High-Caliber Holiday

by Susan Sleeman

  “Can I see the rest of the place?”

  “Sure. Sounds like the team’s in the dining room. I’ll have someone take you on a tour while I grab my clothes.” He led the way to the dining area that was big enough for the team and guests. Brady stopped in the doorway to wait for the conversation to die down so he could properly introduce Morgan.

  All team members were present except Skyler. Cash’s fiancée, Krista, had joined them, too. Her grandfather, Otto, often accompanied her to dinner, but he was absent tonight. Krista and Cash had been engaged for six months now, and were hinting at a spring wedding. Cash had already asked Brady to be his best man.

  They’d finished eating but were still too busy talking to notice Brady’s arrival.

  “I see it was Cash’s night to cook,” Brady said loudly to gain their attention, and then pointed at the bucket of takeout fried chicken.

  “I’m working on teaching him,” Krista said, and winked at Cash. “But honestly, he’s hopeless.”

  Morgan eased past Brady and all eyes went to her, his team quickly sizing her up. Deputies made split-second decisions all the time on the job and that meant making quick determinations about people. Darcie, of course, knew Morgan, Archer had spent lunchtime with them, and the others had seen her at the standoff. If they’d already formed an opinion of her, no one had mentioned it. For a reason Brady wasn’t about to dig into, he cared what they thought about her. Cared too much about it for his own good.

  “You all remember Morgan,” he said, and quickly brought the team up to date on her stalker situation.

  Jake frowned from his seat at the end of the table. “You don’t think it’s related to the standoff on the train, do you?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s just coincidental timing.” Brady held up his hand. “And before you guys say you don’t believe in coincidences, this is one of those times.”

  “Wait.” Darcie set down one of her knitting projects for foster kids and came to her feet. “You’re telling me that the break-in at Morgan’s apartment happened last night and it’s the first I’m hearing about it?”

  “Ah, yeah,” Brady said. “Sorry.”

  She turned to Jake. “And you knew about it, too?”

  He nodded.

  “Seriously.” She fired a pointed look at Jake, then turned to thump Brady in the biceps. “You guys really have to do a better job of communicating.”

  “Hey,” Cash grumbled. “I didn’t know a thing about it so don’t lump me in with them.”

  “That’s because you haven’t thought about anything other than Krista in months,” Archer said.

  Cash grinned, not at all embarrassed about his obvious devotion to Krista. “Can’t think of a better way to stay out of the doghouse with Darcie than this.” He tightened his arm around Krista’s shoulders, and she blushed bright red.

  Darcie faced Archer. “And you? Did you know?”

  He nodded, but looked at Morgan. “Anything more I can do to help with the investigation?”

  “We’re good,” Brady replied. “I’m still processing all the details you gave us about stalkers at lunch. More would just be overload.”

  “But we appreciate your help,” Morgan added. “I think it was just what we needed to find whoever’s leaving the roses and messages.”

  Cash removed his arm from Krista and leaned forward, the peaceful expression gone, his gaze fixed on Brady. “You need anything other than Archer’s psychobabble, you know I’m your guy, right?”

  “Hey, man.” Archer mocked a glare. “Sometimes that so-called psychobabble is more important that all your beefy muscles.”

  Cash’s mouth dropped open. “Beefy? I’m not beefy.”

  “Actually.” Krista laid a hand on his shoulder. “You are kind of beefy. In a good way, though. A very good way,” she added, and another blush crept over her face.

  Cash smiled at her and they seemed to forget all about the others in the room.

  Archer cleared his throat. “This is not what I was going for with my insult.”

  “Sorry, man. I’m as happy to rise to a good insult as the next guy.” Cash leaned back, took Krista’s hand and lifted it. “But you’re gonna have to time them for when Krista’s not around. She takes all the fight out of me.”

  Jake stuck a finger in his mouth and faked a gag.

  Smiling, Morgan asked, “Are they always like this?”

  “Pretty much,” Brady said. “Except when we’re on a callout. Things get tense there so we like to let go when we’re not on duty.”

  “About that help.” Jake brought them back to the point as he always did. “What do you need?”

  “Right now, for someone to give Morgan a quick tour of the first floor while I grab some workout clothes. Morgan and I are going to check out her gym.”

  “I’ll do it.” Darcie stepped forward. “I need to catch up with Morgan anyway and make sure she has my number so she’ll call me next time she’s in trouble.” Darcie’s pointed look moved to Morgan, and she linked arms with her. “You will call me, right?”

  A sheepish expression on her face, Morgan nodded. Then she glanced back at Brady as Darcie led her from the room, but he couldn’t tell if she was asking to be rescued or if she was glad to be going with Darcie.

  He stepped over to Jake. “Could I get you to run some prints for me?”

  “A stalker suspect?”

  “Loosely.”

  Jake’s eyebrows rose. “Isn’t Rossi taking care of this?”

  “He’s officially working the case, but with little to go on, it’s not a top priority for him so I’m helping out in my spare time.”

  “Want me to talk to his supervisor?”

  Brady shook his head. “He’s got a big caseload, and we can help him out by running these, right? If they match the prints lifted at Morgan’s house and her car, I’ll let Rossi know.”

  Jake took the cup. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “I’ll email you the prints lifted at Morgan’s place so our tech can compare them.” Brady turned to leave, then stopped. “I’ll need that ASAP.”

  Jake shook his head. “Of course you will.”

  “Hey.” Brady grinned. “You’ve got clout. If anyone can make it happen fast, it’s you.”

  To Jake’s groan, Brady headed up the flight of metal stairs to his one-bedroom condo. He’d moved in four years ago and it didn’t look much different from the day he’d first stepped in the door. Except maybe the sixty-inch TV he’d splurged on and his clothes tossed all over the furniture. Today would have been laundry day and he had to admit the place looked like a teenage boy lived there. Hadn’t taken him long to let go of regimented marine standards when it came to his personal space. Standards regarding shooting hadn’t changed one bit. If he managed to pull the trigger.

  He quickly picked things up in case Darcie brought Morgan upstairs, then shoved clean workout clothes into a bag and jogged downstairs.

  He heard Darcie’s voice coming from the game room. “You quit your career because of one case?”

  Brady wanted to hear Morgan’s answer so he joined them.

  “Sounds like that, doesn’t it?” Morgan replied as she glanced at him, then returned her focus to Darcie. “But actually, when things got ugly in the trial, I turned to my faith to find some peace and I left because of that.”

  “Really?” Darcie asked, looking up from another knitting project. She left them all over the house so whenever she had a free moment she could knit a few rows. “I never got the feeling in college that you were into your faith.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “What changed?” Brady inserted himself in the conversation and leaned against the doorjamb.

  Morgan turned her attention to him and didn’t seem to mind him butting in. “I was raised in t
he church. We went every Sunday because it was expected of our family. We didn’t live our faith. It was just another thing we did to keep up our image in the community. But then came the trial.” A long sigh slipped out. “It was hard seeing the suffering the plaintiffs lived with every day. I wanted to help them, but my job was to do just the opposite.”

  Darcie set down her needle and squeezed Morgan’s hand. “With your save-the-world personality that must have been hard.”

  “You have no idea.” The agony she’d experienced hung in her words.

  “And this led you to rely on God more?” Brady asked.

  She nodded. “I was headed toward a breakdown.” She twisted her hands together. “Honestly, I thought I was going to completely fall apart, but there was this man who caught my attention. He’d lost his wife and two children to cancer, but he wasn’t bitter like the others. He wanted a settlement because he wanted our company to take responsibility, but he didn’t seem to hate us. So I started watching him to see why he was different and learned he relied on God. I figured if this guy could give it a go, so could I. I went to church one Sunday and slowly but surely discovered the value of faith in my everyday life.”

  Brady could tell she was about to say something more, but she stopped.

  “And?” Darcie asked before Brady could.

  “And, as I grew in my faith, I knew I needed to simplify my life. I was done with the whole power struggle and lifestyle that came with the kind of money my parents have. I decided to find a job where I could put my faith into action and get away from my parents’ superficial world. I’d worked for my dad since graduating law school and lived in the family guesthouse. It was time to build a life for myself. I resigned, took the director’s position at PEA and moved out of the guesthouse. Here I am. A much happier person. Minus the stalker, of course.” She laughed.

  “Wow.” Darcie fell back in her chair. “You’ve really changed.”

  “For the better, I hope.”

  “Actually, I never saw any bad in you before, but I’m impressed with the way you’ve committed your life to helping others.”

  “So am I,” Brady said.

  She looked first at Brady, then Darcie. “I get that this isn’t news to you. All of you put your lives on the line for others every day. You’re living your faith, too.” She glanced at Brady. “I guess I shouldn’t assume you’re a man of faith.”

  “He is,” Darcie said before he could speak. “Everyone on the team is. It’s a wonderful environment to work in.”

  Morgan peered at Darcie. “Does that have something to do with why you changed jobs?”

  “Ah, now, who said we were talking about me today?” Darcie gathered up her bright yellow yarn and stood. “That’s a story that’ll take far more time than you two have right now.”

  “Then we’ll make the time to catch up, okay?”

  “Sure,” Darcie replied, but Brady knew it was halfhearted. Darcie didn’t talk with just anyone about the loss of her daughter or her husband walking out on her. He wasn’t sure he or anyone on the team knew the full story.

  “So,” he said to Morgan, “did you get the full VIP tour or is there still more to see?”

  “She’s seen everything on the first floor,” Darcie replied. “And she sure doesn’t want to see your messy old condo.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “Right.” Darcie laughed and rolled her eyes, then suddenly sobered. “Keep an eye on Morgan, okay? She’s got a headache, and I don’t want her to overdo it at the gym.”

  Brady turned to Morgan. “You work fast. Fifteen minutes at the house and Darcie’s already mothering you like she does the rest of us.”

  Darcie smiled sincerely. “I wouldn’t have to be the mother if you guys didn’t think you were invincible.”

  Brady held up his hands. “Hey, don’t unmask us in front of Morgan. She still thinks we’ve got superpowers.”

  Darcie punched Brady’s shoulder. “Get out of here before I tell her exactly what you’re like.”

  Laughing, Morgan and Brady went to the truck. Once on the road, Morgan swiveled toward him. “I like your friends. They’re quite a group.”

  He nodded his agreement. “Lacy seems like a good friend, too.”

  “She is.” Morgan frowned. “I’m glad to have one good friend in my life.”

  “Only one?” He looked at her. “You seem like the kind of person everyone would like to be friends with.”

  She crossed her arms as if defending herself. “Leaving my old life behind meant leaving my old friends with it.”

  “West Linn isn’t that far away, is it?”

  “It wasn’t the distance so much as it was my change in lifestyle. I can’t afford to do the things my old friends like to do, and they don’t much enjoy the things I can afford. Not that I’m complaining about my life. I don’t need more than I have.” She fell silent and stared out the window.

  Brady wanted to point out that true friends didn’t abandon you that easily, but he suspected she already knew that, so he kept his big mouth shut for once and focused his attention on keeping her safe.

  NINE

  Morgan joined Brady in the gym near the stationary bikes. She’d changed into shorts and a top that fit like a glove, displaying her toned body. She was clearly in great shape, and he appreciated her dedication to fitness. From the number of men he caught staring at her, it seemed like the other guys there did, too. He didn’t like them staring at her. Not one bit.

  He crossed the room toward her, catching snippets of conversations on the way. Stock trades. Public offerings. Company mergers. Medical diagnoses. Even here, he was surrounded by professionals in high-paying jobs. He wasn’t surprised, but he did wonder how, if Morgan had truly left her family behind, she could afford this place. Or her apartment, for that matter.

  She couldn’t make much money working for a nonprofit. Did her parents still pay her membership here and at the club as well as her rent? His impression of her said she wouldn’t allow that, but what else was he to think? She still seemed to be living the good life, which took money that she’d just said she didn’t need.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asked, lacking the confidence he’d come to associate with her.

  “Just do what you normally do, and I’ll hang back to watch.”

  “Hang back?” She suddenly grinned. “Afraid I can run circles around you?”

  “You want to compete?” The thought that she might be able to outdo him shocked him. “I’m game. Let’s start with a little spinning.” He didn’t wait for a response but headed for the stationary bikes. He soon figured out the controls and started his legs pumping. “What do you say? An hour to start or is ninety minutes better?”

  Her mouth dropped open, and he laughed so hard his side hurt. Man, he wished she was from his side of the tracks. He was starting to really like having her around.

  She climbed on the bike next to his, and as they both pedaled away, he enjoyed finally having something in common with her. But he wouldn’t let that distract him. He was here for one reason only so he kept running his gaze over the place.

  A guy who was hulking and thickly muscled kept glancing at Morgan. She seemed oblivious to him as she pedaled and took sips of another one of her energy drinks.

  “Don’t make this obvious, but take a look at the guy on the elliptical trainer. He’s been checking you out. Do you know him?”

  She gradually swung her gaze in that direction, then wrinkled her nose. “Kurt? Kurt Eckert. He’s asked me out more times than I can count, but he’s not really my type so I’ve always turned him down.”

  “And how does he react?”

  “He blows it off—makes a joke, but I can still see it bothers him.”

  A perfect reason to start stalking someone. “He fit any o
f our stalker profiles?”

  She raised her head as if thinking, then looked at Eckert. “Yeah, maybe the bully. At first, I thought he was great, but then I spent more time around him and discovered he’s really out for himself. And I once saw him berating a staff member for no good reason. I thought he might hit the poor guy.”

  “Suspect number two,” Brady said with a smile.

  She swung her gaze to Brady. “You think that makes him a suspect?”

  “He’s in your circle. You’ve turned him down. He doesn’t like it. He has stalker tendencies.”

  “Is that really enough to consider him a suspect?”

  “I don’t know,” Brady said, keeping a careful eye on Eckert. “But I aim to find out.”

  * * *

  Brady grumbled under his breath before sliding into his truck next to Morgan. After a morning of investigating Eckert while Morgan worked a job fair for PEA, Brady hoped to have uncovered more than the fact that Eckert didn’t have a criminal record and the guy owned what seemed to be a legit auto repair shop.

  He’d expected Morgan to be upset when he’d told her he’d struck out, but she’d been preoccupied all day and it didn’t seem to register. She didn’t even pay much attention to Preston when he approached her table at the Expo Center. He was recruiting at the job fair and felt a need to stop by. Brady was glad to finally meet Morgan’s ex, but took an instant dislike to the guy. Likely more because he’d once been engaged to Morgan and he oozed entitlement than because he was a potential stalker. She, on the other hand, had been cordial, as had Preston.

  Preston. A guy wearing a designer suit and pricey shoes. He probably drove a Beemer, too. Or Lexus. Now here Morgan sat in Brady’s truck where the heat didn’t always work. Talk about a contrast.

  He flipped on the switch and thankfully, the blower sent out warm air. Morgan dug out one of her drinks from an insulated cooler. He’d much rather have something hot, like cocoa, but she claimed her drinks gave her energy. He respected her choice to eat healthy, but what was wrong with a little sugar once in a while?