Escape to Sampson's Quarry (A Sampson's Quarry Mystery - Book Two)

by Sophie Tucker

  "Good luck," Nancy said with a smile. "Although I know you won't really need it."

  "Thank you. I'm a little nervous. I keep reminding myself that it's just a preliminary meeting to learn more about what he's looking for."

  "It's good to be nervous. That means you care." Nancy winked at her and left the office.

  Bri walked across the room to the large map of Sampson’s Quarry that hung on the wall across from her desk. She had no idea what Reese was looking for, but she knew that there were several new housing developments in and around town. She wanted to make a note of where they were so that she could mention them during their meeting. There were so many factors to consider: square footage, one or two stories, and, of course, the location. She had no idea if he wanted to live close to the police station, or maybe he wanted to live somewhere outside of the town center.

  She was writing down the names and locations of the new housing developments when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She glanced over to see a green car that had slowed down in front of the office. The car lingered for a moment but then continued on down the street. It occurred to her that she had seen the car several times that day. In fact, she had first seen it in the parking lot of the post office when she had stopped there on her lunch break to pick up her mail. It might just be her overactive imagination, but it was possible that she had also seen it pass by the office several times during the day. She peered out the window, trying to see where it had gone.

  When the door opened a minute later, Bri jumped back so much she nearly fell into one of the chairs.

  “Bri, good afternoon.” A woman holding a vase with a bouquet of flowers stood just inside the door.

  “Callie, hello. How are you?” Bri asked, moving back to her desk.

  “Pretty good,” she said and then sighed. “This humidity is murder on my hair though.”

  “You have beautiful hair, humidity or not,” Bri told her. Callie’s hair was curly and so black that it almost had a blue sheen to it.

  Callie smiled. “You are a sweetheart, Bri. My hair is out of control today; it keeps getting frizzier and bigger. I finally just wrapped it up in this bun to try to keep it under control.”

  “The forecast said no more rain for a few days.”

  “That’s a relief.” Callie looked down at the vase in her hands and shook her head. “I totally forgot. I have a delivery.”

  “Oh, so pretty. Who are they for?”

  Callie shrugged. “I don’t know. A man ordered them over the phone with instructions to deliver them to the office.

  "So, no card?" Bri asked, looking at the bouquet.

  "No." Callie raised her eyebrows. "I guess one of you has a secret admirer."

  Bri tried not to flinch. "Well, in that case, it's probably for Nancy. I haven't lived here long enough to have a secret admirer."

  "You never know," Callie teased her.

  Bri smiled and picked up the vase, carrying it to Nancy's office door. "I'm sure it's for Nancy. She gets hit on all the time by her clients."

  Callie rolled her eyes. “I can imagine. Some of those guys can be pretty awful.”

  “Tell me about it,” Bri agreed and set the vase on Nancy’s desk. She stepped out and closed the door quickly, not wanting to look at the flowers anymore.

  “I have more deliveries to make so I better get going.”

  “Okay, Callie, it was good seeing you. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in a while.”

  “I know. It really makes no sense.” Callie stopped at the door and pointed. “The shop is just across the square. We should meet for lunch soon.”

  “That sounds great.” Bri couldn’t help but smile. It was silly, but after losing most of her friends, it made her happy to be making new ones in Sampson’s Quarry. “Good luck with the rest of your deliveries.”

  “Thanks. See you soon.”

  Callie had barely left when Bri saw the green car pass by again. The first thing that crossed her mind was that it was something Curtis would do. It was something Curtis had actually done, to be honest. She had truly hoped that he would leave her alone, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen.

  Looking at her watch, she realized that she was going to be late if she didn't leave in the next five minutes. She gathered up her paperwork, storing it in a file folder which she then slid into her bag. She got her keys and then stopped to stare at the door. Her car was in the parking lot. It wasn’t far but she would still have to lock the door and then walk to her car.

  She had worked for Nancy for six months and had never been nervous of being in the office by herself or walking to her car at the end of the day. It angered her that it was something she had to be concerned about now. She slung her bag over her shoulder, her phone and her keys ready in the other. Taking a deep breath, she paused to gather herself. She straightened her shoulders and started for the door, stopping almost immediately as she saw a shadow moving toward the door. Starting to panic, she took a step back and a moment later the door opened.

  "Detective Reese, what are you doing here? I thought we are meeting at the coffee shop."

  "I decided to park out front so that we can walk down together," he said with a shrug. "It just seemed easier. I hope that's okay?"

  "Yes, it's a great idea. Thank you."

  She stopped to pick up the bag that she had dropped next to the desk. The file folder slid out and her papers went everywhere; she bent down to gather them back up. "Oh, good grief. I suppose I will need to invest in something more secure than a file folder."

  "Here, you go," Detective Reese said, and she looked up to find that he had crouched down next to her and had a few of her papers in his hand.

  "Thank you, Detective Ree..."

  Reese interrupted her saying, "I thought I told you to call me Reese."

  "I'm sorry. I know you did, but since you're here as a client, I wanted to make sure I was being professional," she said with a nervous smile.

  "Thank you. I appreciate your conscientiousness, but unless I'm arresting you, you can call me Reese, all right?" he said with a grin.

  She nodded and looked away. "Well, since you put it that way, I guess we should head down to the coffee shop."

  "Sounds good to me."

  Reese opened the door for her and she went through and locked the office door behind them. They walked down the street toward the coffee shop and Bri saw the green car driving toward them. She instinctively turned away, acting as though she was looking for something in her bag. She couldn't see anyone in the car, but the windows were tinted abnormally dark. She was even more thankful that Reese had shown up early so that she did not have to walk alone.

  "Is everything okay, Bri?” Reese asked after watching her go through her bag just as a car passed them on the street. He probably would not have noticed if he had not been paying attention to the car himself. The small green four-door sedan had caught his attention as he had stopped to park near the realty office. It had been lurking down the street, idling at the curb as though waiting for someone.

  "Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" she said to him.

  "Does it have something to do with that green car that just drove by?" He gestured down the street.

  She shook her head. "No. Should it?"

  "Have you seen the car before?"

  "It was at the post office when I was there this afternoon,” she said, looking down the street where the car had been parked earlier. “I believe it passed by the office a couple of times."

  Reese frowned. "Do you think that it was following you?"

  Bri laughed nervously. "I don’t know. It sounds totally crazy. I'm just being paranoid again." She started walking down the street even faster.

  He had not meant it that way, but it made him wonder who else had belittled her feelings in the past. He did not think that either Lucas or Haley would treat her that way. He would have to tread lightly so as not to make her feel as though she had to explain herself. "We've been getting repor
ts about strange cars parked around town. There have been a few break-ins, mostly cars and garages. So, I don't think you're being paranoid at all. It could very well be connected to that."

  Bri turned to him looking somewhat relieved. "I had no idea."

  "We try to inform the public as much as we can, but we don't want to frighten anyone unnecessarily. Once we have enough information, then normally a statement will be released with details and instructions on what to do if someone sees something suspicious."

  They were nearing the coffee shop. "That is a good policy. Someone like my mother would go overboard with information like that. She would be calling the police every five seconds thinking someone was watching the house or contemplating her murder."

  Reese wondered if part of her reluctance to talk to him was her mother’s overzealous paranoia and complaining. "Hopefully, we can find the person or persons involved so that everyone will feel safe."

  “I hope so too."

  He took a few quick steps to get ahead of her so that he could open the door for her. "Here we are."

  "Thank you." The coffee shop was small by restaurant standards, but it was clean and looked to have been updated not too long ago. Booths lined one wall and along the windows facing the street. Bri chose a booth along the far wall, seemingly avoiding the windows.

  He watched as Bri shuffled through her papers, reorganizing them after they had hurriedly collected them off the floor at the office. Her head was bent and he could see that she twisted her blonde hair into a complicated design that looked professional and showed up the pretty colors in her hair.

  She pulled a pen out of her bag and blushed slightly when she looked up to see him watching her. "I'm sorry. I'm a little nervous. It’s my first official meeting."

  "I feel honored,” he said with a smile. He didn’t want her to be nervous. “This is new to me too, so I won’t even know if you do something wrong.”

  "I guess we can figure it out together then," she said with a laugh. "Now, I just have a few questions for you so we can get started.”

  "Welcome to Barney's Coffee Shop." An older woman with brassy-red hair and a name tag that read ‘Judi’ walked up to the table. "What can I get started for you?"

  "I'll take a coffee."

  Bri was still looking at her paperwork. She looked up a second later, "Oh, I just want water."

  "Great. I'll get this started for you. Anything else right now?"

  Reese turned to Bri said, "Are you hungry?"

  "A little," she admitted, but then waved her hand. "I will grab something after our meeting is over."

  "I'm hungry too," he said turning back to Judi. "We will each have a large piece of apple pie."

  "Perfect. I’ll be right back."

  He looked across the table at her. "I hope that is okay. I didn't mean to be overbearing and order for you."

  "Normally, I would be highly offended," she said, trying to sound serious but broke into a smile anyway. "You get a pass, because, well, it's apple pie."

  "Good to know," he said, pulling off a serious tone much better than she had.

  She laughed and then looked down at her papers. "Let's get started while we wait. Why don't you tell me a little bit about the house you'd like to live in?"

  "What do you want to know?" he asked, hoping her questions might lead him a little.

  Bri referred to her papers. "Do you have any idea how many square feet you would want?"

  "Not really."

  "Okay. Would you rather have a ranch style or a two-story house?"

  "I haven't really thought about it."

  Bri asked several more questions that he couldn't really answer, and he could tell that Bri was getting a little frazzled. He certainly wasn't making it any easier on her. It wasn’t as though he was trying to be difficult; he simply had no idea what he wanted. "I am sorry. I have lived in apartments nearly all of my life."

  "Don't apologize. I just want to make sure I am helping you as much as possible. I suppose I will pull some listings of different places. Maybe when you see them you can narrow down your preferences."

  "Sounds good."

  "All right, folks. Here you go." Judi balanced a tray on the edge of the table, setting his coffee and Bri's water down before placing plates with huge wedges of deep-dish apple pie with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. "I hope you don't mind the ice cream. You didn't ask for it, but it didn't seem right to serve it without."

  "It looks delicious. Thank you so much," Bri told her.

  Judi beamed at them. "You are welcome. Enjoy!"

  "Good?" He asked after Bri had taken a bite.

  "Amazing."

  Reese tried to ignore how happy he was that she was enjoying the apple pie. "Just like grandma used to make?"

  Bri grimaced. "Not really. My grandma wasn't really an apple pie kind of gal."

  "Mine was," Reese said and then stopped the fork halfway to his mouth.

  Bri shrugged. "Yeah, mine was more the let's order pizza and watch professional wrestling type."

  "My grandmother lived in a small town near the Illinois-Indianapolis border. She lived in an old house with great fireplaces and a large open staircase."

  "It sounds wonderful," Bri told him. "Did you spend a lot of time there?"

  "Every summer. My mother worked so I needed to be watched when I wasn't in school." He had looked forward to going there every summer, even going back for several weeks every summer even after he had graduated from high school.

  "You must miss Illinois," Bri said.

  "Not really. I miss my grandmother and the house." He frowned and went on before she could ask. "My grandmother passed away about four years ago. The house was sold before any of us knew it had been put on the market."

  "Oh, that's awful. Couldn't you protest the sale or something? I mean if he wasn't the true owner."

  "My uncle had been designated as her power of attorney so it would not have mattered if we had protested."

  "I am sorry, Reese," Bri said, touching the table next to his hand. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

  "You already have," he told her.

  She tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

  "I want to look at some older houses. Two stories, with at least one fireplace, stairs up to the attic, and a small sun room, if possible."

  "I can do that," Bri said, starting to scribble on the pad of paper she had set on the table earlier.

  They talked and finished their pie, deciding to leave as the dinner crowd began to filter in. Reese walked Bri back to her car.

  She was visibly relieved, and he saw her look around for the green car several times. He had been keeping an eye out for it but had not seen any sign of it.

  "Thank you so much, Reese. I will start searching for some houses to go look at."

  "I feel like I should thank you. You helped me figure out what I really wanted." He looked down and saw her face redden, and then stammered out, "In a house, I mean."

  "I am glad that I could help," she set her bag in her car and then turned back to him. "I suppose I should get going. I really enjoyed talking to you about houses."

  "I did too. Thank you." She moved as though wanting to shake his hand and he stepped forward. There was an awkward moment and then somehow they were hugging. It was over nearly before they got started. Reese wasn’t sure what to do and simply said, "Great. I will talk to you soon."

  "Yes, definitely," she said and nearly jumped into her car.

  He stepped up onto the sidewalk and waited until she pulled away.

  "Great job, Reese," he groaned to himself. "Way to go, absolutely nothing unprofessional about that."

  7

  "Have you looked into the house on Weston Lane?" Nancy asked, stopping in front of Bri’s desk. She slung her bag over her shoulder before setting a file in Bri's inbox.

  "Weston?" Bri said, looking through her papers. "Is that a house you're showing later?"

  "No, this house is
being handled by Bev Orkney. It's an older house with two fireplaces and I believe the listing said there were stairs to the attic. I was thinking it would be perfect for your detective."

  "He's not my detective," Bri replied, her cheeks warming.

  "He's not?" Nancy teased her with a smile. "Are you sure?"

  Bri hoped she looked annoyed instead of embarrassed. "No, he is just a client."

  Nancy made a tsk-ing sound and shook her head. "Well, that certainly is a shame."

  "Are you done teasing me?" Bri asked.

  "Yes," Nancy said with a laugh. She tapped Bri's desk and said, "Take a look at that house. I think Detective Reese may like it."

  “I will check it out. I have put together a list of houses; there’s quite a few out there.”

  “You might want to call him to narrow down the list so that you aren’t showing him nine houses in the same day. Pick three or four houses to start with; if none of those seem right, then you can revisit your list.”

  Nancy’s phone began to ring. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “Oh! I am going to be late. Talk to you later.”

  “Okay, bye!” Bri called out as Nancy rushed out the door.

  Bri swallowed at the thought of having to call Reese. She still could not believe that she had hugged him after their meeting a few days earlier. She had only meant to shake his hand, but he had stepped toward her as she looked up at him. The next thing she knew they were hugging. She had stepped back almost immediately, so mortified that she had blurted out something about having a nice time and calling him about houses. The look on his face as she drove away made her wince.

  Bri could not deny that she not only liked the tall detective, but she was developing very real feelings for him as well. Regardless of her feelings though, she needed to be professional especially since she was representing Redmond Realty.

  She stared at the phone, knowing that at some point actually picking up the phone would be necessary. Hopefully, he would still want to work with her even after the weirdness of their last meeting. Gathering her courage, she looked up his contact information and reached for the phone. The ringing of the phone pierced the silence of the office, and Bri nearly fell off her chair she was so startled. The phone had rung three times before she had gathered herself enough to answer.