by Linda Bridey
“Whew! They didn’t get my coins,” he said as he came out of the closet.
“That’s good. I don’t believe this,” Joe said. “I’m going to tell Mitch so he can get started on investigating it.”
“Mitch is out of town, remember?” Eddie said.
“That’s right. I’ll get Jack then,” Joe said.
“Why not Rick? He’s workin’ at the bar tonight, which is closer than Jack’s, plus, as a former Mountie, he’s a little more experienced at this sort of thing,” Eddie suggested.
Joe made a face of distaste as he thought about dealing with Rick. Still, Eddie had a good point. “Yeah, you’re right. If it was anything else, I’d talk to Jack. All right. I’ll go talk to him.”
“Ok. I think it’s your best bet,” Eddie said, smiling inside at Joe’s reaction about having to interact with the deputy.
*****
The Watering Hole was a little rowdy, but nothing that Deputy Rick Westlake and his friend and fellow bouncer, Reckless, couldn’t handle. Rick wore his brown hair long and during the winter wore a long duster and beat up leather hat. However, since it was warm weather now, he wore a lighter jacket and carried a leather bag with him that he’d fashioned from a saddlebag.
Normally his ferret, Curtis, traveled in a pocket in the duster, but for the summer the ferret was carried in the bag, which had plenty of holes poked in it for air. Reckless, a Lakota brave from their local tribe, played with Curtis as he also kept his eyes open for possible trouble in the bar.
“So, Sitting Duck, ready to become a father?” Rick asked.
Reckless smiled. “Yes. We are very excited.”
“I’m sure. You’ll be a good father,” Rick said.
“Thanks. I hope so. I will do my best. Brook is very ready to have this baby. She says it is a good thing she wears moccasins because if she had to wear white women’s shoes, she would not be able to reach them to tie them,” Reckless said with a chuckle.
Smiling, Rick replied, “Yeah, I see her point. She did get big, no offense to her. Poor thing. You know, you never did answer my question about whether you were going to be there for the birth or not. You better make a decision soon.”
Reckless had given the matter careful consideration and said, “Yes, I will be there. I am scared about it. We do not normally do that, but Brook would like it, so I will do it.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait until Gina and I have a baby. I already love being a father,” Rick said. He spoke of his new wife Gina’s two children from a previous marriage. Ryan had just turned five and Chloe would soon turn eleven. Rick adored them and was adopting the children. The papers would soon be finalized.
“I am sure it will not be too long until you do,” Reckless said with a grin.
Rick laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”
Curtis started bouncing around on what was known as the “bouncers’ table” very excitedly. Reckless had gotten him wound up and he attacked Rick’s boots viciously. They were old boots so Rick didn’t care. The bouncers laughed at him as he growled and hissed at the boots. He latched on and shook himself back and forth.
Reckless looked towards the door and said to Rick, “Joe’s here. You better put Curtis away. He does not look happy.” Joe was terrified of Curtis.
Rick gave Curtis the whistle that told him to hop in his bag and the ferret reluctantly obeyed. He’d been having fun and didn’t like his playtime cut short. Joe came towards their table with a look on his face that Rick had never seen before. He’d seen Joe upset or angry, but he’d never seen the kind of rage on Joe’s face that was present at the moment.
“I need you out at our place, now!” he said as he pointed at Rick.
Rick stayed calm. “Why?”
“We’ve been robbed, that’s why!” Joe said. “A lot of the stuff I bought Lacey is gone! I have the more valuable pieces in a safe, but there were still some fairly expensive things taken. And when you find them, I’m gonna kill ‘em! Some of Eddie’s stuff is gone, too. Go do your job, deputy.”
Rick didn’t take Joe’s attitude personally. He knew that Joe was just angry about Lacey’s jewelry being stolen. “Are you going back to your house?”
“Yes, sir, I am,” Joe said.
“Then I’m going to need you to go to the barn and get everyone else out there, too. I need the house empty so I can work,” Rick said.
“What? Why does it need to be empty?” Joe asked.
“Do you want Lacey’s stuff back?” Rick asked.
“Yes!” Joe shouted. “That’s why I came to get you, isn’t it?”
Rick rose slowly and Joe backed up a couple of steps. Movements that were simple movements by other people seemed threatening when Rick made them. The man was known for intimidating people without doing anything out of the ordinary. There was simply an air of danger about the former Mountie.
“Then if you want her stuff back, you’ll do as I’m asking. Or if you don’t like my methods, you can go get Jack. If you want me to go right now, that’s not a problem for me, but I need the house empty of people. Now, what do you want to do?” Rick asked quietly.
“I don’t see how bringing everyone out to the barn is gonna—”
“Do you want to find her stuff?” Rick yelled. “I already gave you your choices. I’m not going to stand here and be shouted at while I’m trying to help you. Do you understand?”
Joe threw up his hands and stomped back out of the bar without answering.
*****
Rick asked everyone but Lacey and the baby to go out to one of the barns. He only needed about twenty minutes, but didn’t want the infant to be outside for that long in the chilly night air. Emily was excited about going outside at night and wanted to play with the barn cats.
“Lacey, when did you notice the jewelry was gone?” Rick asked as he set Curtis on the floor in Joe and Lacey’s room and put him to work.
“I wanted to wear earrings tonight when we came to the Watering Hole, but when I went to look in my jewelry box I noticed that there were a lot of empty compartments, or almost empty ones.”
“Before tonight, when was the last time you were in it?” Rick asked as he looked around. There was no sign of forced entry, but then again, Rick really hadn’t expected there to be.
“Maybe a week ago? I haven’t really been wearing jewelry lately because I haven’t been off the ranch much with all the horses I have to train right now,” she said.
“Ok. Does Joe have anyone else working for him besides the usual employees?” Rick asked as he walked out into the hallway and whistled for Curtis.
Lacey looked down and smiled as the furry creature ran after Rick. She didn’t understand what Curtis had to do with the investigation, but Rick’s mind worked in mysterious ways, so she thought he must have a good reason for having the ferret with him.
“Not right now. We had a ranch hand quit about a month ago,” Lacey said.
“Who was that?” Rick asked as he started checking windows as they walked along the hallway.
“Kimber Dietz.”
“Describe him to me in detail,” Rick said.
“Do you think it was him?” she asked.
“Not necessarily,” Rick said. “Description?”
“Um, about your height and build. Average looking. Blond hair, blue eyes.”
“Did he have an accent or any scars?” Rick asked.
“No accent and I never saw a scar on him, but I never saw him naked or anything.”
Rick laughed. “I’m sure Joe would be relieved to hear that.”
Lacey chuckled. “Yeah, he would.”
“Was there anyone he ran around with?”
“I’m sure there was, but I don’t think I ever met any of his friends,” Lacey said.
“Ok. There are a lot of unlocked windows, Lacey. You need to start locking everything. I can’t determine exactly how they got in because there are too many points of entry,” Rick said.
“Do you t
hink they’ll come back?” Lacey said.
Rick smiled reassuringly at her. “I doubt it,” he lied. He didn’t want to alarm his friend. “It’s just a precaution.”
Lacey relaxed. “Ok.”
Rick sent Curtis into every room in the house, including the ones not being used. He locked windows as he went. Then he went back into the Dwyer’s bedroom and had Curtis sniff the dresser and jewelry box.
“Lacey, I don’t want you to handle the jewelry, but can you point to a piece that you’d let me borrow?” Rick asked.
“Sure,” Lacey said. “That one.”
Using a clean handkerchief, Rick picked up the earring and had Curtis sniff that, too. “Thanks. I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can.” He wrapped it up and put in a jacket pocket.
“Rick, please find my things. There’s a pair of earrings missing that was my mother’s,” Lacey said, as her eyes filled with tears.
“Describe them to me,” Rick said.
“They’re just costume jewelry, but very good costume jewelry. They’re a large, emerald teardrop design trimmed by fake diamonds. But they look real,” Lacey said.
“I will do my utmost to find all of your things, Lacey,” Rick said kindly. “I’m done. I’ll go let everyone know that they can come back in.”
“Thank you,” Lacey said.
Rick collected Curtis and went out to the barn. He let everyone else go back inside except Joe and Eddie.
“You’ve got to start locking doors and windows, Joe. I don’t know how they got in because there are too many doors and windows open. I’m going to bring Reckless with me tomorrow morning so he can look around the ground outside the windows and see if he can track someone. You know he’s an expert tracker. If there’s anything to track, he’ll find it,” Rick said.
“All right. We’ll start doin’ that,” Joe said and ran a hand through his hair. “This is damn scary, Rick. The jewelry is one thing, but I’ve got people in that house that I love and who I don’t want to be hurt. Especially the kids. I’ve got a baby—‘” Joe broke off as emotion clogged his throat. When he got himself under control again, he said, “Find out who’s doing this, Rick. Please.”
“I’ll do my best, Joe. In the meantime, don’t leave a lot of cash lying around and don’t keep a lot on your person, either. I don’t want to cause panic in the town, but I think people need to be warned about leaving their places unlocked. I know we don’t usually have to worry about doing that, but right now we do,” Rick said. “I think this is someone who knows people’s schedules. With your place, though, it would easy to get in almost any time, but they still knew the layout of the place. If anyone else’s stuff goes missing, let us know.”
“I will. Keep me posted about how the investigation is goin’,” Joe said.
“Will do, Mr. Mayor. Eddie, I’m sorry that they got some of your stuff, too. I’ll find it,” Rick said as they started walking back to the house.
The next day, the theft at the Dwyer estate was all over town. Deena heard a lot of different rumors about who the thief was, but discarded every single one. She felt bad for the Dwyers and Eddie, too. It was such a shame that it had happened and she hoped that whoever was responsible would be caught soon. Hopefully, they could recover at least some of the stolen items.
Jack Samuels, the other deputy in Dawson and Rick’s nephew, came into the Grady House to get some cinnamon rolls as he did almost every morning.
“Hi, Jack. I’ve got them all ready for you,” she said as she gave them to him.
He smiled at her. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Sure thing. How’s the investigation going?” she asked in a low voice.
“It’s in the works. Rick’s workin’ on that while I take care of other things around town. I really can’t say more than that, Deena,” he said.
She said, “I understand. I just feel so bad for them.”
“Me, too. It’s a scary thing. We always lock our house. I guess that comes from me being a deputy.” His blue eyes smiled along with his mouth.
“I guess it would.”
“Well, I better get back. Rick’s gonna be leaving the office soon.” He paid Deena for the pastries and said, “Thanks again. See ya tomorrow.”
As Jack walked out the door, Deena wondered if she’d see Eddie at some point. She knew that whenever he came in, she was going to have to be careful not to say something that would tip him off that she was really the one to whom he was writing letters. She wasn’t ready to reveal herself yet. Deena tried to put it out of her mind as she went back to work.
Chapter Four
Rick and Reckless arrived at the Dwyer’s around eight o’clock the next morning. They didn’t bother to go inside, instead preferring to get right to work. Reckless scoured the ground all around the house and even looked in a wider circle. He completed the search twice but could detect no trace of human feet anywhere.
“Well, that confirms my suspicions. Someone knows their schedule or at least where they were in the house and is sneaky enough to get in and out of their bedroom,” Rick said to Reckless.
“It is someone who has done this before, I think,” Reckless said.
“I agree. They’re no novice,” Rick said. “That’s ok. We’ll catch them. Thanks for all your help.”
“You’re welcome. Are you ok?” Reckless asked.
Rick smiled at the concern in Reckless’ black eyes. “Yeah. I just didn’t sleep much last night because I was thinking about all of this.”
“Working on more hunches?” Reckless asked.
“Yeah,” Rick said. “Well, I’d better get into the office to fill the guys in on everything. Again, thanks.”
“Sure. Let me know if you need me again,” Reckless said.
“You bet,” Rick said.
Reckless headed for his horse and Rick went to the house. He would only have a few minutes, but he wanted to see Gina and Ryan before he left. His wife worked as a seamstress and Joe and Lacey always had a lot of work for her. When she’d first come to Dawson, she’d stayed with the Dwyers. Joe had discovered that she was a very talented seamstress and had hired her right away and made a sewing room for her in their house. She’d also started building up more business from around town.
“Daddy!” Ryan said as he entered the dining room. He ran over to Rick and the deputy picked him up. “Did you get the bad guys?” Ryan asked as he hugged Rick.
“Not yet, but we will,” Rick said. He loved Ryan’s smile and his big brown eyes that he’d inherited from his mother.
Ryan pulled Rick’s bag open and made kissing noises. Curtis poked his head out of the bag and Ryan giggled as he patted him. Rick looked over at the table and saw that Joe was looking in their direction. He whistled and Curtis disappeared.
“Hey!” Ryan said.
“Not right now, little man. I have to talk to the grownups, ok?” Rick said.
“Ok. I’m gonna go play,” Ryan said and ran off down the hallway.
Rick smiled as he watched Ryan go. Then he turned his attention to those at the dining room table. Gina smiled at him as her heart skipped a little. It never failed to strike her how handsome her husband was. Rick returned her smile.
“How is everyone?” Rick asked.
“Hanging in there,” Lacey said. “Any luck?”
Rick shook his head a little. “No. Reckless didn’t find anything which means there was nothing to find. His tracking skills are top notch. Try not to worry too much. We’re going to catch whoever is doing this.”
“Do you have any leads at all?” Joe asked. He was very upset over the thefts and it showed in his face.
“Not leads necessarily. More like hunches,” Rick said. “But it’s only been one day. I’m asking for a little patience here. I will tell you this; it’s someone with some expertise. We’re not dealing with some amateur. They know what they’re doing.”
“Great,” Joe said sarcastically.
“I know you all said you didn’t see anyone s
trange around here, but if you do think of something, let us know. Even if it seems small, it could be important,” Rick said.
As he spoke, Rick watched everyone present. No one displayed any signs of nervousness outside of Joe and Lacey, but that was to be expected.
He looked at Gina. “Can I see you a minute?”
“Certainly.”
“I’ll let you all know what we find,” Rick said. “Take care, everyone.”
He clapped Joe on the shoulder, something he rarely did, and led Gina into the foyer.
“Lovely, I need you to do me a favor,” Rick said.
Gina nodded. “Ok. What is it?”
“Can you just keep an eye out for anything funny? Let me know if anyone talks about having made a large purchase lately. It could mean that they’ve sold some of the jewelry. We can’t rule anyone out at this point, and I mean anyone,” Rick said.
“You don’t think it’s someone here, do you?” Gina’s pretty eyes were wide with concern.
Rick said, “I hope not, but I’m not going to leave any stone unturned. Will you do that for me?”
“Yes. I will,” Gina said.
“Thank you,” Rick said, and slid his arms around her waist.
Gina blushed a little. “There are people here.”
“Yes, I know,” Rick said and quickly pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you tonight, Lovely. Have a good day.”
“You, too,” Gina said.
Rick kissed her again and released her. He gave her a lingering look and went out the door. Gina stood with a smile on her face as she pressed her fingers to her lips. When he gazed at her with those coffee-brown eyes of his and gave her a smile, it made her feel giddy. But when he kissed her, she felt her knees give way a little and her heartbeat jump around. Gina chuckled at the nickname he’d given her. She turned from the door and walked back into the dining room.
*****
Dear Deanna,
I’m sorry I haven’t written by now, but we’ve had some bad things going on in town. Joe and Lacey were robbed of a lot of jewelry and such a few days ago. They got a few things of mine and our cook’s, too. There was also a second robbery at someone else’s home. Our whole town is scared about it, as you can imagine. It’s a good thing that no one was hurt.