by Sofia Belle
“Hey Sam, can I get an extra-large pretzel, extra cheese, extra salt?” The Chief looked toward me. “And you?”
“The same.” I leaned in. “Extra, extra cheese, Sam.”
Sam, a fifty-year-old man with the reputation for making the softest pretzels in the region threw up his hands. “Children, quiet yourselves. You’ll get the same amount of cheese, and if you keep arguing, neither of you get cheese.”
The Chief and I both fell silent, stepping back from the stand.
After a minute, Sam had our pretzels ready, and both the Chief and I reached for our wallets.
He rested his hand on mine. “I’ve got it.”
“Really?”
“Really. It was my idea.”
“Thanks,” I said, clearing my throat. “That’s nice of you.”
“I just wanted to be your first date of the day.” He winked in my direction. “Whoever the goon is that you’re meeting tonight missed his chance.”
“You’re not going to crash my date again, are you?”
“I didn’t crash your date. I’d say the fact that your date turned up DOA was the crash to which you’re referring.”
“I half thought you’d try to spy on me during my date tonight. You know, after the results of my first disaster date.”
“Wish I could,” he said, the tone of his voice only slightly joking. “I have a work thing tonight.”
“A work thing?”
“A meeting.”
“Oh. That sounds top secret.”
He shrugged, but the seriousness of his expression gave me pause.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
The Chief waited a beat. After a while, he gave a shake of his head. “Not really.”
Taking our pretzels, we turned off the main drag and headed down a small footpath. We ate in silence for a moment.
Finally, I couldn’t take the tension any longer. “What did you need to talk about?”
“It’s about Hank,” he said. “I know we all expected it, but we’ve heard for sure. His death wasn’t an accident.”
“Poison?”
The Chief shook his head. “It was an allergic reaction.”
“But…” I hesitated. “That doesn’t sound like murder, it sounds like a terrible accident.”
The Chief inhaled a breath so deep his chest expanded visibly, before he blew it out in a rush. “True. But we examined the wine he drank, and we compared it to the rest of the bottles of wine of the same brand. All of the other bottles of wine were identical.”
“But the one he was served from wasn’t.”
“Exactly.” He nodded. “It’d been doctored to add a certain ingredient that is not poisonous to a normal human being. If you’d had a sip of the wine, likely you’d have had a small stomachache for a few hours, and then been fine.”
I stopped chewing. “So the ingredient isn’t deadly unless the person has a severe allergy, and Hank had an allergy.”
“A lethal allergy.”
“Yikes.”
He nodded. “At first, I thought it had to be someone who knew him well.”
“That makes sense.”
“But then I googled his name, and he lists his allergy clear as day on his dating profile. Anyone could have figured it out; in fact, that’s what gave me the idea to test the wine.”
“Any suspects?”
He leveled his eyes at me.
I sucked in air. “Jo? You can’t possibly think it’s Jo!”
“I am not going to discuss police business with you.”
“But—”
“No, Rosie. Leave it alone.”
“But—”
“Nobody touched the bottle between it being sealed shut and it being consumed—except for her. I like Jo. My job is based on the facts, however, and the facts lead me to a very simple conclusion.”
“What’s her motivation?” I asked, my voice cranking up a few notches. “She didn’t even know Hank!”
Based upon the Chief’s silence, he didn’t have a good answer. “Why are you waltzing around the neighborhood reporting for a fake magazine?”
I turned my sullen expression toward my pretzel, but I was no longer hungry. My stomach clenched tight with worry for Jo, for Hank, for my date tonight, for my job security… For everything.
“Don’t play coy with me,” the Chief said. “I know you talked to Reynolds and Trisha this morning.”
I didn’t have a good comeback, so I remained quiet.
“Look, Rosie, I know this is a tough time for you. One of your friends is in jail, and your job is teetering on the edge of oblivion, and—”
“Well, that makes me feel better.”
“What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to get you in trouble.” He turned to me and tossed his napkin in a nearby trash can, along with my garbage. Then he put his hand over my wrists. “I want you to be safe. If you back away from this case now, I’ll forget I ever heard about you going around and asking questions, pretending to be someone you’re not.”
“I’ll stop impersonating people,” I mumbled. “I promise.”
“I want you to leave the case alone entirely.”
“As long as Jo is in jail, I can’t promise that.”
“I admire your loyalty, but—”
“I’m sorry, okay? I can’t make that promise.” I turned and walked away, leaving the Chief standing there alone. Maybe it wasn’t my smartest decision, but in my life, friends came first—before rules, before cute policemen, before anyone else.
A friend unjustly convicted of murder was not okay by me, and I didn’t plan on giving up until Jo was free, and the real murderer was behind bars.
Chapter 14
I walked back to the Layla’s shop as fast as my short legs could carry me. Without bothering to stop inside and explain all that’d happened, I climbed into my car and took off, despite Madrina and Layla peeping out of the storefront windows.
Thankfully, a handful of new cars had appeared in the lot, a few heads bobbing past the windows which meant Layla couldn’t leave her business alone to follow me.
I drove faster than I probably should have, cruising out of the parking lot, and I was halfway across town when I heard the sirens kick into high gear behind me.
“Not now,” I groaned, applying the brakes and veering my car to the side of the road. Flicking my eyes toward the rear view mirror, my back shot ramrod straight at the sight of a familiar face in the cop car behind me. “No. No-no-no-no-no.”
The Chief glared from behind the wheel of his cruiser, slowing down at the same rate, pulling to the shoulder on my tail.
I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel, debating my options. Most likely, he’d give me a ticket. Then, he’s probably lecture me for another thirty minutes about all sorts of rules. Honestly, I didn’t try to irk the man, or purposely ruffle his feathers, it just happened. Except, I didn’t have time for it to happen now, I had a case to solve and a story to write.
I waited until we’d both come to a complete stop. When the Chief had one leg out of the vehicle, I made my move. I stepped on the gas pedal and zoomed off down the road, praying he wasn’t too angry, shouting out the window that I would pay all my fines and more.
Thankfully, the streets were empty, and I put a few miles between the Chief and myself before he’d stepped back in the car. As soon as I’d crested the first hill, I turned the car onto a well-used horse trail. It was large enough for a vehicle, but invisible to the tourists.
Pulling the car to a stop, I took one look in the rear view mirror, sighed, and rested my forehead against the steering wheel. I banged it up and down a few times.
In my haste to escape, I’d forgotten that the Chief and I used to come here together as kids. Tourists might not know about this little hideaway, but the Chief did. Judging by the sound of his approaching vehicle, he hadn’t forgotten it, either.
The two of us had grown up together in a small community on the west side of Fairyvale. We�
��d been best friends as kids, bringing firecrackers and picnic baskets to this secret hideaway when we were young. When we were old enough to understand the appeal of beer, we’d brought that, too.
Now, I was trapped.
I threw the car into park and stepped out of the vehicle, my hands raised above my head. “I’m sorry, okay?”
To my surprise, the Chief didn’t have an immediate response prepared. He, too, climbed out of his vehicle and crossed his arms. He looked at me, his expression a mix of nostalgia and sadness.
That’s what it looked like, at least, until it faded, replaced by his usual annoyed grimace. Which was a shame because when the Chief smiled, he really was a handsome devil. A devil who’d been my first kiss, a long time ago in this very same clearing.
I shook the memory from my head, lowering my hands to my sides. I took in the familiar view. The clearing had changed a bit since we were children, though its beauty was still intact.
Finally, since the Chief didn’t seem to be snapping handcuffs on me anytime soon, I gave him a wry smile and took a few steps towards our old hangout.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice tighter than I expected as I walked toward the forest. “I think we can handle our business out here.”
“I haven’t been here in ages.” I thumbed toward our secret hideout just inside the trees. “What about you?”
“You’re ignoring my question.”
“You’re ignoring mine.” I turned towards the circle of trees, all of them these beautiful, gorgeous weeping willows joined in a continual ring of long, dancing branches. I pushed aside a handful of branches and made an opening big enough for a grown man to fit through. I held it back then stood off to the side, turning to look at the Chief. “Are you coming?”
He stood next to the cop car, inhaling and exhaling without opening his mouth. Finally, he tilted his head to the side and took a few steps forward. “I don’t know why I’m not arresting you right here and now.”
“Because you remember how much fun we had here together,” I said, my voice soft. “You want to see if it’s all still the same.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because I feel the same way.”
The Chief paused as he stepped one foot through the doorway of the Weeping Willow. His breath came in erratic spurts, and he smelled just like I remembered. Fresh, clean, a little bit minty.
Without realizing it, I found myself easing towards him for no reason at all. Just before I tipped over, falling into him, the Chief raised a hand and rested it against my hip. Too low to be friendly, too high to be suggestive. Friendly, with the potential for more.
“This time-out doesn’t get you out of trouble,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble in the quiet of the cove. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just try to evade the police for the next few minutes for old time’s sake. The second we step back out of here, you’re getting a ticket for speeding.”
I nodded, since my words didn’t cooperate. His hand on my hip seemed to have short circuited a few of the wires in my brain. So I forgot all about thinking, and followed the Chief into the hideout.
He led me to the small log where we used to sit as children. Around us the weeping willows stood tall and majestic, a clear pond splashed in the center of the clearing. The water was as transparent as glass, and only tiny ripples across the top told me it was a liquid. Underneath the surface, rocks that shone like marbles gave off a colorful glow and made tiny rainbows dance across the surface. It had hardly changed in all of these years.
“Look.” The Chief’s voice pulled my gaze from the pond where a smoky mist hovered above the surface, prisms of light distorting the reflections from the water. “It’s still here.”
I followed his pointed finger to the edge of the log, where two sets of initials were carved into the wood with a heart around them.
I sat down on the log and pulled him down with me. “That was a long time ago, huh?”
“Very long.”
“So much has changed.”
“So much.”
“Except in here.” I scanned the clearing. “It’s like this place has frozen in time.”
The Chief nodded. “I’m glad that it did. I like coming back here; I can’t believe it’s been so long.”
“We never had a reason to come back,” I said, offering a light laugh. “In fact, the only reason we did is because I was running away from you and ended up here.”
“Fate?”
I shook my head. “No such thing.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t believe in fate?”
I hesitated. One of my best friends was the best wedding planner in the country and had built her business on true love. My other BFF owned a lingerie store that spurred romances galore. “Layla and Belinda do, I think. But I’m different.”
“You’re unique, I’ll give you that.”
I nudged him with my elbow. “I don’t think you meant that as a compliment.”
The Chief had a teasing smile on his face but when he looked over at me, he shook his head and the smile faded to a contemplative expression. “I do mean it as a compliment.”
“My whole job, my whole career is about breaking down myths and fairy tales and lies and the truth behind them. I just don’t know if I can find it in me to believe in fate. There’s always a story beneath the surface.”
“Just because there’s a story, and just because that story might be a difficult one, that doesn’t mean you should give up on it.”
“How do you know when to give up, and when to give everything?” I asked, more to myself than anyone else. “When it comes to love, I mean.”
“You have to feel it. You can’t prove it. You can’t write a mathematical equation. You can’t… you can’t look at it like a project, Rosie.”
“Mmm.”
“I see you don’t agree with me.”
“Just because I don’t believe in fairy tales doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in love,” I said. “I’ve been to enough of Belinda’s weddings to know that sometimes, once in a blue moon, people can find that special someone. I just think it’s rare. It’s not fate, or destiny, or any of that voodoo junk. It’s just plain old, random luck. Sometimes people win the lottery, but most of the time they don’t.”
“That’s a very depressing outlook on life.”
“That’s why I work hard at my job,” I said. “I can control that. I’m passionate about it, and I’m not sitting around waiting for Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet. I’m going out there, and I’m finding stories and making things happen. Hopefully, someday, I’ll make a difference in the world. That’s exactly why I need to write this stupid blog series on love. If it goes viral, that’ll give me the opportunity to work on some stories I’m truly passionate about.”
“I work hard at my job,” the Chief said. “I like to think I’m making a difference in the world, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on love.”
My shoulders stiffened, and I refrained from looking over at him. “You haven’t?”
“Maybe I’m the stupid one. I suppose we won’t know until it’s too late.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you do make a difference in the world.” Leaning forward, I plucked a few strands of grass from the ground and played with them. My hands needed something to do, and if I didn’t keep them busy, I worried I’d reach over and hug him. “You do a good job.”
“That means a lot, Rosie.”
We lapsed into silence again. My mind was mostly blank, but after a while, it led me down a dangerous path of what might have happened if the Chief and I had chosen different paths through life. I wondered what he was thinking, if it was anything close.
“I was hardly speeding,” I said. “Why’d you come after me?”
“You were going ten miles over the legal limit.”
“I always go ten miles over the legal limit. You know I’m a safe driver; you’ve never pulled me over before.”
&
nbsp; “I’m worried about you.”
“Worried about me?”
“You are stubborn. You believe your friend has been wronged, and that puts me in a tough situation. I want to protect you, and I want to take care of everything. I’ll do my best to make sure we get the murderer. The investigation is not over, Rosie, so you have to be patient.”
“She didn’t do it.”
He shook his head. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
“That’s why we don’t get along,” I said. “You follow the law so closely that sometimes I think it blinds you. I’m sorry, that’s probably too harsh and I shouldn’t have said it, but it’s true.”
“Upholding the law is my job. I believe in the law, I believe in justice, and I believe in following the rules.”
“I know!” I turned to him, my heart racing as I rested my hands on his shoulders. “You’ve got to believe me when I tell you that I think you are an amazing chief of police. Nobody deserves the job more than you do. You’re honorable, and you’re truthful, and you work hard to make sure justice is always served.”
He looked at the ground, waiting for the rest of it.
“I also believe that sometimes laws need to be bent and rules need to be broken in order to find the facts. Sometimes, finding the truth requires digging deeper than what’s on the surface.”
“If all of the evidence points to Jo’s guilt, I have to listen to it.”
“What about in here?” My voice rose as I laid my hands on his chest, covering his heart. “Weren’t you the one who was just telling me that we have to feel love? We can’t analyze it?”
His eyes trailed down to where my hands rested on his shirt.
“Isn’t this the same thing?” I pleaded. “You know Jo. You know she wouldn’t do this.”
“It’s different.”
“It’s not.”
“Look, I hate to have to play the cop card, but stay out of this, Rosie. Okay? It’s for your own good.”
My lips fell into a firm line. “Well, you don’t have to worry about me tonight, remember? I have a date. You know, to analyze love and things.”