Keeping Cole's Promise

by Cheryl Harper

  But the fact that her parents and her brother had left Holly Heights did make living there much easier most days. Family was important, but Rebecca didn’t mind the breathing room.

  “You love him,” Rebecca finally said. “Whatever he did, you can still love him. It’s okay. Who cares what anyone thinks of that? But I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time getting answers. That’s not right.”

  “It’s not.” Sarah sighed. “Everyone thought I knew where he’d taken the money and I was guilty by association. Hollister wasn’t alone in that. The whole town thought it.” She waved a hand. “But you know that. The letters to the editor made it pretty hard to miss, but I didn’t know he was stealing or leaving or where he went. And then, as soon as I had a clue, I sent it to Hollister, the jerk who was doing his best to wear me down so that I’d...confess, maybe.”

  Rebecca crossed her legs and struggled to find the right thing to say, but this was not a situation where any of her usual words worked. The guilt that edged into her brain was hard to ignore. What had she done to stop the gleeful whispers? Not enough. Rebecca pressed one hand to her stomach, the knot there upsetting.

  If she’d been in Sarah’s place, would she have been able to stand tall and fight for what she wanted? And would she ever have been as gracious as Sarah or would holding a grudge and getting even have been her priority?

  Rebecca didn’t know the answer. That was crushing.

  “If Hollister can get me answers now, I guess that’s something,” Sarah said quietly. “But if I have to stand in line behind him at the grocery store, I could lose my cool. No one wants me to lose my cool.”

  Rebecca bumped her shoulder. “As long as the fallout’s not aimed at me, I might enjoy that. I could sell tickets and popcorn.” At Sarah’s snort, Rebecca waggled her eyebrows. “We could make a fortune. Another fortune.”

  Sarah clapped her hands over her face. “The money. I’d almost forgotten about all that beautiful, sugar-driven money. Now what are we going to do? I was planning big with that cash. It wasn’t in the operating budget. We could have spruced this place up.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Sarah. We’ll figure it out. The place already looks so much better. We’ll just—” Rebecca pointed “—give Cole a hammer and a paintbrush and stand back. He’ll put on a second story before we turn around.”

  Sarah tilted her chin down. “That’s quite a change in tone about Cole.”

  Rebecca willed away the hot wash of color she could feel building on her neck.

  Sarah’s eyes grew. “What are you not telling me?” She scooted closer. “I’ve had a tough morning. It’s your job as my best friend to make that better. Tell me.”

  “Best friend?” Rebecca asked.

  “It’s a small pool.” Sarah wagged her finger. “And I’m not letting this go.”

  “It’s nothing. When he came over to get the cookies...” Was she going to tell Sarah this?

  Before she could decide, the door opened and the police stepped outside, followed closely by Will Barnes. He didn’t look left or right, but zeroed in on Sarah and closed the gap between them in a flash. “I got here as fast as I could.” He wrapped his arms around her and ran his hands over her back and arms. “You’re okay?”

  “Yes, I didn’t stop the robber single-handedly. I told you they were already gone.” Sarah shifted closer and clutched Will tightly with white-knuckled fists, wrinkling a nicely pressed white shirt.

  Rebecca wondered how it must feel to have someone like that, a man who would come running at the first sign of trouble. Will wasn’t focused on anything but Sarah’s safety at that minute, but it was easy to see the second he remembered the other upsetting part of the whole day.

  “Hollister.”

  His grim tone convinced Rebecca that if he thought he could get away with it, Hollister would be bleeding from his nose while Will shook an aching hand.

  “Yeah. Hollister.” Sarah locked eyes with him and whatever they said to each other, it was enough. She straightened her shoulders. “It’s time to get some answers.”

  “Davy, do you have more questions or an update?” Rebecca asked, afraid of what would happen to Hollister when Sarah and Will teamed up.

  “I don’t see any signs of entry on the front door. No scratches on the lock to show that someone picked it.” Hollister tapped his notebook. “Are all your key holders here? We’d like to talk to them, rule out an inside job.”

  Sarah’s jaw dropped and she had the frozen look again.

  Will wrapped his arm around her. “It’s not an inside job.” Every word was bitten off like it was fired from a gun.

  “You think I stole this money, too?” Sarah asked, her voice weak but getting stronger. “I love this place. You must be the worst cop in the history of cops.” She snapped her fingers. “Someone bring me my phone. I will call in every single favor I have left in this town to get you fired. You watch me.”

  Davy Adams held up a hand. “No one thought it was you, Sarah. Are you the only one with a key?”

  “No, Shelly and Les, who’ve been running this place since before we could stand to pay the light bill, have keys. I have one employee, Cole Ferguson, who also has a key.” Sarah tapped her foot on the concrete. “Only an idiot would suspect Cole.” She narrowed her eyes at Hollister, the man who had moved right to the top of Sarah’s idiot list.

  “He’s a person of interest. If he’s innocent, all it’ll take is a conversation to clear things up. Give me other potential suspects.” He slowly turned from person to person, waiting for suggestions.

  Fear froze Rebecca in her spot. What would the police do? Would they lock Cole up? How could he stand that again? And was this going to be Cole’s life, immediately the prime suspect for any crime in Holly Heights? If so, he couldn’t stay here. He deserved better.

  And anyone who loved him deserved to live a life without the suspicion hanging over her head.

  But what if he’s guilty? As soon as the thought formed, Rebecca’s stomach cramped. He wouldn’t. He loved Paws for Love.

  Sarah’s grim lips matched her tone when she said, “He’s in the trailer park. Down the road.”

  “The shelter van is parked in front of his trailer,” Rebecca added as she moved closer to Sarah.

  “We’ll bring him here to talk to him,” Hollister said quietly. “No need for a parade to talk to a suspect. While we’re gone, put together a list of the volunteers, people who might have known about how much money you had on hand after the event.”

  When Sarah nodded, he turned to leave. On his way inside, he stopped and studied the lock carefully. Then he surveyed the fences and the windows. “Any reason this window has no screen?” He pointed with his pen and then motioned at the window on the opposite side. Only one had a ragged screen.

  “Has it always been like that?” Rebecca asked as she studied the windows.

  “I don’t think so.” Sarah marched over and did her best to lift the window. When it slid up easily, Rebecca realized she was holding her breath.

  “Possible entry point.” Hollister made a note and stepped inside.

  “We’ve got so many fingerprints it’d be hard to narrow them down, but I’ll check when we get back.” Davy Adams leaned closer to Sarah. “Guy’s got a real personality disorder, if you know what I mean, but he’s good at his job. Impressive career. We’ll solve this.” Then he ducked his head and followed Hollister inside.

  Sarah glanced up as Will wrapped his hand over her shoulder. “I wish...”

  “I know. It’s not a good situation, but we’ll have to wait and see.” Will shook his head. “Should I call Doug Grant? He’s the best lawyer I know in town.”

  And married to Cece, Sarah’s archrival and a woman Rebecca knew would delight in having her words of doom confirmed so quickly.

  “That
’s Cole’s decision,” Rebecca said. “Let’s wait and see what he says.” Her heart was racing with fear. How would Cole react to being questioned by the police?

  Sarah and Will nodded and all three of them stared at the play yard as they waited for the police to return.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “YOU AIN’T GOT the hang of this vacation day business yet,” EW muttered as he hammered the new railing in. “Supposed to be about sleeping late, watching television, some fishing, definitely junk food. Not work.” He pushed hard to test the railing and grunted his satisfaction. “Best get a start on that now that this project is finished.”

  Cole gathered the few tools EW had brought over after Cole had knocked on his trailer door that morning with a cake in one hand and a project in mind. Fixing the loose railing had been one of those things on his list of things to do, mainly because he could picture Mimi’s disappointed face. She’d worked hard to keep the place up. A loose railing wasn’t just a danger; the whole world could see it.

  He might not have much, either, but he was going to take good care of what belonged to him.

  “I knew it wouldn’t take long.” Cole straightened in time to see a Holly Heights cop car rolling to a stop behind the shelter van. Had someone reported the van stolen? What would it take to convince the police that he had permission to borrow it? He should have refused Sarah’s offer. He should have demanded a signed note or something.

  The urge to hide flitted through his mind until he reminded himself he’d done nothing wrong. Even the police could be reasonable. There was no need for the panic itching across his nerves to bloom.

  “Good morning, Officers,” Cole said as he carefully held both hands out at his sides. “What can I help you with?” He recognized the older cop as one he may have run into in his early days.

  The new guy studied the trailer and EW carefully before he said, “We’re here to ask you a few questions. Can you tell us your schedule this weekend? Yesterday afternoon and evening in particular.”

  Cole glanced at EW. “Fished yesterday afternoon. Last night, played a pickup game.” He pointed at the goal. “Today’s my day off from work. EW and I have been looking after some repairs. What’s this about?”

  The younger cop, Hollister was his name, said, “We’re going to search inside the trailer.”

  “With your permission,” snapped the older cop, Davy Adams. The look he sent his partner was a mix of exasperation and strained patience.

  “What’s this about, Davy?” EW asked slowly.

  “Shelter was robbed last night. We’re going to talk to everyone with a key.” Davy waved a hand. “If it’s all right, we’ll take a quick look inside and get you to come down to the shelter.”

  Was he the most likely suspect? “Go ahead. Look around.” Cole waved a hand. “Won’t take but a minute.”

  After the cops disappeared inside his trailer, he and EW stood quietly because there was nothing to say. Frustration, anger and something that tasted terribly like hurt tumbled in his stomach.

  Then he realized it had been a while since he’d felt this particular mix of emotions.

  Hollister paused in the doorway, Cole’s work apron in one hand and the shelter’s digital camera in the other. “Want to tell me about this?” His face was unreadable, but at least there was no satisfaction there. Maybe the cop was keeping an open mind.

  “Shelter had an adoption drive in the town square. Rebecca was taking pictures and she asked me to hold on to the camera because Sarah was busy. I put it in my pocket and forgot about it. I would have returned it tomorrow when I went into work.” But he should have placed it on Sarah’s desk when he left the shelter on Saturday. Why hadn’t he done that?

  Hollister nodded.

  “Nothing here,” Adams said. “Let’s head back.”

  Cole waited patiently for the cops to cuff him or tell him what they wanted, but they walked to the car. When he didn’t move, Hollister said, “Follow us. I’m already on thin ice with Sarah Hillman. Anything happens to you before she sees you again and I’ll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.” He braced both hands on the car and shook his head.

  “Follow you? In the van?” Not as a suspect in the back of the cop car?

  “You can ride with us, man, but we aren’t running a limo service.” Adams slid into the driver’s seat. Hollister met Cole’s stare over the light bar on top of the car. Whatever this guy knew about his past, he wasn’t jumping to conclusions.

  “Let me grab the keys.” Cole trotted up the steps, snatched the keys off the tiny hook he’d found in the junk drawer and installed beside the refrigerator and stepped outside. “You coming?”

  EW rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Think you oughta call a lawyer?”

  Cole studied the van. The cops had already pulled out. They believed he was going to keep his word and follow them. “No. I think it’s going to be okay.” Why he felt that way was unclear. He’d never have expected Sarah and Rebecca to list him as a suspect, but he had nothing to hide. Really. It would be obvious soon enough that he had no access to cash like what the adoption event had brought in. “Can’t afford a good one anyway.”

  When they walked into Paws for Love, everyone was crammed into Sarah’s small office. And they were arguing. Loudly. “There’s no way the volunteers did this, either,” Sarah snapped. “Talking to Cole was a waste of time, like I told you it would be, so listen to me on this. The thief is not someone who works here.” She slapped a hand on the desk, the color high in her cheeks, ready to throw down in defense of her people.

  Hearing her say that about him instantly erased the dread building inside. Sarah hadn’t made him a suspect. The police had.

  But what did Rebecca believe? When she noticed him standing in the doorway, Rebecca immediately skirted the desk to reach for his hand. “Are you okay?” Her eyes searched his face.

  Was she afraid of police brutality or hurt feelings or what? These Holly Heights police seemed cool as cucumbers. He couldn’t imagine either Adams or Hollister losing his temper. “Fine. I forgot I had the camera. But that’s all they found.” Cole wasn’t sure what was going on with his voice, but it was rougher than usual.

  Rebecca’s eyes narrowed, and she spun around. “I asked him to hold on to that camera. That’s why he had it. He put it in his apron while he was working. That’s it. That’s all. What sort of fortune do you think he’s looking for in a camera like that?” Disgust dripped from her words.

  Uneasy with her over-the-top defense, Cole said, “Take it down a notch, okay? That’s what I told them, and they believed me.”

  She didn’t deign to respond to that but stepped closer to him. “Do you want us to call a lawyer? We will. Don’t worry about the bill. I’ll cover it.”

  EW’s suggestion he could understand. His friend had had his own encounters with justice. But Rebecca’s? If she thought he was innocent, would she be ready to lawyer up?

  “There’s no need for a lawyer,” Hollister said calmly. “Nobody’s under arrest. Ferguson here was as cooperative as a person could be. At this point, we will ascertain if any of you have any bits of info that might help us find actual suspects. Dust around the window in the back. Look around to see if the missing screen’s been discarded around here.” He held up both hands, noticed the camera he still held and set it carefully on the desk. “That’s all we’re doing here.”

  “So,” Cole murmured in Rebecca’s ear, “stand down.” She shot him an irritated glare but nodded once, sharply. Whatever happened, it was almost worth it to see her this mad on his behalf.

  She would be an awesome advocate for Eric and the rest of her kids.

  “This Eric Jordan.” Davy Adams tapped the list Sarah had handed him. “He there on Saturday?” Over his shoulder, he said, “Kid’s a minor league troublemaker, but...” Holliste
r nodded.

  The realization that he should have already realized Eric would be the next target smacked Cole in the gut. Of course.

  And it was disturbing that he couldn’t immediately rule Eric out, either. That much money would be a treasure for the kid and his sister.

  But they’d played a fierce one-on-one game last night and not once had the kid looked guilty. Was he that good?

  “We’ll give you a call with any news,” Davy said, and waved the list. “Shouldn’t take too long to track everyone down.” He pointed at Shelly and Les, who were crammed together on the sofa under Bub. “Talk to the two of you outside?” When they nodded, he maneuvered through the crowd in the tiny office. With worried looks at Sarah, Shelly and Les followed.

  The solemn atmosphere in the office made Cole uneasy. “Nice weather we’re having.” It was such a lame attempt at lightening the mood that everyone turned to stare at him. “What? That seemed like vacation day conversation.”

  Rebecca’s lips were twitching. He was unstoppable. “You should be mad.”

  “Mad?” Cole remembered feeling that way on the drive over. Now he was resigned, deflated. “Relieved. Glad to know you aren’t going to fire me.” He glanced at Sarah. “You aren’t, are you? I did forget to leave the camera here on Saturday.”

  Sarah covered her face with both hands. “Because you were exhausted. Which is why I didn’t take that money directly to the bank. If you’re going, I am, too.”

  “Well, I’m not staying here without the two of you,” Rebecca said as she flopped down in her chair. “This place is a lot of work. I’m too soft for this. And I work in a high school.”