Chapter Sixteen Gill really wanted to party with Miss Gina. From the smell of the lemonade she was drinking, it appeared she was already ahead of him. Wyatt and Luke fixed him up at breakfast, introduced him to more people than Gill thought a small town could hold, then brought him out to Miss Gina’s, where he’d spent most of the day pulling boxes out of the bed-and-breakfast’s attic. It appeared that Miss Gina held no concern for putting a complete stranger to work within seconds of meeting him. “Are we looking for anything in particular?” Luke asked, wiping the grime from his forehead. “I have a box of old photographs, the kind captured on film and not some camera phone. Felix was asking for old images of this place for Zoe’s show.” Apparently Zoe was some sort of famous chef who spent a fair amount of time filming her talents for those television food shows. Not that Gill had ever heard of her, or ever watched the food networks. From all the praise he’d heard since arriving at Miss
Chapter Seventeen Jo had two very different personalities, three if he was counting properly. She let her guard down around her friends, but even then she wasn’t the exact person he’d met on the East Coast. The whole person slowly came into focus. They’d returned from the high school after giving poor Drew the riot act on what he should and shouldn’t do. Gill was convinced that the kid knew their number. He knew they were all secretly laughing along with him and it was only a matter of years before they’d laugh about the whole thing over drinks. There were a couple more hours at the station, along with a drive through town and the city limits. When the clock was officially off, he and Jo returned to Miss Gina’s, where Gill had a culinary experience he’d never matched before. He had no idea who Zoe Brown was, but he had every intention of looking her up when he was back home. The woman could cook. Miss Gina managed to bring out a few photographs of all three of the girls when they were
Chapter Eighteen Gill moaned when Jo woke at the ass crack of dawn and put on her running shoes. “You can come with me.” He reached for her, pulled her completely clothed body on top of him. “I’d rather bench press you.” She gave his bicep a love bite. “The only bench press we have is at the high school, and even then, I doubt it would be much of a challenge for these.” When she pushed away, he released her. “I’ll find a Harley to swing around.” “Like the one you drove here?” “I’d probably drop it.” He wouldn’t. It was his most prized possession. The small house he’d bought in Eugene could go up in flames, but his bike . . . now that was another story. “Today is a wash and repeat from yesterday.” He was starting to see her frustration. “With less drama, I hope.” “That would be nice.” He leaned up on one arm, watched her gather her keys and a windbreaker. “You know I’ve been going over your father’s files.” Jo met his gaze. “I know. I assumed you hadn’t come to any conclusions or you wo
Chapter Nineteen Nerves swam like a school of fish chasing the leader in circles. Jo left the station early, made sure Glynis had the calls forwarded to her for the night. Gill had dropped Miss Gina off and pulled in the driveway shortly after Jo. Jo grilled, she didn’t cook. Outside of a couple of steaks and some vegetables she could toss on the barbeque, they’d have to do without. Doing the whole domestic thing was like trying to wear two left shoes. Uncomfortable. “I have beer, water, or milk,” Jo announced once Gill had returned from her backyard, where he had heated up the grill. “Milk is for breakfast.” Jo handed him a beer, twisted the cap off of one for herself. “Your dad’s cabin is every hunter’s dream.” “Are you a hunter?” she asked, wanting to get the pleasantries of his trip out of the way so she could determine what he’d learned. “No. From what I saw, your dad didn’t dedicate all his time up there to searching for venison.” “He’d bring back a deer once in a while. It wasn’
Chapter Twenty “Half the town was looking for that dog, Karl.” What a mess. What a fucking mess. Drew was holding a hysterical Tina in the backyard of one of the Emerys’ neighbors. Nearly every distance runner at River Bend High had shown up and needed to be kept back. Luke and Zoe were sitting with Cherie, keeping her from breaking down as much as they could. And Karl Emery stood beside Jo, hands on hips and words flying. “You shouldn’t have told the kids to look for the damn dog.” “Keep your voice down!” she said in a rough whisper. He stepped closer. “You’re overstepping your position, and now my kid is going to have nightmares for God only knows how long.” Jo’s eyes skirted over to Drew. The kid looked like he was keeping it together. Probably for Tina. Mr. Miller, Cherie’s brother, arrived with a giant bedsheet and proceeded to tack the thing up around the scene. Every time Jo’s sight landed on the dog, her stomach twisted. Jo put on her bitch voice, made sure Karl heard it. “Quit
Chapter Twenty-One “I’m being cheated out of my Jo time.” Jo listened to Mel’s complaint over a stack of colorful paper, scalloped scissors, and glitter that they were using to make name tags for the upcoming reunion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Your off time is either on the field at track meets or in the sheets with Gill.” Instead of denying the truth, or what had been the truth for the better part of a month, Jo poured glitter over the wet glue edging the paper she was working on. It smudged everywhere. Glitter and glue were not her thing. “You’d deny me my hookin’ up time?” Mel rubbed her still flat belly. “No.” Her denial was unconvincing. Jo made another attempt at glittering paper. “Why are we doing so many extra of these?” Yes, she was whining, no, she didn’t care. “It’s not extra.” “How is that possible?” The count was triple the normal graduating class. “The kids from Waterville were bused in because of the fire, remember?” The information rang a bell. “That’s
Chapter Twenty-Two “Who was my dad sleeping with?” Jo stared Miss Gina down and jumped right to the point. “Are we having this conversation without alcohol?” Jo pointed to the badge on her chest. “I am.” “I have guests. Let’s take this out back.” Out back referred to Miss Gina’s porch, which covered the span of the house overlooking the backyard and guesthouse that Gina herself used. Her skin prickled, like it did when a knock came to your door at two a.m. Instead of sitting, Jo leaned against the banister and took several deep breaths as Miss Gina made herself comfortable on a cushioned Adirondack chair. “Let me start by saying I don’t know who she was, just that there was someone.” Disappointment hit. “What do you know?” “You were in middle school. That preteen walking mess made worse by a lack of a woman in your life. I remember the first time Zoe convinced you to stop here. Something had upset you enough to make your friends want to take care of you. I soon learned that wasn’t the
Chapter Twenty-Three Drew lifted his leg up along the fence and leaned over it to stretch. The week sucked. Outside of Tina, there wasn’t one redeeming hour to remember. The week before was forgettable, too. “Drew?” He glanced over his shoulder and noticed Parker, a rival from Eugene, walking toward him. They’d often alternate between first and second in the one mile, ending with handshakes and better luck next times. “Hey.” Parker placed his leg along the fence for a similar stretch. “Wanna bet on who is going to win today?” “Is that kid from Sheraton here?” Sheraton High sat in South Eugene. Parker shook his head. “No. He’s out for the season.” “Injury?” “I heard drugs.” Drew switched legs. “It’s hard to run and smoke pot,” he said. “I heard it was something bigger.” Parker stretched his hamstrings. “Really?” “Someone said prescription stuff, then I heard morphine . . . or was it heroin?” Parker shook his head. “It wasn’t good, whatever it was.” “Jesus, what was he thinking?” “No clu
Chapter Twenty-Four Jo was aware of soft lips on the back of her shoulder. Gill. Even through closed eyelids she could tell the sun had barely started to rise. She moaned and burrowed deeper into her pillow. Gill’s teeth scraped her shoulder. I can get used to this. “You’re not asleep.” “Yes, I am,” she muttered. He kissed her again. She opened one eye, peeked over the shoulder he was claiming. “You’re dressed.” Gill rested his chin in her shoulder, the freshness of his breath, the soap on
his skin told her she’d slept through him getting up and taking a shower. “I have to leave.” “Why?” She rolled over, didn’t try to cover herself when the sheet slipped to reveal her naked breasts. Gill’s gaze wandered. “That Instagram account hit a hotspot. I’m meeting Shauna in twenty minutes.” Jo moaned, more than a little disappointed to have to share him. “Sorry.” He leaned down, kissed the top of one breast. “I understand.” “I don’t know when I’ll be back.” She glanced across the room at the dig
Chapter Twenty-Five Jo rested her head against the crook of her arms on her desk. The statements of Drew, Tina, and Cherie swam in her vision like the drops a doctor put in your eyes to dilate them. Only these drops didn’t make her see better . . . they blurred and diffused everything. She’d questioned the neighbors, the very people who had complained about the dogs barking. Every one of those neighbors had offered support to Cherie after Jezebel had been found. Not one of them was capable of taking a pet’s life as a vendetta. So who held the grudge? Footsteps at her office door had her jumping. Glynis was out for lunch and the sound wasn’t expected. “Karl?” Her deputy stared from the doorway. “When are you going to butt out of my kid’s life?” “What are you talking about?” “Drew is talking about joining the service . . . the marines. Sound familiar?” She opened her mouth only to have Karl cut her off. “Looks like your boyfriend talked him into it. Caroline is beside herself. Cried all
Chapter Twenty-Six Shauna slapped a piece of paper on Gill’s desk and did a little happy dance. “What’s this?” “My divorce will be final on the twenty-first.” “Congratulations?” he asked, a little surprised at her enthusiasm. “Hell, yeah. That bastard tried to go after half my retirement. Like he earned it by snoring in my bed for three years.” Gill had seen the full cycle of Shauna’s turmoil. First there were tears, then anger . . . now this. “I’m happy for you.” “Me, too. We need to celebrate.” Gill glanced at the paper again, the date ringing in his head. “I’ll be in River Bend on the twenty-first. Promised Jo I’d be around for the class reunion.” “I’ll be celebrating for a month. After?” “Of course.” Shauna swiped the paper from his desk. “Marriage is overrated.” “Is it?” She paused, curbed her excitement. “Except for Jo. I mean, Jo’s perfect for you. I knew that long before I sent her to Marly’s.” “Sent her?” Shauna batted her eyelashes in fake innocence. “You didn’t think that wa
Chapter Twenty-Seven “Coach Ward wants us training. So we’re running like she’s here riding our ass.” Drew didn’t expect an argument, and he didn’t get one. They’d slacked the first two days Jo was in the hospital. A few of them camped outside the hospital, waiting for permission to visit her. She looked as bad as everyone said she did. Worse. Drew gave her shit about her driving skills and had her laughing. Making her smile was the only reward he wanted. It didn’t escape him that the car she’d been driving had the same recall as his dad’s. It could have easily been his father in that hospital bed. Drew hated that for a brief second he’d wished it was. The feeling didn’t last. Especially when his father acted guilty about the whole thing. When they’d visited Jo, his father was visibly upset. “Let’s take Lob Hill,” Tina suggested. Gustavo moaned. “Bite me. C’mon. Lob Hill, then our normal. We’ll send her a picture of us up there and make her proud,” Tina said. Drew liked the way his gir
Chapter Twenty-Eight “How is it you’re still here?” Jo asked on her third night home. “I’m the night shift,” Gill told her as he tucked her into the crook of his arm once they climbed into bed for the night. “You have to admit, I’m a decent pillow.” “You’re hard as a rock.” He kissed the top of her head. “You love it.” “I do. But seriously, you have a job, a home.” “Shauna has it covered.” Jo wasn’t convinced. “I can’t keep you away forever.” “Yes, you can.” She looked up at him. “Gill.” “My boss understands. Everything is okay.” He closed his eyes. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” Gill nodded without apology. “Gill!” “It’s okay.” She hated being placated. “Gill!” He opened his eyes and sighed. “Okay, here’s the truth. You ready for it?” The tone of his voice suggested maybe she wasn’t. She said yes anyway. “I told him the woman I’ve grown to care about more than life itself needed me. And that if I had to take a leave of absence to watch over you, I would.” Gill’s words stole her
Chapter Twenty-Nine Jo sat across from Gill, her kitchen table separating them, and listened. Before he was finished, she felt sick to her stomach. A serious desire to empty what dinner she had managed to eat sat close to the surface. “Maybe the mechanic is wrong.” Gill held her hand. “He’s not wrong. I saw the lines with my own eyes. The holes were large enough to warrant leaks, not big enough to dump all the fluid in one sitting. It was deliberate, Jo.” “Why?” “We’re going to find out.” Someone had tried to kill her. The sling holding her left arm and her inability to run a block, much less the five daily miles she’d run before, were evidence that whoever that someone was, they’d nearly succeeded. “When I was in the academy, the other cadets would talk about wearing a badge, how it was a target just asking for someone to aim a weapon at them. I never felt like that. I figured my father’s death was isolated. Something that involved him . . . not this badge.” “There’s no way of knowing
Chapter Thirty Much as Jo didn’t like the thought of being there, Gill convinced her to take a trip to the cabin. The last five miles were slow, bumpy, and nerve-racking. “When was the last time you were up here?” She clenched her fists. “Once after my dad’s death, and another time once I was elected.” “Twice?” She nodded once. Gill placed a hand on her knee. “You see things I don’t,” he told her, “or I wouldn’t have suggested you come.” Jo closed her eyes and mentally kicked herself. “I should be over this by now.” “You haven’t had the opportunity to move on.” Jo covered his hand with hers. “Thank you.” “For what?” “Getting me.” The cabin came into view as they rounded the bend. Outside of the pictures shown to her from the ladies who volunteered to clean the place every season, she hadn’t experienced the vacation home for years. Spring did wonderful things to the backdrop of the cabin. Wildflowers bloomed along the west side with new, bright green growth on the shrubs on the east. It
Chapter Thirty-One “I’m not convinced it’s Karl,” Gill said to Shauna when she met him beside the pole vaulters. “Me either. He’s a bit of a douche, but I’m not sure he’s Mr. Sociopath.” “Why a douche?” Shauna hid behind her sunglasses, her eyes following the kid pushing off the pole and hitting the bar as he went up. “Anyone who can’t muster up some excitement for his kid at a state meet is an ass.” “It’s not his kid.” “Yeah, well . . . he may know that, his wife certainly knows it, but the kid doesn’t. If you’re going to pretend, do it all the way. Don’t screw up a kid because of your wife’s sins. If Karl knows or doesn’t know, he’s still a douche.” Shauna was going to be a great mom someday, Gill decided. “Your take on Karl?” “Hard to put my finger on. He’s jealous of Jo’s relationship with Drew . . . or he’s mad they’re close. Which actually should make him a suspect. But every time my head goes there, I think it’s too damn convenient. Too neat.” “I hate when you think the way I do
Chapter Thirty-Two “The X-rays show healing ribs and clavicle.” Jo relented to a trip to the ER, so long as it wasn’t in the back of an ambulance. The shot to the chest hit dead center. Good thing the shooter wasn’t aiming for her head. “Great, then I can go.” Jo swung her feet over the edge of the gurney to do just that. “Not so fast, Sheriff. You took a big punch. In light of the fact you’re still recovering from a collapsed lung—” “Recovered.” The ER doctor stood with his hands on his hips, determination in his eyes. “Your sweatshirt says track and field. Do you run, Sheriff?” Jo looked down at herself. “Don’t I look like I run?” “How many miles did you run today?” His point hit home. “I’m okay, Doc. Sitting here pretending to be sick is just going to piss everyone off.” Besides, she had a cop killer to catch. “Can you give us a few minutes?” Gill
said to the doctor. He closed the door behind him. “You don’t want to stay in the hospital—” “I’m not staying in the hospital.” “Right no
Chapter Thirty-Three Drew pulled the car around from the hospital parking lot and waited for his mother. While sitting in the pickup line, his head was buried in his phone, texting. The group text included Tina, Tim, and the rest of the cross-country team. This is wrong. Someone shot our coach! Drew sent out. No one wants to kill a coach, someone shot our Sheriff. Tim texted. Yeah, Drew figured that out. “Hey, honey.” Drew looked out the passenger window to see his mom standing there. “Want me to drive?” he asked. She opened the door, dropped her purse in the seat. “Sure, that’s fine—” she stopped with one foot inside. “I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” His mom closed the car door and Drew went back to his phone. The group was going back and forth with their idea of a round-the-clock babysitting service for Coach Ward once she recovered. His mother’s phone buzzed from the passenger seat. Ignoring it, he went back to his own conversation. The buzz a second and third time surprise
Chapter Thirty-Four As Gill led Stan from the hospital floor, Jo allowed the real doctor to check her arm and vital signs before pulling on her clothes and letting her best friends hug the life out of her. “Damn it, Jo. Don’t you ever, ever do this again.” Zoe shook her finger at her and then hugged her a second time. “Watch the arm, cupcake.” “Sorry.” Zoe pulled back but still didn’t let her go. “I hope you have good insurance,” Mel dug in. “You’ve been in more hospitals than me, and I’m knocked up.” In the last month Mel had started to actually show. “I miss you guys,” Jo said. “We’ve been right here.” Zoe pushed a lock of hair behind her shoulder. “I know. I just haven’t been able to take a breath in what feels like forever.” Mel rolled her eyes. “You might wanna stop poking holes in your lungs then.” Jo looked down at her arm that sat in a new sling. Her shoulder stung like a bitch. “So Stan—” Mel looked over at the agents who had pulled Caroline aside. Karl stood by Drew as questi
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