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practically shouted small-town-get-togethers. He snorted and went on to linger along the block of stores that included a red brick building with a discreet sign on the door: Lincoln Wentworth, Attorney At Law.
    The lock looked like easy picking, but the sheriff’s office loomed directly across the square. There might be an alley, but before he could check, a white Blazer pulled to a stop in front of him. The blocky black letters marking it as the sheriff’s vehicle brought him up short. He plastered an innocent expression on his face.
    Sheriff Monty Rollins got out of the vehicle and strode over to grab his hand. “Howdy, Granger. Can’t keep away from our Allie, huh?”
    God, could this get any worse? Sure it could. The whole town could be in on the scam, a la Murder on the Orient Express . Allie could out him. Allie’s father could get out that shotgun and… He cut that thought off. “Hello, Sheriff.”
    “If you’re looking for the Judge, he’s probably gone home by now.”
    “Yeah, I saw him at the house. Just out for a walk. Taking quick tour of the town.”
    Rollins laughed. “Not a lot here, not compared to Lost Angels. Where’s Allie?”
    Zeph winced at the slang term for the city he loved. How would it go over if he were to call this place Stoned Crossing? He smiled. “I left her at the clinic. She had some stuff to do. I guess I was in the way.”
    “Heard you didn’t like Miz Bartelett’s cat much.”
    Geez. From his stay with Hannah and Luke, he knew better than to expect anything approaching privacy, but still… “It was asleep. Looked like—” A pile of dead stuff. “It didn’t look too good.” He groped for a change of subject. “Being sheriff here must be easy. Every time anyone takes a deep breath, it’s all over town before you can say ‘grapevine.’”
    “You got that right. Word does tend to get around about what a body does. Reckon you don’t get much of that in the big city.”
    “Not so much, no.”
    “Must make detective work challenging.”
    “Yeah, but I rise to challenges.”
    “Good thing you’re not here on business, then.” The enigmatic glance that went with the words made Zeph wonder if Allie or Hannah had confided in the sheriff. “Wouldn’t be no challenge a-tall.”
    “And a good thing I’m not a crook”.
    “I figure you could give me a run for my money. But, y’know, sometimes the job gets kind of interesting here. Can’t say I’m dying of boredom. Always got something to keep my eye on. Like a couple of guys from Sacramento that show up here from time to time.”
    “Why?”
    “Visitin’ someone out east of town. Not sure who, but I’ve got my suspicions.”
    Zeph waited, but Rollins didn’t continue. “I better get going. Allie should be free soon.”
    “Good idea. Martha doesn’t like people bein’ late for dinner.”
    Zeph walked slowly along Main Street, mulling over his options. If he had to break into Wentworth’s office, would it be better to have established that he walked a lot at night? No flies on that sheriff.
    Or Allie. Better call her. He pulled out his phone and dialed the clinic.
    “I’m on my way to Dad’s. I’ll see you in a couple of minutes,” she said in a frosty voice.
    “I’m not at your dad’s. I walked into town so we could talk before you get to his house.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Crossing the square.”
    “I’ll be right there.” Her voice thawed a fraction. “Are you going to brief me for the mission, Chief?”
    “Hadn’t planned on it. I need to—” He broke off as she pulled up beside him. He climbed into the truck and fumbled for his seat belt as she accelerated. “We have to be believable this evening. If you keep acting like you’re mad at me, your Dad’s going to catch on.”
    Allie pulled to the curb and turned to face him. “I’m not mad at you. I just—”
    He didn’t want to hear that she never wanted to see him again. “All right, not mad. But not happy to see me. Not