by Dani Pettrey
“It would really help if I had a list of who you think liked Karli and who didn’t. Same with Reef.”
“Look, I’ve said enough. This is a small community. I don’t want to be known as the team snitch. I’ve already taken enough flack for telling you what I did.”
“I understand, but I assure you anything you say is strictly between us.”
“Obviously not. Reef’s sister proved that. I’m done talking.”
The line went dead.
“Hello? Ashley, hello?” With a grunt, Landon slammed his phone shut. He was going to kill Piper.
Piper opened her front door. “Denny.” She smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“Picking you up for our date.” He handed her a bouquet of red poinsettias and white roses.
“Our date?” With everything going on, she’d totally forgotten.
His shoulders slumped. “You forgot?”
“I’m sorry, but with everything happening with Reef, I really don’t feel much like going on a date.”
“It’ll cheer you up. Come on.” When she hesitated, he said, “I’ve been planning this for weeks, and it’s all ready.”
She bit her bottom lip, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “Okay. Give me five minutes.” Maybe a few hours out would be a nice distraction. Maybe it would even clear her mind so she could think of a better way to help Reef.
“Dress warm,” he called.
She paused, about to ask why but decided she’d rather be surprised.
A half hour later, she stepped from Denny’s Subaru at the end of Knotchcliff Road—all that lay before them was wilderness. “Okay. I’m curious.”
He squeezed her shoulder as he headed for the trunk. “When aren’t you?”
A full moon graced the thick black sky, its radiance bouncing off the freshly fallen snow.
“Do you mind holding this?” He held out the battery-operated lantern.
“All right.” She turned it on, watching its glow spread across the snow in front of her.
Denny slipped a pack over his shoulder and tucked a blanket beneath his arm. “Ready?”
She nodded, though she felt anything but. Being with Denny, having fun while her brother sat in a cell, didn’t feel right, and she had a strange feeling they were being watched. She scanned the ridgeline.
Denny nudged her arm. “Let’s go.” He led her along what many would consider a long-neglected trail. Narrow and winding, it wove through the thick of the forest. The closely clustered spruce sheltered them from the elements, the ground growing bare and brown beneath their feet.
The scampering of tiny feet rustled through the tree limbs above and in the undergrowth below. The trees began to thin, and soon snow covered the path again. Fresh hoofprints larger than her hand indicated a moose’s recent departure. She studied the woods surrounding them, hoping for a glimpse of her favorite animal, but saw nothing.
“Just a little farther,” he said.
The unsettling feeling they were being watched intensified with each step she took. She turned and looked behind her. Nothing. Maybe her mind really was playing tricks on her, after all.
A few more steps and they entered a clearing—flat and broad at the edge of the rise overlooking the sea below. Stars, in the thousands, twinkled before her.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s breathtaking.”
“Just like you,” he said smoothly.
A little too smoothly—almost as if it’d been rehearsed. Stupid, Landon. He wasn’t even there and he was ruining her date, making her overanalyze Denny’s remarks. Landon had never liked Denny; he’d always been quick to point out the type of player he pegged Denny as. While it was probably true, Denny treated her well, and in all honesty, she enjoyed the attention. She enjoyed his company, but she knew now it would never turn into anything substantial. She didn’t love Denny, and so it was only right for her to end things. Not tonight, after he’d put so much effort into the date, but soon.
Denny shook out the gray wool blanket and spread it atop the glistening blanket of snow. On top of that he placed two glasses, two plates, a thermos, and a series of containers.
A winter picnic beneath a canopy of stars. How thoughtful.
“My lady.” Denny knelt and patted the blanket.
She joined him as he sat, and he spread a second throw across their laps.
The sky draped like a gigantic fishbowl before them, making her feel like a kid at a drive-in, only this time the screen was the sky and the show was God’s amazing handiwork.
Denny opened the thermos, and the rich scent of chocolate swirled into the air.
“Hot cocoa?”
“Homemade just for you.” He winked. “Whipped cream or marshmallows?”
“Whipped cream. Thanks.”
He obliged, and then shifted beside her. “You okay?”
“Sorry. Just a lot on my mind.”
He sighed. “Landon again?”
“What?” She frowned. Landon was in her thoughts, but he wasn’t the full cause of her distraction—it was the case, her brother, the sense they were being watched . . . It was everything. Why had Denny keyed in on Landon?
Denny propped his arm across his bent knee. “He’s always with us.”
Landon had been so distant lately, almost absent from her life, even in regards to Denny. She’d thought his absence would make her happy, but in all honesty, it made her sad . . . lonely even. Crazy as it was, she missed him. “I know he can be in our business, but . . .”
Denny clasped her hands in his. “No, Piper. What I mean is we can’t go on a single date without you bringing up Landon or getting lost in your thoughts about him.”
She hadn’t seen that coming. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. You’re always talking about Landon or being distracted by him.”
“He’s just so . . . frustrating at times.” Denny expressed how he felt. Why couldn’t Landon? He said he was sorry about what was happening with Reef, but there was more there. When he looked into her eyes, there was emotion brimming, but he always pulled back. It drove her nuts.
Denny stroked her hand; the fleece of his gloves against the wool of her mittens created a warm friction. “You know, sometimes I think you talk so much about him because you like him.”
“Of course I like him. He’s like my older brother, for all intents and purposes. We have that whole sibling love-hate thing going on.” Or at least they had since last summer when something she still didn’t fully understand shifted.
“I’m afraid that’s true, just minus the sibling part.”
“What do you mean?”
“That you have feelings for Landon.”
“Romantic feelings . . . for Landon?” Something inside her heart sparked. “No,” she said with an assurance she didn’t feel. In truth, her feelings for Landon were changing—growing and deepening in a way she couldn’t explain. But he was pulling away, and it left her frustrated and restless.
Denny trailed a finger along her jaw. “Are you sure?”
“Uh-huh.” She released a nervous laugh, entirely unsure.
“I’m glad to hear you say that, especially because I’d hate you to get hurt by who I saw him with the other night.”
“Who’d you see him with?” She took a sip of cocoa.
“Becky Malone.”
She nearly sprayed him with cocoa. “Becky Malone?”
“Yeah.”
“You saw Landon with Becky Malone?”
“Yeah, they were leaving Hawkings Pub together.”
“Whoa. Back up. Landon was at a bar?” Mr. Straight and Narrow. No way.
“Yeah.”
“He must have been there on business.” It was the only thing that made sense.
“Sure didn’t look like business to me,” Denny said, pulling some cookies from a container and arranging them on one of the plates.
“What are you saying?”
“That Landon and Becky stumbled out of Hawkings lo
oking real friendly, if you know what I mean.” He popped a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth.
“Landon and Becky Malone? No way.” Wait . . . Her stomach lurched. Was that why he’d smelled like perfume and smoke the other night? Landon—she swallowed—and Becky Malone?
“I know you don’t believe me.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just . . .” It made no sense.
“You think it’s contrary to his character.”
“Well, yes.”
“Maybe there are things about Landon’s character you don’t know. Have you ever considered that maybe Landon has a dark side too?”
“Landon . . . a dark side?” Laughter erupted from her lips. The notion was absurd.
15
Landon parked behind Denny Foster’s Subaru Forester at the end of Knotchcliff Road, adrenaline pulsating through his veins.
Piper never listened. Never learned. First poking her nose into his investigation and ticking off the eyewitness, and now this—out in the middle of nowhere with Denny, again.
He cut through the forest, headed for the clearing they’d all used back in high school as a summer make-out spot. Knowing Denny, that’s where they’d be. Visiting it in winter didn’t make Denny any less predictable. Seriously, what did Piper see in the guy? Sure, he had good looks and money, but she was more than that.
Laughter reached his ears—Piper’s. She was probably touching Denny’s arm the way she did when he said something she found amusing. Just as she had the night of Cole and Bailey’s engagement party.
It had nearly brought him to his knees. He couldn’t shake the image from his mind, couldn’t breathe, so he’d ended up at Hawkings trying unsuccessfully to drown the memories from his mind.
It’d been wrong. He never should have let it get to him. Never should have turned to alcohol to numb the pain. He knew better. Seeking solace in a bottle never brought anyone any good.
Stepping clear of the forest, he found them. Piper’s hand was resting on Denny’s arm, just as he’d imagined, and the two of them were huddled beneath a blanket with a picnic of sorts spread out before them. How cheesy could Denny be?
The urge to hurl gnawed at his gut.
“But what if you’re wrong?” Denny said, stroking her chin with his gloved thumb.
“But Landon’s—”
“Ready to throttle you?” he said, stepping forward.
Piper sprang to her feet. The blanket that had been covering her pooled at her feet. “What are you—?”
“Doing here?” His jaw tightened, his heart whirring in his ears. “I could ask you the same. Surely, you’re not out in the middle of nowhere with a man again.”
Denny scrambled to his feet. “We were just having a picnic. And I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
“Not my business? Well, it seems Piper and I are both lacking in the ability to determine what is and isn’t our business.”
Her brows pinched together. “What are you talking about?”
“Not here.” He grasped her by the arm. “We’ll talk in the truck.”
“Truck?” She tugged against his hold. “I can’t leave.”
“Wrong.” He pulled her with him.
Denny hurried after them. “You can’t just haul her away.”
Landon tightened his grip. “Watch me.” When Denny continued his pursuit, Landon turned and growled, “Denny, stay out of this.”
Piper trudged alongside him, tugging against his hold. “Landon, you’re being rude . . . and ridiculous.”
“I’m being ridiculous? You’re the one who acts without thinking. First with Ashley, now with Denny in the middle of nowhere?”
“And you are the one who acts without feeling.”
“What the blazes is that supposed to mean?” That he didn’t care, didn’t feel? She couldn’t be further from the truth. He’d been drowning in his feelings for her.
“Why can’t it ever be the other way around? Why can’t you express what you are feeling? Or is it simply that you don’t feel?”
Don’t feel? He wanted nothing more than to press her up against his truck and show her exactly how he felt about her—kissing her until she was weak in the knees. But the last time he’d followed his heart, it got shattered. This time, it looked like it was going to get shattered no matter what he chose to do, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop it. As long as he had breath in his lungs, his heart belonged to her.
He opened the passenger side door of his truck and hefted Piper in. “Trust me, I feel plenty.”
Her eyes widened, and he knew he’d said too much. He slammed the door and stomped around to the driver’s side.
Climbing in his truck, he started the engine. “Feelings,” he said, shifting the gear into drive, “put you in the middle of nowhere with a man, and that’s dangerous.”
She linked her arms across her chest as he sped down the road. “I’m in the middle of nowhere with you.”
“That’s different.” And she knew it.
“How exactly? You are a man, aren’t you?” She cocked her chin up a defiant notch. “Or is it just that you’re not dangerous?”
“More dangerous than you know.” His mind flashed back to that night in the cabin. Pressing Piper up against the wall. Every fiber of his being yearning to kiss her.
She huffed. “Please.”
“I’m serious, Piper. Next time you pull a stunt like that . . .”
“What? Going on a date?”
“Putting yourself in harm’s way or interrogating a key witness in an ongoing murder investigation.”
“Oh, so that’s what this is all about.”
“I mean it, Piper—next time I’ll . . .”
“What? Spank me?”
His fingers tightened on the wheel as he pulled onto the main road. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about it.”
She expelled a disgusted huff of air. “You’re being utterly ridiculous.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Tried to get the truth.”
“You’ve shut down a key witness.”
“Tug changed his story?” Hope laced her voice.
“Tug?” He frowned. “I was talking about Ashley.”
“Oh.” She stared out the window.
“You talked to Tug too? Wow. This keeps getting better and better.”
“Why? Because your witnesses changed their story?”
“No. Ashley didn’t change her story, and as far as I know Tug hasn’t either. They aren’t going to lie just because you welled up your big brown eyes.”
“I don’t want them to lie.”
“Then what did you want to happen?”
“I wanted to make sure they were remembering correctly. That you asked all the pertinent questions, not just focusing narrowly, as you tend to do.”
“I focus narrowly. Ha! You’ve got some nerve. You went in there only wanting to hear one thing.”
“Yeah—the truth.”
“They already told the truth. Now, thanks to you, Ashley is done talking. And I’m sure I’ll be hearing the same from Tug.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s clammed up. After your little investigation, pretending I sent you, she no longer trusts me with any information. She thinks I gave her up and told you what we discussed in confidence.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I know that, but she doesn’t.” He gave her a sideways glance as they turned down the McKennas’ drive. “How’d you know about their story anyway?”
“I poked around.”
“If you’ve corrupted this investigation in any way . . .”
“Oh, calm down. I just bought Tug a couple drinks. He sang like a sparrow.”
“Well, that’s just great. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”
“Pleased? My brother is in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Pleased is the last word I’d use to describe me.”
“Well, that makes t
wo of us.”
“I don’t know what you are getting so riled up about. You already have Ashley’s statement. What more do you need?”
“You have no clue how a police investigation works, do you?”
“Ah, here’s the part where you tell me what a stupid, naïve kid I am.”
“I’ve never called you stupid.”
“So just naïve? Yeah, that’s much better.”
“I don’t think you’re stupid or naïve.”
“You certainly don’t think I’m competent.”
“That’s not true either.”
“No?”
“No,” he said as he pulled to a stop in front of her house.
“Then what do you think about me?” She stared at him so earnestly, with so much raw emotion welling in her eyes, he was nearly tempted to tell her how he truly felt. That she was wonderful, beautiful, and brave. But he could never tell her that because her rejection would be unbearable.
“See.” Her jaw set in a stubborn line. “You can’t even answer because you still think I’m just some incompetent kid.”
“Piper, I . . .”
“Forget it.” She opened the door.
There was so much he wanted to say, so much he yearned to tell her, but he couldn’t. “Piper . . .”
“What?” She turned, her voice trembling.
“I need you . . .” So badly it hurts. His throat constricted.
“You need me . . . ?” She angled to face him.
“I need you . . .” He swallowed as a second pair of headlights turned down the drive. Denny. He sighed. “To stay out of my investigation.”
“Got it.” She slammed the door, and it reverberated through his soul.
16
Landon pulled down his stone driveway, his heart in pieces. His headlights swept across his deck illuminating a solitary figure. Becky Malone.
She sat on his lone rocking chair, her bare legs crossed. Was she crazy? It was ten below. She stood at his approach and bent to retrieve something. Straightening, she dangled a six-pack in her right hand.
With a sigh he climbed from his truck.
Inside the house, Harvey bellowed at his approach.
“Still,” he commanded, and the dog silenced.
Becky lifted her chin with that assessing gaze of hers. “Hey, stranger.”