Deadly Summer (Darling Investigations Book 1)

by Denise Grover Swank

  “What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

  I flashed him a smile. “A draft beer, of course.”

  “Hey,” he said, “I know you. You’re Summer Butler. Can you do that thing?”

  I resisted the urge to groan, and instead cocked my head. “What thing?”

  “You know. The Gotcha! thing.”

  I felt someone walk up behind me, and a male voice said, “Come on, Austin. The lady’s takin’ a night off. Get her beer and let her enjoy it in peace.”

  The bartender frowned and walked off to get my drink while the man behind me slid in between me and the guy next to me. He looked to be close to my age—late twenties or early thirties. He was tall and filled out the T-shirt he was wearing quite nicely.

  “Thanks,” I said, my palms turning clammy. Was this my date? If so, he wasn’t anything like I’d expected. The grin on his face was downright playful.

  “You here alone?” he asked, looking around. He lowered his gaze to my chest before lifting it to my face. “No friends with you?”

  Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as nice as I’d initially thought.

  “I’m here to enjoy my night off,” I said, throwing his words back at him. “Just like everyone else.”

  His grin stretched a little wider. “Darlin’, you are nothin’ like everyone else here.”

  The bartender placed the glass in front me. “That’ll be a dollar.”

  I reached into my purse to get my wallet, but my new friend was already putting money on the counter. “I’m paying for the lady, Austin, and get me another.”

  “I thought you were goin’ home, Rebel.”

  Rebel continued grinning like an idiot. “I just changed my mind.”

  It was becoming increasingly clear he wasn’t the man I’d arranged to meet, so I gave him a sassy look as I slapped several ones down on the counter. “Don’t go changin’ your plans on my account.”

  Austin the bartender laughed, but Rebel looked less amused.

  I picked up my glass and moved to a stool farther down the bar, hoping Rebel would get the hint and leave me alone. I needed to be unencumbered so the mystery texter could approach me. I took a sip of the beer to ease my nerves. I was terrified the texter would follow through, and terrified he wouldn’t. I checked my phone to see if he’d sent another message. Nothing.

  “I can appreciate a girl who plays hard to get,” Rebel said, sidling up to me again. “I can be persistent.”

  I looked up into his face. “Look, I want to be nice, but you’re makin’ that difficult. I’ve had a really bad day, and I’d like to sit here alone and enjoy my beer.”

  He leaned his elbow on the counter. “I can make it a whole lot better.”

  I sighed. “Let me make this perfectly clear,” I said in a firm voice. “I’m not interested.”

  An ugly expression washed over his face. “You think you’re too good for me, bitch?”

  I’d been through this more times than I could count, and while it could be humiliating and sometimes downright scary, I knew the best way to deal with a guy like Rebel was to stay calm. And if that didn’t work, the pepper spray in my purse would do the trick. The only thorn in this plan was my current bad attitude.

  Looking him in the eye, I said with plenty of attitude, “It doesn’t matter what I think. All you need to hear is the word no and then go on about your business.”

  “You’re just a washed-up TV-show-actress-turned-slut. You should be lucky I’m even interested in you.”

  “If I’m so nasty, why did you approach me in the first place?” I shot back against my better judgment. “What does that say about your standards?”

  It was pretty mild as far as insults went, so I wasn’t expecting it when he lifted his hand to hit me, leaving me little time to grab my pepper spray. I’d just gotten ahold of it when I saw a hand seize Rebel’s wrist from behind and jerk him backward.

  Luke spun him around and shoved him toward the door. “Get the hell out of here, Rebel, before I beat your ass!”

  “Your badge doesn’t work here, Montgomery,” Rebel sneered, his hands balled into fists.

  “Which is why I’m free to beat the shit out of you. So either leave now or I’m calling the sheriff.”

  “Word has it you and the sheriff’s department aren’t the best of friends.”

  “My relationship with the sheriff’s department has no bearing on the fact I stopped you from physically assaulting one of Rudy’s clients.”

  “She’s not worth my time. Since when were you interested in my leftovers, Montgomery? But hey, you’re welcome to that dried-up piece of—”

  Rebel didn’t finish his sentence because Luke punched him in the jaw hard enough to send him reeling backward.

  Rebel regained his footing and launched himself at Luke, landing punches on his face and in his gut.

  Luke got in another swing before a big man stepped out from around the bar, carrying a baseball bat, although the size of him was impressive enough. “Knock it off.” His voice boomed through the entire bar, and everyone fell silent.

  The man turned to Rebel. “Were you about to hit a woman?”

  That ugly look stole over Rebel’s face again. “The bitch thinks she’s too good for me.”

  Rudy shot a quick glance at me, then shifted his gaze back to Rebel. “That’s because she is, you asshole. Now get the hell out before I put a knot on your head the size of a baseball.”

  Rebel spun around and stormed out the door as Rudy turned his attention to Luke. “And what’s your excuse? You’re the one I count on to keep a level head.”

  “He insulted Summer.”

  Rudy’s mouth quirked into a grin as he got a better look at me. “Summer Butler?” He waved a hand. “Rebel’s lucky he still has all his teeth. Go get cleaned up.”

  I gasped, still in shock, when Luke pushed past me. He had a bloody nose. “Luke.” I reached for him, but he continued on toward the bathroom. Before he slipped out of sight, he twisted around and pointed at me, grunting, “Don’t you dare leave!”

  I almost told him off, but the sight of his bloody face stopped me.

  “That boy’s got it bad for you,” Rudy said, standing next to me and watching Luke duck into the bathroom.

  “Luke?”

  Rudy laughed and shook his head. “I’ve known that boy since I coached him on the middle-school football team. I’ve only ever seen him get into three fights, and all of them were over you.”

  “Wait,” I said, looking up at him. “This was the only time I ever saw him get into a fight.”

  He simply grinned.

  “When? In high school?”

  “One of ’em.”

  “When was the other?”

  “About a year ago.”

  “Over what?”

  “Someone besmirchin’ your reputation.”

  “He told me he only wanted a fling,” I said. Not the sort of thing I’d normally share with a stranger, but I was totally caught off guard. Luke had acted like he straight-up hated me a few days ago.

  Rudy laughed. “That’s a good one.” Then he scanned the crowd. “Fight’s over. Get back to drinkin’.”

  Luke came back out a minute later. His face was cleaned up, but his left eye was swelling. Anger washed over his face as he stopped in front of me and glared down at me. “Do you cause trouble everywhere you go? Why did you leave Sweet Briar?”

  “I had my reasons.” Which surely had been blown to smithereens by now. My presence had led to a bar fight and the appearance of a police officer. There was no way the mystery texter was showing himself.

  “Here I thought I was protecting you from Sebastian Jenkins, not Rebel Lancing.”

  “I could have handled it. I have pepper spray.”

  “Like that was gonna stop Rebel Lancing.” He grabbed my elbow. “Let’s go.”

  “What?” I took a step backward. “You punch a guy for me and suddenly you’re my keeper? How about a please?”

  He shoo
k his head. “Dammit, Summer. Will you please leave with me now?”

  “Fine, but I want you to know that I planned to leave anyway.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He followed me into the parking lot and walked me to my truck.

  “Who were you planning to meet?” he asked.

  “I told you—I just wanted a drink.”

  “That’s bullshit, and we both know it. And why did you park your truck practically behind the building? You could have been attacked.”

  “Again . . . I have pepper spray.”

  He opened my truck door. “Pepper spray’s no match for bullets, Summer.”

  “No one’s gonna shoot me.” I hoped so anyway. There was no denying I was on the trail of a murderer who’d killed at least two people with a gun.

  His face softened, and he lifted his hand to my face. “You scared the shit out of me again.”

  “And here I thought you were in the bathroom cleaning up your bloody nose.”

  “I’m serious.”

  He ran his fingers down my cheek and the slope of my chin, spreading a trail of warmth, and the tension shifted between us, going from anger to desire.

  “I’m fine. I’m safe,” I whispered as I rested my palm on his chest and stared up into his troubled eyes. “I’m here.”

  I was here, and I wanted him. Why was I fighting this? Despite what he’d said, it was obvious neither of us wanted a one-night stand.

  I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him—gentle at first, just my lips brushing his. He was so still I started to worry I’d read him wrong, but then it was like I’d roused a sleeping lion. Within seconds, he took over, pushing my back against the side of the truck as his mouth ravaged mine. I wrapped a hand behind his head, pulling him closer as our tongues tangled.

  His hand slid down to my bottom, and he lifted me up and onto the truck seat. His mouth skimmed my neck and made a trail of kisses down to the scooped neckline of my dress while his hand slid under the fabric and traced the outside of my thigh.

  A shiver ran through me as his hand inched higher.

  I reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head, then gasped when I saw his bare chest. Luke had always looked impressive without a shirt, but he’d definitely filled out since we were teenagers. I leaned over and kissed him with twelve years’ worth of restrained passion. His hand found the edge of my panties, and I groaned as my body came alive.

  But just as quickly, he took two steps back. “Summer, we have to stop.”

  I gawked at him, trying to come to my senses.

  “This might be the back of the parking lot, but we can’t do this here. I can’t do this here. I’m the damned chief of police. I can’t get arrested for indecent exposure and lewd acts, and you definitely can’t. Not to mention cameras.”

  He was right, of course, but that didn’t quell my disappointment.

  “Come home with me.”

  “Now?”

  He laughed. “I’m not inviting you over for dinner, although on second thought, maybe I should feed you since I interrupted your meal earlier.” Then he moved closer and kissed me again. “Come home with me.”

  “You’re not playing fair. I have to be at work at eight,” I murmured as his mouth skimmed down my neck, setting me on fire again.

  “You don’t have to spend the night.”

  I leaned back and shoved on his chest. “So this is just a booty call?” I asked, getting pissed all over again.

  He snaked an arm around my back, keeping me close. “This is whatever you want it to be. You can spend the night. You can leave. This can last as long as you want, because you’re in control. I just want what I can get.”

  He kissed me again, making me lose all reason.

  The vibration of my cell phone caught my attention. I broke away to check the screen. “It’s Dixie. I have to get it.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said as soon as I answered. “He made me tell him.”

  So that was how Luke had found me. Stupid me—I hadn’t even considered why he’d shown up. “I’m fine. I’ll be home soon.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re goin’ home,” Luke said softly as I put my phone on the seat.

  “I want this, Luke. I do. Maybe a little too much.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I’m scared to get hurt again. And I’m scared of hurting you. I’m not sure what I’m doin’ when this show is done filmin’.”

  “So you want to forget this happened?”

  “No, I just want to slow it down. We are different people from who we were before—we’ve both done some growin’ up. I want to get to know the Luke you’ve grown into.” I gave him an apologetic smile. “Are you mad? I kind of started all of this by kissin’ you.”

  A warm smile spread across his face. “Mad? Why would I be mad, Summer? You’re giving us a shot. You set the rules, I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Thanks.”

  He kissed me again, then pushed my legs into the truck. “I’m gonna follow you home.”

  Part of me was glad. What if my mystery texter had followed me home instead?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  The supplier didn’t send another message, and I wasn’t sure whether to write back. What would I say? Sorry a guy hit on me and then there was a bar fight? It seemed better to say nothing.

  But I’d put plenty of thought into Otto’s special place, and I was pretty sure I was onto something. Whenever I was overwhelmed and sad, I went home to the farm. Sure, not for real—at least not over the last decade—but in my head. I would relive the happier times I’d spent with Meemaw and Pawpaw, Teddy and Dixie, and Luke. It made sense that Otto would do the same, which meant the place he had likely gone to was the land he’d owned with his family.

  On the way to our location the next morning, I called Gretchen to see if she could give me directions. “Do you happen to know who’s living there now?” I asked.

  “No one,” she said in a sad voice. “Otto still owned it.”

  “Do you mind if we check it out?”

  “No. You do what you need to do to find out what happened. I’ll text you the directions.”

  This morning, we interviewed our new client at her house instead of our office, presumably to save time. Lauren sent us into this one cold, so I was more than a little worried about what she had in store for us.

  “What would you like us to help with, Mrs. Stoneybrook?” I asked the middle-aged woman who was wearing leopard-print leggings and a sparkly gold tank top.

  “I want you to prove that my neighbor is peeing on my hydrangea plants.”

  “You mean his dog?”

  “No,” she said, getting grumpy. “I mean Ned, the old fart next door.”

  I glanced at Dixie, then asked, “What makes you think anyone is peeing on your hydrangeas?”

  “Because my hydrangeas are pink!”

  I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t follow.”

  “Hydrangea colors are determined by pH, and I know that rat bastard takes medication that raises his pH. A high pH produces pink flowers. If it were his dog, the flowers would probably be a bluish purple. Plus, Ned hates me, and he wants me to lose the upcoming garden contest. What better way? The pink flowers clash with my pink begonias.”

  We filmed the interview several times, then walked around her yard, scoped out the neighbor’s yard, and came up with a plan to set up a nanny cam on her flower bed.

  It was nearly noon when we finished up, and Lauren was happier than I’d ever seen her.

  “Congrats, Summer!” she said. “You’ve made the gossip sites again. I can only presume your mystery man is the chief of police.” She tapped her chin. “That might actually come in handy.”

  Oh, God. What was she talking about?

  She looked around at the crew standing on Mrs. Stoneybrook’s front yard. “Okay, everyone. Time for lunch. You have off until four. The Boll Weevil parade starts at five. We’
ll need to get set up downtown beforehand, not to mention Tony needs to stick with Summer to get footage of her preparing to get on that float.”

  I maneuvered closer to Bill while Lauren finished up her orders.

  “I know where we’re going,” I whispered. “I found out the location of Otto’s family’s fire. We have permission to look around. I bet it’s where Otto used to disappear to for days, and I suspect if he was gonna hide something, that would be the place.”

  Bill’s face lit up. “Who said you weren’t good at this? That’s great news!”

  “Who said I’m not good at it?”

  He suddenly looked unsure as he glanced over at the crew, then back to me. “Uh . . . no one.”

  The crew could say whatever they liked. I was about to prove them all wrong.

  As soon as we got into the truck, I made Dixie look up the gossip sites.

  “Oh!” she gasped in excitement.

  “What?” I asked. “What did you find?”

  “Well, I had no idea Luke was so buff.”

  I cringed.

  “And, damn, girl. You need to start wearing shorter dresses or maybe shorts. Your legs are sex-y.”

  I pulled up to a stop sign and grabbed the phone out of her hand. There were several photos of Luke and me from last night. One was of the two of us kissing next to my open truck door, both of us fully clothed. Then next one was Luke standing shirtless next to the truck, my bare leg hooked around his hip. Even though he was wearing jeans, it looked like we were having sex in the parking lot.

  “Oh. No. Luke’s gonna be furious.”

  “Why? He looks hot.”

  “He’s the chief of police, Dixie. He can’t do things like that.”

  “Have sex?

  “In public!”

  “You never told me you had sex with Luke,” she said in a pout.

  “We didn’t. It just looks that way.”

  I handed her the phone and grabbed my own to call Luke. When he didn’t answer his cell, I called the station.

  “Hey, Amber, it’s Summer. Is Luke in his office?”

  “He’s in a meeting with the mayor and the city council.”

  Oh, God. My heart sank to my toes. “Can you tell him I called?”

  “Sure thing.”