by Iris Abbott
****
Cole stalked into the sheriff’s department with a grim look on his face. The department’s secretary took one look at him and swallowed the greeting she’d been about to utter. Cole just tipped his head to her and kept on walking. He was expecting law enforcement officers from Georgia in his office sometime in the next three hours. And they wouldn’t be arriving alone. They were bringing Faith’s ex-husband.
Cole didn’t really want to deal with the man right now. He’d rather be at the cabin with Faith keeping her safe. But he needed to be here when they arrived. The sooner he dealt with the problem the sooner he could return to Faith. He did have enough paperwork to keep him busy until they got here, so it wouldn’t be a wasted morning.
Cole found the nearest deputy. It was James Palmer. He’d only been on the job for a few months. He was by far the least experienced deputy on the job, but he’d never done anything to cause Cole to doubt his work. He approached Deputy Palmer who was sitting at his desk completing a report.
“James, I need you to stop everything and take a new top priority assignment.”
The deputy was always looking for ways to prove himself to the sheriff. He sat up straighter in his chair ready to listen to everything his boss had to say. “Yes sir, what do you need Sheriff Duncan?”
Satisfied with the young deputy’s enthusiasm, Cole told him what he needed him to do. “As you know Faith Riley had an attempt made on her life yesterday.” He waited for the deputy’s nod of confirmation. “She is staying at my fishing cabin on the lake.” He looked from Palmer to the opening front door of the busy sheriff’s department. “I am expecting visitors from Georgia and I have to deal with them as soon as they arrive, so I need to be here. I want you to go straight to my cabin and introduce yourself to Faith and let her know that you are going to be keeping watch out front. Then I want you to stake out the area from your patrol car.”
“Sure thing Sheriff. I’m on my way right now.”
“Great I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’ll return as soon as I can, and Palmer, thanks! This is personal for me. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” the deputy nodded and was on his feet and out the door in five seconds flat.
Cole unhooked the cell phone from his belt loop and called Faith. He was a little worried that she would ignore him after their awkward encounter this morning. Luckily she answered. His stomach did a little flip at the sound of her voice. He wished he had the time for idle chitchat. Cole wanted to prolong the sound of her voice being spoken in his ear. Her safety came first though, so he had to be quick and to the point.
“Faith, I don’t know how long I’m going to be at the sheriff’s department today. Unfortunately this interrogation is unavoidable and I have to be here for as long as it takes. I don’t want to leave you unguarded, so Deputy James Palmer is on his way to the cabin. He will knock on the door and introduce himself then he’ll be patrolling from outside. He’s in uniform, so make sure you only open the door to Deputy Palmer after he’s identified himself.”
Faith swallowed the longsuffering sigh she wanted to release. Did the man think she was an idiot? Well maybe after last night he did. She still had some sense though. Someone had tried to kill her yesterday. She wasn’t going to open the door to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that came calling. “Sure. Look Cole, if having me stay at your cabin is a problem for you I can stay at a hotel or something.”
“What?” Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Okay so he had a lot weighing on his mind this morning, plus he was feeling more than a little guilty for taking advantage of Faith last night when she was so vulnerable. He prided himself on being a very upstanding and moral man. Where had his ideals been last night when he let his body override his mind.
Yes this morning had been awkward for both of them, but the last thing he wanted was Faith somewhere else. “Don’t you dare leave that cabin.” His gut clenched at the thought of Faith out there by herself while a killer viciously chased her down. He rubbed his face hard with his free hand. He had to make her understand and he didn’t have much time.
He ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to be here, but the officers from Georgia State Patrol were doing him a favor by bringing Patrick Riley to his office. He could at least be here to meet them when they arrived. He hoped they arrived soon. He needed to get this interrogation out of the way and either confirm Riley as a suspect or mark him off the list for good.
“Look Faith, I know this morning was uncomfortable for both of us and I’m sorry for that, but stay put. I’ll be back as soon as I can and we’ll take things from there.”
He disconnected the call. Relieved that Faith would once again be under the scrutiny of protective eyes, the sheriff could finally put his focus on the men on their way to meet with him. He walked over to his office, unlocked the door, went to his cluttered desk, and got to work.
Faith heard nothing but dead air. Cole had hung up on her. This was definitely not the morning after she’d envisioned when she’d had fantasies of spending the night with the sexy sheriff. She uttered a curse at baffling men and their irritating behavior. If she lived to be a hundred and five she might understand the opposite sex, but probably not!
******
Cole worked really hard to hide his agitation. He wanted, no needed to be with Faith. He had to see with his own eyes that she was safe. He trusted Palmer, but it still wasn’t enough. He’d been in the office for over four hours and the law enforcement officers had yet to arrive with Riley. It was late enough for lunch. He slammed closed the folder of papers he’d just signed off on. He’d hand them to the secretary on the way out the door. He was tired of waiting. He was going to go back to the cabin and more importantly back to Faith.
He walked out of the office with the folder in his hand. He had just given it to the secretary when the door at the main entrance opened for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Cole glanced up and realized he wouldn’t be going anywhere after all. Patrick Riley and his police escorts had finally arrived. Cole instructed the secretary not to disturb him unless Faith Riley or Deputy Palmer called. Then he walked over to the three men and greeted the two officers with an introduction and a handshake.
Patrick Riley didn’t look too happy. In fact he was shooting daggers at Cole. Cole just took the evil look in stride. It was part of the job. People weren’t always happy to see the sheriff coming their way. “Let’s get this over with gentlemen. My office is right over there.” He led the way and then waved his arm indicating that they should precede him into the office. He entered after the three men were seated and then closed the door behind him. “All right then,” he sat down behind the large sturdy oak desk. “Mr. Riley, do you have any idea why you are wanted for questioning here in Florida?”
****
Cole swallowed the sigh of frustration he longed to release. He rubbed his jaw instead and now it was his turn to stare daggers at someone. He had been questioning Faith’s ex-husband for over four hours and he wasn’t getting anywhere with the man. Patrick Riley didn’t have any witnesses to give him an alibi for the night the rock was thrown through Faith’s window or if he did he wasn’t giving any names. And to make matters worse Georgia State Patrol had picked him up over four hours from his house, right at the Florida/Georgia state line.
The man’s refusal to cooperate was costing Cole precious time and keeping him away from Faith all in one fell swoop. He’d been questioning the man long enough, he’d had enough. Cole looked at the law enforcement officers from Georgia. “This is getting us nowhere. I’m going to put him in a holding cell for a couple of days and see if he’ll be more amendable to talking then.”
“Whoa!” The man in question threw up both arms. “You can’t do that!” He looked from Cole to the other officers. “He can’t do that can he?”
“Yes, actually he can,” one of the officers confirmed Cole’s statement.
Cole didn’t want to keep Patrick Riley this close to Fait
h, but at least Cole would know exactly where Riley was. And Faith’s ex-husband wouldn’t be able to harm her from a jail cell. Cole called a deputy and had the man put Riley in one of the holding cells. It wouldn’t do the man any harm to wait in there for an hour or two. Then maybe he’d talk, and if he really didn’t have an alibi, well then Cole might have to keep the man in lockup for as long as it took to keep Faith safe.
Cole felt sorry for the law officers from Georgia. They’d just been sitting in their chairs watching and listening to Cole and Patrick. The least he could do was treat them to lunch while Riley stewed in his cell. “There’s a diner a few blocks over. Let’s go get a late lunch. Maybe when we get back, Riley will feel like talking.”
The officers were agreeable to the suggestion and the three men left the sheriff’s department and walked to the local diner. Cole called Deputy Palmer during the short walk to make sure everything was okay at the fishing cabin. Palmer reported that everything was quiet. Faith hadn’t tried to leave the cabin and no one else had been to that side of the lake yet. All of that was good news to Cole. He thanked the deputy and warned him that things were not going well with his interrogation and that it might be late before he was able to get back to the cabin. “Sit tight Palmer. I’ll wrap up my business at the office and return to the cabin as soon as I can.”
****
A little over an hour later the three men returned to the sheriff’s department. He hated wasting time, but if an hour in a jail cell loosened Patrick Riley’s tongue then the time had been well spent. He had a deputy remove Riley from the cell and escort him into Cole’s office.
“Now let’s start again shall we Mr. Riley. Where were you late Friday night early Saturday morning?”
The man gave Cole a belligerent stare, but this time he answered. “Okay, okay.” He threw Cole a look of resentment. “I haven’t seen Faith since she moved. If somebody’s harassing her, it’s not me.”
Cole stared the man down trying to discern if he was telling the truth. “Then where were you at the time in question? And why did it take the police so long to track you down?”
Patrick Riley shrugged. “I hooked up with someone new recently and she’s married. We have to sneak out of town when we want to see each other. I don’t want an angry husband gunning for me, so I was trying my best to keep the woman’s name out of this.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I was with her in Thomasville all weekend including Friday and Saturday. She went back home Sunday and I drove to Tallahassee. I had a business meeting there yesterday and I was on my way back home when the police stopped me and told me I was wanted in Florida for questioning. I agreed to turn myself into the station nearest my home first thing this morning, which I did. And the next thing I know I’m on my way to Florida to face the Spanish inquisition.”
What a piece of work. What on earth ever possessed Faith to marry this blight on humanity? Just the thought of Faith being connected to this jerk sent Cole’s blood pressure sky high. “Well I’ll be as discreet as possible, but I’m going to need the woman’s full name and a phone number where she can be reached. I have to verify that you are not a threat to Faith before I can release you from custody.”
****
Faith walked out to visit Deputy Palmer. The poor man was stuck with guard duty and he’d been out there for hours. She took him a glass of iced tea, a turkey sandwich, and a couple of bottles of water. “You missed lunch,” she stated. “I really thought Cole would be back by now,” she said fishing for information.
The deputy just shrugged. “He had someone coming in from out of state for an interrogation. He’d be here if he could.” The deputy was sure of that. He’d seen the way his boss looked at Ms. Riley on several occasions. The poor man was smitten that was obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention. “Don’t worry Ms. Riley. I will do my best to make sure you stay safe and sound until the boss gets back home. He’d have my butt otherwise.”
“You’re doing a great job James. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.” She gave him a small smile. “I just didn’t think he’d be gone this long, that’s all.” She looked down at the ground, “well I should get back inside. Thanks, James.” She turned and slowly walked back to the cabin. Her thoughts were in turmoil. Was Cole really working on something urgent, or was he just avoiding her, because of last night? She didn’t know what she would do if it were the latter, because she was afraid it was too late to warn herself off of Cole. She was already in love with him of that she was sure. She’d been reflecting on her feelings all day long and she kept coming back to the same conclusion, yep she loved Cole Duncan, no doubt about it.
****
It took another hour for Cole to reach Patrick Riley’s alleged lover and verify the man’s alibi. When he got off the phone with the woman, he called the hotel that both she and Riley had named. He spoke to three people before he finally got the manager, who indeed verified there had been a reservation in Patrick Riley’s name the previous weekend. According to the manager, Riley and a companion had checked in early Friday evening and checked out late Sunday morning.
Cole was satisfied that Patrick Riley hadn’t been the one to harass Faith. Everything was pointing toward Faith’s attack being connected to the Tome murder. Cole thanked Riley for his belated cooperation and he thanked the officers for their help in the matter as well.
He escorted them to the main exit glancing at his watch as he went. It was after six o’clock and it would be getting dark in less than two hours. He really wanted to return to Faith and the cabin before dark. Not to mention Deputy Palmer was probably way past ready to go home.
Cole walked back to his office and locked the door. He was almost at the exit when the dispatcher franticly waved him over to her desk. That was not a good sign. He changed course and advanced on the dispatcher’s workstation. He paced back and forth waiting for her to finish speaking into the phone. She stopped talking and Cole paused in front of her desk with raised brows.
“The alarm system at Joyce Montgomery’s house is going crazy. Someone tried to get inside and the fire alarm went off too!”
“Oh hell,” Cole couldn’t let this go. He’d been a visitor in the Montgomery home more times than he could count. As much as he hated it, Faith would have to wait. “I’m on my way there. Make sure the fire department has been alerted and find a deputy, someone other than Palmer,” he was quick to add, “to meet me there.”
Cole rushed out to his SUV. He turned on his siren and flashing lights and tore out of the parking lot. First Mrs. Tome had been murdered, then Faith had been attacked, and now Mrs. Montgomery was in danger. Cole wanted the culprit and he wanted him bad. He banged a fist on the steering wheel and pressed down on the accelerator even harder. People got out of his way and he made it to the Montgomery house in record time. The fire department was already there and they were hosing down the house trying to keep the damage to a minimum.
Joyce Montgomery was standing on the edge of the street. She was holding the baby with one arm and Jasmine’s hand with the other. Her middle daughter Annabel Montgomery Chambers, who didn’t live to far away was standing behind her mother trying to comfort her. Cole noticed the woman was crying. She’d lived in that house all of her married life and beyond, forty years or more. There were so many memories there and Cole felt a fist wrap around his heart and squeeze, hard.
Cole parked the car far enough down the street to be out of the way and approached Joyce and the supportive group of people starting to build around her. He’d take a statement and then he would stay until another deputy arrived. He would also suggest that either Annabel or Abigail take Joyce and the children to Aubrey’s house in Savannah until the perpetrator was behind bars. He knew no one would bother her there. Matthew and Aubrey Hampton’s house was almost as well guarded as Fort Knox. They’d gone overboard on security when their daughter Savannah was born.
Cole looked at his watch and inwardly cringed. The time was getting later and the sun was getting lower. If a d
eputy didn’t show up soon, he didn’t have a chance of getting back to the cabin before dark. He couldn’t leave Mrs. Montgomery here without protection though. For all he knew the fire had been started with the intent of getting Joyce and the children out in the open.
Joyce had finished answering all of his questions and Annabel had offered to take her mom back to her house several times, but Joyce kept refusing. She wasn’t going anywhere until she knew the fire was completely out and she had a report on the extent of the damage. No one could talk Joyce Montgomery into doing anything she didn’t want to. If she wanted to stay she was staying. That meant Cole was staying too, at least until backup arrived.
Finally a deputy sheriff’s car pulled up to the curb and parked behind Cole’s SUV. The deputy rushed over and pulled Cole aside. “Sorry I’m late Sheriff Duncan, but I have a good reason and you are going to want to hear this.”
Cole nodded wishing the deputy would hurry up and spit it out so he could get in his car and rush back to Faith. He most definitely hadn’t planned to be gone all day when he’d left the cabin that morning.
“I was on my way over here when I got another call directing me to the hospital. Susan Owens woke up and Deputy Owens called the sheriff’s department requesting a deputy to take his wife’s statement. I was the only one available,” he gave Cole a sheepish look. “Sorry about that. But you’ll be glad to know that Mrs. Owens positively identified her brother-in-law Richard Tome as the attacker.”
It only confirmed what Cole already suspected, but he was really glad that Susan Owens had regained consciousness. He was also really glad that he was now free to leave this crime scene. He needed to get to Faith. “Stay here with Mrs. Montgomery and the children until she agrees to leave with one of her daughters. And if she lets one of them drive her to Savannah, I want you to provide an escort all the way there, even across the state line.”