Valentine's in Cherry Hills

by Paige Sleuth

  “I probably interrupted him before he could do much damage, thank goodness. Not that he’d have made off with much. I already dropped off yesterday’s deposit.”

  Tulip hopped back onto the floor and sprinted to the other side of the store. She looked so intense that Kat wondered if she was on the hunt for something.

  “The jerk did leave me that to clean up though.” Barbara scowled as she gestured toward several muddy shoe prints by the door. “All that mopping I did last night, wasted.”

  Kat walked over to inspect the evidence. “Whoever it was had big feet.”

  Tulip streaked through the store, disappearing behind the counter. Kat could hear her scratching on something. Two seconds later, an orange rocket whizzed by her feet. The feline moved so quickly that Kat swore she felt a breeze.

  “I told you she was restless,” Barbara said, watching as Tulip climbed onto a display table near the front window and stared outside, her orange-and-reddish striped tail swishing back and forth.

  “It’s nice she’s so comfortable expressing herself.” Kat thought about the contrast between Tulip and Remy. The cats might be similar in coloring, but they certainly had two very different dispositions.

  Tulip’s tail whacked into a rack of cards and envelopes, knocking everything to the floor.

  Barbara groaned. “Sometimes she’s too comfortable expressing herself.”

  Her statement got Kat thinking about Andrew again. During the six months they had been dating, she had assumed his failure to say he loved her stemmed from a difficulty expressing himself. But what if that wasn’t the reason at all?

  What if Andrew had never told her he loved her not because he didn’t know how to say the words, but because the declaration would have been a lie?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kat had difficulty breathing as she drove to the police station. It wasn’t until she spotted Andrew’s car in the parking lot that she could actually inhale properly. Although Barbara had confirmed Andrew was working, after yesterday’s confusion she couldn’t be too sure.

  The officer manning the front desk smiled when she walked in. “Milhone’s in his office.”

  “Thanks.”

  Kat had seen closets bigger than Andrew’s office, but right now she hoped the close quarters would give her a better read on him when she asked about Sheila. She would welcome any advantage she could get.

  Andrew looked up from his computer monitor when she entered the room. “This is a pleasant surprise.” His eyes twinkled when he said the words, which Kat took as a good sign. Maybe there wasn’t anything to worry about after all.

  She shut the door and squeezed into the visitor chair, deciding to dive right into her reason for dropping by. “Lucy said she saw you yesterday at the Cherry Hills Food Mart.”

  Andrew’s eyebrows rose. “She did?”

  Kat nodded. “In the parking lot.”

  “She didn’t say anything.”

  “You were talking to somebody.” Kat paused. “A woman.”

  Andrew leaned back and swiveled his chair from side to side. Watching him, the muscles in Kat’s shoulders bunched up. He was definitely hiding something.

  She tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone dry. “Who is she?”

  “Her name is Sheila.” He spoke slowly, as though he were choosing his words with care.

  “I know. She lives across the hall from me.”

  Andrew stopped swiveling. “You met her?”

  “Briefly. She wasn’t very friendly.”

  Andrew nodded, but he didn’t say anything.

  “How do you know her?” Kat asked.

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  Kat straightened, a burst of indignation flaring in her chest. “Why not? Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

  “My business with Sheila doesn’t concern you.”

  Kat felt as though she’d been slapped. She and Andrew had always been so open with each other—or so she’d thought. And although he often couldn’t divulge details about police business, he had never shut her out of his private life before.

  Unless, she considered, his relationship with Sheila was professional. Perhaps the two of them weren’t sneaking around after all but collaborating on a case.

  Seizing on the ray of hope brought about by this possibility, she said, “Does she work for CHPD?”

  Andrew’s lips puckered. “Kat, I really can’t discuss her with you.”

  “You can’t even tell me if she works here?”

  “No.”

  Her brain churned. Maybe Sheila was a spy or something, and he was afraid of blowing her cover. Did that sound plausible? She didn’t know. She had no clue how spies operated.

  “Okay,” she said, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. “If you can’t talk about Sheila, can you at least tell me what you were doing last night?”

  The edges of Andrew’s mouth dipped down. “Last night?”

  Kat gritted her teeth. Was he being deliberately obtuse? “Yes, last night. When I invited you to Larry’s mixer you made it sound like you had to work. Then I was told you weren’t working. And then you said you were patrolling, which apparently the guy at the front desk knew nothing about. So, tell me the truth. What exactly were you doing last night?”

  Andrew worked his jaw. “I was . . . busy.”

  “With Sheila?”

  He groaned. “I just told you, I can’t talk about her.”

  She huffed. “Come on, Andrew. That’s not fair. If you were with her and you can’t say why, you can still give me some indication of what you were doing yesterday. After telling me you couldn’t make Larry’s party, don’t you think you owe me at least that?”

  Instead of replying, Andrew stared at her across the desk. She had no clue what he was thinking, but he sure didn’t sport the expression of someone willing to budge on his stance.

  Dread swirled in Kat’s stomach, and her last shred of hope evaporated. Despite their close physical proximity, she could feel a chasm widening between them.

  She stood up, ignoring how her knees felt as if they were made of jelly. “Well, if you’re going to stonewall me, I guess I should just go.”

  Andrew sighed. “Kat, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true.”

  She pivoted toward him, accidentally banging her elbow into the wall. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, this has no bearing on us.”

  She searched his face as she rubbed her elbow. He seemed sincere, endearing even. Maybe Sheila really was working undercover. Maybe he simply didn’t want to admit as much because he feared someone in the building might overhear.

  “Okay then,” she said, buoyed by another glimmer of hope. She would make a point of questioning him later, when they were someplace more private.

  Andrew rose from his chair. “I’ll walk you out.” But before he could move, his desk phone rang. He picked up the receiver. “Milhone.”

  Kat strained to listen. She didn’t think she’d be able to discern what was being said on the other end of the line, but maybe she could catch enough of the caller’s voice to tell whether it was male or Sheila.

  Andrew’s face darkened. “I’ll be right there,” he said before slamming the phone down.

  The taut set of his jaw sent Kat’s heart rate into overdrive. “What is it?”

  “There’s been a break-in.” He looked at her, his face grim. “At your apartment.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Since Andrew was on duty, Kat followed him in her own car. Her heart thumped against her ribs as she drove, her mind running through different scenarios that all ended with Matty or Tom injured by a violent intruder. Tom was so friendly he would undoubtedly run right up to a burglar in search of belly rubs. He didn’t know that people could be evil. If anyone had hurt either of her cats . . . Kat gripped the steering wheel as panic clawed at her throat. She didn’t want to think about that.

  She pulled up to her apartment building seconds after Andrew. S
he veered into the first space she saw, cut the engine, and jumped out of the driver’s seat, beating Andrew to the door.

  The main entrance was propped open, and Larry was standing just inside the lobby. He didn’t look happy. She figured he was probably the person who had noticed the break-in and phoned the police.

  “Matty and Tom,” she wheezed out, winded by her sprint across the parking lot. “Tell me. Are they okay?”

  Larry frowned. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

  “You didn’t see them?” Kat’s eyes darted from left to right as though she might spot her pets milling around the lobby.

  “Aren’t they in your apartment?”

  “Yes—or they were when I left.”

  Larry shrugged. “Then they should be all right.”

  Kat pursed her lips. It was becoming clear that Larry might not have been the person to alert the police after all. Did he even know about the break-in?

  Well, Kat wasn’t going to stop to fill him in, at least not until she knew Matty and Tom were okay.

  Her sense of urgency renewed, she eyed the elevator. But Larry was like a slab of concrete blocking her path.

  “I need to get upstairs,” she told him, shoving her fists in her coat pockets so she wouldn’t be tempted to push him aside. “My place has been burglarized.”

  Larry’s forehead furrowed. “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. Andrew got the call just now.”

  Andrew joined them. “Your place is fine, Kat.”

  She wheeled around to face him. “You said somebody broke in.”

  He shook his head. “Somebody broke into your apartment building, not your unit.”

  Kat processed that, some of her fear subsiding when she realized that Matty and Tom must be safe after all. She must have misunderstood Andrew earlier. It seemed she was doing a lot of that this weekend.

  Andrew pulled out a notepad and pen. “So, Larry, tell me what happened.”

  Larry eyed the door, a scowl marring his face. “Some hoodlum messed with my lock. See how he bent the frame?”

  Andrew gave the doorframe a cursory glance before he surveyed the lobby. “He take anything?”

  Larry shook his head. “He didn’t get that far. I was getting off the elevator when I caught him waltzing in like he owned the place. Once he saw me, he took off.”

  “You get a good look at the guy?”

  “He was tall and all bundled up like we were expecting a big snowstorm, but that’s about all I saw.” Larry shrugged. “This will sound cliché to you, but it all happened so fast I wasn’t paying much attention.”

  Andrew nodded. If he was disappointed by Larry’s response, he didn’t let on.

  “I did see his car though,” Larry said. “Looked like a black Chevy Cruze.”

  Andrew scanned the parking lot. “You get the license plate number?”

  “No, but I can tell you it had tinted windows.”

  Kat conjured up an image of the dark sedan she had nearly collided with on her way to Andrew’s house that morning, before she had spotted him outside Flowers by Barbara. Could it have been the same car? If the driver had been in a hurry to distance himself from the floral shop, that might explain why he had nearly sideswiped her. Maybe she hadn’t been the one speeding after all.

  “What are you thinking, Kat?” Andrew asked. “You have that pensive look on your face.”

  “You know who drives the car I’m talking about?” Larry chimed in.

  “No, but I saw it too,” she told them. “And if my hunch is correct, whoever broke in here is quite likely the same person who broke into Flowers by Barbara this morning.”

  Larry’s eyes widened a fraction. “Flowers by Barbara got robbed?”

  “Yes, except Barbara said nothing was taken,” Kat replied. “At least, nothing that she noticed.”

  Andrew’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know about that?”

  “Oh, I . . . stopped by there this morning,” Kat stammered.

  “What business did you have there?”

  She thought fast. “I wanted to ask about some flowers. For work.”

  Andrew continued to scrutinize her with those piercing eyes of his that seemed capable of seeing straight into her soul. His intensity made her skin itch, and she had to fight the urge to fidget.

  Wait a minute. Why should she be the one who felt as though she’d been caught doing something wrong? Andrew was the one whose secrets had driven her to check up on him in the first place. If he wasn’t acting so strangely, she would currently be lounging around her apartment, enjoying a lazy Saturday morning.

  “Think these two hoodlums are the same guy?” Larry asked Andrew. “There aren’t too many thugs in Cherry Hills with lock-picking skills.”

  “It’s too early to say.” Andrew scribbled something on his notepad before slipping it back into his breast pocket. “But I’ll inspect the parking lot before I leave, see if whoever broke in here left anything behind while he was fleeing the scene.”

  Larry smacked the door with his palm. “And I’m going to install a heavy-duty lock on this thing. No sense in inviting trouble twice.”

  “Good plan.” Andrew took a step outside. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  Larry didn’t look up, his attention already fixed on the door as though he were taking stock of the parts and tools he would need. “Thanks, Andrew.”

  Kat followed Andrew into the parking lot. “You know,” she said when they were out of Larry’s earshot, “Sheila said something to Larry yesterday about investing in a security system.”

  Andrew stopped walking. “She did?”

  “Uh-huh. Seems rather coincidental that less than twenty-four hours after she moves here somebody tries to break in, don’t you think?”

  Andrew pulled his pen out of his pocket and used it to poke at a patch of dirt. Kat developed the distinct impression that he was avoiding her gaze, and exasperation bubbled up her chest.

  “Don’t you have anything to say?” she demanded.

  Andrew sighed as he straightened back up. “Kat, I know what you’re doing.”

  She blinked. “What am I doing?”

  “You’re trying to get me to talk about something I already told you I can’t discuss.”

  She wedged her hands on her hips. “So, what? Now I can’t even share a simple observation without you getting all defensive?”

  Andrew’s jaw tensed. “Kat, I have a job to do. Now’s not the time.”

  “Well, then . . . are you busy tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from asking whether he had plans with Sheila.

  Andrew laid his hand on her arm. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?”

  The affection reflected in his eyes neutralized her anger. “You’d better.”

  Andrew grinned, those dimples of his that she loved so much sending a little flutter through her stomach. “I promise, tomorrow I’m all yours. But right now I have to get back to work.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  Andrew waved before resuming his hunt for evidence. She smiled, warmth spreading through her despite the chilly winter air. Although he still hadn’t volunteered much information, the rift between them didn’t feel as severe as it had ten minutes ago. Maybe they would be back on good terms again after dinner tomorrow.

  She just wished she knew what he was hiding about Sheila.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Larry was still fiddling with the lobby door when Kat and Andrew parted ways. She was careful not to bother him as she reentered the building and boarded the elevator. Upstairs, she stopped to ring Lucy’s doorbell on her way to her own apartment.

  Lucy answered with her coat on and her purse strap hitched over one shoulder. “Oh, hey, Kat.”

  “Are you leaving?”

  “I’m on my way out to lunch.” Lucy stepped into the hallway and pulled her door shut. “Why? What’s
up?”

  Kat had wanted to discuss her morning encounter with Melody, but she wasn’t about to share anything standing here in the hallway, where Melody could overhear. Instead, she said, “There was a break-in downstairs.”

  Lucy’s jaw slipped open. “A break-in? Whose unit?”

  “The burglar didn’t get that far. Larry scared him off before he made it past the lobby.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.”

  The door behind her banged open, sending Kat’s heart rate spiking. She whipped around to see Melody standing in her doorway.

  “You said there was a break-in?” Melody asked. She had obviously touched up her makeup since Kat had left that morning. The bruise around her eye was no longer even slightly visible.

  “Somebody managed to get through the front door,” Kat informed her.

  Melody gripped the doorframe. “When was this?”

  “Less than thirty minutes ago.”

  “Are you Melody?” Lucy asked.

  Melody didn’t respond right away. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

  Kat decided to fill the silence. “Melody’s our new neighbor.”

  “What?” Melody’s eyes darted toward Kat before landing on Lucy. “Oh, right. Hi.”

  Lucy gave her a congenial smile. “Welcome to the building.”

  “Melody has a cat, too,” Kat told Lucy.

  Lucy’s eyes twinkled. “So, you’re saying this is turning into the crazy cat lady floor?”

  Kat laughed. “One cat doesn’t admit you into the crazy cat lady club.”

  “No, but spending every weekend night cuddled up next to a pet instead of a man does.” Lucy turned toward Melody. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Tabitha—that’s my cat—but waking up to salmon breath every morning is getting old.”

  Melody stared at Lucy as though she were an alien life form.

  Lucy adjusted her grip on her purse. “So, what about you, Melody? What’s your status?”

  “Status?” Melody echoed.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  Melody’s knuckles turned white around the doorframe. “Why would you ask me that?”