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“Yeah, and cantankerous as ever. Speaking of paddles…” Hank leaned close and spoke softly so he wouldn’t be overheard.
Hank saw the answer to his unspoken question in his friend’s eyes as he looked at him in the mirror behind the bar. “DC was a no-go, of course. I went to a few munches when I was out of town but didn’t make a strong enough connection with any of the subs to make travel worth it. Made some good friends, though.”
“Sorry, man,” Hank said, tilting the beer to his lips. “Sucks to flip that switch and then realize the sub of my dreams—our dreams, I guess—isn’t out there.”
Travis looked at him and pointed at his temples that were still mostly dark brown. “I’m not quite ready for the nursing home yet, old man.”
“Maybe working together we can find her, if you wind up staying this time. So what do you say? Want to be my date for the wedding?”
Travis snorted at his word choice and nodded. “Why not. I’m here for at least a month. I’ll have to see what happens with that meeting in two weeks, and I’ll go back to DC after Thanksgiving.”
“Thought you politicians had cushy hours and took off around all those holidays.”
There was a trace of disillusionment in Travis’s features that got Hank’s attention. He’d said he was considering early retirement. Maybe he was serious.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Hank would need to be deciding soon whether he wanted to run for another term as Sheriff of Divine County, or retire to the private sector. He loved his job but the thought had a certain appeal.
“So has life in Divine been as boring as ever?”
Hank had to laugh. “Let me tell you some stories and you decide, Fishcop.”
* * * *
Saturday morning, Veronica sat in the plush leather seat of the Colibri and tried to focus on the open document on her tablet. The Texas Hill Country landscape zoomed past in her peripheral vision, making her queasy. She wasn’t sure what was worse, being at a higher altitude in an airplane and having a wider panorama to tune out, or being closer to the ground in a helicopter and being unable to escape the sensation she was falling.
Research. This is research, damn it. Detach yourself. Pick it apart. Breathe. You’re not falling. You’re perfectly safe. She darted a glance out the window and a wave of cold anxiety washed through her in the luxurious but close confines of the helicopter. Her distant cousin, Henry, was piloting the ultra-extravagant conveyance on its way to Divine, Texas.
Enlisting the aid of Cord and Jackson, and their fiancée, Ari, Grandma Kate had bamboozled her into a side trip while she was at their engagement party the night before. She hadn’t been able to say no. She’d had another mild surprise when she discovered that Grandma Kate was not really her great-aunt. She was actually a distant cousin. Due in part to her advanced age, it was beyond odd to think of Kate Benedict as her first cousin by marriage, twice removed.
Veronica’s parents had never bothered to spell out the exact relationship to her and she’d consequently grown up believing that Kate was her great-aunt. She frowned, thinking that it was just another one of her mother’s small affronts directed at a side of her husband’s family and its matriarch, who she didn’t approve of.
Grandma Kate sat in the front seat of the helicopter, chatting with her grandson, and occasionally looking into the back, where Veronica was trying to keep it together. She didn’t like telling people about her anxiety triggers, one of which was flying, because she didn’t want people to view her as weak. The plane trip from Montana the day before had been exhausting enough, as she’d struggled to hold herself together. She’d anticipated using a vehicle wherever they needed to go while she was in Texas. But no. Kate insisted a helicopter was faster and since the family had one, the least they could do was make use of it.
Her stylus flew on the tablet screen as she made notes. Floating. The sun reflects off of the tinted window glass, warming me but not blinding me. My eardrums wobble as we descend, coming closer to our destination. She assumed their destination was in sight because she was too scared to look out the front windshield.
