Setup at Whiskey Gulch by Elle James

Author:Elle James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-12-11T02:41:34+00:00

Chapter Nine

Dallas tensed as she walked through the door of Sweeney’s Bar & Grill. The last time she’d been there, Sweeney had been a jerk. Her gaze went immediately to the bar.

Sweeney wasn’t behind it; another man was. She assumed it was Bernie. Levi cupped her elbow and guided her to a table far enough from the bar that Sweeney wouldn’t be a problem, but close enough to the door to see everybody coming in and out. While at the sheriff’s house, Dallas had used her cell phone to take pictures of the teenagers from the yearbooks. Hopefully they’d find a match with some of the patrons of the bar that night.

Already there were quite a few customers, a mix of ranch hands and townspeople there to let off a little steam after a hard day’s work. Their table was between the pool table and the front door.

A man wearing crisply pressed blue jeans with a starched short-sleeved button-up shirt made his shot, sinking a striped ball into the corner pocket. His next shot was not as fortunate. His opponent, a younger man, wearing a faded black T-shirt with the slogan of a heavy metal band emblazoned across the front and frayed blue jeans, balanced an unlit cigarette between his lips. He leaned over the table and dropped a solid-colored ball in the side pocket. The cue ball kept rolling and tapped another solid into the corner pocket.

As the young man rounded the table for another shot, Dallas got a good look at his face. Her eyes narrowed. “Isn’t he...?” She pulled out her cell phone and brought up the photos. She scrolled through the pictures she’d taken from the yearbook and stopped on one. She passed it to Levi. “Is that him?”

The teenager in the picture had neatly combed hair, unlike the unkempt young man standing in front of them. The nose, the eyes, the jawline all matched. The name under the photograph read Evan Billings.

Dallas leaned close to Levi. “He was the one the sheriff’s wife said was suspended from school for smoking on campus.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s dealing drugs, but he’s worth looking at. Want me to go talk to him?” Levi asked.

“No, let’s just watch for now. There might be others that come in.”

As if on cue, another young man about the same age as Dylan walked through the door. He stopped, looked around, and when he spotted Billings, he raised a hand in greeting.

Billings gave him a chin lift, then focused on taking a shot. He sank a solid ball in the corner, then tapped the opposite corner with the tip of his cue stick and sank the eight ball there.

Game over.

The man in the nicely ironed jeans slapped a twenty on the edge of the pool table and shook hands with Evan. He returned to his table full of guys dressed a lot like him, sat and took a long swallow of the beer in his mug.

Dallas turned her attention back to the young man who had come through the door.

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