30. Mouse Hunt

Noah yanked a hand through his hair and paced his office while Chance watched him march with worried brown eyes. Noah didn't need the phone conversation he was having right now. It was more shit being shoveled into the pit where he currently found himself treading as he struggled to keep himself from going under and gagging.

"Don't be mad at your mother because I found out," his father's stern voice boomed.

"I'm not mad at Mom. How could I be? She's … Mom." She believed in me, and I blew it. I'm mad at myself.

Hugh Hunnicutt surprised him when he chuckled. "I know what you mean." And just like that, the humor evaporated. "For the record, Noah, I've known about her ‘little business investment' this whole time, and not because she told me. When you live with someone as long as we have, you just know. I chose to stay out of it because I wanted to see how far you ran with it."

"And now that it's in the crapper, you're stepping in to tell me how badly I fucked up?"

"No, I'm stepping in to find out what you're doing about getting your bar opened so you can feed yourself and pay your mother back. In that order. Have you at least gotten the place cleaned up?"

Noah's defenses lined themselves up in a barricade. "Of course it's been cleaned up, and I haven't caught anything in the traps since. I'd like to point out that it was never a problem before. Even the exterminator was scratching his head over how so many suddenly appeared because he couldn't find evidence of how or where they got in. Not that any of it matters because no one will want to come here anyway," he added in a grumble.

"Feeling sorry for yourself won't get you squat, son."

Well, fuck. Was he about to get the "Be a Man" speech again?

No, his father changed course. "What's your competition doing?"

"Besides laughing his ass off, you mean? I hear he's packing them in every night."

"And did you take the time to verify the rumors for yourself?"

Noah gritted his teeth. "Yes, Dad." Masochist that he was, Noah had rolled his truck past Dell's in the dark and slumped when he saw that the place was hopping. "Keating's almost done with his renovations, which will double his capacity."

"Just a minute." His father muffled the microphone for a beat. "Your mother says Charlie mentioned possible building violations at Dell's?"

Charlie only knew about them because of Hailey, and Noah smiled to himself. It felt good having her on Team Hunnicutt. "He's passed it on to the building department, but until an inspector investigates, nothing can be confirmed. But I need to operate as if Dell's gets a green light. I've got my own business to run, and I can't be focused on what he's doing."

A light rap on the door had Noah swinging it open, revealing Hailey, smiling and luscious in a cropped fuzzy pink sweater with a deep V-neck, tight indigo jeans, and high-heeled black suede boots. Yowser! If he was a cartoon character, he'd have eyeballs on coils that sprang out of their sockets. Her hair was loose, brushing her shoulders, and she wore big silver hoop earrings. She looked like a woman all dressed up for a … date. That honeysuckle scent he was addicted to wreathed his head, and he floated to a happy place. While he eyed her from head to toe, some of the bite went missing from his dad's bark.

She motioned over her shoulder and mouthed, "Pantry." He nodded dumbly, watching her round ass sway as she spun and headed in that direction. Chance got up and loped after her, and for a beat Noah envied his dog. Christ, he couldn't wait to get his hands on—

"Noah?"

"Uh, yeah, Dad."

"Have you considered selling?"

"Funny you mention it. Keating did make me an offer." He told his dad about the asshole's lowball offer.

"You're not thinking of selling to that scumbag, are you?" his dad sputtered.

Wow! For once, they agreed. "No, Dad. He probably just wants to get his hands on the building and tear it down."

"What else do you have going on, son? Business-wise, I mean." His father's curious tone threw Noah, and he almost, almost told him about the upcoming meeting with Silver Summit. But he didn't want to be on the hook for explanations if nothing came of it. He would merely arm his dad with more ammo to use against him.

"Listen, your mom wants to talk to you for a few minutes, but you'll keep us posted, right?"

"Sure." Noah felt an odd, unfamiliar sense of alignment with his father and was puzzling over the true nature of their conversation when his mom came on the line.

"Hi, honey," came her cheery voice. Too cheery.

He braced himself for the questions about her investment he was sure she would fire at him. Instead, she started with, "I want to know about your girl."

Despite himself, he laughed—and didn't bother denying Hailey was his girl. "Who told you? Charlie or Reece?"

"Neither. I heard it from Neve's mother, who heard it from …" She ran through a litany of townsfolk names and ended with, "And she heard it from Dixie."

Even thousands of miles away, his mother was still in the small-town loop, and it was as much of a live wire now as it had always been. That it existed both comforted and annoyed him.

"There's not much to tell, Mom."

"No? Dixie reported some canoodling. Do you like her, Noah?"

"Dixie? Of course I like her. She's my manager," he quipped.

"Oh, Noah, not Dixie! I want to know about Hailey. Is she special?"

Whoa, she even knew Hailey's name! A streak of pink and indigo flew past, honey-blond hair streaming after. Where the hell was the subject of this conversation going in such a hurry? "Yes, Mom. She's very special. I like her a lot." How was that for honesty?

He'd never met anyone who made him seriously think about forever before, but Hailey had him contemplating it a lot. When he looked into his future, she was in it, and he wasn't even weirded out over having these thoughts about someone he'd known less than a month.

His mother stole the words from his head when she crooned, "When you find that right one, you just know. I can't wait to meet her!"

They moved from that topic to Chance, and to Noah's great relief, they hung up without touching the subject of his failed enterprise.

He went in search of Hailey and spotted her outside the tavern's front door talking to Shane, who spun his hat in his hands. Unlike last time when the deputy had had his hands all over her, he stood at a respectable distance, head bowed and nodding, expression solemn, as if listening to something important. Hailey talked beside him, arms folded over her chest. Occasionally, she threw out her good hand as if making a point.

Noah ate up the distance to the front door, doing his best to act casual as he planted himself between them.

Shane gave him a chin lift and turned back to Hailey. "It does sound fishy, but I can't see Montrose law enforcement—any law enforcement agency—putting resources toward tracking down a missing bag of dead mice. I'm sorry, Hailey."

Hailey sighed. "I was afraid of that. Well, thanks for hearing me out anyway."

Shane gave her a goofy grin. "My pleasure." He opened his mouth as if to add something else, his gaze ricocheting between her and Noah.

Noah thought he recognized the signs of a man working up the nerve to ask an attractive woman out, so he decided to help the deputy along. He threw his arm around Hailey's shoulders and pulled her tight to his side. "Are you cold, sweetheart?" He dropped a kiss on her temple for good measure.

Shane's eyes widened.

Yeah, that's right, Deputy O'Brien. She's with me.

Hailey tilted her head and smirked at Noah. Yeah, she was on to him, though she remained fused to his side.

Shane pointed between them with his hat. "You two are … When did … Are you two seeing each other?"

Why, yes, we are. We're seeing each other dressed, half-dressed, and buck naked. Mostly that last one. We're seeing each other up close and very personal. "Yep." Noah popped the p.

Hailey slid Noah a covert eye-roll. "We just started … seeing each other," she explained to the gaping deputy in a soothing voice.

Shane's cheeks reddened. Noah almost felt sorry for him. Dude plopped his hat on his head, mumbled, "Congratulations," and hoofed it toward his vehicle.

Hailey slid out from under Noah's grasp. "Did you have to act so smug?"

He grinned broadly. "Hell yeah! I got the girl, and I wanted him to know it before he asked you out and embarrassed himself. I'm considerate that way."

"That's not what you were doing. You were beating your chest like an ape-man." Her lips twitched with a smile.

Letting out a gorilla growl, he placed his hand against the small of her back and nudged her inside the bar. Chance came trotting over, claws tip-tapping over the tile.

"He was doing me a favor," she huffed as Noah pulled the door closed behind them.

"How so?"

"I needed his advice."

He didn't mask his surprise. "What kind of advice?"

Hailey motioned toward the bar. "Buy a girl a drink?"

"Sounds serious. May I join you?"

"Please do."

The front door flew open, and Noah whirled, expecting Shane. Instead, he got a grinning Charlie. His brother had horrible timing.

"Hey, I hear Mountain Coffee's adding a bookshop!"

Before Noah could suggest Charlie come back another time, Amy pressed herself through the door, her sparkling dark eyes pinned on Hailey. "I hope you don't mind. I told Charlie our little secret—"

"And I'm here to help." Charlie held up a grid sketchpad, clearly pleased with himself. "I've got all the measurements we need to get started."

Hailey bounced in place. "I was afraid to ask," she bubbled, "but could you maybe build us some bookshelves?"

During the next hour, Noah looked on while Hailey, Charlie, and Amy sat at one of his tables, their heads bent together as they drew up plans. Now and again, he distracted himself by walking Chance and playing with the dog, who eagerly lapped up the attention. Not exactly how he'd planned things to go after he'd chased Shane off, but how could he take this away from Hailey? The joy on her face telegraphed what this meant to her. He knew about chasing dreams, and he wanted to be part of her happiness, not be the guy who stole it from her. She'd had enough of that shit in her short life.

Finally, Charlie lifted his eyes to Noah's and seemed to read his plea to have Hailey to himself. It was their date night after all—the first of what Noah hoped would be many.

Charlie slammed the sketchpad closed. "I've got all I need. Thank you, ladies, for your input. I'll put together something solid that we can review. How about we adjourn for now?"

The girls clapped in agreement, and Noah mouthed a "thank you" to his brother. Charlie winked in return before gathering his stuff, grasping Amy's arm, and herding her out of the bar.

After they'd left, Noah locked the door and plucked out a bottle, two glasses, and motioned for Hailey to head upstairs. Chance fell in behind.

The dog ignored his fluffy bed and curled up on the kitchen rug—of course he did—while they plopped onto the couch. Noah poured them each a measure of Don Julio 70 A?ejo. "I've been saving this for a special occasion."

She raised her glass to his. "And what special occasion is this?"

"You, here. You, happy and making big plans. You, in that sweater." You out of that sweater. He clinked his glass against hers. Take that, Deputy O'Brien. "So before we got interrupted, you were going to tell me what you needed from Shane. What was this about a bag of dead mice?"

Blue eyes drilled into his. "You were set up, Noah, and I'm trying to prove it."

In the middle of a sip, he nearly choked on the tequila. "I'm listening," he rasped, the liquor hot on his vocal chords.

"It starts with Bruno Keating. He wanted to buy this building, and he couldn't."

"Well, he's giving it his damnedest again. Thirty cents on the dollar."

"That's preposterous! And why doesn't it surprise me?"

"Glad you agree, surfer girl." He toasted her again.

"Well, it bolsters my theory. He's pulled all kinds of stunts to slow you up or close you down, but he hasn't been successful. So far."

"That sounds ominous."

"Because it is. Consider this." Calculations seemed to stream behind her eyes. "He's proved himself capable of undermining you to get what he wants, and he wants the Miners Tavern. Badly. It's gotten to the point where it's verging on an obsession with him. If you were shut down, if your business were interrupted and you couldn't generate revenue, you'd likely default and go under. Then he could swoop in and pick up the property from the bank for cheap."

It's not just the bank, though.But Keating didn't know that.

"Now, knowing what we know about Miami Vice Thor—"

"Who?"

She flapped an impatient hand. "Never mind. We know the man is ruthless, which means he's capable of planting mice and bribing an inspector to do a surprise visit or bribing said inspector to plant the damning evidence himself, although I was with Cliff when he pulled those carcasses out, so I'm going with theory number one." She ran through a description of Keating's and Meissner's odd behavior during the most recent inspection at Dell's, including their private tête-à-têtes.

Noah's mouth dropped open. A memory lit up his brain like a stadium light. He smoothed a hand over his beard. "Right before the inspection, there was a morning when I took Chance out for a walk before anyone else was here, and I locked the door behind me. I know I did. When we came back in, he beelined for the pantry and nearly broke my arm to get there. He was after something under the shelves, and he stuffed his nose exactly where Meissner found those mice. I couldn't pull him away."

Hailey watched intently as he flopped against the back of the couch, memories streaming through his mind. "Dixie was here by then, and she said something about the back door being unlocked, which made no sense to me at the time. Jesus, that's what he was so interested in! The mice were already there because someone came through that door and planted them! And I got sidetracked and never took a look at what had him so riled up. Everything fits."

Hailey slapped a palm against her thigh. "It also explains why we found no droppings or nesting material. Someone planted dead mice, and I bet it was either Keating or one of his minions. But he made one big mistake."

Excitement began building in Noah's gut. "What's that?"

A gleam lit Hailey's eyes, and her mouth twitched with a smile. "He didn't use the right rodents. I'm positive they weren't deer mice, but I can't prove it with the actual mice because the evidence is gone. I called someone in the department who's still speaking to me, and she checked. Gone. I was picking Shane's brain to find out if it was worth trying to find the evidence using law enforcement channels. You heard him, though. That won't work."

Noah nodded, numb.

Hailey ran on. "Whoever did the planting got domestic mice from somewhere, probably a pet store or a breeder who raises them as a food source for snakes and lizards. Someone who's not paying attention or who isn't familiar or who's downright stupid wouldn't know the difference."

The wheels in Noah's brain spun. "Why would he buy the wrong mice when all he has to do is trap them around here? It's not like we have a shortage."

"Because he's impatient and mean and arrogant."

"If the evidence is gone, how do we prove it?"

Hailey slid her phone from a back pocket and held it up. "I have the evidence right here! I took pictures of the pantry's interior and the mice on my work phone—which Cliff has—and on my personal phone. I sent the pictures off to Kaylee's boyfriend, who studies the critters. He'll know if they're deer mice. I think I can make a convincing argument they were planted or at least raise enough doubt that they have to reconsider Cliff's decision to close you down. I might be able to convince them to re-inspect immediately and pass you. If the department issues an ‘oops' and wipes it from the record, you're whole again."

Something fuzzily similar to hope stirred inside him. "So you think you can get someone to cease and desist the … cease and desist? And you can do that even though you don't work for the health department anymore?"

"I can damn well sure try." Hailey's bright blue eyes lasered in on him. "All I need is Vince's statement, and I'll help you formulate an appeal. The department's closed for the weekend, but I'll make sure the appeal's in the right inboxes Monday morning. I'll raise some hell until someone listens." She wore a happy little grin. "What do you think?"

I think I love you.

The unbidden sentiment shocked him, and he clamped his mouth shut as he hauled her to him for a rib-crushing hug.

She gasped out a laugh. "I take it you're on board."

He released her. "Sorry. Didn't mean to go boa constrictor on you. Yeah, absolutely I'm on board. You do your magic and let me know what I can do to support it."

She grasped his hand. "I have a good feeling about this, Noah. I'm so glad I can do something, especially after—"

Her phone rang; she held up her index finger. "I need to take this." She stood and wandered to a far corner of the open space. "Yes, this is Hailey Bailey. Ah, thank you so much for calling me back. I wanted to talk to you about your place …"

Noah took Chance downstairs so the dog could do his business. While he was outside, he texted Charlie: Any updates on the security system?

Charlie: The parts haven't arrived in Denver yet. Once they get them, they'll ship them here.

Noah: I want cameras too. Good ones.

Charlie: Already spec'ed them out.

Noah pushed a relieved breath through his lungs. Nobody was going to fucking mess with him and his again.

Charlie: You playing hockey with us tmw?

Noah: If I don't sleep in.

He'd be sleeping in because he'd be spent from Hailey using him all night long—way more fun than playing hockey.

Charlie: Pantywaist.

Noah: Practical.

When Noah and Chance returned, Hailey was finishing up her call. "I'll let you know. And thank you." She turned to Noah. "Were you eavesdropping, barkeep?"

"Of course not," he scoffed. When she gave him a sly grin, he returned it. "It's not considered eavesdropping if I can't hear what you're saying, right?"

"No, that would be plain old snooping." Her pale blue eyes glittered with amusement. "For your information, that was Mona Freeman of Loose Moose fame. I was asking if I could extend my stay."

Noah's eyebrows flew to his hairline at the same time his heart flew to his throat. "And?"

"She said I could have thirty more days if I was willing to pay the utilities."

"And?"

"It's a generous offer, but I can't afford that on top of my rent in Montrose." The sparkle disappeared from her eyes, replaced by worry he hated to see.

"Why keep your place in Montrose? Call your landlord and give him notice today."

"But where do I go after that? Thirty days isn't a lot of time. Plus, I'd need to go get my stuff and figure out where to put it. The Moose isn't exactly overflowing with storage."

"Do you have that much?"

"No, but …" She let out a huge breath. "Here's what I'm really worried about. My place isn't too far from work, and I'm pretty sure Cliff knows where I live. He has access to employee information. Wh-what if he sees me moving out and confronts me? Especially after I do what I'm planning to do. He makes me nervous, Noah."

Closing the distance between them, he placed his hands on her small shoulders and gave her his most reassuring smile. "Then let's go get your stuff now, this weekend, while the offices are closed and before you spring the plan. You can leave your key behind and give your landlord notice after you've cleared out. That way Meissner won't know a thing, including whereyou've gone—unless Keating finds out and tips him off. Even if he does come up here looking for you, he'll have three pissed-off brothers waiting for him, not to mention the rest of this town ready to tangle. We look after our own, sweetheart, and you're one of our own."

Her eyes turned glossy, and a big fat tear spilled down her cheek, shredding him inside. She swiped it away. "What do I do with my stuff? Where am I supposed to live?"

"You have lots of choices. You can stay with me. If you don't want to stay with me, you could stay at Reece's—his place is huge, and he has plenty of storage space. In fact, he rattles around in there. Plus, he's gone a lot of the time. There's also my parents' place, which is sitting empty right now."

"I can't impose."

"You're not. Come on. You helped me. Let me help you, surfer girl."

She nodded. "I'll think about it?"

"Okay, you think about it. In the meantime, what do you want to do for our date?"

A smile broke out on her face, and he could have sworn the sun pierced the clouds. "I want to go dancing."

"Where?" he guffawed.

"I don't know. I just spewed the first thing that came to mind. Whenever I go to Denver, I like to hit the clubs and get my booty shaking to some good old eighties disco. It's been a while."

"I'll take you to Denver sometime and get your booty shaking—that's something I'd like to see." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Besides, I'd like you to meet my cousin and his wife. You'd really like Serena. You two are birds of a feather."

In that moment, he was struck by how much he wanted Wyatt and Serena to meet Hailey. It also struck him that in the blink of an eye, he'd become one half of a couple, and while the notion should have terrified him, it warmed him instead. Deep down, he'd been looking for someone like Hailey. He hadn't known she existed until now, and he'd never dared to hope.