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“Who do you have to meet?” the guy in the suit asked, and Dennie said, “That is none of your business.” She detoured around them and headed for the bar, but before she could get there, the man caught up with her and put his hand on her arm.

“I just need to ask you a few questions,” he said. “I’m with the Riverbend police.” He showed her his badge, and Dennie’s heart clutched, but since the brunette wasn’t Janice and the suit wasn’t reading her the Miranda spiel, she told herself to calm down.

Dennie craned her neck to see inside the bar. Alec was sitting with Bond, checking his watch. “I tell you what,” she said to the suit. “I have to go in there and talk to somebody, and you can stay out here and watch. Then I’ll come back out here and answer any questions you want. I really do have to go. I’m late. It’s only going to be about fifteen minutes.” She smiled at him as winningly as she could, but he seemed unimpressed.

“What somebody?” the suit said.

“See the blond guy sitting in there at the table?” she said, and then realized that could be either Alec or Bond.

“I told you,” the brunette said with a great deal of satisfaction.

“I think we’ll go in there with you,” the suit said.

Dennie could just imagine how Bond would feel if she showed up with two extra people, one of whom was a cop. She was pretty sure Bond would spot a cop. She was also pretty sure that Alec wouldn’t be happy either.

“Look,” she said. “I can explain—”

“Miss Banks?” someone said from behind her.

Dennie turned, and there was another suit. He bore a vague similarity to the other suit with her, and even more telling, he had Janice Meredith with him.

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it?” Dennie said.

Chapter 9

“That’s her,” Janice said, and Dennie said, “Wait a minute.”

“Dennie Banks, you are under arrest for stalking,” the second suit said, and the first suit said, “That too?”

“Tom?” The first suit squinted at the second one. “What are you doing here?”

“Arresting her for fraud,” Tom said. “Stalking, too, huh?”

They seemed to be bonding, so Dennie tried to sidle away and signal Alec. If she’d ever needed to be rescued it was now. Unfortunately, the second suit took the sidle badly and handcuffed her.

“Hey!” Dennie said.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the second suit said while Janice and the brunette smiled their satisfaction and Tom shook his head. “Stalking too. You really take risks, lady.”

Dennie closed her eyes and thought fast.

“Isn’t that Dennie?” Donald asked Victoria as they walked through the lobby on their way to the bar and Bond.

“What?” Victoria was irritated. They were half an hour late because Donald had insisted on proposing in the elevator. In a rare moment of flair, he’d punched the emergency stop button and refused to punch it again until she’d said yes. Only after thirty minutes of tactful refusal followed by blunt refusal followed by invective had Donald given up and let the elevator descend. Even now he seemed hopeful. There was probably something to being that dumb, Victoria decided. Anything that let you ignore reality with that much persistence had to be helpful.

“Do we know those people?” Donald said, the first signs of his own irritation showing.

Victoria followed his eyes. Dennie was with two men in suits and two women, and she didn’t look good. Then one of the women turned, and Victoria said, “Oh, hell.” It was Janice. And the last time Victoria had spoken to her, Janice had not been a happy woman.

One of the suits put handcuffs on Dennie, and Victoria took Donald’s arm and swung him around before he could see. Dennie in handcuffs would definitely be something he would discuss with Bond.

“Why don’t we go talk to Bond about the land?” she said smoothly, steering him toward the bar. “Then I’ll go see about Dennie.”

“I don’t know, Victoria,” Donald said. “Why would I want to buy the land if you’re not going to be with me?”

Victoria hated herself for what she had to say next. “You give up