Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset

by T. K. Chapin

“I found Jesus. A real relationship with Jesus. Even though I’m locked up, I feel freer than I ever have in my life.” He sat back in his chair and flashed a cheeky grin. “I found Jesus, Miley. He’s real!”

  “You found Jesus? I thought you had angst.”

  He shrugged. “I did. I did grow up in the church, but I had no idea what a relationship with God really meant or looked like. I see more people in here praying and going to church than I ever did out there. Some of these guys are real Christians.” His eyes began to water as he looked down and ran a finger in circles on the table in front of him. He looked back at me. “My only regret is I didn’t discover Him before now.”

  Adjusting in my seat, I sat a little straighter and the tears slowed. It warmed my heart that he’d found a relationship with God. It was a good thing. A great thing. “I’m happy for you, Hunter.” My eyes started watering again. “I still want you free though.”

  “Zeek came by and told me yesterday the only difference between sad people and happy people is that happy people choose to be that—to be happy. Those miserable people you see walking around and crying about everything refuse to change their thinking.” Hunter pointed to his head. “It’s in our minds. The war starts and ends in the mind, Miley.”

  Our time was up.

  Hunter kissed two fingers and pressed them against the glass as he stood up. As he walked away from the booth, I stared blankly at the smears left by his fingers. Hunter was doing great, and he was locked up. It was weird, but I was glad for him.

  Leaving the jail, as I drove down the street by the police station, I saw Detectives Brown and Barnes with a man handcuffed and his hoodie pulled up and draped over his head. They were leading him inside as a reporter was tagging along near them with a camera in the guy’s face. I couldn’t get a good glance at the person they were leading into the police station. Hurrying over to the diner, I went in and turned on a local channel to see if there was a breaking report. There wasn’t. Hurrying over to Melanie at the cash wrap, I grabbed the newspaper on the counter and scanned it for a news story. Nothing. She was trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t hear anything she was saying. I left and went back to my apartment.

  Sitting on the edge of my coffee table as my legs bounced up and down, I waited for the news segment that’d be on at noon. It was a long three hours until the news, but I stayed put in case of any breaking news reports. I waited and waited, bouncing between the couple of different channels that had news on at noon. Then, when the news finally started their broadcast, they said there was an update on the Diamond Lake Killer case. Then they went to other stories, making me wait. Hunter’s case was more important than squirrels skiing down the mountain, but that’s how they keep you tuned in during the entire broadcast. They toss a bunch of meaningless stories at you while you wait for the one that matters. Then, it finally came on.

  “A new person of interest emerges in the Diamond Lake Killer case after a source directs detectives to new evidence.” The video from the reporter and camera guy I saw at the police station blinked across the screen, but the hood was pulled down far enough that the face was entirely blocked. The reporter began rehashing the same story information that I had heard a million times before, and I could feel that glimmer of hope return to me. Maybe, just maybe, they found the man setting him up? I reached for the phone to call Hunter, but I remembered I couldn’t.

  I had to tell someone though, so I went and got in my car and drove over to Luke’s house. I knew Luke would be thrilled. Arriving at his door, I gave it a firm knock and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer it. The air was cold, but the snow hadn’t returned since the rainy day we had a few days prior.

  Luke’s grandma answered the door.

  “Oh, hey. You’re up and moving.”

  “Yes. You here for Luke?” she asked, looking confused.

  I nodded.

  She pointed toward the hallway. “Back left door.” The movements of the grandmother were slow and looked painful, but I was happy to see she was moving around freely. He must have been happy about that! Two great things for him! I thought to myself as I walked down the dimly lit hallway to his room. Pushing the door open, I found Luke shoving clothes into a duffel bag. Right away, I noticed his hoodie was the same color as the one on the person they took in for questioning.

  “Hey.”

  He jumped as he turned around and his eyes went wide. “Hey.” He looked behind me and furrowed his eyebrows, then relaxed them. “What’s up, Miley?”

  “Were you the one they took in for questioning?” I asked, stepping closer as I shook my head. “But why—”

  “I should have been honest with you,” he replied, stepping closer as he touched my arm. “I’ve been smoking pot. It helps me with the stress. My dealer was picked up, and my grandma’s house address was listed in the notebook—he kept a list of clients in a notebook, I guess. Idiot.”

  “Oh . . .” My tone dripped with the disappointment I felt inside. “No drugs are okay, Luke. Why would you do that?”

  He laughed with no humor in it. “That right there is why I’m leaving. I’m going back to Mom’s house. I can’t deal with this. The accusations, the judgments. And what drug dealer keeps a record of his sales written down? Amateurs.” He turned around, muttering to himself, and shoved a white shirt into his bag. Pressing my hand against my forehead, I shook my head, trying to process it all.

  He walked over to the closet and reached up onto a shelf. As I watched him, my eyes caught a picture behind his shoulder on the mirror. It looked like the one that Hunter had on his mantle. Staring at it a moment longer, I realized it was the same one. Hunter’s face was scratched out. My heart began to pound. Why would he take that? Why was Hunter’s face scratched out? Luke turned and caught me looking at it.

  Letting out a sigh, he shrugged and tossed the duffel bag back onto the bed. My heart cleaved to my ribcage as the pieces fell into place. He shook his head, biting his lip for a moment as silence was shared between us.

  “Great. You know what? This is a relief.” He laughed. “I’ve been working so, so hard, and it’s nice someone knows now.” He stepped closer, and his eyes carried a darkness to them as I took a step back toward the door. My heart beat harder and my throat tightened. I turned to the door to leave, but he moved over to it and slammed it shut. “It would have been so much easier if you didn’t come into the picture, Miley, and befriend him. Jeez. If you would have just minded your own business.” He laughed again. “But no, hopeless romantic Miley has to spend all her free time chasing after clues, trying to figure out who did it. For some stupid reason, you believed him.” A quick flick of his wrist and he smashed me across the face with the back of his hand.

  I fell back against the door and dropped to the floor. I was hurt, but not bad enough to lie limp as I was. I was waiting for the perfect moment. He continued to describe how he did everything. The poison in the sugar, the feeding of drugs to Frito, even the extent of sneaking in and lifting the knife while we were sleeping on the couch.

  Then, he squatted down near my face to look me in the eyes as I lay on my side. “Hunter let my brother die, Miley. Alex was supposed to be done, but Hunter had to talk him into re-upping, and guess what? My brother is dead. He died, Miley!” His face was a ball of fiery anger. He was glued to the hatred he felt, and I saw my chance, my opportunity. Cocking my fist back, I let it explode with all my strength into his groin, sending him toppling over. Leaping up, I headed for the door.

  His hand found my ankle, stopping me from leaving the room.

  I screamed for help, but there was no reply.

  He laughed. “Don’t you love remotes for hearing aids?” His other hand found my other leg as I tried kicking him, and he yanked both legs toward him, tripping me up and sending me crashing to the floor.

  Luke pulled me toward him, and I freed a leg, sending a boot straight into his face. Scrambling to my feet, I ran down the hallway and out the front door. Trembling as I got out to my
car, I saw him in the doorway of the house. He darted down the walkway, and I knew I had no time to start the car, so I started running down the street as I called 9-1-1.

  “9-1-1, what is your emergency?” A woman’s calm voice asked.

  Huffing for air as I tried to speak, I told her I was running down Juniper away from Luke Osgood trying to kill me. She said she’s sending cops right away. As the sirens kicked on in the distance, Luke slowed down and veered off the road, disappearing into a yard. Stopping as the cops made it to me, I tried to catch my breath. I explained all that had gone on. A couple of the cops set off on foot and in patrol cars to find Luke.

  Brody arrived shortly after. I was relieved to see him as he got out of his cop car and came over to me. His eyes were glistening with tears as he gave me a hug. “Miley.” Brody’s words were shaky and his eyes watered. “Are you okay?” he asked, pulling back from our hug. His hand found the cut on my face.

  Shaking my head, my eyes began to water as shock started to wane. “I was so scared, Brody.”

  He took his jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders, then he wrapped an arm around me. “You’re going to be okay now, Miley.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Luke was captured within the hour and booked down at the Newport jail. The questioning he had been brought in for was indeed for drugs, but it was for the purchase of GHB, the same drug found in the sugar, not pot like he’d tried to lie about. Though the connection was there between Luke’s charges and the case of the Diamond Lake Killer, it was his own decision to run that led to his ultimate conviction. The second set of partial prints that was found on the knife had now been confirmed to be that of Luke’s. When questioned by the police, Luke admitted to the staging of the entire framing. He told all in the hopes of finding a bit more favor with the judge in conjunction with his insanity plea, but the judge didn’t buy it. He was sentenced to life in prison.

  As I waited out in the lobby of the jail for Hunter’s final paperwork to be processed that day, I was in a constant stream of prayer and thankfulness. Tears moistened my cheeks throughout the entire day and the last couple of hours up until his release. Never did I feel so much love as I did in that moment. Not because I was in love with Hunter, but because I was in love with God. He knew Hunter would be freed today. He knew that ultimately, justice would be served. Always weaving and threading the fabric of our lives, God has shown me time and time again just how big He truly is. God doesn’t promise it’ll always work out, but He does promise He loves His children.

  The hopelessness I felt on more than one occasion during this time was a failure on my part. Inability to trust in God, and not trust in man. When the door buzzed and the officer pushed it open, it was as if time slowed down and Hunter and I were taken into another reality. I ran to him and he lifted me up in his arms.

  He was free.

  Caught up in the moment, we shared a kiss. It wasn’t awkward at all. We kissed again, then he set me down. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows up. “I can’t believe I’m out. I can’t believe it was Luke.”

  “Me either . . .” A rugged voice said behind me. Turning around, Hunter and I both looked at an older man I didn’t recognize.

  Hunter hurried over and hugged the old man, and then I saw an anchor tattooed on the old man’s arm. I realized it was Zeek, the vet he had learned so much from. Seeing the two of them share a moment together, I was warmed by the interaction. Helping Hunter was something I did on the outside, but that man helped Hunter on the inside, in more ways than one. We all chatted for a little bit about the craziness of the case and then walked out to the parking lot. The vet got Hunter to agree to come to the VA in Spokane on Thursday, and then he went over and got in his car to leave. As we got in my car, Hunter asked, “You know that guy lives clear over in Coeur d’Alene?”

  “Wow . . . That’s about a forty minute drive.”

  “I Know.” Hunter grinned and buckled his seatbelt. Turning to me, he licked his lips. “You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out. I wouldn’t have helped me the way you did. You believed me and stuck by my side when nobody else would.”

  Leaning over the armrest, I framed his face in my palm and then kissed him gently on the lips. “I care for you, Hunter.”

  “I care for you too, Miley.” He smiled.

  It was getting late in the afternoon, and my stomach growled in hunger.

  “Me too,” he said, followed by a cheeky smile and laugh as he looked at my stomach. He was so bubbly and full of life. I loved it.

  Going inside Dixie’s Diner, I saw Serenah up at the cash wrap. She had an apron on, just like back in the day. Snickering a little, I walked up to her and put my hands on the counter.

  “I got your voicemail. I’m so happy, Hunter,” she said.

  “Thank you, I am too.”

  She reached a handout and put it on mine. “I was going to wait until next week when you started, but I’ll go ahead and give it to you early.” She reached a hand under the till and pulled out a pamphlet. “It’s an employer program to help with college. I enrolled Dixie’s Diner to it so you can go.”

  My eyes instantly welled with tears and I covered my mouth with a hand. “Really?”

  She nodded. “And it won’t cut into your hours. You can work the schedule so you can get off early and come in late if needed. I’ll help where I need to while Charlie runs the inn on those days. We want to see you succeed in life, even if it’s not Dixie’s Diner, Miley.”

  Hurrying around the cash wrap, I hugged her tightly as tears ran down my cheeks.

  That evening, while we were watching a movie at Hunter’s house, a knock came on the door. Hunter sat up, alert, and glanced over at me. I’m sure his heart was racing just as fast as mine. When I went to stand up, Hunter touched my hand gently, indicating he would answer it. Going over to the door, he stole a glance through the peephole. Then he looked over at me, mouthing, “It’s Terrance.”

  “Answer it,” I mouthed back and motioned with my hand for him to do so.

  Opening the door, he greeted Terrance with a level-toned, “Hello.”

  Terrance was rubbing the back of his neck and looking down a lot as he fumbled words over one another. “Hey, man. I just wanted to come and clear the air with you. I know I said some things on the news that wasn’t true, and I just . . .” He looked up and saw me. His words aligned quickly. “I’m truly sorry. Thank you for what you did for our country.” Terrance turned and booked it back down the walkway to leave. Hunter had a look of confusion on his face as he shut the door and walked back over to the couch. Shooting a suspicious look my way, he asked, “Did you say something to him?”

  “Maybe . . .”

  “Miley . . .”

  “Okay, okay. I might have seen him at the jail when he was visiting someone today. I might or might not have strongly suggested he’d better get his butt over here and apologize once you were out.”

  He laughed and scooted over to me on the couch. Wrapping his arm around the back of my neck, I turned to him and looked into his eyes. The warmth of his chestnut brown eyes made all the difficulties in getting him back worth every painful second. Leaning in, he gently kissed my lips and I fell against his. We might have been moving a little fast for many people’s standards, but I felt murder, framing, and wrongful accusations have a way of bringing people together quickly. I knew I’d spend the rest of my life with Hunter, and it all started one Tuesday afternoon when I brought him lunch.

  The End.

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  One Wednesday Dinner

  Diamond Lake Series: Book 7

  By:

  T.K. Chapin

  www.tkchapin.com

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for choosing to read One Wednesday Dinner. I wrote this book to help people who are going through the unexpected. Often, we feel as if the whole world is oblivious to what a difficult time we are having, but there’s hope. God knows. He also understa
nds and can bring His divine comfort to our doorstep. God is working behind the scenes daily. This story centers on a man who has an unexpected house guest. My hope for this story is that it blesses you as much as it did me while writing it.

  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

  Romans 8:28

  When we use the Scriptures as a blueprint for our life, blessings follow. God doesn’t promise everything will be perfect, but He does promise to lift us up when we fall. If you need help aligning your life with the Bible, I recommend picking up a free thirty-day devotional that will be delivered to your inbox to get you jump-started. To claim, visit tkchapin.com/devotional

  Chapter 1

  WIPING THE STEAM AWAY FROM the mirror, I spied a few gray hairs lingering along the side of my head. They weren't there the day before, but I had found a few sprouting up in the last year. Leaning forward as I let out a heavy sigh, I inspected them. Sure, I was only twenty-eight years old and recently became the Newport Police Chief, but I had envisioned so much more for my life by this time—a wife, kids, and maybe even a German shepherd that tracked in mud on occasion. The years were speeding by like a river of time emptying into eternity, and I was left wondering what God had in store for me.

  Continuing to get ready for the day down at the precinct, I shaved and slapped on a bit of Old Spice before getting the rest of my gear. As I fastened my duty belt across my waist in my bedroom, my doorbell unexpectedly rang. Sprinting through my mind the conversation I had with Charlie Dillard the day before, I wondered if he had been confused. He was due over at my house that evening at seven. It being a quarter after seven in the morning, I suspected that was the case. Charlie and I were working on building a dog house for Dylan and Charlotte's new puppy.