That seemed to please Chris immensely, although Mack knew it was a load of horse shit. Travis Walker likely had more real estate experience in his little finger than this Chris character did in his whole body.
Another glimpse of Chris’s bright white teeth. “In my experience, sir, when a seller owns the property outright, there’s more room to play with the numbers.”
“How so?” Travis asked, sounding as though he had no idea how it worked.
“Well, in Michael’s case, we can—”
“Mack,” Travis interrupted.
Chris’s perfectly groomed eyebrows rose. “I’m sorry?”
“His name’s Mack.”
Daniel leaned forward. “He’s no longer using that nickname. Unlike the rest of you, he’s evolved.”
“Ah.” Travis nodded as though that made sense. “I guess I didn’t get that memo.”
Sawyer leaned forward. “You know, Trav, that’s probably because you’ve been too busy runnin’ that resort on the edge of town.”
A wicked smile formed on Travis’s face. “Right. The one bringing down the property values.”
Chris glanced over at Daniel. “I’m really not sure what’s going on here.”
Daniel cleared his throat, turned his attention to Mack.
Knowing this was only going to go downhill from here, Mack offered a tight smile, then marched into the back. Alone.
*
“Hey, Sheriff, you hear what’s goin’ on over at Moonshiners?”
Jeff peered up from his computer monitor, pinned his gaze on Dwayne. “What?”
“Word is, Mack’s kid brought some real estate boys in. They’re lookin’ over the place.”
Though this bothered him on a personal level, Jeff wasn’t sure why it was newsworthy for the sheriff. He’d long ago learned to separate business from pleasure, a necessity in maintaining order in this town.
Dwayne smiled. “That’s not the important part.”
With a slow exhale, Jeff leaned back in his chair, gripped the arms and tapped his index fingers. That was the one thing about Dwayne: it took him some time to get to the point, but eventually he would arrive at it.
“The Walkers are all headin’ up there. Travis’s instruction.”
“All of ’em?”
“Yup. I’m thinkin’ Travis is lookin’ to interfere. Think I should head over there?”
Jeff got to his feet. “Naw. I was gonna grab a bite anyway. I’ll stop in, see what’s goin’ on.”
Dwayne nodded. “You need any help, just holler.”
Without haste, Jeff grabbed his coat and hat, headed out to his cruiser. A few minutes later, he was pulling into the Moonshiners parking lot, only to realize there wasn’t a parking space to be had. Looked as though more than just the Walkers were checking out the out-of-towners. Depending on the topic of conversation, that could be good or bad. Because his daughter had married into the Walker family, Jeff had spent plenty of time in their company over the last few years. He knew deep down that the boys’ intentions were generally good, even if their methods weren’t always appropriate.
After snagging his hat from the passenger seat, Jeff exited his vehicle, settled it on his head, and started toward the door only to be intercepted by Kaden and Keegan Walker, who strolled around the side of the building.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Keegan greeted with a shit-eating grin.
“Boys,” he acknowledged the pair.
