by Lynn LaFleur
“True, but I don’t think so. I’ve been following them for months. They started in Missouri and have been moving southwest. Lanville is southwest of Tolar.” Cort tapped the map again. “They’ll hit here in the next few days. I’d bet my badge on it.”
It terrified him to think of the robbers hitting Spencer’s while Paige was there. They hit at night after the stores closed and Spencer’s closed at ten, but a churning in his gut told him Paige could be in danger.
He cared too much about her to let anyone hurt her.
“I have a meeting scheduled with all my deputies this afternoon.” Brad set his empty mug on the table. “I’ll assign some extra patrols at night.”
“I’ll continue to keep watch, too,” Cort said. “A new guy still trying to get the layout of the town shouldn’t raise any suspicion.”
“You think that big black Harley doesn’t draw attention?” Lonnie asked. “Especially if you take the same route all the time?”
Lonnie had a good point. “Quade told me I could use his pickup any time. I’ll alternate between the two.”
With a plan finalized, Brad and Lonnie left Quade’s house. Cort straightened up the kitchen, not wanting anything amiss when Quade brought Eve here tonight. He’d told Cort this morning Eve planned to spend the weekend with him. Cort offered to get a room at the motel or one of the B-and-Bs in town, but Quade told him not to be silly. It wasn’t as if he and Eve planned to run around the house naked. Then he’d grinned and said at least not while he had a guest.
Still, Cort decided to be absent for a good part of the weekend. He would help Talia and Dylan with their yard sale tomorrow, and visit Spencer’s two or three times to check on Paige. He planned to ask her to spend Sunday with him, doing whatever she wanted to do.
Cort wandered through the house, making sure he didn’t leave a mess anywhere, while thinking about Paige. He’d met her one week ago today, yet it seemed as if he’d known her most of his life. He felt so comfortable with her, so at ease. That had never happened with a woman.
He hated that he hadn’t been honest with her about his reason for being in Lanville, and the fact that he’d be leaving soon, but he had no choice. The fewer people who knew his true profession, the better.
“That one is two dollars,” Talia said when Paige held up the small bowl. Paige nodded before marking the price on a piece of masking tape and applying the tape to the bottom of the bowl. She couldn’t be here tomorrow to help her friend at the yard sale since she had to work at Spencer’s, but she could price items until midnight if necessary.
Pricing items that Talia and Dylan hoped to sell didn’t require Paige to concentrate, which left her mind free to think about Cort. She couldn’t get over the way he’d tensed when she’d told him about the local robberies, or when he’d snapped at her when she’d asked him what he’d done on the two days prior to Wednesday. She knew he hadn’t been working. Some subtle questions to Emma when she came into Spencer’s let Paige know he’d gotten his schedule Monday morning and Emma hadn’t seen him again until Thursday morning. She’d originally assigned him to work in the kitchen at The Inn Wednesday morning, but changed his schedule to Thursday to give him the cinnamon roll lesson.
Paige supposed he could’ve gone to Garland to get more of his personal items.
Or he could’ve been in other towns, committing robberies.
Paige rubbed her forehead. She had no reason to think Cort could be behind anything illegal, except for the knot in her stomach and the cold chill that kept racing up and down her spine.
He still hadn’t told her about his past. Granted, they hadn’t spent much time together, and most of the time they had spent together had been in bed. They’d communicated with their bodies, not their mouths.
He’d come into Spencer’s both yesterday and today, but hadn’t stayed long for he said he didn’t want to interrupt her work. He’d called her last night from Café Crystal before she went to bed to say good night to her. Yet he still hadn’t given her his phone number or made any plans to get together.
“Here,” Talia said right before something cold bumped Paige’s arm. She looked at her friend to see her holding two bottles of Dr Pepper. “Break time.”
“We still have a ton of stuff to price.”
“Stuff can wait. We need to talk.”
Assuming Talia needed to confide in a friend, Paige set down her Sharpie and tape and followed Talia to the side of the garage, where she’d set up two folding chairs. “What’s up?” Paige asked, unscrewing the cap on her drink.
“You tell me. I don’t know where you’ve been tonight, but it hasn’t been here.”
Paige didn’t realize she’d been that transparent. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“Like?” Talia gently prompted.
“Like my new job. There’s a ton of work that goes with being manager. Clay told me there would be, but I didn’t know how much until I started doing it. The hot dog machine isn’t working. The company promised they’d send a repairman out by nine tomorrow morning. I hope so. There’s a music festival in town and we can’t serve hot dogs. That’s a lot of money to lose.”
Talia’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what you were thinking about. A new job wouldn’t put that sad look in your eyes.”
Her friend had always been much too observant. Perhaps confiding in Talia would make Paige feel better. “I was thinking about Cort.”
“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” Talia asked, then grinned. Her grin faded when Paige didn’t return it. “What’s wrong?”
“He won’t talk to me. I know he has two siblings and used to live in Garland, but that’s it. We’ve made love twice, but I still know next to nothing about him.”
“Paige, you only met him a week ago. You gotta give the guy more time to open up. Men are horrible about sharing their feelings. I’ve had lots of experience with that problem with Dylan.”
“Yeah, but don’t guys love to talk about themselves? Shouldn’t he have told me something about his life before he moved here? For all I know, he could be the one robbing the convenience stores.”
Talia’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I don’t know if I am or not.”
“You don’t honestly think Cort could be one of the robbers.”
“The timeline fits. He shows up in Lanville the day after the Glen Rose store is hit. Then he goes missing on Monday and Tuesday, which was when the stores in Walnut Springs and Tolar were hit. Maybe he’s using Lanville as a base to hit the stores in all the surrounding towns. Maybe he’s planning a bigger hit.” Paige’s eyes widened and her breath hitched. “Like Spencer’s.”
“Okay, stop it right now, Paige Denslow. Just because Cort hasn’t told you the name of his childhood pet doesn’t mean he’s hiding a life of crime from you. You can’t accuse him of something so horrible without proof.” She reached over and squeezed Paige’s arm. “Talk to him. Don’t give up until he talks back to you. I had to almost pry the information out of Dylan about his past, but I was determined not to give up until he realized he’s nothing like his abusive father and would never hurt me.” She squeezed Paige’s arm again. “Do you love him?”
“I care about him a lot. I think that caring could turn into love if we had more time together. He’s charming and witty and amazing in bed.”
Talia grinned again. “That’s always a plus.”
“He hasn’t even given me his phone number. Doesn’t that prove he has something to hide?”
“No, it proves he forgot. The next time you see him, shove your phone in his hand and demand he enter his number in your contacts list.”
“And if he won’t?”
“Then he isn’t worth your time,” Talia said, her voice softening. “Don’t give your heart to a man who doesn’t want it.”
It worried Paige to realize she may have already done exactly that.
Cort casually strolled to the back of Spencer’s to check the security cameras a
nd lights on the outside of the building. The lights didn’t burn during the daytime, but he’d driven along the narrow dirt road behind Spencer’s at night and they lit up the entire area brighter than the sun at noon.
A good deterrent to thieves. Except some of the other stores they’d hit also had security cameras and lights, which were somehow disabled long enough for the robbers to get in and out of the stores without any detection.
His stomach churned and tumbled with anxiety. He knew the robbers would hit Spencer’s, if not tonight then tomorrow night. The three-day music festival in town provided plenty of cover for strangers to blend in and meant lots of extra cash for all the businesses. Cort assumed the owner deposited the day’s earnings every day, but since the two banks in town closed at noon on Saturdays, he would have to keep any income in Spencer’s—presumably in a safe—until Monday morning.
He wanted to tell Paige his identity and why he’d come to Lanville. Yet if he did that and made her suspicious of every stranger who entered Spencer’s, she could accidentally tip off the robbers should they decide to enter during the day to check the layout. Even though they’d previously hit stores at night, they might decide to go ahead and hit Spencer’s then. And at gunpoint. He couldn’t take the chance of anyone getting hurt.
A vacant house sat on a tree-covered lot right across the street from Spencer’s. He could hide there tonight and watch the store after his shift ended at Café Crystal.
For now, he needed to see Paige.
At least a dozen people wandered the aisles of Spencer’s, selecting chips and drinks and sandwiches or hot dogs. Paige stood behind one of the cash registers, Lesa behind another, and an older woman he hadn’t met stood behind the third. They all had at least three people in line to pay.
Cort stood to the side, out of the way, and watched Paige handle her customers. She smiled and greeted each one warmly. One good-looking guy openly flirted with her, which raised the hair on the back of Cort’s neck and had him clenching his fists. No other man had the right to flirt with Paige.
He heard the guy say something about seeing her later at the music festival, to which Paige replied that she had to close the store tonight, so wouldn’t make it to the festival. The guy gave her a you-don’t-know-what-you’re-missing look before he sauntered away.
Cort wanted to punch him, the conceited ass.
He grabbed a bottle of Pepsi from one of the refrigerated sections and got in line at Paige’s register. She glanced at him while waiting on her customer. A pleased smile spread over her lips, a much bigger one than she’d given the ass. Then it quickly faded and doubt filled her eyes, leaving him to wonder what happened.
“Hey,” he said once he reached the front of the line.
“Hey,” she returned, not nearly as friendly as he expected.
“Is something wrong?”
She didn’t speak for several seconds, then shook her head. “Just tired. It’s been really busy.”
“I noticed. Can you take a short break?”
She looked around the store—he assumed to check how many customers remained—then nodded. “Lesa, Dolores, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay, boss,” Lesa said.
She led him away from the checkout counter and toward the back, where he assumed the offices were located. She stopped in front of a door marked PRIVATE, crossed her arms over her stomach. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say hi and ask when you get off tonight.”
“I have to close, so I won’t get out of here until close to midnight.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all. “You’ll be here alone?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking?”
“I don’t like the idea of you being here all alone that late at night.”
“I’ve closed lots of times. I have Lonnie’s number programmed into my phone. He’s one of the deputies and on the fire department with me. If I have any trouble at all, he’ll be here in a flash.”
Naturally she would describe Lonnie’s position for she had no idea Cort already knew him. It relieved Cort to know Lonnie would respond quickly, yet he also wanted Paige to call him. He hadn’t purposely neglected to give her his phone number, but kept forgetting to do so. He would rectify that right now. “Do you have your cell with you?”
“Yes.”
He held out his hand, palm up. Paige tugged it from her front pocket and laid it on his palm. Cort quickly located her contacts, added his name and number to them. “Call me if you feel uncomfortable about anything, okay?”
She replaced her phone in her pocket, crossed her arms over her stomach again. Cort recognized the action as putting distance between them. “Are you sure something isn’t wrong?”
She looked at the floor for a moment before looking back at his face. “Why did it take you a week to give me your phone number?”
“It wasn’t on purpose, Paige. I just forgot.”
When she looked away again, he placed his finger beneath her chin and turned her face toward him so she’d meet his gaze. He needed to tell her the truth and trust that she wouldn’t panic if someone suspicious entered the store. Her safety meant everything to him. “Paige, there’s something I—”
Lesa stuck her head around the corner. “Paige, it’s getting really busy again.”
“Be right there.” Once Lesa left, Paige took Cort’s hand from beneath her chin and squeezed it. “I have to go.”
“I can come by after my shift and keep you company. I get off at ten-thirty.”
Her pleased smile made warmth spread through him. “I’d like that.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
The churning and tumbling in his stomach came back with a vengeance, even though he’d made arrangements to be with her after Spencer’s closed. Something would happen tonight. He had no doubt about it.
10
Cort glanced at his cell phone on the raised ledge above his work station. 9:46. Only fourteen more minutes until Café Crystal officially closed. Diners still lingered in the restaurant, but they would soon finish their meals and leave. He’d already started his cleanup routine, so should be finished and out of here in an hour.
“How’re you doing?” Emma asked from behind him.
He smiled at her over his shoulder. “Great. Almost finished.”
“Not quite. Shara wasn’t feeling well and I sent her home. She usually helps me with the Sunday brunch advance preparation. I need you to stay a while longer and take her place. Okay?”
The words “I can’t” formed in his mouth, but Cort didn’t utter them. As far as Emma knew, this was his only job and he couldn’t do anything to blow it. “Sure. No problem.”
Once Emma walked away, Cort blew out a heavy breath. Damn it. He should be on his way to Spencer’s in fourteen minutes, not in the middle of making cinnamon rolls or chopping vegetables for omelets.
He picked up his cell to call Paige.
Paige rolled her neck to relieve some of the tightness. She’d been inputting on the computer for almost two hours, and her neck and shoulders screamed at her. Normally, she could’ve done a lot of the weekly paperwork today, but she’d had to work in the store since they had so many customers. She could either tough it out and finish everything in another hour or so, or come back tomorrow on her only day off and work.
She opted for toughing it out.
She picked up her cup of Dr Pepper, only to discover nothing left in it but a few ice cubes. Another shot of caffeine would help her get to the end. She started to rise from the desk when her cell phone rang. A quick glance at the display showed her Cort’s name.
Her heartbeat sped up at the sight of his name. She’d been thrilled when he’d entered his phone number in her contacts list. She took that to mean he had nothing to hide from her.
She pressed the button to accept the call. “Are you on your way here?”
“I wish. I’m helping Emma with tomorrow’s brunch preparations, so I’ll
be later than I thought. Everything okay there?”
“Everything’s fine. I’m trying to get all the paperwork done so I don’t have to come in tomorrow.”
“Do you have plans for tomorrow?”
“Nothing specific. I just don’t want to see the inside of Spencer’s.”
Cort chuckled. “I can understand that. So, since you aren’t busy, how about if we go to a movie and out to dinner in Fort Worth?”
That sounded wonderful. “I’d like that.”
“Is there a movie playing you want to see?”
“There are a couple I wouldn’t mind—”
Paige stopped when the lights went out. Her contentment at talking to Cort disappeared in a flash, to be replaced by fear. “Cort,” she whispered, “the lights just went out.”
“Get out of there, Paige,” he ordered in a stern tone. “Right now.”
It could simply be a power outage, but she didn’t think so. Cort’s demand to leave the store sounded like a good idea.
“Stay on the phone with me,” he said.
“No problem there.” She reached for the handle of the bottom desk drawer where she kept her purse, but froze when she heard the warning tone that signaled someone opened the back door. “Someone’s coming in the back door.”
“Shit,” Cort muttered. “Okay, Paige, listen to me. Are you listening?”
“Yes,” she said in a small voice. She’d never been so frightened in her life.
“Where are you?”
“In the office.”
“Is that where the safe is?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s where they’re heading. Is there a place you can hide?”
“I can go in the restroom and lock the door.”
“Good. Do that. Keep your phone with you. I’m on my way.”
“Shouldn’t I call the sheriff?”
“I’ll take care of that. You hide. Now!”
Voices outside the office door prompted her to follow Cort’s advice. Making as little noise as possible, she rose from her chair and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.