He was going to regret this. He already lived in the same building as the woman, he didn’t need more of her. Not when he wasn’t in a place to date and the woman was so fucking dateable.
But right now, he didn’t care.
“Texting someone important?”
He looked up. Ethan was just as tall and built as him, with light brown hair and a permanently serious expression on his face. “Where the hell have you been?”
“You know how long the drive is from Deep River?”
“Two hours.”
“Yeah, so cut me some slack.”
Zane shook his head. They’d been friends for so long, they knew each other well. “How are things at home?”
“Not the same town we grew up in.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
Ethan laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “One name—Sheriff Ward. Lazy asshole. And under his leadership, or lack thereof, crime rates are up. Someone went missing in the mountains last week and he did damn near nothing.”
“What about your search and rescue team?”
Ethan scoffed. “It’s full of elderly volunteers. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”
“Shit. What are you gonna do?”
“There’s not a lot Icando as one person with no support.” He pushed a folder across the bar. “Your first quarterly update.”
For a moment, Zane just stared at the manila folder. They were doing this in person because Zane didn’t want a trail.
“It’s all in there,” Ethan said. “His daily activities. Meetings with his lawyer.”
“Anything I should be concerned about?”
“Not in the folder.”
Zane looked up, frowning at his friend. “What does that mean?”
“There’s a rumor that he’s planning something.”
“Planningwhat?”
“I don’t know yet. My source is looking into it though.”
“But I should be worried?”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Officially, no. Unofficially…you should be worried.”
CHAPTER 6
“It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I need and such a good price.”
She probably shouldn’t be saying that to this man. Heck, it went against every “how to buy a car” guide out there. But the red Santa Fe really was exactly what she needed and smack dab in her budget. It had low miles and looked like it was in great condition.
“I can put a deposit down right now and come by with the rest of the money tomorrow,” she added.
The middle-aged man with graying hair lifted his brows. “Great. Wait here, I’ll go get the missus and let her know.”
