“On the ground, hands behind your head,” an officer shouted.
Silas rolled off the robber and lay face down. Thor continued to growl and tug on the man’s pants leg. The robber was fighting to get away, his ski mask was pulled up, completely exposing his face. Violet called to Thor and he lifted his head, confused by the shouting.
“Violet, can you call off your dog?” one officer asked.
It took her a moment to recognize Gloria Sinclair. All she had seen was the uniform and the gun. “He’s really gentle. He’s not usually like this,” Violet said, then wondered why she felt the need to defend him. Of course Thor didn’t usually use people as chew toys. She didn’t usually get robbed, either.
Gloria nodded. “Just don’t get in between them.”
Speaking calmly, Violet put her hand on Thor’s head and said, “Enough, Thor. That’s enough.”
He looked at her, his brown eyes ringed with white. Her heart squeezed at the thought of how much fear Thor had felt for her and for himself. Maybe not for Silas, but he certainly had seemed to understand they were on the same side. Thor let go of the robber’s leg and stepped back.
“You’re the one who called? Who are these guys?” The other officer moved forward, gun still drawn.
“I have no idea who that one is, but this is my friend Silas.” She reached out a hand to him, and he looked at the officer, waiting for permission.
“Sir, you can get up,” Gloria said. “No injuries?”
Silas shook his head. “Not me, but he might have a bit of a headache later. She wacked him pretty hard.”
The other office was cuffing the suspect, one knee in his back, but turned to smile in their direction. “We might have to deputize you.”
Violet wanted to say something witty but the adrenaline that had carried her through the attack suddenly faded from her system and she sagged onto a stool. Thor nudged her leg and whined. Silas was beside her in a moment. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She gave a short laugh. “You were held at gunpoint, gave me time to get out of the office, tricked him into not calling my phone, and then tackled him… and you’re asking if I’m okay?”
Looking back, she wasn’t sure who reached out first. Holding each other tight, they stood there immobile for several minutes. Violet leaned back and gave Silas a tremulous smile. “You’ve got to stop letting me grab onto you when I’m upset.”
“I was just going to say the same thing,” he replied with a straight face.
They watched Gloria escort the man out to the patrol car and two more cars pulled into the parking lot. “Jose and Eric are here,” Silas said.
Gloria went to speak to them and the other officer cleared his throat, as if regretting having to interrupt their moment. “I’ll need to get a statement from both of you.”
Violet was glad that Silas was still holding her hand. She felt weak and sick to her stomach. “Everything happened so fast.”
“I’m Officer Felipe Espinoza. I’ll make this as quick as possible. I know you’ve had a shock. Did either of you recognize him?” He took out a notepad and a pen.
“No,” Violet said.
Silas was quiet for a moment. “I think I know him,” he said quietly.
She turned to him in shock. “How?”
“Just… around.” He shook his head. “He used to hang out downtown. It was a long time ago, but I think it’s the same guy. Justin-something. Kent, I think.”
Officer Espinoza asked him more questions and Violet half-listened to the answers. There was no reason to be surprised that Silas knew the man. It was a small town. Really, it was no stranger than her knowing one of the officers that responded to the call. She tried to shake off a growing sense of unease. She needed to focus on the conversation. But as hard as she tried, the tender and fragile feeling that had been growing within her now withered under the bitter chill of suspicion.
***
Silas slid a glance toward Violet, his heart sinking at the flicker of emotion that crossed her face. He knew that look. It was the look of a person who was trying hard to believe something that didn’t sound right. He gently released her hand.
“Sir?”
His attention snapped back to the officer. “Sorry. Say it again?”
Felipe said, “I know this it’s hard to focus after something like this but if we wait too long, the details get fuzzy.” Although professional, he was sympathetic to the feeling of shock. “Are you usually here this early, before the restaurant opens?”
“No, I was installing a counter today.”
“Did he give any indication of having advance knowledge of the building or the occupants?”
Violet nodded slowly. “I heard him say that he knew I was here.”
“You?” Felipe asked.
“Well, he said ‘the girl who can open the safe’. I assume he meant me.” She thought for a moment. “I think he said ‘they told me she’d be here’.”
Felipe frowned as he wrote in his notebook. “Certainly sounds like they knew people would be here alone. And who knows you’ve been coming this early to work on the construction?”
“A few people,” Silas said. He looked worried. “I mean, it’s no secret. But on the other hand, we don’t come here every morning. It’s random.”
“Hm.” Felipe made a sound that seemed to say that fact was significant.
“But if someone mentioned it in a crowded restaurant, it could have spread far and wide in hours.” He could hear defensiveness in his own voice.
“I never mentioned it in the restaurant,” Violet said quietly. She didn’t look at him.
“Maybe your mother did.”
“Maybe so.” She was looking at Thor, a frown line between her brows.
Felipe looked from Silas to Violet. “If you could ask your mother who she told about the early morning construction, that would be helpful.” Gloria came in the front door, leading Jose and Eric. He took out a card. “Call me if you remember anything more.”
Violet took it and asked, “So, I’m not going to be charged for smacking him in the head?”
Gloria snorted. She clearly found the possible assault charge a little less serious than Violet did. “You did a great job, Violet.” She turned to Silas. “And you. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. This could have ended really badly.”
Jose ran a hand through his hair. “Man, I want to say I’m glad I didn’t get here early, but then I feel like I should have been here.”
“No way. It was better this way.” Silas put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to have to explain to your mom that you got held up at gunpoint.”
“Do you guys want to take the day? Maybe start tomorrow?” Violet asked.
Silas looked at them and shrugged. “I’m okay to keep going. Wide awake now and everything.”
They both laughed and even Violet smiled a little.
“But you don’t have to stay.” Silas wanted to reach out to her, but the expression he’d seen minutes before still haunted his thoughts.
She considered that for a moment. “I have to call my mom and let her know what happened and then I might go home. I want to make sure Thor gets somewhere he feels safe.”
He watched her walk away and fought back the feeling that he had missed an important moment. He should have said something, done something, to make her understand. Her trust in him was wavering. Or maybe it had never been there at all.
Silas turned to Eric and Jose. “Excitement’s over. Let’s get started.”
Eric headed toward the trailer, saying over his shoulder, “So, the girl took care of the robber? What were you doing the whole time?”
“Kneeling with my hands up,” Silas said. He pointed to a spot near the stools. “And I don’t feel an ounce of shame that she took him out and I didn’t. I’m just glad she did.”
Jose grunted. “A guy tried to break in one evening when I wasn’t home and my wife dropped a nightstand on him from an upstairs window. They
took him away in an ambulance.”
“I never knew there was so much crime in Arcadia Valley.” Silas had always thought he’d been the worst thing to hit the town, but maybe he’d been wrong.
“Nah, it’s not too bad. I got my bike stolen when I was in high school, but I’ve never had any other trouble.” Eric strapped on his tool belt and pulled on leather gloves.
Jose handed him a hammer and a box of nails. “I think it helps that we’re kind of out of the way. Nobody comes through here unless they’re planning to stay a while.”
As they readied the equipment to transfer the counter bar to the restaurant, Silas thought about how easily everything could have gone wrong. He wasn’t ready to go. Even though he’d apologized to Violet and she’d accepted, he had unfinished business. He wanted the peace that Ron spoke about earlier that morning. He didn’t have the aching guilt that he’d had before their moment in the garden and he had some closure, but he needed more. His heart was aching from holding back all the words he wanted to say.
Eric and Jose carefully strapped a portion of the counter onto a rolling cart and headed for the front door of the restaurant. Silas stepped into the trailer to untie the next piece. The quiet darkness wrapped around him and he paused, closing his eyes for a moment. In his juvenile delinquent days he’d gotten in some sticky situations, sometimes even been afraid for his life. But this time had been different.
So many thoughts had flashed through his mind. Romy, Loki, Violet, his mother. A family of his own someday. He’d been afraid for Violet, and yet not afraid for himself. Not really. “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” He’d always read that Psalm as referring to physical safety, but it was more than that. His soul was secure in God, no matter what happened to his body.
And with that realization, he felt free. Silas looked out the trailer door at the sunrise and knew it was time to take a step forward. Not just in his work or his friendships, but a real leap of faith. As soon as he got a chance, he was going to ask Violet out on a date. He didn’t want to die with any regrets.
***
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m okay. I promise.” Violet had spent the last five minutes trying to calm her mother. She should have told her in person. Over the phone at such an early hour had been too much of a shock, but Violet hadn’t wanted her to hear it from someone else.
“But you could have been hurt! Or worse…” She was crying again.
“I’m fine. So are Silas and Thor. We’re all okay.” The office seemed cold and ominous. Violet shivered and wished she’d brought a sweater.
“Tell me again what he said, the part about knowing you were there.” She blew her nose into the receiver and Violet winced. Her mother shaken, but true to form, she was doing her best to get all the facts on what happened.
“I didn’t really hear it all. He was talking to Silas.”
“They’re friends?”
“No. Maybe a long time ago.” Violet got up from the office chair and sat next to Thor on the floor. She leaned over and rested her face on his neck. She didn’t want to think anymore. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend none of the morning’s events had ever happened. Maybe she could even go back to yesterday evening. She could pause everything right about the moment Silas had apologized to her, or maybe when he’d leaned in to kiss her.
There was a long pause. Her mother said, “Do you… Do you think― Maybe he’s the one who―”
“No. I don’t think so.” Her voice was flat. “Mom, I have to go. I just wanted to let you know we’re all okay. The police will be calling to talk to you.”
“Maybe you should just close the place up for the day.”
“But Silas is finished with the work he had to do in the shop. He needs to install it and get going on those butcher blocks in the kitchen.” Violet couldn’t imagine what the next week could hold. So much had changed just already.
“Well, he can put in the new counter but I’ll rethink those chopping areas.”
Violet wanted to argue but weariness overwhelmed her. It was unfair for her mother to cancel a word order because of some fragile connection between the armed robber and Silas. It was a small town. Everyone was a few degrees of separation from someone who had done something bad. “I’ll let you know when I leave,” she said.
After her mother had hung up, Violet lay there for several minutes, arms wrapped around Thor. He snuffed at her hair, giving her a tentative lick on the cheek.
“We have to get back out there, buddy.” Violet didn’t move. “We have work to do.”
Thor gave her another questioning look and then stood up, gently bumping Violet’s head out of the way. She sighed and dragged herself to her feet. Her life in Arcadia Valley had been comfortably boring until Silas returned. Now it seemed that every day was more tumultuous than the last. She’d loved her peaceful life, her predictable routine. Any kind of emotional upset or drama and she’d run in the other direction. Then why did she feel as if being separated from Silas would break her heart?
As she left the office, Thor by her side, Violet thought of how much she’d worried over the possibility of puppies a few days ago. If only she’d known, a litter of accidental puppies was going to be the least of her worries.
Chapter Sixteen
Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has
the courage to admit them. ―Bruce Lee
Silas put the phone down and stared at the dashboard of his truck. Loki snuffled into his shoulder, her giant mastiff head bumping his arm repeatedly.
“Yeah, I’m going.” Silas turned the key and felt the powerful engine roar to life. Mrs. Tam had been polite and diplomatic but she hadn’t pulled any punches. Since the robbery investigation was still ongoing, she felt it was best if they postponed the butcher block project until the police found the link between the robber and his inside knowledge.
Putting the truck into gear, Silas slowly pulled out of the driveway of his shop and turned onto the highway. His first thoughts hadn’t been for a lost commission, but of Violet. He hadn’t seen her since the robbery, but assumed they’d meet again at the restaurant. Did she suspect him, too? He had no real reason to drop by her house or for her to come to his. He had no way of knowing what was going on in her head.
He drove downtown, barely noticing the buildings he passed or the other cars on the road. Officer Felipe had taken his statement and said he’d call if he needed anything else. Maybe there’d been some new development, something that implicated Silas. Of course he hadn’t been involved but circumstantial evidence with a shady past, and things could look pretty bad.
“All I can do is pray,” he said out loud. Loki lifted her head and huffed at him. “What else do you want me to do?” he asked. “I can’t exactly go over there and plead my case. Maybe she doesn’t feel the same way as her mom, but maybe she does.”
As if sensing the irritation in Silas’s voice, Loki gave him a chastened look.
“I know, you’re in a bad position, too.” He reached out and rubbed her behind the ears. Loki was definitely acting differently than a few weeks ago. Silas wasn’t a betting man, but if he had been, he’d say puppies were on the way. “Maybe for your sake, I better make sure you and Thor don’t end up separated for good.”
The sky was perfectly clear and the sun was beating down, but what had started out as a perfectly beautiful summer morning in Arcadia Valley had turned gray and colorless to Silas. All the optimism he’d felt as he’d rolled out of bed was gone. Just as he’d started to think that Violet might feel something more than friendship, it had evaporated into uncertainty again.
Friendship. He winced at the thought. They had never been friends, and that was most of the problem. There was no trust to balance out the suspicion. All he could do was wait and pray for the best.
***
Jenny Johnson adjusted the microphone at the lectern and looked out at the congregation. “For Elise Camden, who remains in the hospital. Lord, hear our prayer.”
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“Lord, hear our prayer,” Violet responded with the other parishioners. There still hadn’t been any decision on Elise’s medical treatment. Ron was sitting a few pews ahead of her, Silas next to him. The men had their heads bowed and Ron’s shoulders were slumped, as if he carried the weight of the world.
Her mother leaned over and whispered, “We should visit her after church.”
Violet nodded but wondered whether Silas would be there. They hadn’t spoken more than a few words since the robbery. She could say it was because of her schedule and how hard they’d both been working, but that wouldn’t have been true. After her mother had canceled the butcher block cutting areas, Violet hadn’t known whether to contact Silas or not. She’d hoped that he would call her, or maybe even come by, but she hadn’t heard anything from him since. After the trauma of the robbery, she felt like his silence was another layer of pain over an already horrible episode.
She snuck another look at Silas, wondering what he was thinking and if he had even considered calling her. Then she tried to shake the thought from her head. There was already so much to do, she didn’t need to be obsessing over Silas. The restaurant was short-staffed again. Bernadette hadn’t even lasted the week. She had to interview more applicants and train another waitress.
Even as Violet reprimanded herself for thinking of him, her gaze traveled back toward Silas. Her emotions were in a constant state of flux. One moment she was sure that the man had changed and there was something real between them. The next she was revisiting the moment the robber had insisted that Violet was in the restaurant. The police still had no real leads on the accomplices and Justin wasn’t talking. If only she knew for sure, she might be able to reach out to Silas herself.
As they stood to sing another hymn, Violet realized that she missed one thing from the days when they were teenagers. She’d always been able to tell when he was lying. To Violet, he had always been an open book. Teachers had believed his stories and excuses, but Violet had seen right through him.
But now everything had changed. She wanted to think she could tell when he was being untruthful, but her emotions were overshadowing her better judgement. When he smiled at her, she forgot what she was saying. When he leaned close, she didn’t even remember to breathe. Her perspective was gone. The old Violet would have been able to tell whether Silas had been involved in the robbery, but the new Violet couldn’t concentrate on anything other than how he made her feel. She had never felt so vulnerable.
Summer's Glory: Seasons of Faith Book One (Arcadia Valley Romance 2) Page 13