by Jill S. Behe
“At work?”
Teal nodded.
“Interesting.”
“In what way?”
“Just a hunch.”
“Is that like a gut feeling hunch, or a something stronger hunch?”
“Don’t know, yet.”
Later, at Levi’s house….
* * *
As they got in bed, Bethany rolled to her side, facing the back of her silent, brooding, still angry husband. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry about today.”
“Are you? It was Sierra’s day. Her sixteenth birthday. She only gets to be sixteen once. You took that away from her.”
“You don’t have to rub it in so deep.” She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the regret. Aware there was nothing to be done to change anything that happened, nor could she go back and redo it. “I know.”
“Why?” He punched the mattress. “Why couldn’t you do as I asked, and mind your own business?”
Indignant. “Since when isn’t Sierra my…our, business?”
“Don’t try to justify this, or put blame somewhere else. This is all on you. Sierra is her own person, Beth. She’s trying to become a grownup. Trying to feel out her own friends, those she can trust. When she needs to talk to someone in private, you need to respect that.”
“I know. I know. But it feels like she’s shutting me out.”
“When you butt into every part of her life, she probably feels like she’s in prison. And it’s not all about you.”
“I’m worried, Levi.”
She was changing the subject. Or, maybe just trying to misdirect him. She was good at that.
“Trying to distract me, again? Not going to work this time, but I’ll ask. About what now?”
“I’m not.” But she was. If she was successful, he’d forget he was mad. “Same subject, different view. This talk she wanted to have with Teal. I was mad, but scared, too. I think whatever is going on with Teal is dangerous.”
He frowned. How much was she aware of? “What’s going on with Teal?”
“I don’t know, and I could be wrong. But these women who have been killed…. I think it has to do with Teal, or she’s involved, or she’s a target. Somehow she’s part of it. In any case, if Sierra might get hurt by being in proximity to her, I can’t allow that. I want my daughter protected.”
“For god’s sake, woman. You’re making a problem for Teal because you can’t control your daughter the way you think you need to?”
“Of course not.” Well, maybe, but…. “She’s in danger.”
“Teal?”
“No. Sierra.”
“I truly believe you believe that. But, if that was truly the case, you’d keep her away from me. Hell, you’d keep her away from Decker, too.”
“What are you saying? It’s true?”
“Bethany, what do I do for a living? What did Decker used to do?”
“You’re the chief of police. I don’t really have any idea what Decker used to do. Why would you think I did?”
“I am a police officer. I was part of the Special Police in the Marines, too. So was Deck. Do you have any idea how many times my life, his life, was, has been, threatened? How I fight to keep you and Sierra from hearing any threats? How Decker and I both, go out of our way to keep you two safe?”
Now she was frightened. “What does that have to do with now?”
“Everything.”
“That wasn’t what I meant, before. You don’t understand.”
“Yeah, I do. I worry about our daughter, too, but more while she’s at school. They are getting dangerous anymore, especially since Columbine.”
“Oh, Levi. You’re really scaring me now.” She needed to get off this topic. “We should homeschool her.”
“No. No. NO. Not in this lifetime.”
“Levi.”
“Bethy. Let it go. Sierra does not need to be homeschooled. That would just give you all the more control. She needs her space away from you. She needs her friends around her.
“And, just to set the record straight, you are going to apologize to Teal Hannigan. No excuses. For that matter, first you need to tell your daughter you’re sorry you ruined her birthday.”
“Oh, Levi. I couldn’t apologize to Teal. She’s not going to let me get anywhere near her.”
“You scared my parents, Bethany. And after raising me…and Decker…that is really hard to do. I can’t have that kind of thing going on in my house. This has to stop. Now. I had to grovel at Decker’s feet not that long ago, so you can do the same for his lady.”
Maybe she could steer it in another direction. A sigh. “Poor Liz.”
“This has nothing to do with Elizabeth Brogan.” Levi growled. “Liz would be happy Decker’s not pining away. Your ploy didn’t work. You will apologize to Teal, at the first opportunity.”
“You mean tomorrow, don’t you?”
“Yes. Without fail.”
A gasp. “Levi Theo—”
“Don’t you dare.”
She harrumphed, and rolled away from him. “Good night.”
“You completely skipped over the apology to your daughter.”
“No. I didn’t. I’ll…take her shopping.”
“Oh god. No. You won’t.”
“It’s your own fault.”
“Not in this lifetime.” He repeated. “You’re not laying that one on me, either. This was all you, Bethany. All you. And you are going to fix it. But not at the expense of our good credit. Or to try to bribe our daughter back into your good graces. Words will have a better effect on her than anything you can buy her.”
Then she brought up the real reason for the conversation. “By the way. When I was at the library the other day, it was mentioned to me that you and Decker were seen flirting with a couple of college girls, right out on the main drag in town. Can you explain that to me?”
For god’s sake, was she serious? “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? No. Mad as hell? Oh yeah.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Levi could feel her anger. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but had no doubt she was going to let him know. “You don’t have a reason?”
“Of course I have a reason. I can’t believe you would ask me why.”
“You should be jealous. I would hope you’d be jealous. But, I don’t get why you’re mad.”
“You’re flirting with girls old enough to be your daughters, and you don’t understand why I’m mad?”
Now he was mad. “First, who is this informant of yours?”
“So it is true.”
“Answer me, dammit.”
“Levi—”
“No. I want to know who you talked to.”
“You’re really upset. She must have been really cute.”
“Fine. You don’t want to tell me? I won’t explain anything to you.” He hiked the blanket up over his shoulder. “Good night.”
She gave a little scream of frustration. God, he was so stubborn. “The children’s librarian stopped me as I was leaving. She said she thought I ought to know.”
“Ah. And that’s where the concern over our daughter being around Teal came from, right?”
“Well, it did give me pause.”
“Gave you pause? Good god, give me strength.”
“She was looking out for my well-being.”
“Is that what she called it? She was making trouble, is what she was doing.”
“How can you say that? She told me what she saw. If it was so innocent, why didn’t you mention anything about it to me?”
“I don’t tell you every time I talk to someone during the day. And, just for your information, talking isn’t flirting.”
“But she said—”
“What? What exactly did she say? Did she overhear our conversation?”
“Well.” Hesitation. “She didn’t mention that.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so.”
Bethany kicked out her feet. If she’d been standin
g she’d have stamped her foot. “Why were you talking to two young girls? Levi, tell me why.”
He rolled onto his back, so furious he could barely speak civilly. “Good god, Beth. I’m the damn police chief. Girls and guys, young kids, old ladies, talk to me all the time. Yes, the two girls in question were from the University. They were lost. On their way to the Cornice Outlook, they missed a turn. Deck and I showed them an alternate route on the map they had. Then they went into the diner for a meal. Deck went home. I went back to the office.
“Does that sound like flirting to you? And why should I, the police chief of this town, need to justify to my wife, every conversation I have that happens to involve a young girl, or two, during the course of my workday?”
She was pouting. He could tell by her rigidity.
“I’m sorry if my question made you mad.”
“It wasn’t the question.”
“Then what was it?”
“I’m so disappointed.”
“Disappointed?”
“How long have we been married? Thirty-five years, or so? It hurts that you didn’t trust me, that you didn’t have faith enough in our marriage to laugh in that woman’s face when she mentioned it to you.” He rolled back to his side, away from her. “Good night, Bethany. I’m done talking.”
Guilt washed over her. He was right. She should have known. Oh God. What had she done? “Levi—”
“I’m. Done.”
This day had gone from bad to worse. And she’d been the cause of both. She raised her eyes to the ceiling, whispering. “God, please forgive me for being such a fool. Help me gain my husband’s forgiveness, too. Please?” She rolled to her left, facing Levi’s back, and placed her hand in the center. “I know you’re done talking, but I’m so so sorry for causing you pain, and damaging our relationship, and also for ruining our daughter’s birthday. Please forgive me? I’ll do everything in my power to make things right with you both. Good night, my one and only love.’
Tears brimmed in Levi’s eyes, but he made no comment. Tomorrow he’d let her know he’d forgiven her.
Chapter 35
Decker drove Teal back to his place to get her car. “You could come in for a few minutes.”
“Uh huh. Are you going to show me your etchings?”
He grinned. “I do have an Etch A Sketch, but have no idea where it is.”
She laughed. “I used to have one of those, too. Okay. Just a few minutes.”
“I’d offer you coffee, but you make it much better than I do.”
“That’s okay. I don’t need any. Some water would be good, though.”
“Come into my kitchen, little lady. I’ll fix ya right up.”
“You’re no John Wayne.”
“Hah. I am sorry about the way today turned out.”
“Decker, it wasn’t your fault.”
“I know, but they are my friends. And I did know Bethany had a penchant for digging for information. Never figured she’d go that far to get it.”
“I’m sure from her perspective she was trying to protect her daughter. I’m an unknown quantity.”
“She should have realized that being with me meant you were of the highest caliber.”
“Why thank you, sir.”
“I’m serious.”
She gave a nod. “Um, if you don’t mind a bit of probing—”
He grinned. “Hey now, if anybody’s going to do any probing, it’s gonna be me.” He pointed. “And the lady knows how to blush. Very prettily, too, I might add.”
“You do know how to make it happen.”
“Please. I’m an expert at probing.”
“Decker.”
“Okay. Ask away. I have no secrets from you. Or, if I do, you’re the only one I’ll tell.”
She bit her lips together.
“Now you’re not sure you want to know anything?”
“I do, just…. Some things should be private between couples. Don’t you think? Not that I’d keep anything from you, but— Padgett and I had more than we should have. I’ve never been with anyone who was as open as you. Something I’m very happy to get used to.”
He took her arms. “Ask me anything. If it’s something I can’t answer because it’s classified, I’ll let you know.”
She leaned in. “Thanks.”
“But….”
She tilted her head.
“If I tell you all my secrets now, we won’t have anything to talk about when we’re old and decrepit.”
She snorted, swatting at his arm. “Yeah, like that will ever happen.”
“What? Us together when we’re old and—?”
“That, too. Maybe. Although, I can’t see you ever being decrepit. I meant not having enough things to talk about. You have enough stuff in your brain to keep me interested (if that was all I was interested in—which it’s not) for the rest of my life.”
He stared. “Huh.”
“Ooh. I’ve rendered you speechless, again.”
He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close until she was solid against him, and started kissing.
Her fingers crept into his hair, fisting gently but firmly, as she kissed him back.
He stopped abruptly, slightly winded, cupping her face in his hands. Her eyes mesmerized. He couldn’t stop staring. “I’m falling fast for you, Teal Luna Skye Hannigan. I’m beginning to want you in my life with every molecule, cell, atom—whichever is smallest and most plentiful—in my body. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side in every, and all, situations.”
She smiled. “I feel that way, too. We haven’t known each other very long. Do you think that matters?”
“That we’re practically strangers?”
She smacked his arm. “Be serious.”
“I am. Look. I’m not trying to push you away, believe me.”
“But?”
“But, it has been an emotional day. The wrong kind of emotion. And I could smooth out all the bad stuff with a trip up those stairs, but that is not an option right now. I get that. I’m okay with that. Not happy, but okay.”
“Decker—”
“Shh. We’re in this together. I don’t think it would be a mistake to move a little faster forward, but we need to talk about it. This other issue, the…stalker thing? This needs to be resolved, I think, before we take this up a notch.”
“I agree.”
“So what do you want to know?”
“You don’t have to tell me everything I want to know tonight. There are just some things I’m curious about.”
“Like?”
“You mentioned that Levi has saved your life a few times. I’d like to know the circumstances surrounding them. I really do want to know your middle name. And those are just a very few.”
“I can only give you all the details about Levi saving my life when we were about seven. The others aren’t actually life-saving as much as hide-saving. And there are a couple I can give you brief overviews of because they were/are still part of classified missions.”
“I understand all that. And I’m patient. As I said, I don’t need to know everything tonight.”
“You feel like a dream come true, Teal.”
She smiled. “You have no idea, Decker.”
“About what?”
“We haven’t really shared our previous lives very much. The kind of marriage I came out of was nothing like what we already have. Being with you is like winning the bonus round. Sometimes I can’t quite believe it’s real, either.”
“Believe it, baby. And if you’re ever in doubt, I’ll be right here to remind you.”
She smiled, bussed his mouth, and moved out of his embrace.
“Darn. You sure you don’t want to stay the night?”
“I do want to stay the night, but I’m not going to. I have some things I’ve been putting off getting done at the house.”
She picked up her purse, and got out her keys.
He cupped her face. “All right then. Call me when you ge
t home. You know I don’t like you going alone.”
“I know. I will call you as soon as I’m inside and have the door locked.”
“Thank you.”
They went out to her car hand-in-hand.
He moved in for a hug and kiss. “Take care. Drive safe.”
“I will, Decker. Good night.”
She got in, strapped in, started the car, and rolled down the window. “Give Bella a treat for me.”
“I will.”
Closing the window, she put the car in gear and followed the driveway out to the road.
Decker stood watching until the tail lights disappeared before going in the house. He patted his leg. “Let’s take a little walk, shall we, Bella Mia?”
They were back in the house twenty minutes before his phone rang.
“Brogan.”
“I’m home, Decker. All locked in.”
“Good. Sleep well, Teal. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Decker.”
Chapter 36
Sunday morning….
* * *
Decker’s landline rang.
“Brogan.”
“You free?”
“I’m not going to church with you, Levi.”
“Not why I’m calling.”
“Okay then, I’m free.”
“Need an assist. Please?”
“With?”
“Lars Pendragon called. Found a body in his cow pasture. From the smell, he thought one of his cows died, but he says it’s a human. Female.”
“What do you need from me? Thought you brought me on board for just the one case?”
A two second pause. “Gut feeling.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“Give me twenty minutes.”
“Got a better idea. I’ll pick you up in the parking lot of The Knife and Fork off 36. It’s on the way.”
“Copy that.”
“Don’t forget your badge.”
“Double damn.”
Decker heard Levi chuckling as he hung up.
Sweetheart, you need to take some things with you. You’re going to need them.
He shivered. “Liz? What things?”
The rappelling gear, your climbing gear that we stored in the attic. The rope. The harness. All of it.