Arrest of the Heart

by Judy Kentrus

  What would he think?

  It was now or never.

  Lincoln placed the tall white box on the table beside Jessie’s cup. Tonight, all would be disclosed.

  What would she think?

  It was now or never.

  Chapter 24

  “What’s this?” Jessie eyed the white box when she returned to the dining car. Secured to the top with a pink ribbon, was a See’s candy bar. Her instincts had been right. He’d been behind everything.

  “For you.” Linc was anxious enough without the added shock of recognizing the envelope she set on the table in front of him. He was up shit creek now. “I’ll play the gentleman’s card and wait until you open your gift.”

  Jessie’s hand shook when she set the chocolate confection on the lace table cloth and opened the top flap. Nestled in white tissue paper was a caramel apple wrapped in clear cellophane. She carefully lifted it out and cradled it in her hands. “I am truly overwhelmed.” The broad smile on her face dimmed when her eyes settled on the base of the apple.

  Another pink ribbon secured a sparkling engagement ring. Her pulse triple timed in her body. “Oh, my,” she barely managed.

  Lincoln’s heart hammered wildly. “Well?”

  The urgency in his voice was obvious, but she was mesmerized by the fiery rainbow of colors in the magnificent stone. “Well what?”

  He forced himself to stay seated, but leaned closer. “Do you like it?”

  She glanced at him with a mischievous smile. “I love caramel applies. They are one of my favorite things.”

  “Jessie, this isn’t the time to bust my chops.” His patience had reached its limit. He reached for the apple, untied the ribbon and held up the two carat square cut diamond. “The ring!”

  “It’s lovely, but first we have some unfinished business.”

  “Now?” He recognized the list she removed from her purse. No life preserver could prevent him from sinking deeper and deeper into his mire of deceit.

  Jessie touched the tip of a sharpened pencil against her tongue and smoothed out the folds in the paper. “Let’s see, eating S’mores over an open fire, check; a bunch of daffodils, check; caramel apple, check; eating cotton candy on a merry-go-round, check; a ride on the old train, check; home-made raisin bread with honey butter, check; a kiss on my cheek, check. The last one is most important.” Jessie got up from her seat and planted herself on Lincoln’s lap. “A hug from my one and only love, Lincoln.” His arms banded around her so tight, she gasped for air. “That definitely completes my favorite things list,” she laughed. Jess silently added one other thing, but never wrote it down.

  Linc held up the ring between two fingers. “There is only one thing on my favorite things list, you. Make all my wishes and dreams come true, Jessie. Marry me.”

  “Before I give you my answer, open the envelope. If you found my list, you probably saw the card.” Jessie removed the patch over his eye before capturing his face in her hands and softly confessed, “I have loved you for a very long time. Read the card in front of me.”

  “There’s no need.” He repeated the message from memory and let the words flow from his heart. Tears glistened in Jessie’s eyes when he finished. “I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention to that sweet, fourteen-year-old girl who loved me. I am truly touched and honored you felt that way, so very long ago. If you still mean it, I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

  Jessie blinked away the watery film over her eyes and brushed his lips with a soft kiss. “Sorry, but the boyfriend position is no longer available. I do have an opening for a husband and a father for my daughter.”

  “I accept, both positions,” he grinned, “but first, answer my question. Jessie, will you marry me?”

  “Oh, yes, Lincoln Adams, it is my ultimate wish to become your wife.”

  Lincoln’s hand shook when he slipped the gold ring on her finger and captured her mouth in a deep, love-filled kiss. He reveled in the taste of her lips that eagerly met his over and over again. Jessie was his, finally. When their pledge-sealing kisses ended, he put his forehead against hers. “Did you know I was the one supplying the candy bars?”

  “Edie inadvertently gave you away with her giggling. Who were your other culprits?”

  “Samantha, Barbara and Chuck McCarthy, and of course, Edie.”

  “I’ll have to thank them.”

  Jess glanced at the beautiful ring on her finger, a symbol of Lincoln’s love. She was tempted to pinch herself to make sure this wasn’t just a beautiful dream, but Lincoln would think she was delusional. Now that they were finally alone, it was time to explore the staterooms and take their engagement celebration one step further. She wiggled on his lap and softly bit his ear lobe. “Feels like your thrusters are raring to go.”

  “They’re always primed and ready for you. Since we’re back in Laurel Heights, let’s turn off the lights, so that we don’t attract the nose patrol.” Linc removed a small flashlight from his pocket.

  “Good idea,” she said, standing up. “You are the ultimate boy scout, always prepared.”

  The first stateroom was on the other side of the small kitchen and butler’s pantry. Linc aimed the flashlight on the worn tile floor until it settled on the single bunk. Jess wasted no time and toed off her strappy heels before kneeling on the bed. “This mattress is as hard a rock, but we’ve got clean sheets and a couple of pillows. It’s not as if we’re going to sleep,” she laughed. Jessie grabbed the flashlight from his hand and carelessly tossed it on the folded blanket at the bottom of the bed. “Come closer, husband-to-be,” she saucily invited, and ran a hand down the front of his dress slacks. “Hmm, lots of power there already.” Jess turned her back to him and brushed her hair aside. “Help me out of this dress and you will find a sexy surprise.”

  “It will be my pleasure.” He kissed the back of her neck and started to lower the zipper when a flash of light brightened the cabin. “What the,” he stopped and observed two sets of headlights approaching the train. “We’ve got company,” he said, and hurriedly turned off the penlight. “So much for celebrating our engagement,” he added in frustration.

  Jessie scrambled off the bed and knelt beside Lincoln. “Do you recognize the vehicles?”

  “They just turned their headlights off, but I’m pretty sure I recognized Clyde’s truck and trailer.”

  “Why didn’t he let us know someone was going to borrow his truck?”

  Linc patted the pocket of his trousers. “Damn, I left my cell phone in the truck. If he sent a message, we obviously didn’t get it. Where is your phone?”

  “Shit! Keeping yours company!”

  “Let’s make our way to the passenger car. We’ll be able to get a closer look at what they’re doing.” With hands clasped, they moved as quickly as possible down the dark, narrow isle and took positions between padded leather seats. Jessie didn’t need to touch Lincoln to feel the tension flowing in his body. It matched hers. None of the workers spoke as light balls from their flashlights danced across the gravel surface. The only sounds were crunchy footsteps and a wheeled device being moved over the rough ground.

  Linc kept his voice low. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Yeah. We just got our answer on how they are transporting the liquor in and out of Laurel Heights,” Jessie whispered. “They load the merchandise in the false bottom of the box car that was once used to hide slaves seeking freedom. The contraband will sit there undetected till next week. Once the train gets into Stevensville, there is an hour layover. My first instinct is to go out there and arrest them, but then we’ll never know where the load will be taken and by whom.”

  “I agree. This is part of Treig’s operation so we’ll contact the State Police and ABC authorities.”

  Jessie wanted to pace, anything to work off the intolerable waiting. Thirty, nerve-racking minutes later, an engine started up and one vehicle moved out of sight. A single flashlight beam snaked along the ground, and two men moved to stand beside the p
assenger door of Clyde’s truck, their voices raised in argument.

  “I want out! This is getting too dangerous! That bitch sergeant and Buford’s bastard are getting too close.”

  “You wanted in, old man, and there’s no getting out. This operation is a lot bigger than this one hick town. If you don’t want to join your dead friends, you will do what you’re told.”

  “You can’t order me around! I’m a big man in this town! I’ll go to the police and tell them you killed the mayor and Price and forced me to help you.”

  “Go ahead, and I’ll make sure the police find out you and Humperdinck was splitting the money Price embezzled from the town. You’ve made a bundle on the sale of illegal liquor. You got me the truck from your nephew and helped me get rid of the bodies so that makes you an accessory to murder. Now, let’s get going. I have no problem shooting you right here.”

  “Ah!” Jessie gasped, when a streak of light briefly revealed the faces of the two men arguing. “One of them is Harvey Thornton, and the other is my ex.” Jessie leaned into Linc and buried her face in his shoulder. “Andrew just admitted killing the mayor and Price. I never would have believed it of him.”

  Linc tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so sorry you were ever involved with that slime bastard. Too bad we didn’t see the third man.”

  “I didn’t recognize the vehicle,” Jessie admitted,” still trying to comprehend what she’d just seen and heard.

  They waited until the truck pulled out before they moved. “Let’s get out of here,” Linc said. “We’ll call the chief and let him know what we’ve discovered. Unfortunately, it will be our word against Thornton’s.”

  “You’re right,” Jessie sighed. “No one’s going to believe I recognized him from the quick beam of a flashlight. I still say we wait and arrest them when they pick up the load in Stevensville. We can check Buford’s basement to confirm they removed the contraband we saw the other morning.”

  “I agree. We’ll contact the chief and then go home and celebrate our engagement properly.”

  “With a nice warm bath and fresh fruit.”

  Lincoln wrapped his arm around her neck and kissed her hard. “I stocked up on strawberries and bananas.”

  “Oh, yum,” she laughed, and led him to the dining car to get her apple, candy, and Lincoln’s Valentine card.

  The area was dark, but for the gooseneck lights illuminating the Whipper Hardware and Lumber Yard sign on the front of the wooden building and loading dock. Linc pressed the unlock button for his truck and went to open the door for Jessie when he noticed the front tire was flat.

  “What the hell?” He walked around to the driver’s side and aimed his flashlight at the front tire. It was flat, along with the two rear tires. “Son-of-a-bitch!”

  “Even if we wanted to go after them, we couldn’t. Give me your flashlight.” Jess squatted down and aimed the beam on the front tire. “It took a lot more than a nail or ice pick to do this kind of damage. I’m betting the mystery man shot out your tires. He had to have used a silencer or we would have heard the gun shots.”

  Linc ran a finger over the supposed bullet’s entry point. “I want to be with Paul when he removes these tires in his garage. There’s a good chance he might dig out a slug. Good eye, Sergeant Taylor-Adams.”

  “I like the sound of that,” she said, and gave him a quick kiss.

  “Me too.” Lincoln retrieved his cell phone from the truck and checked his messages. “Clyde came through. His uncle requested to use the truck and the trailer earlier this evening. It just occurred to me, Sayers and Thornton couldn’t have known we were still on the train. Would you admit to killing someone if you knew you had an audience?”

  “No.” I’ll call Paul to let him know our situation, and then I’ll wake up the chief.”Linc took a closer look at his destroyed tires and had finished checking the rear passenger tire, when the beam from his flashlight caught the familiar match stick. This was the third one he’d seen, so it couldn’t have been a coincidence. He picked it up and got in the truck. “How did you make out with your calls?”

  “Paul will bring his flatbed wrecker ASAP. Naturally, I woke up the chief. He said, and I quote, ‘How come we couldn’t get engaged without attracting trouble?’ He agreed we should contact the state police and ABC to set up a joint meeting as soon as possible. He also extended his congratulations.”

  Linc held up the match stick. “I picked this up near the back tire. I noticed one when I found my “get out of town” note and another near the bread loaf in the field next to the school. I thought it was just a coincidence. I’d bet the bank this stick was left by our mystery man.” Linc reached for her left hand and kissed her palm. “There is something I have to tell you.”

  Jess raised a brow. “It’s a good thing I love you.”

  “After I finished talking to you the other morning, I had a visitor. He pulled in without headlights, checked the door on the furniture warehouse, then left. I recognized him as an officer on the Laurel Heights Police Department.

  “Goddamn it!” Jess massaged her temples with her fingertips. “You’re telling me our mystery man is a dirty cop. Are you going to tell me who it was?”

  “Not yet. I’ve got Reggie doing a financial background check to see if there is any unexplained income. I don’t want to accuse this person of doing anything illegal. Just out of curiosity, do you know of any officers who chew on match sticks?”

  “I know of three. Lynch, Lorenzo, and Donatiello. They all gave up smoking a year ago and chew on match sticks from time to time. Is one of them the man you saw at the warehouse?”

  “I’ll tell you on one condition. When you see those men during working hours, you will treat them no differently. If they even think you suspect them of any wrongdoing, they’ll rabbit.”

  “Is it one of them?”

  “Yes.”

  Monday morning, Linc walked in the back door of the Spoonful and kissed Sallie Mae on the cheek. The kitchen smelled like bacon and fresh baked buttermilk biscuits. “Thanks for letting us use the private dining room for our special meeting with the state police and ABC.”

  Sallie Mae lifted her white apron and dabbed the sweat from the corner of her eye. “Northrup and I are devastated that they have been using our family’s heritage that way. He’s in the dining room with Samantha setting up coffee and cake.” Sallie Mae gripped his hand. “God forgive me, but get those bastards and carve out their gizzards.”

  “Count on it.”

  “Lincoln, this is totally off the subject, but I wanted to thank you for bringing Samantha into our lives. We all love her. She needs us as much as we need her. You already know about her plans to open a tea shop and small bakery next door. It will bring a lot of people into Laurel Heights. When they taste her cookies and pastries, they will line up around the block. Now, we just have to find her a man.” Sallie Mae’s eyes twinkled in anticipation.

  “That is the last thing she needs right now.” Few people knew about the bodily scars she carried from the first one. “Wait until you meet her pet ducks, who I hope are no longer in my office.”

  “Samantha said Cindi will be bringing Cupcake and Muffin by the weekend. The farmhouse she leased from Henry Long is completely furnished and a friend’s cleaning service will be doing a thorough going over before occupancy. Sam also mentioned your assistant will be moving in with her and help oversee the rehab of your new offices.” Sallie Mae’s arms came around him in a motherly hug. “I’m so happy my boy is here to stay. Now you can give me grandbabies.”

  Lincoln took a deliberate step back and raised a brow. “I’ve only been engaged two days and you’ve already got me planning babies.” Linc headed for the private dining room to discuss saner issues.

  “Morning, boss,” Samantha greeted, and passed him a mug of coffee. “Northrup just went to get a couple more cups and plates. I’m so sorry your engagement celebration was ruined.”

  “Not really. Jes
sie said yes. Sallie Mae told me Cindi is bringing your pets this weekend. So, it’s official?”

  “I’ll be sleeping there this weekend. I just have to go back to my rental house and pack up my personal belongings. Cindi is making arrangements to move here in a month. Sam’s agreed to handle the renovations for the tea shop once Russell has the official blueprints drawn up. It’s all falling into place.” She hugged Lincoln. “I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here and help me realize my dream.”

  “You did it all on your own,” he said, returning her hug.

  That’s how Jessie found them when she walked into the dining room. She skirted the chairs and put a deliberate hand to the holster on her hip. “Engaged two days and already making out with another woman. It s a good thing I trust you.”

  They jumped apart, and Lincoln saw the teasing gleam in her eye. “Sam was just thanking me for helping her fulfill her dreams.”

  Jessie slipped a possessive arm about his waist and leaned into him when he put his arm about her shoulders to draw her closer. “Samantha, he is an expert when it comes to fulfilling dreams.” She gave Lincoln an easy loving smile, and her voice was filled with husky longing. “He made all mine come true the other night.” Despite the untimely interruption by the thieving slime, they’d celebrated their engagement when they got back to the garage apartment. He’d derived a great deal of pleasure in her silver and black lace thong and barely-there skinny bra. Their shared bubble bath and sensuous version of fruit salad had reached a new high.

  A little after ten, Sam Morlock and Margaret, the acting mayor, walked in, along with the chief and Detective Catcher. All wore somber expressions.