The Deputy's Baby

by Tyler Anne Snell

  “Do you recognize him?” Suzy asked. Thanks to budget cuts, the footage wasn’t grade A, but it was enough to make out the key features of the man Cassie had talked to. Red hair, general build and well dressed.

  Henry took a moment but shook his head. “No. I don’t. Not from Tennessee and not from yesterday, either. If he was at the Carter Home, I didn’t see him.”

  “And you’re sure that’s the same ring?”

  There was a noticeable pause. Cassie glanced over at Henry. He didn’t look at the bag or the ring inside.

  “There’s a chance it could be a different one.” Henry met Cassie’s gaze and looked away just as quickly. “Maybe this Michael guy was mistaken about who dropped it. I can go after my shift to try to talk to him.”

  Suzy had opened her mouth to, Cassie assumed, question the shift in certainty when Detective Ryan Ansler moved into the doorway. His brow was drawn tight.

  “Matt needs to see you,” was all he said. Though his tone added an understood “as soon as possible” to the end. It rallied Suzy instantly.

  “I’m coming. Deputy Ward, keep me updated on what you find out about the ring.” She turned to Cassie. “And, Cassie, I have a favor to ask of you. Could you walk with me?”

  Cassie nodded without another look at Henry. Part of her wanted to avoid him so she didn’t have to worry about their past, present or future just yet. Another part wanted to ask him why he had just lied to Suzy. Because she had no doubt that was exactly what he’d done.

  Turned out that other part of her was about to get the chance. Not only did Suzy want her to help show Henry around the county, she wanted her to start today.

  “But I can’t make you do it,” Suzy reminded her as they hovered outside the conference room door. Cassie could see Matt and Captain Jones talking inside, heads bent toward each other, clearly concerned. It put an ounce more urgency in Cassie’s gut. “This is strictly a favor. One I’ll understand if you turn down.”

  Cassie couldn’t believe herself as she nodded. “The department is under a lot of stress right now,” she reasoned, more for herself than for Suzy. “I was on vacation for too long. I’m ready to help out now.”

  Suzy gave her a smile. It was fleeting after she glanced at the men in the room. Her shoulders pushed back even more. She gave a curt nod. “Thanks, Cass.”

  And then Cassie was alone in the hallway.

  She contemplated staying there for a while or maybe finding a place to hide from the responsibility she’d just accepted. Or, rather, the man she’d just agreed to saddle herself with. Instead she patted her stomach and walked back to the bull pen to find Henry at his desk.

  He looked surprised to see her. So much so, it almost was offensive.

  “I’m ready when you are,” she greeted, trying to stay as friendly as she normally was. And no more or less than that. If she was going to work with Henry Ward, she might as well embrace it. “We can take my car, since you don’t have a cruiser yet. If that’s okay with you.”

  Henry looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it.

  “Sounds good to me,” he said, standing. He scooped up the plastic bag with the ring and slipped it into his pocket. Then that smile was back. The one that had wholly captivated Cassie months before. The one that had pulled her from an almost-blind date and convinced her to play pool for hours with a man she didn’t know.

  The one that had led her back to his bed.

  A warmth began to move up Cassie’s neck to her cheeks. She turned on her heel to try to hide the blush, resigned not to speak to him again until she had better control. However, two steps out the front door and into the heat, she couldn’t help herself.

  “You lied to Suzy,” she accused, still sure in her words. “Why?”

  She felt his gaze turn completely on her as he fell into step next to her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said there was a chance that the ring wasn’t Calvin’s.” She spelled out her thoughts. “But you lied. You’re positive it is. Why tell Suzy differently? And how are you so sure?”

  She turned to the man now. Cassie knew he was good at reading people, one of the few things she did know about him. She wanted him to see she wasn’t backing down.

  Cool gray eyes searched her expression. Two unbelievably soft lips turned up into a small smile. If she hadn’t been walking for two, her knees might have decided to give out because of it.

  “We haven’t seen each other in months and now we’re essentially partnered up to tour the county we both work for and the first thing you say when we’re alone is that I’m lying.” He said the last part deadpan. It wasn’t a denial. “I didn’t think this was how any of our conversations would start.”

  “There’s a lot of things I’d like to say instead,” she admitted, growing hot in temper and not because of former steamy memories. “But this is important. I’ve learned through years of being here that if the past reaches out to you, then sometimes bad, bad things follow. I’d like to not be blindsided twice in two days. That goes double for the department. What happened to Billy...” She shook her head. “I’d just rather be prepared.”

  Henry sobered. They were halfway through the side guest parking lot before he answered.

  Cassie could feel the sweat already trying to form down her back.

  “I know this ring because it used to be mine. I’d know it anywhere, anytime. But after I gave it to Calvin, I never expected to see it again.”

  “Because he died?” Cassie felt regret at not spending the morning learning more about the man next to her. Now that she had a real last name, she could have at the very least searched the internet for information. She had no idea who Calvin was, why he died, or anything else about Henry before yesterday. Instead of the last puzzle piece being just out of her reach, she felt like she was left holding only one while the rest of the picture was gone. It wasn’t a good feeling.

  Henry nodded. “Yeah, he died. And his body was never recovered.”

  Cassie could almost hear him going tight-lipped. It was difficult to talk about.

  “And who was Calvin to you?” She had to ask. She omitted the once again obvious fact that she didn’t know anything about his past.

  Henry kept his gaze straight ahead. “We worked together in Tennessee.”

  Cassie was given the distinct impression that Henry sidestepped the rest of the details on purpose but didn’t get the chance to say so. They came to a stop at the back of her car, but not before movement on the sidewalk between the strip mall behind the department parking lot and them caught her eye.

  “Hey,” Cassie yelled. “That’s the guy!”

  Henry followed her stare to the red-haired man who had given her the ring in the first place. The man was leaning against the building but pushed himself off it at their attention. He was smiling.

  “He’s the one that gave me the ring,” she added to make sure Henry understood. “Michael.”

  The deputy didn’t need to be told three times.

  “Wait here,” he said, touching the small of her back on the way around her car. The unexpected contact sent her thoughts scattering long enough that she was slow on registering what happened next.

  “Hey, you,” Henry called out. “Could we talk for a—”

  Michael turned tail and followed the sidewalk through the strip mall and out of sight faster than Henry could finish his sentence. The deputy didn’t hesitate in following. His heavy shoes hitting the concrete echoed around the back of the parking lot. Then he was out of sight.

  * * *

  HE WAS FAST. Too fast.

  What started as a few yards between them stretched to an even wider gap as Henry followed the sidewalk to the front of the strip mall. Michael used the open space to really lean into his pace. He weaved around a few pedestrians coming out of the coffee shop and then
ducked around a well-dressed group going into an office farther down.

  Michael might have been fast, but that didn’t mean he was going to lose Henry. What he’d lost in a lead, he’d make up for with his stamina. And the way Michael was running, there weren’t many places to hide or fully escape without being seen.

  Henry might not be familiar with Riker County, but he’d at least figured out the few blocks surrounding the department. The one they were on housed a handful of offices and shops before turning into side streets that led one of two ways, back to the main street in front of the department or to the civic center and several streets that led to downtown. The way the man named Michael was running, he was about to make the decision of where he wanted to go. Either direction, he’d still have to cover a lot of ground to lose Henry.

  Or maybe not.

  Michael ran across the street, taking a right toward the civic center and downtown. Henry followed suit but had to hit his brakes as a driver refused to hit his. He resisted the urge to bang his fists on the hood as the car drove past. He just wanted to talk to Michael.

  Why was he running?

  What did he know?

  Henry cursed beneath his breath and kicked it back into high gear. By the time he was across the street and following the sidewalk up and right around a tall building that housed a small office complex, the man had once again spread the distance between them.

  However, he stopped before Henry could eat any more of it up. Chest heaving but in no way hesitating, Michael opened the passenger’s side door of a car stopped by the curb.

  He paused, but only long enough to give a parting speech. The mystery man met Henry’s gaze with a wave of his hand.

  “Find me if you can,” he yelled.

  The door shut and the car was pulling away from the curb before Henry could catch up. Adrenaline was coursing through his blood as he skidded to a stop at the curb. The excitement of the chase was making it almost impossible to stop his muscles from readying to keep going. There was no way he could catch the car on foot. And even if he did go back for his car, they would probably already be long gone by the time he made it back.

  “Son of a—”

  “Get in!”

  Henry turned on his heel to see a car stopped a few feet behind him. Not just any car, it was Cassie’s. A cloud of curly blond hair stuck out the window as she eyed him.

  “Come on,” she called. “Get in or we’re going to lose them!”

  Like she had trained his body by simple command, Henry wasted no time in jumping into the passenger seat, careful to keep his eye on the fleeing car. It was at the end of the street now, executing a left turn. If they didn’t hurry—

  No sooner had he had the thought and was inside the car than Cassie hit the gas. The tires actually squealed.

  However, Henry’s focus abruptly changed directions.

  “What is this?” he yelled, feeling something warm and soft against the seat of his jeans.

  Cassie whipped her car around a stopped truck, dipping into the empty oncoming traffic lane before coming back.

  “What?” she shouted back, volume level matching.

  Henry reached down as whatever was beneath him shifted.

  “Cassie, what am I sitting in?” he asked, voice higher than normal. “It’s warm!”

  “Oh, no, Ms. Moye!”

  “Ms. Moye?” Henry jumped up and reached down in an awkward attempt to rid himself of the unsettling sensation seeping into the seat of his jeans. His hand hit a hard container. For one wild moment he imagined some kind of urn. When his hand hit foil and then something red, he almost left the car altogether.

  “My neighbor Chelsea’s lasagna!” She turned the wheel to follow down the street to the left. It put Henry off balance even more. The mushy sensation against his backside became even more pronounced.

  “Well, I made it, but it’s her recipe. I brought it to the department for lunch but forgot about it because, again, pregnancy brain is real.” She glanced over. “I guess I forgot it was there again. Sorry!”

  Henry finally managed a glance down. Sure enough, he’d sat right in a food dish. The aluminum foil had saved some of the lasagna from spilling out, but not all of it.

  “I hope you like lasagna with your car, because I’m getting it everywhere,” he muttered, pulling the dish out from under him and putting it on the floorboard.

  “I need to get it detailed anyways,” she said dismissively. Her tone had an edge to it. Concentrated. It reminded Henry of what they were doing.

  He adjusted his gaze out the windshield and forgot all about his backside covered in lunch.

  “There are no plates on the car,” he noted. “I don’t recognize it, either. And, again, I didn’t recognize the man. There should be no reason he’s running. Or, at least, I don’t know one.”

  Henry brought out his phone and started to dial the department.

  “Well, for men you don’t know, they sure seem intent on losing us.” Cassie had to slow as the few cars between them and the black one got caught in a construction zone. “If you’re calling this in, let Myra know that we’re headed toward the civic center. Wait. Scratch that.”

  Henry looked up in time to watch the car in question hook a right.

  “Where does that street lead?” There was hesitation in her answer, yet Cassie didn’t stop her pursuit. “Cassie?”

  “That’s Keller Avenue,” she answered.

  He glanced over to see her brows pinched in thought.

  “Old houses, an auto shop and then a whole lot of nothing. A weird place to go if you’re trying to lose someone following you. It would be easier to lose us in lunchtime traffic near the civic center or downtown.”

  At her words, or maybe the way she said it, Henry’s gut started to yell. But he kept quiet.

  The last time he’d listened to his gut, Calvin had died.

  He wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

  Chapter Six

  There were three cars, two trucks and one tractor driving along Keller Avenue. Cassie maneuvered around each with caution and speed. One of the cars honked at her. The man driving the tractor shook his fist. She didn’t care. She was in the zone, tunnel-visioned on the black car in the lead. Soon it would take the bend of Keller and disappear from view if she fell any more behind.

  Either way, she wasn’t stopping.

  It was a surprising sensation. One as a dispatcher she rarely dealt with. Sure, she’d had calls and incidents where all hell felt like it was breaking loose, but typically that was on the other end of the line or radio. In those times she had to be the calm one. Steel in her voice and concentration that rivaled that of the best of the best deputies in her department. It was easy to do when sitting behind a desk. However, now that she was operating on more than just a hint of urgency, she was surprised that she not only wanted to catch the man and get answers, but felt like she needed them.

  Maybe it was just her picking up on Henry’s desire to know what was going on. Maybe she subconsciously thought it would make her feel better about her current uncertain situation with the man sitting next to her if he at least found what he was looking for.

  Or maybe it was just pregnancy hormones craving something other than salty-sweet.

  “What does this road turn into?” Henry asked, readjusting himself in her periphery. He seemed to still be distracted by the lasagna he was now wearing. He opened up the glove box without permission but was rewarded with a handful of napkins she kept in it just in case.

  “It can turn into a county road that runs to the city of Kipsy or, if they take the next turn, they go into an old neighborhood called Westbridge.” She thought for a moment. “And, honestly, either option won’t be fast. It’s a mostly straight two-lane to Kipsy and the neighborhood isn’t small, but it all leads into a dead end with no other exit. Whoever
Michael and his driver are, they aren’t making the most progressive choices if they’re trying to run away.”

  Cassie kept on the gas. If she couldn’t lessen the gap, then she was determined to at least be close enough to see which choice they were going to make. She hated to admit it, but their black four-door was faster than her older Honda. She’d had the car since she’d moved out of her parents’ house. It wasn’t meant for high-speed chases. In its old age it was barely meant for normal-speed anything. Getting a new ride had been on her to-do list since she’d found out she was pregnant. Though she might not have a choice than to go car shopping after this episode. There was a slight rattling in her dash, but she couldn’t decide if it was any different than the random sounds that came with the car’s age.

  “The opening to the neighborhood is right after this bend.” Layers of trees blocked her from seeing anything other than the road right in front of them. She sat straighter as she turned with the road.

  “If they do go into the neighborhood, I don’t want you to follow.”

  That caught her off guard.

  “Wait, why not?” she asked, indignant.

  Henry’s voice was calm but authoritative when he responded. “When people run like this, they usually have a good reason they don’t want to get caught. Or, at least, it’s a good reason in their own minds.”

  Cassie glanced over long enough to see his jaw harden.

  “And I have a feeling that this Michael wants me to catch him and get away at the same time. Which makes him even more unpredictable. So, no, I’m not about to ask a pregnant woman to drive headfirst into what could be a trap.”

  Henry didn’t know it yet but he’d just had the misfortune of walking right into a wall of hormonal anger from said pregnant woman. Cassie’s face heated like someone had just turned up her personal oven burner.

  “Well, good thing you don’t have control over this pregnant woman, Deputy Ward,” she shot back.

  “Cassie, that’s not what I meant,” he started, too oblivious or too smart to touch on the fact that she’d just put a nasty amount of emphasis on his name. A name that was different from the one he’d given her. “It’s just that—”