Free Be My Baby by Meg Benjamin Page B

it.”
    “Big spender.” Wonder arched an eyebrow as Dahlia slipped away again.
    “Maybe she’ll spend it on food,” Cal murmured.
    “Here’s hoping.” Pete picked up his bottle, pushing the other Lone Star toward Lars. “So, I repeat, what’s new with you?”
    Lars took the beer, letting it dangle from his fingers. “Actually, I need to talk to you in a sort of semi-professional capacity.”
    Wonder grabbed his bottle and slid off to the end of the booth. “C’mon Calthorpe, this sounds boring beyond belief. I’ll challenge you to two out of three on darts.”
    “You’re on.” Cal followed him through the tightly packed tables toward the back room.
    Lars blinked. “That was fast.”
    “That was self-preservation.” Pete swallowed some Lone Star. “Wonder has a low capacity for serious stuff. Besides, I think he’s trying to convince Cal to have Docia work on Allie. He’s already tried with me and Janie.”
    “No progress on the proposal?”
    Pete shook his head. “Stupidest proposal in history, but normally I think she’d make allowances for it being Wonder. Maybe she’s decided it’s time for him to step it up a little.”
    Lars took one last glance at Wonder before he disappeared into the back room. He stood maybe five ten, slight love handles, thinning brown hair, horn-rims. Stepping it up didn’t seem likely. “Maybe she just wants him to stop being a jerk.”
    “In that case, she’s out of luck. So what’s the problem you wanted to talk about?” Pete leaned back again.
    Lars pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not sure there is one. Just…weirdness.”
    “Okay, what’s the weirdness?”
    “This morning a guy named Lorne Haggedorn came to my office. Said he was going to relocate his business to Konigsburg and was looking for accounting help. Then he started asking about what the town was like, and he ended up asking a lot of questions about child care and my kid.”
    Pete narrowed his eyes. “Why would that qualify as weird? Aren’t most parents concerned about child care?”
    Lars shrugged. “Part of it was his attitude, which was sort of, I don’t know, shady or something. But the rest of it comes later.”
    “What’s the rest of it?” Pete leaned back again, picking up his beer.
    “This afternoon when Jess got back from cleaning the guest cabin with the kids, a guy was snooping around her cabin. When he saw her, he gave her a big song and dance about looking for child care. Asking her if she was looking after kids. Daisy said he was, and I quote, ‘a nasty man’.”
    Pete leaned forward quickly. “Did he say anything to Daisy? Try to touch her?”
    Lars shook his head. “Not that kind of nasty. He was mainly concentrating on Jess. She didn’t tell him anything, but she said she had a hard time getting rid of him.”
    “And you think it’s the same guy?”
    “I know it’s the same guy. He said his name was Lorne Barrymore, and Jess said he had a pinky ring with a green stone. So did Lorne Haggedorn.”
    Pete stared down at his hands, frowning. “It doesn’t sound like he’s done anything illegal. Just…unsettling.”
    “I know. But it worries me. And it upset Jess.”
    Pete gave him a quick look. “Jess?”
    “Okay, Mrs. Carroll.” Lars pinched his nose again. “Don’t give me a hard time. She’s doing a good job. Daisy’s happy. I don’t want her to be bothered.”
    “You think this is about Daisy?”
    “I don’t know what it’s about. It could be anything, but I don’t like the idea of this guy hanging around where my daughter is staying.”
    “Right.” Pete leaned back again. “The thing is, I can’t do much to help you with this. It isn’t at the county attorney level. You know who you need to talk to, bro.”
    Lars took a deep breath, then blew it out. “Yeah. Erik.”
    “You could talk to one of the other cops, but from what I’ve seen over there, Erik’s about the best they’ve got. Him and Nando Avrogado.”
    “Okay. Maybe