the long counter where you could always find a friendly companion to share lunch with. She breathed in the scent of frying burgers and the mouthwatering tang of Manny’s famous chili. But most of all, Nita liked it because her sister told her their momma liked to take them there. They would have burgers and milkshakes and their momma always gave them a penny for the gumball machine. Even though Nita didn’t remember it, it was one more small connection, one link to the mother she wished she could remember.
“Can I take your order, folks?”
Nita looked up from her menu, expecting Sheila, the regular waitress. Instead she found Valerie Raines, the new, younger addition to the restaurant staff. She was a speck of a thing, skinny and petite, with eyes that made Nita think of shuttered windows. She was friendly enough, but always seemed a bit on the wary side, always on her guard.
“Hi, Valerie, I’ll have a cheeseburger, fries and a soda.”
“Sounds good,” Connor said. “I’ll have the same.”
“And I’ll take one of your sweet smiles,” someone said, and all three of them turned to see Gavin O’Neal approaching the booth from the back of the diner. He flashed Valerie a charming grin. The Cattlemen Club men sure were a good-looking bunch, although Valerie looked less than impressed.
“Sheriff,” she said, her eyes going from wary to icecold, before she turned on her heel and walked away.
“Whoa, talk about the cold shoulder,” Connor said.
“What did you do?” Nita teased. “Leave her a lousy tip?”
Gavin shook his head. “I don’t get it. I leave her a good tip and I’m sweet as candy to her but she seems inclined to dislike me. Must be the badge.”
“Care to join us?” Connor asked.
“No, thanks. I was on my way out. I just wanted to stop and see how your father is doing.”
“Better,” Nita said. “He should be home in the next day or two.”
“Glad to hear it. Give him my best,” he said, and turned to Connor. “Your brother mentioned that you have experience reading maps. Is that true?”
“Some, sure.”
“I’d like you to take a look at a copy of the map from the museum. I feel like we’re missing something. Something obvious.”
“I could come into the club sometime this week.”
“I don’t want to drag you away from your—” he glanced at Nita “—business. Why don’t I bring it by Nita’s place later this week, after Nita’s father is feeling up to the company?”
“Nita?” Connor asked.
“Fine by me,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind getting a peek at that map to see what all the fuss is about.”
“Settled then,” Gavin said, dropping his hat on his head. “I’ll see you two later this week. Enjoy your lunch.”
When he was gone, Nita said, “Well now, aren’t you Cattleman’s Club men covert.”
“What do you mean?”
“He doesn’t want to drag you away from your business? Why doesn’t he just say ‘assignment’? That’s what it is, right?”
“You asked for help, and I’m helping. That’s all there is to it.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.”
“Two cheeseburgers and fries and two sodas,” Valerie said, unloading her tray onto the table. “Can I get you anything else?”
Nita shook her head. “Nothing for me.”
“I’m good, too,” Connor said.
Valerie reached in her uniform pocket for their bill, but as she pulled it out, it slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor. “Oops.”
As she bent over to get it, a gold, heart-shaped pendant suspended from a delicate chain slipped from inside her uniform. Etched on its face were two intricately intertwined roses.
“Oh, my sister would love that,” Nita said.
Valerie set the bill on the table and looked at Nita questioningly.
She pointed to the pendant. “Your necklace. Her name is Rose. She likes anything with roses on it.”
“Oh!” Valerie pressed a hand over it and slipped it back beneath her collar.
“Did you get it here in Royal?” Nita was always on the lookout for a birthday or Christmas gift.
“Family heirloom.” She flashed them a forced smile. “You two enjoy your lunch.”
“She’s an odd one,” Nita said after Valerie was gone. “I’ll bet she’s hiding something. Some juicy secret.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Everyone has a secret. Something they’ve done or said or felt that they don’t want anyone to know.”
“Oh yeah,” Connor said, his interest piqued. “What’s yours?”
Nita’s violet eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it?”
Okay, so he hadn’t really expected her to just blurt out that she’d done in Jonathan Devlin, especially after she’d so vehemently denied it that morning. But a tidy little confession would have been convenient. Though he had a tough time imagining her killing anyone, she did seem to have a quick temper. If she felt her family was threatened, who knows what she might be capable of?
They ate in silence for a while, and he could tell by the glances she kept shooting his way, the quiet would be short-lived. Finally she said, “So, tell me about yourself. Your brother says you used to be in the army.”
“Rangers.”
“Sounds exciting. Why’d you quit?”
Talk about secrets. When he’d left the military, it wasn’t exactly by choice. “Just wasn’t for me anymore,” he told her—the oversimplified version of the events that led to his leaving.
“What do you do now?” she asked, then added with a knowing smile. “Besides your Cattleman’s Club missions.”
“My father retired recently and I took his place at his engineering firm.”
“Engineering? Sounds boring.”
“Someone has to do it,” he said, even though she’d pretty much nailed it. Engineering bored him to tears. It always had, even in college, but he’d stuck it out and got his degree with the highest of honors, because it was expected. Thornes weren’t quitters, his father liked to boast.
“But why you?” Nita asked. “Can’t he sell the business?”
