“Tara?”he asked.
“That’s Tara and her new man’s engagement picture.Tara being Bryce’s ex-wife.”
Right.
Now he got it.
And he was glad for this Tara chick who looked like she’d moved on to good things, but he didn’t know why this required him to delay what he was doing.
“Babe, I got things to do,” he reminded her.
“Right, right.You don’t know Bryce, so you don’t get it.Yes, Bryce was crashing out when he saw that video of you and me.Now, how do you think Bryce feels after someone showed him that picture of his ex-wifeandhis kids, in all their filtered glory, smiling and walking metaphorically into their bright future.Don’t guess.I’ll tell you.He’s lost his mind.”
That made Hutch smile.“So he’s turned his attention from you?”
“My friend Kacey sent this to me.I called Tara to congratulate her.She told me Bryce had activated his premium plan of re-wooing.He’s showering her with gifts.Flowers.Begging.Groveling.”
Hutch didn’t like that.“He’s up in her shit?”
Mabel’s grin nearly split her face in two.“She’s having the time of her life.”
All right then.
And at least she was out of that fuckwad’s line of fire.For now.
“And before you ask, her new man not only knows what Bryce did to his fiancée, he knows he’s no threat, and he thinks it’s a scream,” she finished.
“Fantastic, baby,” he said through another smile.“Now gotta go.Kiss.”
They both leaned over the counter to touch lips.
“See you,” she called as he walked away.
“Oh yeah,” he replied, not looking back.
He made sure Tonks, who had followed him, didn’t escape, the door was locked, then he jogged down the alley and up a side street before he jogged to the sheriff’s office, because it’d take less time to do that then get in his truck and find another parking spot that might not be much closer.
At the end of it, he realized fucking was exercise, but he needed to diversify and definitely do what he’d been putting off because he’d been so busy: ease back into his normal routine.He wasn’t breathing heavy, but a four-block jog took more out of him than usual.
He pushed into the station, and Sean Stoll, one of Harry’s deputies, immediately noted him, caught his gaze, jerked his head to the swinging door, and after greeting Hutch, escorted him to Harry’s office.
Sean closed the door after Hutch entered.
Harry was behind the desk, Rus leaning his ass against the round conference table, legs straight in front of him and crossed, as were his arms, and Cade Bohannan was sitting in a chair in front of Harry’s desk.
There were greetings, chin juts, and Harry indicated Hutch should sit in the free chair in front of his desk.
“We’ll get right down to it,” Harry said.Then, addressing Hutch, “As you know, we were coming up with nothing as to how to approach property owners on Stony Bluff to ask if they had any downed trees without raising suspicions which lead to questions and might lead to something else if people found someone was stealing their lumber.”
Hutch nodded.“I know.”
“Fortunately, that worry evaporated when Hugh Tidwell came in this morning, reporting he thinks someone is stealing his trees,” Harry said.
Fucking hell.
“He was out on his ATV, something caught his eye,” Harry continued.“Got off, had a look, brushed some leaves, dirt and pine needles away and saw a somewhat fresh, clean-cut stump to a tree he did not fell.He got back on his ATV and did a closer scan.Dotted around about ten of his acres, he found nine stumps that had been covered to avoid detection.He quit looking then to come down here, but he’s concerned there’ll be more.”
“So they aren’t clearing, they’re cherry picking,” Hutch surmised.“You’d miss a cluster of trees gone.You might not miss one here and the other there.”
