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“Can’t wait.” She excused herself from the cluster of people she was entertaining and matched his pace as they headed toward Maria.
“You buy me some time with Maria. I’ll go talk to Jenny about stalling them.”
“She’s on the register?”
He nodded once, his mind working on how best to head off the battered red produce truck until they could get law enforcement in place. Deputy Wallace was here and Bart knew Ross would be ready to get his hands dirty if necessary.
He hurried out toward the store and asked Jenny to botch the transaction and reset the pump if necessary. “I’ll bring you a huge slice of cake,” he promised.
“Don’t bother, I made it.”
“Really?” He wanted to ask more questions, but he had to take care of the meth truck first. “It looks great,” he said as he hurried back toward the party.
Hannah and Ross were coming out to meet him.
“Where do you want us?” she asked.
“I want you here,” he said to her.
“With Jenny?”
“No,” he exchanged a look with Ross. His friend knew what to expect. “I want you to stay and handle the cake stuff and guests.”
“The cake stuff?”
“If this is an inside job, you’ll know right away if someone leaves.”
“Maria or Jenny could keep tabs on that kind of thing. You need me out there.”
He made a slicing motion across his throat, telling her to stop. She glared but dropped the subject as Maria approached.
“Are you ready?” Maria joined them, the cake knife in her hand. “We’ll get a few pictures first with the two of you and the cake.” She smirked as she waved the photographer over. “Then you’ll cut the first piece together and after the traditional exchange, I’ll cut the rest. Champagne toast in an hour.”
“Can we push the cake cutting back a minute?” Hannah asked.
Maria barreled on. “Just FYI, there’s serious money on the line about whether you’ll be messy or polite with the cake.”
At this rate, Bart thought the guests who’d put money on fast and messy had the best chance. It was hard to check the progress of the truck at the pump through the boisterous wedding party décor. He bounced a bit on the balls of his feet, eager to get in position to tail the meth lab when they pulled away.
“Work with me,” he said, his tone too close to begging for his taste.
“I intend to.” She smiled at Maria, but Bart didn’t trust the innocent expression. “Give us just one more second, Maria,” she said.
Ross waited until Maria had stepped away. “What is your plan, man?”
“Useless if she doesn’t let me go take care of this,” he growled.
“You’ve got my number,” Ross said, backing away. “I’ll just head out to my car.”
“This cartel is bold and dangerous,” she pressed. “You need me.”
Something twisted inside his chest. Fear, he realized, for her safety. He told himself there wasn’t any more to it, but the dread didn’t fade. “Exactly. Wait here and you can identify whatever remains we haul back,” he snapped at her.
She gasped. “You’re jumping the gun here, Bart. Do this the wrong way and we might lose the whole war.”
“Look,” he leaned close. “They’ve been using my place as a hub. They killed my friend. I’m putting an end to it today.”
“With my help. You aren’t the only one they’ve hurt.”
