by Sharon Kay
“I figured,” she murmured. “You deserve that. My life is complicated.”
“Think you said that before.” He allowed a half smile, keeping his tone light.
“Yeah. I tried to warn you.” She met his gaze with resignation.
“I want you to know I won’t judge.”
She looked miserable. “How can you say that when you don’t know the whole thing yet?”
“Because I know people.” He paused. “I’ve seen people who didn’t plan to make a mistake, but life got shitty, and they did.”
Her green eyes filled with tears as if he’d hit a nerve. “You shouldn’t be this wonderful.”
“I’m not.” He fought the ire that threatened to rise every time someone paid him that compliment. A good soldier would’ve been able to protect his team. The shit people tried to do to each other all around the world was awful. “I just… I’ve seen a lot,” he repeated. “And I don’t get the vibe that you’re in the category of people who have malicious intent.” He arched a brow. “Am I wrong?”
“No.” She sighed. “Try no intent at all.”
“There you go. No malice.”
“Nope.” She picked at a thread on her tan pants. “So, I’m guessing your first question is why.”
“Actually, it was when.”
“About a month ago.”
The wheels in his mind spun. That wasn’t that long ago, and she had said she’d recently become un-engaged. The reality of the county treasurer’s fiancé stealing cash pounded in his mind. Had they been engaged when it happened? Had Hatcher been involved or put her up to it?
Shane forced his mind to slow down, to focus. He wasn’t an investigator, not the way a detective was, but he needed to treat Becca as carefully as any potentially explosive situation. He was drawn to her and he didn’t want to wreck things before they barely got started. “Had anything like this ever happened before?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve never even gotten a speeding ticket.” A lock of hair slid forward, and she tucked it back behind her ear with a sigh. “It was a mistake. A big, stupid mistake.”
“Okay.” He got the sense she was ready to talk. Fingers crossed that he had convinced her it was safe to tell him anything.
“I was distracted at work. I-I had a rough couple weeks. Well, months.” Shadows darkened her eyes, and his curiosity grew. Then again, he’d had his own rough couple of months and didn’t like to talk about it.
“A lot of stuff was happening,” she murmured, then her shoulders sagged. “God, that sounds lame.” She slid him a glance. “Can I give you the Cliffs Notes version for now?”
Despite the seriousness of the moment, the corner of his mouth quirked at her reference to their prior conversation. “Absolutely.”
She drew a deep breath. “In the past twelve months, I’ve had two miscarriages and my mom died.” The words flowed quickly, as if she were determined to speak them before she lost her courage. And though she kept her face calm, she couldn’t keep a waver out of her voice.
“Jesus. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” She twisted the yellow bracelet at her wrist. “So… I was at work. It was a bad day. Everything was weighing on me more than usual. And…” She shook her head. “The idea popped into my head to take some cash. I don’t know where it came from. So I did. It was quick and easy. Near the end of my shift, I put it in my pocket and went home.”
“No one saw you?”
She gave a sad scoffing sound. “The security cameras did. The next day I got a phone call to come in. They had the whole thing recorded. I was terminated on the spot.”
“Even though you’d never done anything like that before?”
“Yep. That was their rule about theft. Plus, it looked bad. I could say it was a mistake, but they could just as easily say it was intentional.”
“That’s rough.”
“Yeah.” She gazed bleakly out at her yard. “But I screwed up. Guess that’s how life goes.”
A tiny white butterfly dipped in lazy loops around the white porch pillars. Shane had the urge to tell her that on a scale of heinous to that’s all? …what she had done ranked close to the that’s all? end. But he got the sense that there was more behind her story. And if it was a big deal to her, then he wasn’t going to patronize.
“That was actually my second job,” she went on. “My main, full time job was at Lincoln Insurance. I was a finance controller.”
He nodded in recognition of one of the state’s biggest corporations. Lincoln was a huge nationwide insurer. “Your degree was in accounting.”
“Bingo.” Her shoulders relaxed visibly as the hint of a smile played across her lips. “Thanks for remembering that.”
“Numbers aren’t my thing, so that little detail stuck in my head. I’m kinda impressed with people who can keep that shit straight.”
“Yeah, I’m a total numbers geek. I loved my job, and I made good money. I bought my car, this place…” She gestured to the yard. “But I missed the people connection. I worked with spreadsheets all day, which was cool. I know not many people say that.”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I can honestly say I’ve never heard anyone say that.”
“See? There you go.”
His attention snagged on a word she kept using. “You’re referring to Lincoln as was, not is.”
A sad shrug. “They let me go, too, when they found out.”
“Ah, hell.”
“Like I said, it was in the paper. Someone noticed, and human resources told me that even though I was a model employee, they couldn’t employ someone in accounting who had an embezzlement charge on their record.”
And the blows kept coming. “That’s too damn much.”
“Well, yeah.” She blew out a breath. “But that’s what happened.”
Shane studied her profile and read the emotion rolling off her in waves—regret, but loss and sadness too. The downturns of her life had been so recent. In the early stages after something devastating, it often took time just to process the new reality. After the explosion, he’d spent weeks trying to wrap his head around what had happened.
Becca toed off her sneakers and pulled her knees up to her chest. “The whole reason I took the Big Box job was because I like being around people, chatting, making small talk. We had our regulars. I liked it a lot.”
“Nothing wrong with doing two different things. Some people have no idea what they want to do, so the fact that you figured two parts out, and were able to do them, means you’re ahead of most.”
“Not everyone sees it that way.”
He raised a brow. “Who didn’t?”
“Kirk.”
A frisson of dislike uncurled in Shane’s gut. He had always been neutral with the guy, but he got the feeling that, after this convo with Becca, all neutrality would be gone.
“When we got engaged, he started pressuring me to quit Big Box.” She let out a deep sigh. “He said it was fine if I wanted to do a people-oriented job, but that instead, I should work with a charity. He thought that was more fitting for the wife of a future statewide office holder.”
Shane’s mind wanted to ask what she meant by statewide, but he was stuck on her other words. “He…” Shane paused, searching for the right way to ask his question without turning it into an insult. She was still sort of friends with the guy, after all. “He thought it was okay to tell you what to do?” More anger filtered into his voice than he intended.
“Yeah.” The one syllable was so quiet, the ensuing silence screamed. There was a shit ton more that she wasn’t saying.
“That’s not cool, Becca.”
She let out a shaky breath. “It’s really complicated.”
Shane studied her downcast eyes and read what she wasn’t saying. He’d seen men who liked to control their women and weren’t n
ice about it. He didn’t know the treasurer personally, though he saw him almost every day. Hatcher seemed like every other suit that walked through the doors—busy, always ready to say the right words to the media—with one subtle difference. Some of the judges, and some of the elected officials, like the county clerk or the superintendent of schools, had better social skills. They were the kind of high-ups that knew the first name of the shoe shine guy and the lady who worked the lunch line in the building’s cafeteria.
Then there were those who breezed through, barking orders on their phones, too busy to learn those details. Shane figured the courthouse was a microcosm of life—some folks were more personable than others. But from what he’d seen, Kirk Hatcher fell into the category of those who were not.
And men who exhibited controlling behavior sometimes crossed the line. Sometimes, verbal and emotional manipulation took an ugly turn. He didn’t want to upset Becca, but he had to ask the question. “Did he ever hit you?”
“No.” Her reply was instant.
“Thank fuck,” he muttered.
“He just called me stupid, thoughtless, said that I made his life hell and I was going to ruin his career.”
“What?” Shane sat upright, rage sparking through his veins.
But Becca only looked defeated. “When I stole the money. And I had no defense against what he said.”
“There is so much wrong with what he said that it’s a good thing I didn’t know all this half an hour ago.” Shane growled. Shit. Abusive men didn’t like to let their women go. Verbal, emotional, physical—it didn’t matter. Had she needed extra cash for an escape? “Were you trying to leave him?”
“No.” Her brows furrowed. “I still loved him, or so I thought. Honestly, I don’t really know what I was feeling, other than sadness. And it doesn’t matter anymore because that’s when he ended things. He wants to be state treasurer one day. Can’t have a wife who has an embezzlement charge. That’d get dug up during an election campaign for sure.”
There was the answer about her statewide office comment. “Still. It’s not okay to talk to you like that.”
Another huge sigh. “Well, not much to do about it now. It’s over. He and I are over. And honestly…” She paused. “Things weren’t that great between us at the end, anyway.”
“Really.”
“Like I said, it had been a really bad year.” She dropped her gaze to Denver, who seemed perfectly comfortable on her porch, and back to him.
“I agree. That’s a lot for anyone to handle.” There were still so many more blanks to fill in. He wanted the details, but he knew from his own life that more details equaled more memories, and that could be like walking through a minefield.
“You probably didn’t plan on staying this long,” she said. “It’s close to dinnertime.”
Denver sat up, ears perked forward. Becca glanced at Shane, brows raised.
“He knows that word. It’s one of his favorites.” Shane gave her a conspiratorial wink. “I usually spell it because he could pretty much eat any time.”
She stood. “I’ll let you go. Thanks for listening about my mess of a life.”
He stood and pulled her in for a hug. “Becca, the stuff you’ve been through in a year is more than most people go through in their lifetime. You didn’t ask for any of it. I don’t hold any of this against you or judge you.”
“But you’re a police officer, and I stole money.”
“A one-time misdemeanor.”
“You were in the paper for doing something honorable, and I was in the paper for committing a crime. I don’t… I don’t deser—”
He slid a finger under her chin, tilting her head up. “Don’t say that word. After your year, I’d say you deserve some happiness. No one says you have to wallow in what happened.”
“What if your boss or buddies find out what I did?”
“I don’t care.”
“How can you not—”
“There’s no rule about who I can go out with.”
Hope and relief flickered in her eyes. “Okay, then.”
And even if there were rules, he would be tempted to break them. “I’m still looking forward to our second date,” he murmured.
“Me too,” she said. “I’m glad we can still have one.”
“You really thought we wouldn’t?”
“Yeah.” She frowned. “I mean, I was honestly worried that you couldn’t go out with me. And… and that I might have gotten you in trouble already, just from being with you the other night.”
“No and no.” He tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “So kick those thoughts out of your head, and start thinking about where you want to go.”
“Well… I already have an idea,” she murmured.
“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”
“Ever since you told me that story about falling into Little Potato Creek…” She glanced up mischievously.
“You wanna revisit the spot of my ultimate humiliation?” He laid a hand over his heart. “I might be hurt.”
“We don’t have to go to that spot, exactly,” she said. “But the whole area is pretty. Denver could come. We could take a walk or have a picnic or both. You know, something that doesn’t involve falling in.”
“Ha, ha.” He slid a hand down to her waist and sent up a silent thank you for her gentle teasing. “So, Saturday, for lunch?”
“Sure.” A smile graced her face, the most relaxed one he’d seen on her today.
She’d trusted and confided in him, and it had clearly been hard and brought up sadness. But that determination she’d shown the day they first met was there, giving her strength even if she didn’t think of herself as strong. What she’d shared today was the tip of an iceberg. He knew that cold, slippery slope, knew that there was much more below the surface that couldn’t be ignored.
He recognized the hurt she carried, and he wasn’t going to let her slip away from him until he had a chance to help.
Chapter 12
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. It was a perfect fall day, the kind where folks walked around commenting on how amazing the weather was and how everyone better enjoy it while it lasted. Back from his standard, three-mile, weekend-morning run with Denver, Shane was now showered and clicking through email, deleting all the junk.
Becca would probably be getting ready to leave her house soon. They weren’t exactly on a strict schedule, but he guessed she would be on time. He was looking forward to a lazy afternoon in the woods with her, taking a walk, eating, and doing whatever the hell they wanted. He’d be on board for anything.
Thank fuck he hadn’t seen Kirk Hatcher at work after what Becca had shared, though it was only a matter of time before he did. They were both respected and visible in the community, so Shane was going to have to keep his shit together. He’d be happy if Hatcher never spoke to Becca ever again.
The crap she’d been through… he shook his head. It was too much for one person—multiple losses and not being able to do anything about it.
He knew what that felt like, but he’d never met a civilian who had. Though he knew they must exist because anyone could be dealt a shit hand in life.
His cell rang, pulling him from his thoughts. The screen showed Sheriff Morris’s number, and Shane’s brain snapped to work mode. The sheriff didn’t call on weekends just to chat.
“Hello, Sheriff,” Shane answered.
“Shane, I hope you’re not far away because I have a situation.”
Shane glanced out the dining room window at the picture-perfect day. “I’m at home. What’s going on?”
“I need you and Denver in the woods east of Boone City,” the sheriff said. “We have a missing child.”
Shane closed his laptop and stood, instantly picturing the area. “Foul play?”
“Not sure. A family was out picnicking, and it a
ppears a child wandered off. He’s been missing for over an hour, and the family is worried he’s maybe fallen down a ravine or into water. They’ve already been posting stuff on social media.”
“Got it.” The area’s picturesque rolling hills were the perfect disguise for the sometimes deep ravines. Add a cover of fall leaves, and it was a hidden trap just waiting to happen. “We’re on our way.”
“We’ve got officers off Highway 84 just east of town. There’s a picnic area and forest preserve.”
“I know where that is.”
“See you soon.” The sheriff ended the call.
Shane quickly changed from his jeans and casual T-shirt to his uniform, utility belt, and thick-soled boots. Picking up his phone, he dialed Becca.
“Hello.” Her cheerful tone made him smile and didn’t make what he had to say any easier. “I’m about ready to leave. Hope you’re hungry.”
“Hey,” he said, hating to cancel. “Something came up.”
“Uh oh.” Background noise ceased, as if she had stopped moving around. “Is everything okay?”
“Denver and I got called in to work. Last minute situation.”
“You have to go to the courthouse?”
“No.” He blew out a breath. Technically he wasn’t able to tell her any details yet because the whole situation was still a mystery. The only concrete fact they had was that a kid was missing. But he could give her a clue without revealing too much. “A wooded area near Boone City. There’s a… pending investigation. I can’t say more at this point.”
“Oh my god, Shane, of course. You go. We can reschedule for any time.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry about this.”
“Shane, don’t worry about our date. You guys do important work. Just…” a soft breath carried through the phone. “Be careful.”
“We always are. I’ll call you when I can. But it may be a while. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. We need to stay until the job is done.”
“Of course.” She paused. “I hope everything goes well.”