by Lisa Harris
Her eyes were a bit wide, but at least she was nodding.
“Good. Now what do you like in your omelets?”
Kate Dollinger had just sat down at her desk with her pastry and a cup of coffee when the phone rang. She made quick work of swallowing the bite in her mouth. “San Juan Sheriff’s Office, how may I help you?”
“Kate, it’s Holden.”
She frowned. He sounded truly awful. “You sound sick! Are you alright?”
“That’s why I’m calling. I’m not going to be able to come in today. Maybe for the rest of the week.”
Her frown deepened. That was odd. The man never called in sick. He was either truly ill, or her instincts had been right yesterday. Something was up. Something they weren’t telling her about. “You poor thing! I’ll bring you some soup.” Then she could see if he was hiding something.
“Thanks. That’s kind of you. Will you also bring me a few boxes of the old files that need to be scanned in? I can do that work from home.”
“You should rest.”
“I will. I promise.”
She hung up the phone with a frown. She hadn’t expected him to be so open to her bringing him food. Maybe he wasn’t hiding anything after all.
She downed the last of her pastry and coffee, then stood. “Jay?”
“Yeah?” he called from his office.
“Holden just called in. He’s sick. I’m going to go home and grab some jars of soup to take to him.”
“All right.”
“Was he sick yesterday?” A thought registered and her brows shot up. “You aren’t feeling sick, are you?” Maybe the contents of that orange bucket had made them sick.
She heard Jay rise from his desk and a moment later he stepped into the hall in front of his office. “I feel fine. Holden had to get in the water yesterday to retrieve the bucket. Maybe he caught a cold from that.”
Her lips thinned. “Maybe.” She wasn’t buying it. “What happened yesterday in Everett?”
He shrugged. “An undercover cop was murdered. Holden flew there to talk to a couple detectives about that.”
She narrowed her eyes, considering. Could Jay be trusted? “You aren’t holding out on me, are you?”
He plunked his hands on his hips. “If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll let you know.”
She huffed. My, but he was feeling high and mighty all the sudden, wasn’t he? The kid knew one little thing she didn’t know and now he was lording it over her like she was a peasant of old and he was the landowner.
She hefted the stack of three file boxes from the corner. “He asked me to bring these out so he could do some scanning from home.”
Jay nodded. “That’s fine. August comes on at ten. And I’ve got the phones if anyone calls.” With that, he disappeared back into his office.
Kate grumbled to herself as she loaded the file boxes into her trunk and climbed behind her wheel.
Something was not right. Both Holden and Jay were acting…off. There was definitely something they were hiding.
And she was determined to find out what.
Chapter Eleven
Camryn was seated on the back patio reading her book, when Holden poked his head out the sliding door. “She’s here.”
“That was fast.” She rose and followed him inside. He’d warned her that the station secretary would be arriving with some food and the files he wanted her to work on. He’d also mentioned that the woman was a bit nosy and would want to see for herself that he was “sick.”
“Yeah. Not even I expected her to get here this fast. I thought she’d come around noon.”
They stepped into the entry. A flash of movement at the frosted sidelight revealed the shadow of a plump woman.
Camryn froze. “Can she see in here?” she whispered.
Holden shook his head and responded in a voice she could barely hear. “It’s too dark in here. We can only see her silhouette because of the bright sunlight.”
The doorbell rang.
He touched her elbow. “Up the stairs,” he urged her quietly. “I’ll come get you when she leaves.”
“Wait,” she paused one step up. “If you are going to pass off being sick, you need to look the part.” The man definitely didn’t look ill. She swept him with an assessment. More like a GQ model.
She slid her fingers in his hair and mussed it, only then realizing how close that put her to him.
His intense blue gaze drilled into hers. He propped one arm against the wall and the other against the stair rail, looking like he had all the time in the world.
She hesitated, fingers still entwined in his curls. “Sorry if I’m overstepping,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “I’m not complaining. Do I look sicker?” His mouth quirked.
She felt her face heat. No. He definitely didn’t. She pinched his cheeks to make them red, doing her best to ignore the feel of his stubble beneath her fingers. “The sickest I can make you look on such short notice.”
His focus dipped to her mouth. He swallowed and stepped back. “Next time I’ll give you more time.” He winked.
Her face flamed as she fled up the stairs.
Holden pondered as he watched Camryn disappear. Had he really winked at her? He knew the risks that came with allowing himself to become attracted to a woman in his custody. He gripped the back of his neck. These thoughts had to stop, and now.
Sure, she was an attractive woman. She was sweet, thoughtful, and totally innocent of the violence that criminals wouldn’t hesitate to foist on her.
He gave a definitive nod. He’d have a talk with her. If her blush just now was any indication, she was feeling the chemistry too. But they couldn’t let it take over. They were both old enough to handle this.
This was an employment situation. That was all. Employment. Plain and simple.
The doorbell rang again.
He spun toward the door, then cracked it open the barest of inches. He peered through the crack and gave his voice the best gravelly rasp he could summon. “I think you should leave everything on the porch. I’d hate to give you whatever this is.”
“Nonsense!” Kate shoved the door with one foot and barreled in, carrying a basket filled with jars. “I’m not afraid of a little old flu bug.”
Holden shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and huddled into his shoulders trying to look cold. He noticed her searching gaze as she led the way to the kitchen. He rolled his eyes. She wasn’t here to give him food so much as to see what might be going on out here. He only hoped she’d be satisfied by the time she left. He knew how she liked to chat with her cousin who lived in Everett.
“Did you bring the files?” he asked.
She set the basket on the kitchen island and tsked, stepping in front of him. Before he could pull back, she had her hand on his forehead.
She frowned. “You don’t feel too hot.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Took some Tylenol about an hour ago.” The lies were compounding.
“Well, at least that’s helping with the fever. Your cheeks are red as strawberries.” She set to unpacking jars from the basket. “I’ll get the file boxes for you in a minute, but don’t you go working too hard when you need to be resting.”
“I won’t.”
She nudged two canning jars together. “These two are homemade beef stew.” Another three jars were clumped together. “These are chicken noodle. And these last two are a chicken base that you add dumplings to.” She withdrew two bags of a white floury substance from the basket. “That’s these. All you have to do is add a cup of milk and one egg. I’ve written it right here on the baggie, see? Then you drop them on top of the boiling stock and let them cook for ten minutes uncovered, then cover it and cook for another ten minutes.” She set the bags on the counter. “It’s all in the instructions. Now, let me see what’s in your refrigerator. Do you need anything else?” She yanked the door open and began rearranging things all while hemming and hawing under her breath. “Yes, you
could definitely use some more vegetables. I’ll bring you some. Hank…well, I keep his garden going all year long in the greenhouse, so it’s no hardship. Trust me, I have plenty.” She snagged the first jars of soup. “I’ll put these on the top shelf here.”
Holden suddenly noticed the two identical glasses and plates from their breakfast in the sink. Would she notice that both plates still had egg bits on them? He meandered to the sink and took up the first plate, rinsing it beneath the tap. Why hadn’t he let Camryn do the dishes when she’d offered.
Thankfully, Kate’s focus was still on loading jars into his fridge. He rinsed the second plate and loaded it into the dishwasher after the first.
Kate turned and looked at him. Her gaze bounced from him to the dishes. “I’ll do those for you in just a moment.” She flapped a hand. “Go lie down on the couch. I’ll bring you tea.”
He quirked a brow.
“Okay, coffee. You probably don’t even have tea around here. I’ll put it on the list of things to bring. Nothing helps you feel better like a nice hot cup of tea.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” He closed the dishwasher and ambled out of the kitchen. There wasn’t anything more incriminating in there. It wouldn’t hurt to let her snoop around.
He took to the couch, that would let him see the base of the stairs. He didn’t want her getting any ideas about going to the upper level. She puttered and talked to herself in the kitchen.
After a moment she hollered. “Oh, turn on the news. Did you hear about the jailbreak that happened in Everett the other night? Seems there was a guy who got away. He’s unaccounted for.”
Holden grunted. Of course he had heard, but when he’d left they were still searching for the man, and he’d been so concentrated on keeping Camryn safe that he hadn’t looked into it more. No officer of the law liked to hear something like that.
He tugged his phone from his pocket and pulled up the local news site.
Sure enough. His brows shot up when he saw who it was who’d escaped. “Kirk Vossler!” He tapped the link. Vossler actually owned property out here on San Juan. “Kate, did any notification about this come into the office?”
“Yes. Yesterday. That’s why I’m telling you!” Dishes and silverware clattered in the dishwasher.
Holden pinched the bridge of his nose. It wouldn’t do him a bit of good to chastise her for not telling him sooner.
He needed to call Jay and have him go by the man’s estate. It was currently occupied by a caretaker named Jody Horton. They’d had dealings with her on two occasions when petty vandals broke into the property, though not much had been damaged on either occasion. But they needed to keep an eye out for Vossler. He’d been convicted for inciting a riot when it had been proven last year that he’d paid a group of troublemakers to destroy several Everett city blocks. He’d been slated for transport to a more secure facility next week.
He lowered his phone and listened. Kate was still in the kitchen.
He minimized the article and punched Jay’s name.
“Hello?”
“Jay, Kate just told me about the jail break. Did she tell you?”
“Jail break?”
“In Everett. Kirk Vossler.”
Jay swore.
“Yeah, we need to post a lookout at his place. Any activity we’ll need to report. I’m surprised no one has shown up at the station already to let us know they’ll be watching his place.” The last sentence was half statement, half question.
“No one has shown up here. At least not while I was on duty.”
“Just a sec.” Holden lowered the phone again. “Hey, Kate!” He jolted. She was standing in the living room archway. “Hey. No one stopped by the office to say they’d be staking out the Vossler place, did they?”
“No.” She stepped forward with a cup of coffee on a tray and bent to set it on the coffee table. “Would you like cream in your coffee?”
His irritation with her lingering mounted, but then he had a pang of conscience. It was probably hard on her to live alone. Her husband had died only a few months ago. It probably felt good for her to be able to take care of someone other than herself.
Still, he couldn’t forget her propensity to gossip.
“Just black. Thanks.”
He waited till she’d left the room before he resumed his conversation with Jay. “You and August figure out a rotating schedule. Put me on four to midnight. I hate to leave—well, you know—but you two can’t cover the place twenty-four seven on your own.”
“We could each take nine hours. That would leave you with six. You could be home by ten that way.”
Holden pondered. It wasn’t really fair to ask his deputies to take longer shifts, but in this case, he had Camryn’s safety to think of. “Yeah, if you two don’t mind. That would be better. And…” He double-checked the door, thankful to find it empty. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind crashing here during my shift?”
Jay hesitated for only a moment. “You got it, boss.”
“Thanks.” He hung up the phone and released a breath. That eased his mind about leaving Camryn here alone.
Kate continued to fiddle with a little of this and a little of that, but thankfully she never approached the stairs.
Almost thirty minutes later she puffed into the living room carrying three filing boxes. “These are the last of the files from 1999 that we haven’t gotten scanned into the computer yet. Where should I put them?”
“There by the desk is fine.” He pointed into the den that opened off the living room with double French doors.
She set them down and gave him a pointed look. “Promise me you won’t work too hard.”
He gave her a smile that surprisingly he meant. “Thanks for caring, Kate. I promise to rest as much as I can.”
“Well, all right then.” She dug for her car keys in her purse. “I’ll leave you be, but I’ll be back tomorrow with some fresh veggies and some baked goods. I didn’t see one cookie in your entire kitchen.”
She had gone through his cupboards? Truth was, he got so many carbs at the office that he tried really hard not to keep many around the house. But maybe Camryn would like some cookies. “Thanks, Kate.”
“You bet. I’ll let myself out.” She left then, but he held his breath until he heard her tires crunching over the gravel as she pulled away from the property. He’d half expected her to pop back in to mention something she’d forgotten.
Chapter Twelve
Camryn sat quietly on her bed, reading, afraid to move lest a floorboard creak and alert the woman downstairs. For a while she could hear her clattering dishes in the kitchen—at least she presumed it was her. But then the house turned silent.
She held her breath, listening. Had the woman left? Was it safe to move now? From her room in the back of the house she hadn’t heard any vehicles. She’d better remain still until Holden came for her since they hadn’t laid out a plan of what they would do after the woman left.
She tried to concentrate on her book, but it was no use. She set it down, leaned her head against the headboard, and took in the gorgeous island-and-evergreen-mottled ocean view out her window. Today it was cloaked in a misty shroud. If she had to be in protective custody and continue worrying about how she was going to make next month’s payments, this place certainly gave her nothing to complain about. Certainly, if things were different it wouldn’t hurt her feelings at all to live in a place like this. Not to mention enjoying the company that came with it.
Her face heated.
She’d better remember that the handsome sheriff downstairs would never be interested in a relationship with a going-nowhere-fast woman like her.
She sighed. In college she’d had big plans. Plans to become a teacher. Invest in the lives of children. She’d intended to find Mr. Right too—with God’s help, of course. A man who would sweep her off her feet and protect her when she needed it, but mostly give her the courage to stand up for herself. Most important of all, he would support he
r dream of teaching and give her three children of her own—all born at the beginning of the summer so she wouldn’t have to take time off from work. She should have had two of those children by now, according to the plan she’d jotted in her journal during her senior year in high school.
She shook her head. How naïve she’d been.
Her mother would have said, “God had other plans.”
Camryn gripped the back of her neck and watched the ferry that looked like a toy from this distance as it sailed north through a gray mist. She just wasn’t sure that God took the time to care about such things. She’d read one time that God had sort of set the world spinning and then stepped back to watch. After the year she’d had, she felt like that could totally be true. It certainly felt like it was true.
Yet, if that were the case, why had He come down to earth to die for the sins of mankind?
She blew out a breath and pushed such weighty thoughts to the back of her mind.
Whatever the right answer was, Mr. Right had never materialized during college. A few had looked promising at first. But they’d turned out to be Mr. Only-Living-For-Himself, Mr. Stuck-Up, and Mr. Mouse.
Then had come graduation and the job hunt. Her hunt through the large Seattle metropolis, hadn’t offered any “real” teaching positions. Her only offers had been for assistant positions, one of which she’d been working until the world melted down at the beginning of the year.
And now it looked like even the job she’d found waiting tables might be in jeopardy because she’d been in the proverbial wrong place at the wrong time.
Despite all that, she’d been kept safe. Detective Lexington had arrived at the exact right moment, it seemed. Because though he hadn’t been willing to address it with her, she could tell that he hadn’t trusted that other officer—the one with the cold eyes that still sent shivers up and down her spine. Perhaps God had used Detective Lexington, and now Sheriff Parker, to protect her.
Tears pricked her eyes, and she gave in to the persistent nudge she’d felt over the last few days to pray. “God, what are You doing to me? I just can’t seem to get ahead. Have You heard any of my prayers over the past year? I mean I know You technically hear them. But do You care? Do You care that Mom passed, leaving me alone in the world? Do You care about the financial stresses I’m under? Because it doesn’t really feel like You do. I’ve been asking You to help me, not bring me out to the middle of the boonies, even if they are beautiful, while my finances crumble around me—again.”