“Of course.We’ll see each other soon.I promise.”Reluctantly, he dropped his hand and let himself out the door.
Before she could find her phone and look at the text, it rang with the chime of an incoming call.It was Ben.
“We have a problem,” he said without preamble.“Your truck tires have been slashed.”
Chapter Thirteen
Sarah gasped.“Slashed?”Her breath strangled in her throat.“As in cut?Like with a ...knife?”
“Looks like it,” he said.“Easy now.I’m at the truck.Chief King is on his way over.”
“Who could have done this?Was it Ridley Kemper?And—and did anybody see anyone doing it?”
“Doubt there were witnesses.In this dense fog, probably none of the town parking lot’s video cameras will be able to capture good images.”
“I’ll come over to the lot right now.”
“No!Sarah, listen.Is your dad still in the diner?”
“Yes, he’s here.”
“Go sit with him and stay there.Tell him what’s happened.Donotleave.Understand?”
Sarah shivered.“Yes, all right.”
“After the Chief examines the truck and the scene, he’ll want to have the video feed checked, just in case.Then, I’ll have the truck towed to a garage for replacement tires.”
“Thank you for doing that,” she said.“Let Bernard Simmons know.He’s our local mechanic.Tell him to send me the bill.”
“I’ll call Simmons, but I’ll pay.This happened on my watch and that pisses me off.When it’s finished, I’ll get you.”He drew a hard breath.“Even if a hurricane blows the town away or an earthquake levels every building,do not leave the diner.”
Promising to stay put, Sarah took a stool beside her dad and made a whispered explanation.She didn’t want to alarm the whole place.
His face darkening, Big Jim glowered around the restaurant as though the perpetrator might be lurking in a booth.“Whoever this bastard is bedeviling you, I’ve a mind to ventilate him with my .45.”
“I know, Dad.”
