Kate nodded. “And one of them is Gus – we can positively eliminate him from suspicion. Which leaves us with the other two supervisors – Gary Treadwell and...” She stared at her father in dismay.
Cal nodded grimly. “Brian Lancaster, Kate. I hate to admit this, sweetheart, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s our man.”
Chapter Eighteen
Staring up at the sky, Murphy thought to himself, man, what a summer. Tomorrow would be his last full day in Crystal Rock since he’d be returning home to Chicago on Sunday. Murphy smiled wryly. Despite his continual guise of clumsiness, Cal had given him an excellent evaluation for his internship.
Ah, Kate. It’d been almost two weeks since their unforgettable kiss. And as hard as he’d tried, he hadn’t been able to go a single day without thinking about it.
Kate had dropped him off at the campgrounds after they’d left Dragonfly Pointe, and had returned to pick him up after work. Once they were up in the attic, she’d quietly sifted through her collection of mosaic tables and artwork, choosing pieces to send along with him back to Chicago. Coffee tables, end tables, and even one very unusual sofa table – she’d gathered quite an assortment of unique pieces for him to choose from. He’d loaded up his truck with whatever he could fit into it over the last few weeks.
The mantelpiece Kate had designed was stunning – a mosaic floral motif had been inset within its antique walnut frame. Murphy suspected that his mom would snatch up this piece for herself. Coincidentally, she’d been searching for something unique, just like this, to replace their traditional mantle in the family room.
Ah, Kate. He sighed again. How in the hell was he ever gonna get over her? He thought about her all the time.
He shook his head at himself. Pretty crazy – considering they’d never even had sex.
Attempting to turn his thoughts elsewhere again, he studied the deserted campgrounds. Murphy was the last remaining member of the crew left on site. Since it was Friday night, everyone had been anxious to get off from work and head to the bars for happy hour in town. Because he was nearly finished with completing the paint job on the new drywall in the living room of one of the cabins, after checking out at the time clock, Murphy had decided just to stay and finish it up.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps inside the trailer. Strange – considering Luke had driven off fifteen minutes earlier.
Concealed behind the trailer with the spigot of the hose, Murphy laid down the paint brush and roller he’d just finished cleaning. He crept quietly around the trailer and peeked up towards the entrance.
The door slammed open. Brian Lancaster came scrambling down the staircase with the keys for the cabins dangling from his hands.
Even though he was a supervisor, what would he be doing here now? Could this be the break they’d been waiting for? Kate would sure be disappointed. Despite Brian’s irritating faults, Murphy even thought he was a likable guy.
He snorted. Well...most of the time, anyway.
Murphy silently followed behind him along the path.
Sure enough, Brian unlocked one of the cabins.
Murphy sighed. It was one of the cabins where the floorboards had been missing.
But, strangely, that was all Brian did – unlock the cabin and turn away from the door.
When Brian stepped back onto the path, Murphy scrambled further into the woods. Not that it seemed to be a problem – Brian appeared to be completely unaware of his surroundings. Murphy continued to follow him as he strode quickly along the path and returned to the trailer.
It was puzzling. If Brian was the thief, and had access to the office, why hadn’t he just had copies of the keys made?
Murphy suddenly realized why. Brian probably couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to hold on to the keys for an extended period of time. And any local locksmith would more than likely ask questions if Brian attempted to have keys made in town.
Brian whipped in and out through the door of the trailer in a heartbeat. Within seconds, he was climbing up the path that led to the parking lot.
Murphy frowned. Why hadn’t Brian noticed his truck?
That’s right – he’d parked out of sight near the dumpster. A bunch of building materials were being unloaded when Murphy had returned to the worksite after lunch.
Brian must be unlocking one single cabin at a time. Was he returning during the night to the campgrounds and removing the lumber, then? Should he even bother to tell Cal? Since Brian was a supervisor, he might have a perfectly good excuse for unlocking that particular cabin.
Yeah, right. Something was up – Murphy could feel it in his bones. He’d go eat supper and come back later. Maybe he’d be able catch Brian in the act.
❋
Four hours later, Murphy was creeping through the darkened campgrounds with a flashlight in hand. Earlier, while it was still light, he’d investigated a quarter mile of the shoreline beside the campgrounds before heading off to eat. A vessel wouldn’t necessarily need to dock at the pier to be loaded up with materials. There were plenty of paths leading down through the woods from the campgrounds along the shoreline.
After sighting some heavily trampled brush, Murphy had discovered one such path near the lake. A boat could easily be moved from shore to deep water, even after being loaded with heavy materials. This might explain why Brian was yanking out only small amounts of materials at a time, though – he didn’t want to overload his boat.
Without turning on the flashlight, Murphy twisted the knob of the door on the cabin Brian had unlocked earlier. Silently, he stepped inside.
“Stop!” A voice shot out through the dark. “Hold it right there, Brian.”
“Kate?” What, in the hell, was she doing here? Murphy whispered, “It’s not Brian, Kate.”
“Murphy? What in the hell are you doing here?”
He cleared his throat. “Well...I…”
“Oh – just please shut your mouth and get over here. Brian could still show up at any time. I’d hate for him to hear us.”
Murphy slipped cautiously through the darkened room, guided by a thin beam of light, which lit a path across the floor.
“Penlight, huh?” he whispered, sliding down onto the floor beside her. “Good idea.
She quickly flipped off the light. “Occasionally, I do have a few,” she whispered dryly.
Murphy snorted quietly. Sitting beside her in the dark, he got a whiff of her lovely citrusy scent – a scent that he’d forever associate with her. Of course, as usual, he’d become instantly aroused at the sound of her voice. He’d been having that same, stupid, reaction since the very first time he’d met her.
That helpless feeling came over him again, and Murphy slid in a little closer beside Kate.
He heard her draw in a shaky breath. Ah. She wasn’t quite as indifferent as she’d appeared to be over these last few weeks. Her apparent nonchalance since their conversation at Dragonfly Pointe had hurt.
He wrapped an arm over her shoulders.
“Murphy.” Her voice was unsteady, but she didn’t attempt to pull away from him. “We can’t.”
“Kate. All I’ve been doing is thinking about you since we kissed.” He groaned quietly. “Even now. Do you have any idea, at all, what you do to me? It’s been that way from the moment we met. C’mon. Admit it – there’s something special between us.”
“Oh, Michael,” she groaned. “We can’t. You’ll be leaving in a few days. How would we ever be able to work this out?”
“I’m willing to take the risk. Let me come over to your cabin tomorrow night? We can talk everything out before I leave town. I just can’t let you go – not like this. I’ve never felt this way about any other woman before, Kate.”
Groaning, she finally surrendered, laying her head on his shoulder. “Alright,” she whispered. And then she sighed. “We’d probably better be quiet for now.”
Murphy sighed with relief. “Alright.”
But suddenly he was much more cheerful.
Unable to resist, Murphy slid his fingers through the silky softness of her hair. His fingers gently slipped over to her chin, before running lightly over her lips.
And Kate began to shiver.
His arm tightened over her shoulder. Murphy came even closer still, nuzzling his lips to her brow, feathering soft kisses over her deliciously soft cheek as his mouth made its way over to hers.
When he heard the sound of a footstep on the staircase, right outside of the door, Murphy snapped into full alert. “Kate,” he whispered. “I really didn’t think this through. What if he has a weapon?”
Murphy felt the weight of a baseball bat as Kate slipped it into his hands. “I brought along an industrial flashlight,” she whispered softly. You can move in closer to the door. I’ll blind him with the light as soon as he walks in. Just make sure that you’re ready in case there’s trouble.”
It seemed he didn’t have a choice in the matter – there wasn’t any time to do anything but follow Kate’s orders. Murphy rose and moved stealthily across the floor using the beam from Kate’s penlight as guidance. With the baseball bat raised over his head, he stood aside from the door, so he’d remain concealed when it was opened
They didn’t have long to wait. The door opened quietly as someone stepped inside, and the beam from Kate’s industrial flashlight hit the intruder.
“Whaaat...what’s going on in here?” Brian covered his face with his arm, trying to avoid the brilliant glare of the flashlight. “Kate? What in the hell are you doing here?”
Murphy stood frozen behind the open door, hidden from Brian’s sight.
“You know what I’m doing here, Brian.” Kate’s voice was cool and emotionless.
“I...what do you mean, Kate?” It was apparent Brian was stumbling, searching for excuses. His tone was pleading when he finally spoke. “I’m just checking out the progress in the cabins.”
“Brian,” Kate retorted quietly. “You damned well know, there’s nothing legitimate that needs to be checked out at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night – especially since the power hasn’t been restored in here yet.”
“Kate...I...”
“Brian. I know about the lumber, there’s no use arguing about it. You’ve been caught.”
Brian began to approach Kate. “Please, Kate. You don’t have to tell anyone. I still have all the lumber. I’ll return it, I swear – every single piece of it.”
“Yeah, you will. But I don’t have a choice, Brian – I have to tell my father. He’s already aware of the missing lumber, so there’s no way to keep this from him.”
Murphy heard Kate fumbling with her phone. Brian didn’t appear to be dangerous, but you could never tell how desperate he might really be. Especially after the lengths he’d gone to, stealing the lumber in the first place. Murphy couldn’t trust he wouldn’t react violently to Kate’s decision to tell Cal. The beam of the flashlight was still focused on Brian, and Murphy could see the look of desperation in his eyes when Kate keyed in Cal’s number on her phone.
Murphy decided it might be wise to make his presence known. “Just hold it there, Lancaster.”
Brian jerked his head around. “Murphy? I should’ve known you were in on this,” he sneered, “considering you’re Kate’s lapdog.”
“Whoa.” Murphy shook his head with irritation. “Low blow, Lancaster – especially after everything that you’ve been up to.”
Brian’s expression suggested he wanted to say something more. But he cowered beneath Murphy’s accusing stare. Hanging his head, Brian suddenly appeared defeated.
“Dad will be here in a few minutes,” Kate announced quietly, disconnecting the call. “Let’s move Brian up to the trailer, Michael. Once Dad gets here, we can talk.”
“Alright, Kate.” Still glaring at Brian, Murphy handed the baseball bat over to Kate before addressing the other man. “I presume you’re not stupid enough to try to get away?
“No.” Brian shrugged uncomfortably. “What would be the use? I don’t have anywhere to go, anyway.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kate stared at her father in astonishment. “You did what, Dad?”
“I had him released from jail into his father’s custody.”
“But, why, Dad?” Kate pressed. “He stole the lumber. I would’ve figured Jake Loughlin would’ve naturally wanted to press charges.”
“Jake and I talked it over, Kate. Brian wasn’t sure he’d have even had the nerve to go through with the sale of the lumber. He’s been feeling more and more guilty about what he’s been doing since summer school came into session. He had a chance to observe some of the kids with disabilities – the ones that the school was helping out.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Kate said doubtfully. She thought back over the discussions she and Brian had had when they’d first begun dating. From what she could remember, Brian had never expressed an opinion about the benefits of the school, one way or another. “Are you sure you believe him?”
“Well, that’s where we have a problem, Kate. Brian admitted he was ripping out the reclaimed lumber from the cabins, but not that he was stealing the freshly-cut lumber and supplies. And the reclaimed lumber was all we discovered in his garage.”
“You know what, Dad? I might be prone to believe him, too. As I recall, our crew of men – who worked in the warehouse – began noticing missing materials way before Brian began working for us.”
Cal nodded his agreement. “And that’s why I’ve finally hired an accountant to begin going over our numbers.”
“Probably for the best,” Kate agreed. “So what’s gonna happen with Brian?”
“Well, Kate, I got talking to his father, and Brian was apparently getting into trouble when he was working for his father, too. Brian’s father and I’ve been friends for the last twenty years, or so.” Cal sighed, staring out through the office window. “Remember when I went to work for his company, back when you were little, Kate – when the economy was so sluggish? Matt Lancaster helped our family out of a rough patch. Your mom and I had three kids to feed and the hair salon wasn’t bringing in much business.”
“Ah.” Kate nodded thoughtfully. “That was after Grandma had a stroke, too, and she came to live with us for a while.”
Cal rolled his eyes. “We tried to keep our financial struggles a secret. But you kids were always so good at figuring things out. We couldn’t afford to put your grandma in Whispering Pines – not until after we sold her house. But even selling her house was difficult, with the economy as sluggish as it was here in Crystal Rock.”
“So Mom stayed home to take care of Grandma, too?”
“And she had to pay for an assistant to take over for her at the hair salon.”
“So you felt like you owed Brian’s father a favor?”
“Yeah. Matt seems to think he just needs to take Brian in hand. They’ve never been close. When Brian’s mother died, he was only thirteen. Brian started getting into trouble – stealing, overspending. Matt thinks, now, that it might’ve been Brian’s call for help – and Matt was never very good with discipline. Brian’s mother took charge of the boys when she was alive. Brian’s older brothers had the advantage, since they were already in their twenties when their mother died. They’ve both turned out very well.”
Sighing, Kate nodded. “At least we’ve recovered all the reclaimed lumber. That should bring in a lot of extra income for the special education facility.”
“Yeah.” Turning and searching her eyes, Cal hesitated.
“What?”
“I think part of the reason I let Brian off the hook too, Kate, was because you’ve dated him. You’ve always had pretty sound judgment of people.” He cleared his throat. “Although, I’ve never been happy about the number of guys there’ve been.”
Avoiding her father’s eyes, Kate squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.
“And, Kate?”
“Yeah, Dad?”
“If you ever try to do anything as stupid as you did last night – deliberately putting
yourself into unnecessary danger – I don’t care how old you are – I’m bringing you home and grounding you!”
Kate snorted in amusement, and lifted her hand to cover her mouth.
“I’m totally serious, Kate,” Cal added grimly.
Staring into her father’s eyes, Kate suddenly realized that, except for that traumatic period of time, immediately following Lucy’s kidnapping and disappearance – she’d never ever seen her father as serious as he was right now.
❋
She should’ve been exhausted after being awake almost all night, but Kate had been restless the entire day. After she and Murphy had escorted Brian up to the trailer, her Dad had arrived with his good friend and chief of police, Sam Danielson. They’d immediately hauled Brian off to the police station for questioning. Since Saturday was usually a short day, anyway, Kate had left Gus Lembke in charge at the Ivers site, since he wanted to finish up with the plumbing.
Jumping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and tucked it in. Deliberating on what to wear, she was startled by at a knock at the back door as she moved through the hallway on her way into the bedroom.
“Julie?” Her friend was standing on the back step, practically in tears. “I thought you said you were going out with Greg tonight?”
“Oh, Kate. He’s not coming. He’s being seeing someone else, ever since he went back home.”
“Oh, Julie.” Grabbing Julie’s hand, Kate tugged her inside. “Come on into the bedroom while I get dressed.”
“I’m not sure what I’m mad about the most,” Julie began, “the fact that he’s seeing someone, or the fact that he’s not coming to visit. We used to have so much fun together.” Sitting on the edge of Kate’s bed, obviously frustrated, Julie flopped down across the bed.
“What a jerk.” Kate turned to her friend. With ash-brown hair, and big brown eyes, although Julie didn’t seem aware of it herself, she was really quite lovely. But for some reason, Julie refused to do anything about taming her unmanageable hair. It was much too heavy and unflattering for her delicately featured-face, and Kate’s mother, Jenny, had been dying to get her hands on Julie’s hair for ages.
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