“Wonderful. And thanks again for fitting Rory and me in this morning without an appointment. We really appreciate it.”
“Anything for the gorgeous Pike sisters.” He smiles. “Good luck with your article.”
My article. Right. I nod.
I’ve known Doc Sheraton since I was a kid. Of course, I never dealt with him. My parents did. With the animals we had on the farm.
He always seemed like a nice enough guy.
Now he seems kind of sleazy.
He’s a nice-looking older man with a head of thick silver hair and a goatee. Not as tall as the men I’m used to—my father, my brother, and all the Steels. But a good lean build.
Old enough to be my father, of course, so the thought of him drooling over my sister kind of makes me want to retch.
“Give Brittany my best,” I say. “It was so good to see her today.” Yuck. Another big-ass lie.
“She said the same thing.”
“By the way, what happened to her? Remember? She wasn’t there when we came out from the exam room.”
“Right. She said she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Then I suppose she won’t be at the party tonight. Too bad.”
“No, she and Pat aren’t planning to attend.”
“What a shame. We’ll certainly miss them.”
Except that that makes me a little more uneasy.
The whole town will be at the Steel ranch tonight.
Which gives Pat and Brittany a chance to do whatever the hell they want. And I wonder… Will they go to the old ponderosa pine, dig up the photos they think are buried there?
Or were they meant for Rory and me to find after all?
I’ll be at the party, so I won’t know.
But I wish I could clone myself and meet them by the ponderosa pine tree.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
DONNY
Callie alone in the city building is freaking me out. I’m not quite sure why, but it’s enough that I leave Dale and Brock at the winery and drive into town.
Callie’s car is parked right by the building. Parking is easy on the weekends.
I breathe a sigh of relief, park behind her, walk to the entrance, and slide my card through. Then I nearly run up the stairs to the city attorney’s office.
“Hey, baby, what are—”
She’s not at her computer. Fine. Maybe she decided to use my office. Except that I keep it locked. I unlock it quickly just in case she somehow managed to get hold of a key.
Nope. No Callie.
I grab my phone and frantically send her a text.