Ira stared at me, his arms crossed over his chest, his mouth puckered in thought. Then he shook his head, as if dismissing me as just some crazy lady, and started messing with the sound system close to the dais, putting his microphone away and turning everything off until the next show.

   Sheriff Roxy was the only one who wasn’t upset by my showstopping antics. Even though I’d ruined her big, ­triumphant moment to play the hero, she seemed genuinely amused by the whole thing, and she even went so far as to grin and tip her white Stetson at me. The move was eerily similar to how she’d saluted me with her gun outside McAllister’s mansion, further convincing me that she was the lawyer’s would-be assassin.

   But instead of charging over and confronting her, I gave her a sheepish grin and shrug in return, pretending that I was still clueless about her real identity—and how dangerous she was.

   Roxy nodded back at me, then turned on her bootheel and hurried down the street, heading after Brody. I wanted to know what the two of them might say about me, so I decided to go be a fly on that wall.

   “You know,” I said, “I really should go apologize to Brody for overreacting like that.”

   Finn nodded. “That would be a nice gesture.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “And you should totally ask Brody for his autograph. You know, soothe his bruised ego and busted nose a little bit.”

   He snickered, and Bria and Owen chuckled right along with him.

   I rolled my eyes. “Fine, fine. I’ll go make nice with the giant. You guys go check out the shops on Main Street, and I’ll come find you in a few minutes. Okay?”

   We all got to our feet, and Finn, Bria, and Owen fell into the stream of folks leaving the bleachers and wandering back toward the storefronts. I started to head toward the alley that Brody and Roxy had disappeared into, but Ira rounded the dais and blocked my path.

   The dwarf crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs wide, as if bracing for a confrontation. “Who are you?” he demanded. “And what are you and your friends really doing here?”

   “I told you before. My name is Gin Blanco.”

   I waited, wondering if Ira might be on the Circle’s payroll just like Roxy was, but he didn’t show a flicker of recognition at my name. He was either a good actor or he really had never heard of me before.

   “And Finn told you why we’re here,” I continued. “He’s Deirdre’s son, and he owns the resort now.”

   Ira huffed. “That city slicker’s name might be on the deed, but Bullet Pointe belongs to me.” He stabbed his finger into his chest, right where his heart was. “Sweet Sally Sue herself took me in and gave me a job when I was just a teenager, and I’ve been here ever since. I’m the one who’s kept this place running all these years, despite Deirdre Shaw’s best efforts to the contrary.”

   My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? What do you know about Deirdre?”

   He huffed again. “That she was a spoiled, selfish brat who didn’t give a damn about anything other than herself. She certainly didn’t care about the theme park and the people like me who love it, who depend on it to put food on their tables and clothes on their kids’ backs. All she did was live the high life in her fancy suite and squeeze as much money as possible out of the hotel and park. And then, when she decided that I wasn’t making her enough money anymore, she replaced me with that, that phony.”

   Well, I couldn’t argue with his assessment of Roxy. She was a phony, right down to those flashy colored rhinestones on her oversize belt buckle.

   “And now you and your friends come here,” Ira continued in his rant, “and the first thing you do is ruin the high-noon show. Absolutely ruin it. I saw your face during the show. You thought it was silly, stupid even. But the performers train hard for it, and they like showing off their skills and getting cheers and being asked to pose for pictures. Not to mention how much the audience enjoys it, especially the kids. But none of that happened today, thanks to you, Ms. Gin Blanco.”

   I’d never thought about the show that way before, how hard the performers worked to put it on every single day, and how much enjoyment they and the audience got out of it. I shifted on my feet, guilt weighing down my stomach. “I really am sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ruin the show.”

   Ira slapped his hands on his hips. “Sorry? You’re sorry? No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hoping for one second that your friend Mr. Lane might actually be different from his mama. That he might actually give a damn about this place and do what’s best for it and all the people who work here.”

   I opened my mouth to say that Finn was different from Deirdre, but Ira snapped up his hand, cutting me off.

   “Forget it,” he growled. “I have work to do. I don’t have time for the likes of you, you . . . menace.”

   Ira gave me another angry glare, then turned and stomped off, disappearing into the crowd.

   I stood by the empty bleachers, digesting his tongue-lashing, which ironically enough was similar to what I’d said to Jonah McAllister a few days ago. And just like mine had been back then, Ira’s words were all too true now.

   I didn’t care about Bullet Pointe and what happened to it, and neither did Finn. We’d come down here to get answers about Deirdre and the Circle. Nothing more, nothing less. This was just a lark for us, just a holiday, just a couple of days’ respite from our own lives, problems, and worries back in Ashland.

   But to Ira Morris, this resort with all its costumed characters, cheesy decorations, and corny shows was his home, and he was determined to fight for it. Even if he might still secretly be working for Tucker and the Circle, I admired the dwarf’s conviction. It was the same way I felt about the Pork Pit and all of Ashland. Once the weekend was over, and my friends and I had our answers, I’d talk to Finn about his plans for Bullet Pointe, about making sure that the resort continued on.

   But for right now, Roxy was here, and she was the only lead I had on Hugh Tucker and the Circle. So I squared my shoulders, left the bleachers behind, and set off down Main Street, more than ready to find some answers about what was really going on in these here parts.