by Terri Reed
A guilty, sheepish look crossed his face before he carefully masked it with insolence. “The windows in the locker room are never locked.”
That was a surprise. Well, they would be from now on. The locker-room windows were at street level since the locker rooms were in the basement. She’d make sure Jim secured them every night.
Parker returned, pocketing his phone. He leveled her with an inscrutable look. “Our captains want us over at the station house as soon as Rose and Clay wrap things up.”
“You two can go,” Jim volunteered. “I’ll stay and keep an eye on the place.”
Parker shook his head. “They want to see you, as well.”
A flash of annoyance shot through Jim’s gray eyes. “I don’t know anything about this. I’m just a volunteer.”
Melody frowned. Technically, he was her co-director. “Jim, we’ll both go. The center is both of our responsibility.”
“Yeah, well, I keep telling you these kids are trouble,” Jim groused. “Wouldn’t surprise me if the captains decided the youth center was too much of a liability.”
His words sent a shaft of apprehension sliding straight to her core. Jim knew how much this place meant to her. He and his late wife had taken Melody under their wing when she’d first arrived in town. Jim had tried to talk her out of opening the center.
But she wouldn’t be dissuaded. And so he’d stepped up to be her co-director.
She suspected he’d volunteered to help her in order to protect her. But would Jim take this opportunity to help Parker convince the captains to close the youth center doors for good?
She sent up a silent plea for God’s protection over the center. They were doing good work here. It would be a shame for everything they’d accomplished and all they could do in the future to end now. There were still so many kids who needed the help, the guidance the center offered. She’d made a promise to herself she’d do all she could to see that teens like Daniel were given every opportunity to choose a path other than drugs.
“I’ll keep an eye on things,” Ally assured Melody.
Melody wanted to trust Ally. The young woman had been a faithful volunteer from the beginning. They shared the bond of grief. Ally had been Daniel’s girlfriend. After that horrible night, Ally had pulled her act together and had been clean ever since. At least Melody believed so. But at the moment, she wasn’t sure what to think or who to trust. Someone with access to the center had stored his or her drug contraband in the locker.
“That’s okay, Ally. I think it will be best if we close the center for the rest of the evening,” Melody said, hating to cancel the classes and programs scheduled for the night. But Parker was right. The place had to be shut down. At least temporarily. “Would you mind posting a note on the doors?”
Ally sighed. “No problem.”
Melody caught Parker’s gaze. She detected a hint of approval mingled with the surprise in his brown eyes. Her hackles rose. She wasn’t doing this for his sake. “Best to close now and sort this out than...”
Let you close us down for good. She let the unspoken words form in her mind.
He nodded as if he’d heard and understood.
Rose put all the bags of cocaine into a large evidence bag. “We’ll take all this to the station. There’s too much to print to do a good job here.”
“I’m done,” Clay added. “I got everything I could off the locker.”
He and Rose gathered their things and exited the center. Jim followed closely behind.
Melody ushered the teens out the door. Hating to see the disappointment and confusion on the kids’ faces, she said, “You all can come back tomorrow.”
She could only hope and pray she’d be able to keep that promise. Would God come through for her? She’d find out soon.
“I’ll give you a lift to the station,” Parker said as he and Sherlock followed her while she locked up.
She shook her head. “I can manage to walk over there by myself.”
“I’ve no doubt you can,” Parker said. “But the captains are waiting.”
“True.” Realizing that it would be quicker to accept the offer of a ride, she followed Parker and Sherlock to the SPD vehicle.
The thick tension between her and Parker made her shoulder muscles tighten. Despite what Parker might think, she knew she’d done a good job with the youth center. And she’d do whatever it took to find who the drugs belonged to. She couldn’t allow these kids to be in harm’s way.
She rolled her shoulders, trying to release the tightness. Someone had breached the center with their
poison.
After arriving at the station house, they went straight to the conference room. An oval table with leather chairs dominated the center. A floor-to-ceiling window stretched across one wall while the far wall was lined with shelves full of procedure books.
Jim was already there as were Rose and Clay. They’d filled the captains in on the situation. Captain Drexel stood by the window. A tall, African-American man in his late forties, he had his hands clasped behind his back as his dark eyes assessed them.
Captain McNeal sat at the table, his piercing blue eyes no less intense than his colleague’s. He waved her and Parker in as Rose and Clay exited. “Any ideas who stashed the drugs?” he asked.
Melody shook her head and answered honestly. “No, sir. But the kids did give me a name of someone to question. Another boy that wasn’t there tonight.”
“It could belong to any one of those teens or even one of the other volunteers who come in,” Jim stated. His gaze shifted from Melody to Parker and back to the captain.
The idea that one of the adult volunteers who came to the center to help the kids would be involved with drugs made Melody cringe. “I can’t believe that.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?” Parker’s voice held a note of cynicism. Sherlock sat at his master’s heel. He seemed to be staring at her with the same cynical look as his handler. Great. Now a dog was judging her, too.
“Both,” she shot back, resenting his insinuation. She understood where his animosity stemmed from, but it didn’t stop her from wishing he had some confidence in her. Though why she felt the need for his approval, she didn’t know. She hardly knew the man. His opinion shouldn’t matter in the least.
She turned her attention back to her captain because his opinion did matter. “Sir, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“How do you propose to do that?” Drexel asked, stepping forward until his thighs hit the edge of the table. His sharp gaze speared through her.
Good question. She racked her brain for ideas. Her gaze landed on the bookshelves behind where Captain McNeal sat. “More education. More security measures.”
“Like?” Drexel pressed.
Before she could answer, she felt something nudge her ankle. Sherlock had moved closer. His nose pushed at her pant leg, hiking the material up until he could lick her skin. His wet tongue was warm and rough. She lifted her eyes to meet Parker’s.
Mild surprise reflected in his chocolate eyes. “He likes you.” He gave a slight tug on the leash, bringing the dog back to heel.
An idea formed. “A formal demonstration of how easily drugs can be detected by the police would be a start.”
Parker’s eyes widened, then a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth and knocked some of the air out of Melody’s lungs. Boy, talk about devastating.
“Sherlock and I could do that,” he said.
“That takes care of the education part,” McNeal conceded.
“We could search the kids as they come in,” Jim suggested.
Melody’s gaze snapped to Jim in disbelief, then to Captain Drexel. “We can’t treat the kids like criminals. That will only drive them away. We’ll keep a closer eye on things and manage the facility better.”
With a thoughtful expression, Drexel exchanged a glance with McNeal. “Okay. For now. But there can’t be a repeat of this incident.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to se
e that drugs never make their way through the doors of the teen center again.”
“And I hope, Officer Zachary,” Drexel intoned with a good dose of censure, “that you will think twice before confronting known drug addicts alone.”
“Yes, sir,” she assured him with a sidelong glance at Parker. Obviously, he’d informed them of the need to run off Zane and his buddies when he’d called the captain earlier.
“Drug addicts?” Jim interjected harshly. Clearly he was affronted that his partner would act without him. “What’s this?”
She slid him a glance. “I was asking Zane Peabody questions about Daniel.”
“Your nephew?” He shook his head. “You need to let that go.”
Anger bubbled and threatened to explode like a geyser. This was an old argument. He’d made his position clear on her quest to find her nephew’s murderer a long time ago. “I can’t.”
The empathy in Jim’s gaze made it clear he thought she was working a lost cause. “You’ve done everything you can and still haven’t been able to solve this crime. You need to accept the fact that you’re not going to.”
“You don’t know that,” she shot back, hurt by his lack of faith in her abilities. Captain Drexel had given her permission to work her nephew’s case on her own time when she’d hired on with the department. “This case isn’t unsolvable. No case is,” she said. “It just takes time and effort. It’s not a waste.”
“Time and effort away from your responsibilities,” Jim reminded her with a pointed look.
She gritted her teeth. Meeting her captain’s arched eyebrows, she winced. The fact that she’d done some investigating today during working hours was something she was going to have to answer for, she knew, but letting Jim’s negativism influence the captain wasn’t something she planned to let happen.
“With the exception of today, I’ve only worked on Daniel’s case after my shift.”
Captain Drexel held up a hand. “I trust you’ll use better judgment from now on.”
The gentle chastisement hit its mark. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. I understand you closed the youth center for the night,” Drexel said.
“Yes, sir.” Aware of Parker’s gaze on her, she added for his benefit, “Just for the night. It seemed the prudent thing to do given the circumstances.”
Her captain nodded. “Agreed. And it will give you time to do a thorough search of the facility to make sure there are no other drugs hidden on the premises.”
“We can help with that,” Parker spoke up.
Remembering how Sherlock acted at the boys’ locker-room door, Melody decided having the supersniffing dog’s help would be a good idea. “We’d appreciate the help, Officer Adams.”
If there were more stockpiles of drugs in the center, she wanted to know. Parker Adams and his dog, Sherlock, were the best means of uncovering any illegal substances. Even if spending time with the handsome detective and his police dog put her on edge.
“Parker, a word?” Slade said as Melody and Jim filed out of the office. Captain Drexel paced back to the window.
Parker nodded and waited until the others were out of earshot before saying, “Yes, boss?”
“What are your thoughts on the center?”
Aware of Drexel’s scrutiny, he replied honestly, “Mixed. I know the center fills a need and provides a safe place for the teens. But finding those drugs leaves me with a bitter taste. Something’s going on over there.”
“Do you think Officer Zachary is involved?” Drexel asked, his deep voice reverberating through the room.
Remembering how upset she was when they opened the locker gave him hope she wasn’t. “I don’t think so. But I know not to come to any conclusions without more information.”
“And Officer Wheaton?” Slade asked.
“Again, without evidence to the contrary, I have to believe both officers are on the up and up.”
The two captains exchanged another look. Drexel gave a slight nod. Slade turned back to Parker. “Given the break-in this morning and now the drugs, I want you to stick close to the center. If something illegal is going on, and if either Officer Zachary or Officer Wheaton is involved, we want to know about it ASAP.”
“Yes, sir.”
With the captain’s backing, he hoped she would accept his protection more easily. Though he had a feeling easy wasn’t going to apply when it came to Melody Zachary. The detective seemed to have an independent streak as wide as the Rio Grande.
Parker started to leave but then turned back to ask, “Any word on Rio?”
Distress clouded Slade’s blue eyes. “No. Not since Jackson spotted him last month in the Lost Woods.”
Fellow K-9 officer Jackson Worth and his dog, Titan, a black Labrador, were the unit’s explosive-detection team. They’d been working on another case when Jackson had seen Rio.
“Melody said the man who had broken into her office this morning was wearing a ski mask,” Parker said. “From her description it’s the same guy Jackson saw in the Lost Woods with that German shepherd.”
Unfortunately, the pair had gotten away while the K-9 unit was in the midst of tracking them.
Slade’s expression hardened. “All the more reason for you and Sherlock to become a presence at the youth center. If this guy in the black mask returns, I want him taken down.”
“Roger that.” Anticipation revved through Parker. This creep was a menace to society and needed to be brought to justice.
FOUR
Parker and Sherlock headed back to the center. He found Melody in one of the classrooms opening drawers and cupboards. The overhead lights hit her hair, making the strands gleam. Her slender back was to him. Sherlock gave a little yelp of greeting when he saw her.
She whipped around. Her gaze raked over him, then landed on Sherlock. She arched an eyebrow. “Does he smell something already?”
Parker chuckled. “No. He’s saying hello to you.”
She blinked. “Oh. Okay.”
When she didn’t move, he asked, “Would you like to pet him?”
She hesitated, and then tucked her hands behind her back. “No. I’m not much of a dog person.”
“Did you have a bad experience with one?” That was usually the case. A badly behaved dog ruined the reputation of all dogs.
She shook her head. “No, it isn’t that. I never had a dog growing up. I’m more of a cat person.”
He’d never seen a cat earning its keep on the force. To each his own, though. “Shall we get to work?”
“It would be quicker to let your dog do his thing.”
Parker took the special white towel from his leather waist pack and dangled it for Sherlock. The dog immediately latched on to one end. For a few minutes Parker played tug-of-war. Then he gave the command, “Drop it.”
Sherlock released his end. Parker turned his back to the dog and stuffed the towel into his pack. Then releasing his hold on the leash, he pointed. “Find it.”
With an excited bark, Sherlock took off, his nose to the ground.
Parker smiled at Melody’s incredulous expression. “He is a smart dog, really.”
She laughed softly, her expression relaxing into a smile that lit up her whole face. Their gazes locked. The pleasing sound of her laugh lifted in the air and wrapped around Parker, making him aware of her in a way he hadn’t been before. She was a beautiful lady when she wasn’t scowling at him or eyeing him like he was the enemy.
He cleared his throat, forcing away the attraction arcing between them. “Come on, let’s see what he finds.”
Sherlock had disappeared by the time they hit the hall. But his frantic barking led them to another classroom. They entered the woodworking room to find Jim holding a chair with the legs pointed at Sherlock in a self-defense posture.
Sherlock had his teeth bared as he barked angrily, but kept a distance.
“What did you do to him?” Parker demanded, grabbing the leash and looking Sherlock over for signs of injury.
�
��Me?” Jim sputtered. “I didn’t do anything. I was in here minding my own business when that mutt nearly bit me.”
Fisting his hands, Parker said, “He doesn’t react like this unless provoked.”
“Jim, maybe you should go home.” Melody rushed to Jim’s side. “We’ll take care of the search.”
“Fine.” Jim set the chair down. “I’ve already searched this room. It’s clean.”
“Great. Thank you.” Melody smiled and put her hand on his arm.
Jim gave her hand a pat before he skirted a wide berth around Sherlock and Parker and escaped out the door. As soon as he disappeared, Sherlock quit barking. His nose went to the ground and he started moving, straining against the leash. Parker let go. Sherlock followed a scent straight to a cabinet. He pawed at the door.
Parker’s adrenaline spiked. Melody walked over to the cabinet and flung the doors open. Sherlock sniffed the shelves of tools and lumps of wood, lost interest and moved away.
Parker let out a breath mixed with relief and disappointment. He almost wished Sherlock found something in the room to implicate Wheaton. But Parker also knew how devastating that would be to Melody. The man was her partner, they’d worked together for four years. Whatever his faults, she relied on him. Parker had to respect that.
Over the next hour, they followed Sherlock through the center. There were several false alerts, like at the cabinet in the woodworking room.
“I suspect Sherlock’s picking up on minute traces of drugs that were left behind by whoever had stashed the cocaine in the locker.”
“We have to find out who it is,” Melody said, her voice ringing with determination.
“Agreed.”
When the culprit returned, Parker and Sherlock would be ready, even if it meant permanently shutting down the center and hurting Melody.
* * *
“Sherlock, attention!”
At his master’s command, the little brown and white beagle jumped to his feet on the hardwood gymnasium floor of the Sagebrush Youth Center. His black nose lifted, his big brown eyes going on alert and his tail raised straight up.