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“He hangs out at our favorite local bar.”
“So he’s still in town?” Seth asked.
“Far as I know. I’ll stop by there on the way in. From what I hear, he’s tight with Bonzo Maldeni.”
“Bonzo has friends in all the right places. Doesn’t he?”
“It’s starting to look that way,” Beck said. “Listen, I’ll grab a few tents on the way in, too. We’ll need to cover her property tonight. If the local boys know it’s deserted, they’ll be knocking out windows and looting anything that’s not tied down.”
“Already told the sheriff we’d have hands on deck and all eyes on the property.”
“Damn it, Seth. You always show your hand.”
“Hey, listen, like you I would’ve loved to have caught them in the act. Thing is, I didn’t want Lindsey to worry about someone going through her things. There’s nothing worse than knowing that someone has ransacked your place and prowled through your personal belongings.”
“True,” Beck said. “Anything else I should know?”
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p; Seth sniffed. Beck would probably curse him up one side and down the other, but he needed to know what Seth had said. “I spilled the beans on Mary Alice.”
“You did what?” Beck’s voice resonated in Seth’s ears. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Never hurts to let someone know what you’re capable of when it might save the person you most want to protect.”
“Why hell, why didn’t you just tell him that we had e-mails from his IP number and recorded phone calls?”
“I thought about it,” Seth said. “I told him enough to keep him in line.”
“No, you told him enough to make him paranoid. He’ll have it in for you now.”
Seth laughed. “And with what I have on him? Ask me if I care.”
“Seth, put aside your arrogance and think about Lindsey here. If you piss the sheriff off, he won’t take it out on us. He’ll go after her.”
“And if he does, I’ll go after his family—and his mistress.”
“Remind me to never piss you off.”
“I learned from the best, brother.” A beat later, he added, “If you’re stopping by Maldeni’s place, have a chat with the man himself. Even the deputies had heard about that little problem we’d discussed.”
“About Lindsey’s possible employment?”
“That’s the one.”
“It will be a cold day in hell before she works for Maldeni.”
“My thoughts exactly, but here’s the thing—Maldeni is in bed with the guys at Farmer’s Lending and Shanks Statham, that Florida developer, is cozy with him too.”
“I see where you’re going with this.”
“Maldeni wanted her land but he may have wanted Lindsey as well.”
“He may end up with the first but the latter is off the table.”
“If you need backup, you know where to find me.”
Beck laughed. “Just make sure I don’t find you cuddled up with one blue-eyed honey. If I miss out, we’ll have a problem.”
