by Hope White
“No problem,” Luke said.
“I’ll be back in an hour. I’ve got a key, obviously.”
“Where did you—”
“Under the purple pot outside,” Deanna interrupted Krista. “Anyone who knows you could figure that out.”
“I’m so transparent,” Krista said.
“You can say that again,” Luke added while petting Roscoe.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Krista retorted.
“Well, I’ll leave you kids to fight.” Deanna winked and breezed out the back door.
Krista leaned against the counter. It was nearly nine and she was beat, but she needed to share information with Luke in hopes of helping him solve this case.
“Wanna know what I found out tonight?” she said.
Luke glanced up.
“I heard a few interesting things that may or may not mean anything.” She sat down next to him and propped her chin on her upturned palm. “First, someone broke into Luanne Sparks’s car two days ago.”
“And this is important because…?”
“She went to Mexico with us and hadn’t unloaded her souvenirs from the car yet. Her daughter got sick and couldn’t watch the twins, so Grandma Luanne had to jump in and while the car was parked outside someone got into the trunk and emptied it out. And I’m sure this is nothing, but Alan bought a hunting rifle a few days ago. He told Ned at the hardware store that he was concerned about the sudden crime wave in Wentworth and needed it to scare off any potential intruders.”
“That guy with any kind of gun…” He shook his head.
“Timothy’s sheet metal business is going well. He just got a big contract from All Star Roofing, which accounts for his buying property up north. Lucy and Ralph Grimes bought an old farmhouse outside of Muskegon to rehab, and there was one other thing.” She paused and tapped her forefinger to her chin. “Oh, Phillip Barton bought a new car.”
“That’s big news,” he said, half kidding.
“It is if the guy runs a boat business. He can’t make that much money.”
“The chief told me he owns a seat on the board of trade.”
“Yeah, but a Mercedes SL?” She shook her head. “Has to cost—”
“They start at around a hundred thousand.”
“Who can afford that? And who needs it?”
“Have you ever driven one?”
“Have you?”
“No, but I can imagine it’s a pretty nice ride.”
She made a face.
“I was going to look into Phillip a little more anyway.”
“I’d better warn you, some of the ladies are asking for your number so when you’re done at the tea shop you could to do some ‘honey do’ chores for them.”
“You’d better add to my list.”
He seemed less intense for the moment, so she dived in. “I’m taking a guess, but did you ask your partner for help and that’s when he was killed?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Boy, woman, you switch gears faster than a driver at Indy.”
She studied him, wondering if he’d answer. It was a nosy question, sure, but she really felt like she could help him, ease some of the angst twisting him in knots, if she knew more about his situation.
Through the grace of God anything was possible.
“I should have handled it on my own,” Luke whispered. “Handled what?”
“I got a tip, thought I could use backup, so I called Karl. I should have alerted my supervisor. He would have sent a team, but I thought I had it under control.” He pinned her with cool, blue eyes. “I didn’t.”
“And Karl was killed.”
Luke slowly tapped his finger on the kitchen table as if calming himself. “He left behind a wife and two-year-old. I have no family. I should have been the one to die.”
“But you didn’t and you’ve gone on to catch plenty of criminals.”
“Doesn’t justify his death.”
“Nothing justifies an untimely death of a loved one.” She could barely hear her own voice, and realized she was sinking into her own dark memories.
“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning forward and placing his hand over hers. “We’ve both experienced some pretty ugly things.”
“And some beautiful ones as well, don’t forget.”
“Yeah, like what?”
“The support of the community when Mom and I moved here. Wentworth adopted us, even though frightening rumors preceded us to town. The people here didn’t care, and the folks at Peace Church were amazing.”
“You were lucky.”
“It’s not about luck. It’s about love. The love of God.”
Luke slipped his hand away.
“God forgives and loves you, Luke.”
He snapped his gaze to hers and she nearly scooted back at the intensity she read there.
“He couldn’t possibly forgive me,” Luke said.
“For what happened to your partner?”
“For what I did to my mother.”
Krista steeled herself with a prayer. Jesus, help me listen with an open heart, and offer forgiveness where You surely would.
“What did you do to your mom?”
“I made her life miserable.” He glanced at the floor.
She waited, sensing there was more.
“Always in trouble, getting arrested when I was thirteen. She said I drove her so crazy she had to drink to stay sane.”
“And you believed her?”
Luke glanced up. “She was my mom.”
Right, and we all believe our parents, especially at that age.
“What happened to your dad?” she asked.
“Left when I was little.” Luke’s cell vibrated and he snatched it from his belt. He paced into the living room. “McIntyre.”
As the low timbre of his voice drifted into the kitchen, she sighed and touched her silver charm. It all made sense—Luke’s self-loathing because he thought he drove away his father and felt responsible for his mother’s drinking. That was so cruel to do to a child. Yet he’d survived his upbringing and grew up to be an honorable man who sacrificed his own safety to protect others.
He was a fine human being. He should be proud of himself instead of hearing his mother’s words haunt him from the past.
How could she convince him of that?
“You wanted to know if anyone strange came to town and this is pretty strange,” Chief Cunningham said.
Three men had checked into the Crocker Hotel on the outskirts of town. They were sharing a room, and specifically asked for a view of the parking lot.
As if they were waiting for someone. Were they Garcia’s men?
“Did the clerk give you a description?” Luke asked.
“Thirties, scruffy-lookin’, polite. Two of them were wearing cowboy hats. Said they were here for a party.”
Garcia owned a number of ranches staffed by cowboys to get the work done.
“I need to go with you,” Luke said.
“You sure you’re up to it?”
“I’m fine. Send Officer West back to watch over Krista. Better yet, have her take Krista somewhere else for the night, just until we figure this out.”
“Good thinking. I’ll swing by to pick you up.”
“Thanks.” Luke ended the call and glanced at the kitchen. The sound of Krista humming drifted into the living room.
For once Luke welcomed bad news. It meant he’d be out investigating instead of sitting in Krista’s kitchen letting her do emotional open-heart surgery on him. He still couldn’t believe he’d exposed himself like that, that he’d told her about Dad…about Mom.
He figured he was still off kilter from the knock to the head. He straightened. Could his attacker have been one of Garcia’s men who’d registered at Crocker Hotel? Waiting for Krista to come out of church so he could take a shot at her?
He went into the kitchen and found Krista repackaging the leftovers from the potluck.
“Who was that?” she asked,
casually, as if the call hadn’t just interrupted a raw moment for him.
“The chief. He’s picking me up and sending Officer West back to take you someplace for the night.”
She froze in mid scoop of stuffing. “Why?”
“Three suspicious-looking men rented a room at the Crocker Hotel. The chief wants to check it out.”
“So why do you have to go?”
“They could be Garcia’s men. I won’t let him go into this alone.”
“But you were unconscious a few hours ago.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re limping.”
“My ankle’s a little sore. No big deal.”
She took a step toward him. “It is if you need to run away from the bad guys.”
“Krista—”
“You can’t go. I won’t let you.”
“You won’t let me?” He smiled, trying to make light of her comment.
“I don’t think this is funny.”
“It’s my job.”
“Don’t remind me.” She turned her back to him and went back to scooping food into a plastic container.
He’d upset her. He didn’t mean to. But this job, going out in the late hours and investigating suspects, was part of the deal. It’s what drove him, kept him running at high speed.
Then she turned to him, her green eyes misting, and he wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
“I will pray for your safety.”
“Thanks.”
She closed in on him and the room got incredibly small. Unhooking her necklace, she said, “I want you to take this, for luck.”
He eyed the silver charm. “I’ll be fine. You hold on to it for luck.”
Gripping his biceps, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Goose bumps shot down his arms and he struggled to catch his breath. This was inappropriate for so many reasons, yet he loved the way her lips felt against his cheek.
The back door clicked open. “The chief is—whoa, sorry,” Officer West said.
Krista released Luke and rushed past him into the living room. “Good luck!” she called and raced up the stairs.
“Sorry,” Officer West said.
Luke went to the door but didn’t make eye contact with the cop. “Get her out of here, somewhere safe, I don’t care where.”
“I will.”
He snapped around and pointed his finger, as if to punctuate his order, as if he had something important to add but nothing came out.
“It’s okay,” Deanna assured. “I’ll take care of her.”
With a nod, he marched down the back steps to the chief’s car.
Ten minutes later Luke and the chief were at the hotel asking questions.
“Did you see them leave?” the chief asked the teenage clerk.
“Nah, but I’ve been texting my boyfriend on and off for the past hour.”
“Describe the guests,” Luke asked.
“Tall, dark and one was actually handsome,” she joked.
“Did they speak with an accent?” Luke pushed.
She glanced up, as if thinking. “Yeah, actually the one dude had an accent.”
Luke and the chief shared a look.
She shrugged and handed Luke a key.
“Don’t text your boyfriend about this, or tell anyone else until we figure out what’s going on, got it?” Chief Cunningham said to the girl.
She nibbled her lower lip and glanced away.
“Who did you tell?” the chief said.
“That’s what Ryan and I’ve been texting about. Trying to figure out who these guys are.”
“Don’t tell him we’re here or what we’re doing. We wouldn’t want any innocent bystanders getting hurt because they showed up to check it out.”
“Okay, sure. But I hate lying to Ryan.”
Luke snatched her cell phone and turned it off. “Now you’re not lying.”
She nodded, a little taken aback by Luke’s behavior. Didn’t surprise him, but he didn’t know what else to do.
With a nod, the chief led them outside to room 7.
A part of Luke hoped this was it, that these were the guys that would put an end to this case and the constant adrenaline flowing through his body because he was afraid Krista would be hurt.
Yet another part of him dreaded the day he’d have to say goodbye to her.
Focus, McIntyre!
They approached the room and Luke motioned for the chief to stand on the other side of the door. Luke calmed his breathing and readied for an assault.
The sound of male laughter filtered through the window. The chief raised an eyebrow and Luke shrugged. Maybe they were killing time before they carried out their assignment.
Luke tapped on the door with the barrel of his gun, but the guys didn’t hear him. He banged louder.
The room went silent. A few seconds passed.
“Who is it?” a deep male voice called out. “Hotel manager.”
“What? We’re not being that loud.”
“Open the door, sir.”
Luke readied himself to kick in the door once they cracked it open.
The seconds seemed to drag on for hours.
Ready.
Set.
The door opened.
Luke kicked the door open in the guy’s face and charged into the room, gun drawn.
At three guys playing poker and smoking cigars.
“What on earth, man?” said the guy who answered the door. He stumbled back onto the bed, holding his nose.
Two of the men dropped their cards and raised their hands. The third, a big guy in a checked flannel shirt, glared at Luke.
“Edie sent you, didn’t she?” flannel shirt said.
“I’m a federal agent. This is the Wentworth police chief. We need to see some I.D.”
The three guys sitting at the table pulled out their wallets. They passed them to the chief who glanced at them, then back at the men.
“Looks legit,” the chief said.
Luke holstered his gun. “So what’s the deal here?”
“Texas hold ’em,” a guy said.
“No, I mean why rent the room to play cards?”
“You kidding? You think our wives would let us have a card game at any of our houses? They hate the smoke, the jokes, the whole thing,” one of the guys said.
“So we said we were going hunting for the weekend and we rented a room.”
“Just one?”
“I rented one, too,” the guy with the bloody nose said, raising his hand.
“The three of us checked in together and Dave came later.”
“Suzy wouldn’t let me go before I bathed the kids,” Dave explained.
Unbelievable. Luke just gave a guy a bloody nose and ruined these guys’ night of male bonding.
“Why rent a room in Wentworth?” the chief asked.
“It’s far enough away from Stillwater that no one would recognize us and report to our wives,” Dave said.
“Although now we’ll probably be in the paper,” the skinny dude added. “Are we going to be arrested?”
Flannel shirt looked at his friend. “For what? Playing cards?”
“You’re not going to be arrested. Our mistake,” the chief apologized.
“Sorry, guys,” Luke said. “We’re investigating a case and three guys checking into one hotel room sounded suspicious.”
“Well, we’ll leave you to your game.” The chief nodded to Luke and they left the room.
Luke was embarrassed, sure, and more than a little frustrated. But he’d do whatever was necessary to protect Krista and put an end to Garcia’s reign.
Interesting how he was thinking of her first.
“Well, that’s a relief,” the chief said.
“Not really.”
They got into the squad car and the chief glanced at Luke. “Why not?”
“Someone’s still after Krista and won’t stop until they get what they want.”
SIXTEEN
&nbs
p; Krista paced Julie Sass’s living room, glancing out the window every few minutes hoping for the chief’s car to pull up.
“You’d think you were the mother of nineteen-year-old twins,” Julie said, sipping her tea in an easy chair.
“We should have heard something by now.” Krista glanced at Deanna, who doodled in a sketchbook. “Shouldn’t we have heard something?”
“I’m sure they’ll notify us the minute they know anything.”
Krista glanced back outside. A few minutes later she felt Julie’s hand on her shoulder and glanced at her friend.
“Oh, sweetheart, you got it bad,” Julie said.
Deanna winked at her.
“Stop, both of you.” Krista paced to the sofa, sat down and fingered her charm. She wished Luke would have taken it with him.
Julie sat next to her. “Come on, spill it.”
“I’m a little anxious.”
“And in love?” Julie offered.
Krista squared off at her. “This can’t be love, I mean, it’s not supposed to feel this way.”
“What way?” Deanna prodded.
“Like, like I’m antsy, nervous, something, I don’t know.”
Deanna smiled and focused on her sketchpad.
“What’s so funny?” Krista said.
“You’ve never been in love before, so it might feel a little uncomfortable,” Julie offered.
“I thought it’s supposed to feel wonderful and peaceful and…and—”
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Deanna said.
“And sometimes frustrating,” Julie added.
“And chaotic.”
“And thrilling.”
“And sometimes, confusing,” Julie explained. “But I’ve seen you two together. I recognize that look. On both your faces.”
Krista held her friend’s gaze. “It’s a disaster.”
“I’m an expert on disaster,” Deanna offered.
“I should have fallen for Alan,” Krista said.
Deanna glanced up from her sketchbook. “That would have been a major disaster.”
“Look.” Julie took Krista’s hand. “If it’s meant to be, it will work out.”
“How do I know this isn’t just happening because he’s here to protect me?”
“That’s true, there’s that thing called transference,” Deanna said.