wondered what it was about. Most likely the request to look into Lloyd’s death.
After a couple of minutes, Hayden said, “I’m glad she’s back. You’re not quite the asshole you were while she was gone.”
I chuckled. “I wasn’t that big of an asshole.”
“If you say so. Were you serious about what I heard over the car? Marriage. Kids.”
It made me pause. Oh, shit, he was on the phone. But it occurred to me that it might be good to talk to Hayden. Get his thoughts.
“Yeah, as soon as I know she’s ready, I’m going to.”
“I’m happy for you. You can tell you guys have what it takes to make it. Mom’s going to be excited when it does happen. Maybe it’ll get her off our asses to settle down.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “Mom isn’t on your ass.”
“She called me with the name of a girl she’d like me to take out. She’s moving here, and Mom thought I’d be the perfect person.” Hayden leaned back and blew out a breath. “I’m fucked up over a girl.”
That got my attention. “What?”
“Yeah. There was this girl in Ketchikan. We were seeing each other when I came to town. It wasn’t supposed to be exclusive, but it turned out to be. Fuck, I don’t know.”
“Was?”
He nearly drained his huge mug of coffee. “Yeah, she went back home. I texted her to say I was coming into town. Nothing. Then I find out she’s gone back to Washington.”
This was news. From the sound of it, Hayden was really messed up over this girl. “Have you tried calling her?”
“The number’s been disconnected.”
Oh, this was more serious than I’d thought. And now it made sense why he hadn’t told us about his conquests, or should I say conquest, this summer. But now, Hayden was a little lost. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. But I feel like a fool.”
I shook my head. “My advice? It’s worth it. Every one of those feelings is worth it if she’s the one. Don’t give up.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alexa