When he paused at the town’s only intersection, next to what used to be a dry-goods store, Tony scanned the graffiti on the weathered lumber across the window. A force of habit. There were no gang signs or hidden warnings in the scribbles on the warped wood. Just kids looking for something to do.
The gravel crunched under his tires as he pulled into the café parking lot. He recognized many of the vehicles. More proof that small towns were reluctant to change. Might as well get this over with.
Pausing at the café’s entrance, he tried to shake off the feeling that he truly was about to walk through time. A small bell rang when he opened the door. He scanned the dining area but didn’t see a uniformed officer anywhere.
Nostalgia punched him in the gut as he slid into a booth to wait for Jarrod to arrive. How many hours had he sat in the exact same booth, waiting for Sabrina to finish her shift as a waitress here? He shook his head, warding off the memories.
“Tony? I’m Jarrod Butler, I’m an investigator with the Lampasas County Sheriff’s Department.” He looked up to see a redheaded man with freckles.
Standing up, he shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” He followed Jarrod to a secluded area at the back of the café.
The waitress greeted them. Makeup pancaked her face in an attempt to cover the wrinkles. “What can I get for y’all?”
The aroma of fried chicken overpowered his resolve to find out what Jarrod wanted and leave. “Give me the special and a glass of sweet tea.”
Jarrod placed his order and then they were alone. He swirled his water glass, watching Tony carefully. “I read the article in the paper about you. Impressive.”
“I was just doing my job.”
“I talked to your captain.” Jarrod leaned his forearms on the table. “He says you’ve got quite a gift for working with troubled kids.”
Jarrod had talked to his captain? Why? He gave the man a level stare. “It’s not a gift. It’s experience. I’ve been where those boys have been. I understand what they’re going through.”
“He says you’ve helped more boys get out of gangs than the rest of his staff combined. Sounds like a gift to me.”
“I like to think I’m using my rebelliousness to allow me to connect with the kids no one else wants to deal with.” Was Jarrod aware of Tony’s teenage reputation in this town?
“While you’re here, I wondered if you would be willing to put your experience to use.”
“Surely you’re not having gang trouble in Salt Creek?”
“No.” Jarrod shrugged one shoulder. “At least, not yet. But we are experiencing some issues.”
“Issues?”
“Vandalism, theft.”
Tony shook his head. “Sounds like typical teenagers.”
“I thought so at first. But we’ve received reports of drug activity in the area. Maybe linked with a group home here in town.” Jarrod leaned back in his chair. “Some of the teenage boys have suspected gang ties.”
“So what do you want from me?” Bitterness soured his sweet tea. Was Jarrod looking for someone to tell him it was okay to send the kids away? Pack them up and ship them out. That’s how everyone wanted to deal with kids in the foster care system.
Jarrod reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He slid it across the table. “I want to help them. But I don’t know how. I’ve tried to get to know these boys but—”
“You were shot down.” Boys like that didn’t trust easily. Especially a deputy sheriff. Tony studied the list of names, complete with ages and where they were from.
The platinum blonde waitress appeared with their order. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Jarrod and Tony said in unison.
She started to walk away, then stopped and turned back toward Tony. “Don’t I know you? You look real familiar.”
He narrowed his eyes as he tried to place the woman. “Could be. I lived here for a few years.”
She studied him for a moment before a toothy smile brightened up her chubby face. “You’re Antonio Montoya’s grandson, ain’t ya?”
She set the coffeepot down and grabbed him by both arms. “Stand up, boy, let me get a look at ya.” She clicked her tongue. “I guess I just lost a bet.”
Betty. She’d been best friends with Sabrina’s mom and had taken Sabrina under her wing when her mom died. “What bet?”
“I figured you’d end up in jail ’fore you were twenty-one, but Sabrina always said you’d come back here one day and prove everybody wrong.”
“If it wasn’t for her, I probably would be in jail,” he told her honestly.
“When Sabrina lit out right after you, we was sure you two had run off together.”
His gut wrenched. No way had she tried to follow him. He’d made sure she wanted nothing to do with him. From her reaction yesterday, he had done a good job.
A customer across the café called her name and Betty gave him one last bear hug before leaving.
“You okay?” Jarrod’s face was one of concern. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“This town is full of ghosts.” He slipped the list into his shirt pocket. “Thanks for the lunch, Jarrod. Can we talk tomorrow?”
* * *
THE WARM SUMMER breeze flowed through the windows of Tony’s SUV. For the last two hours, he’d been touring the back roads of Salt Creek. His own trip down memory lane. But more recent events were troubling him. It’d been almost a week since he’d seen Sabrina. Why didn’t she ever come into town?
The setting sun bathed the cab of his truck in an orange glow, and his stomach growled. Time to head home. He slowed down as he approached the outskirts of town. The large brick school that housed kindergarten through twelfth grade looked the same, but the area surrounding the school had changed. The residential houses across the street had been replaced by mobiles. A sign identified one of the buildings as an alternative school. Code for the place where the troubled kids had to go.
Was that where they would’ve sent him? A small dirt road branched off the main one and disappeared over the top of a hill. One more stop down memory lane. Tony turned his SUV onto the gravel and followed it to the end. Little Mountain. The namesake of the children’s home.
Tony got out of his vehicle and climbed onto the warm hood. Leaning against the windshield, he listened to the wind rustling through the tall oak trees surrounding the area. The stars twinkled as the heat from the day began to ebb.
This was the first place that he’d been alone with Sabrina. He had done nothing but complain about Salt Creek and she’d been desperate to make him see the beauty of small-town life. So she brought him to Little Mountain. After a brief history lesson on the town, she’d spread a blanket out in the back of his old pickup truck. They were there for hours. Just talking. He never even held her hand, but it was the closest Tony had felt to anyone in his entire life.
Now, as he lay against the windshield and searched for the constellations she’d loved to point out, a sense of peace washed over him. How long had it been since he’d taken the time to look at the night sky? Too long. It was almost impossible to see stars through