Honor Unraveled by Elaine Levine Page A

service?”
    “He did great. Really came into his own. He’s getting married.”
    “Yeah? She from around here?”
    “She went to school in Laramie. She’s a dog trainer.”
    “She good people?”
    “The best.”
    “That boy could use a break.” He opened the grill and flipped the burgers. “Ivy’s back. You see her yet?”
    Kit nodded. “She and Casey are staying up at Blade’s with us.”
    “You getting back together?”
    Kit grinned. “For an old man, you sure are curious.”
    “I didn’t like how that all came down on you two. I didn’t know what happened to her after her folks pulled up stakes and moved. It was nice seeing her come back with your daughter. Your Ivy makes a mean meatloaf special up at the diner.”
    Kit sipped his beer. Jesus, he wanted to rock back in his chair. “I never said this to anyone, but you’re why I do what I do. You ran a clean town when it would have been easier for you to play dirty.”
    Tate pursed his lips as his brows lowered over his eyes. “Well, boy, you can write that on my grave.”
    Kit grinned. “Don’t think I won’t.”  
    The sheriff went into the house. When he came out, he had a couple of plates, a bag of potato chips, rolls, and condiments for the burgers. He put cheese on the burgers, then handed two to Kit.
    They settled at his old picnic table. Tate took a bite of his burger and followed it with a sip of beer. “How about you tell me why you really stopped by?”
    “Trouble’s coming this way.”
    “What kind of trouble?”
    “The WKB are voting in new leaders. The eastern branch is sending representatives for the vote. They’re also competing for the right to deal with an Afghan drug lord who’s got top-grade heroin to distribute. If they don’t figure out how to divvy the trade in a way both regions can tolerate, there’s gonna be bloodshed.”
    “And you know this, how?”
    Kit shook his head. “That’s need-to-know only. I’m worried about the town festival that’s coming up. I think, if something’s going to happen, it’ll happen then, when a rumble would have the biggest impact with lots of collateral damage.”
    “Shit. There ain’t no way the town’ll cancel or postpone the event.”
    “Owen’s talking to the FBI. The town may not have a say in what happens. I’d like to meet with the festival planners about contingency plans.”
    “They’re meeting in a couple of days during the town board meeting. I’ll get you on the agenda.”

    * * *

    Things with Casey settled down once the camp issue was resolved. She’d be leaving in a few days. Kit hated the thought of a month without seeing his daughter.  
    Rocco and Blade had taken Mandy, Zavi, Eden, Ivy, and Fiona for a hike. Casey hadn’t wanted to go, said she didn’t feel well, but she didn’t have a fever or the vomits. He’d decided she needed to sweat whatever it was out. Probably just stress. The workout hadn’t hit the mark either; they’d quit their karate session early because she felt worse. He’d sent her in to shower half an hour ago.
    Kit knocked on the door to the girls’ locker room once he’d changed back into his civvies. When there wasn’t an answer, he went back to the house and checked in her room, but she wasn’t in there. He stopped by the kitchen to see if Kathy had seen her. No luck.
    “Hey, Greer. You seen my daughter? She didn’t head out after her mom, did she?” Kit asked via their comm unit.
    “Let me check,” Greer answered. “She’s in the girls’ locker room.”
    “Thanks,” Kit answered, hurrying back to the gym building. Had she hurt herself? Had she passed out? Maybe she had appendicitis. Shit, why had he pushed her so hard?
    The male and female locker rooms stood between the weights room and the poolroom in the gym building; they were accessible from either side. He went into the poolroom and knocked on the door to the girls’ room. Again, no answer. He knocked one more time, beginning to worry that something