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“Do you call him Sergeant Colton when you’re eating breakfast together?” Suzie asked.
“Stop it.” Katrina cast a nervous look over her shoulder. “Laurence will hear you. I don’t want him to think there’s something going on.”
“Why? Isn’t there something going on?” her friend whispered. “What is wrong with you?”
“It’s a long story.”
Suzie shook her head. “Don’t let that one get away.”
They were on familiar territory here and Katrina snorted. “Isn’t that what I keep saying to you about Rusty?”
“Who keeps saying what about me?”
They both turned to look at the tall man who was leaning on the door frame. Rusty Linehan wore a cowboy hat and a grin a mile wide.
“How long have you been standing there listening to us?” Suzie demanded.
“Long enough to know you talk about me when I’m not around.”
Suzie’s hand-on-hips stance wasn’t fooling anyone. Katrina could tell how pleased she was to see the hardware store co-owner. “Shows how much you know. It was Katrina who started talking about you, not me.”
“That’s good, since it was Katrina I came to see,” Rusty said.
“Oh.” Suzie pouted. “Shall I leave the two of you alone?”
Laughing, Rusty tipped his hat in Katrina’s direction. “I wanted to show you some fabric samples for the cushion covers we’re replacing.”
Katrina was about to thank him again for everything he’d done, when Spencer stepped out of the office. “This Kenyon guy—” He broke off as he noticed her companions. “Oh, excuse me.”
“Is that Kenyon Latimer you’re talking about?” A frown descended on Rusty’s pleasant features.
“I don’t know,” Spencer said. “But I’d like to hear more about anyone called Kenyon.”
“If we’re talking about the same guy, he’s bad news.” Rusty shook his head. “He’s not from around here and I don’t know him personally, but he caused some trouble in Joe’s Bar a few weeks ago. He threatened to punch one of the female bartenders when she wouldn’t serve him because he was drunk.”
“Wait.” Spencer frowned. “That happened in Joe’s? I’ve never known anyone to be refused in there.”
“Yeah.” Rusty nodded. “That’s how bad he was. The guy couldn’t even say his own name.”
“Was this reported to the police?” Spencer asked.
Rusty choked back a laugh. “We’re talking about an incident in Joe’s on a Friday night. If everything that went on in there got reported, you guys would never deal with anything else.”
“True.” Spencer nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Do you know anything else about Kenyon Latimer?”
“I don’t know if he’s a member of the AAG, but he hangs out with their security guys.”
Katrina exchanged a glance with Spencer. So to an outsider like Rusty, Randall and Bart appeared to be security. Was that intentional? Micheline and Leigh hadn’t introduced them that way, and it didn’t seem to be their main role in the group. Even so, they took on a protective role and could come across as intimidating. Perhaps this was yet another way in which the AAG wasn’t all it seemed.
“That’s been really helpful, Rusty. Thank you,” Spencer said. “If you think of any other details about Kenyon Latimer, please let me know.”
“Yeah. The sergeant works here now.” In response to Katrina’s glare, Suzie batted her eyelashes. “Did I say something wrong, honey?”
Spencer had started to turn away when Rusty spoke again. “There was one other thing, but I don’t know how true it is and I don’t want to speak about a guy I don’t know.”
“I’m not going to arrest anyone on the strength of some gossip, but anything you can share will be useful to give me a broader picture of this man,” Spencer said.
“Okay. After this Latimer guy told Candy, the barmaid at Joe’s, that he’d smash her face up if she didn’t pour him another beer, a few of the regulars helped him through the door. Maybe they made sure his feet didn’t touch the ground on the way out. I remember overhearing someone say Latimer had been hanging around Mustang Park, trying to sell drugs to the teenagers.”
