by Lori King
Of course, getting there on time was just her personal preference. She doubted her customers would notice. But she liked having the time to set up everything on her displays. It wasn’t about just making money. She could close the physical shop and make most of her money from the online store, but there was just something special for her about having a place to go that she could call her own. Her dad had always said that if she had a job doing something that she loved, and then it wouldn’t feel like work. He was right.
She walked that morning because someone had actually cleared a path on the sidewalk. She waved at a few of her fellow shop owners as she passed by. As she got closer to her own store, though, she started to feel like something was off. What really clued her in was the huge gust of wind that suddenly blew, causing her door to shimmy way too much. It shouldn’t do if it was firmly locked. Another gust blew and her door swung open.
“What the fuck!”
Her heart was pounding as she rushed the last few feet to her door. Someone had broken the lock. She entered inside her store and almost all her costumes were shredded, her glass and pottery figurines smashed to tiny pieces. Her cash register had been thrown against a wall and was now just sticking out of the drywall. She knelt down to pick up one of her favorite haunted house figurines. It was completely ruined. Who would do something like this?
Getting back to her feet, she reached for her cell phone and called Sheriff Hank. His wife, who was also his dispatcher, answered.
“Sheriff’s department, what’s your emergency?”
“Edna, this is Rita Russell. Someone broke into my store and vandalized it.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes, I don’t think anyone is here.”
“Stand outside the store until Hank gets there.”
“Okay.” She walked back outside and wrapped her arms around her waist, grateful she was still wearing her big coat. She glanced over at the furniture shop, hoping to see Luke, but the lights were still out. That was when she realized she didn’t even have Luke’s number. Hank’s siren caught her attention before she could think about that for too long. She watched as Hank pulled up in his SUV with Robby next to him.
Hank got out and looked at Rita with concern. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t here when it happened. I arrived about ten minutes ago and found the door lock broken.”
“Stay out here while we investigate.”
“I’m getting kinda cold out here, Hank.”
“Robby, go put her in the SUV and keep an eye on her while I check things out. Rita, is the back door locked?”
“I didn’t get past the front room.”
“Okay, go get in the SUV and have Robby turn the heater on for ya.” Hank pulled out his gun and entered the shop.
“Let’s get you warmed up, Rita.” Robby put his arm around her shoulder and turned her toward the SUV. He opened the passenger door for her to get inside, then went around to the driver’s side to get in and turn on the heater.
She was shivering badly. Rita pulled off her gloves and placed her hands directly over the vents. “Thanks, I was freezing out there.”
“Here, babe, I can warm you.” He scooted over to her putting his arm out like he was going to hug her.
“What are you doing?” She moved up against the passenger door to keep her distance.
“Come on, Rita, I thought we decided we were going to start dating again. I just wanted to give you a little kiss.”
“Wait a minute. I didn’t agree to date you, Robby.”
“Sure you did. I told you yesterday that I wanted you back. It was decided.”
“Hell, no, it wasn’t.”
“Why are you being so difficult? It’s not like you’re married or anything.”
“I’m not married, but I’m seeing someone.”
Robby snorted. “Who are you dating? Everyone around here is married or engaged or too old for you. Come on, Rita, don’t be difficult.” He leaned over to try to kiss her again.
“Stop!” She was trying to push him away when the door behind her suddenly opened, and she started to fall out of the SUV. Strong arms caught her before she hit the ground.
“What the hell is going on here?” an angry male voice growled.
She looked up and relaxed. “Luke.”
“Who is this guy?” Robby demanded, still sitting in the SUV.
Luke glared at him. “I’m her boyfriend. Who the hell are you, and why were you putting your hands on her?”
16
Oh, boy, Luke was there and he was pissed. Before she could say anything, though, Sheriff Hank came out of her store and walked toward them. She pushed past Luke to get out of the truck all the way.
“What did you find, Hank?”
“A dead rabbit in the back. I couldn’t see anything else different.” Hank looked at Luke, then at his nephew climbing out of the truck.
“What’s going on?” Luke asked, pulling Rita against his side.
“Someone broke into my store and smashed everything. Oh, and left me a dead rabbit.”
Luke stiffened. “Should I go inside and check things out?”
“This is an official police—”
“Yes, I would appreciate your help, Luke,” Hank interrupted Robby.
She stood there, confused. Why would the sheriff need Luke’s help? She didn’t say anything as she watched Luke go into her store. Robby, of course, couldn’t shut up about it.
“What are you doing, Uncle Hank? You can’t let a civilian go in and taint a crime scene.”
“I’ve known Luke a long time and they have a—sense about these things. Give him a few minutes to check things out.”
Robby narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by ‘they’?”
“I meant, he, as in Luke. He has a sense about these things. He’s ex-military and was in the special task force. He’s got the experience to handle things that I can’t.” Hank walked over to look into the window of the store while getting out his radio, leaving her alone with a furious Robby.
“What’s going on here, Rita? Who’s this Luke guy? First Chrissy gets all horny and trying to hit on him, now you. I thought you were better than that.”
“I’m dating him.” She guessed that was what they were doing, since he had called her his girlfriend. Rita just figured he said that because of Robby.
“I can’t believe you led me on. I broke up with Chrissy because of you.”
She shook her head. “You broke up with Chrissy because she was cheating on you. It had nothing to do with me.”
“I don’t appreciate you teasing me and leading me on.”
“I did no such thing. I don’t appreciate your holier-than-thou attitude. You and Chrissy were the ones to make a fool out of me in high school by fucking constantly under the bleachers after football practice.” He blinked in surprise. “Yeah, you didn’t think I knew about that. I heard rumors, but I didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself. I was about to tell you both off when you were caught. To deflect the nasty talk going on about you two, you staged a public breakup to make people talk about me instead. I was a virgin, not completely naïve.”
“I know I hurt you in the past, and I’m sorry for that. But I really care about you. Are you trying to get back at me or something?”
God, she couldn’t believe he thought so highly of himself and so little of her. “No, Robby, I’m not trying to get back at you. Believe it or not, this has nothing to do with you. I mean, if Chrissy’s hair fell out temporarily, I wouldn’t exactly cry over it, but I don’t actually wish bad things on either of you.”
Robby paced back and forth. “How well do you know this guy? For all you know, he could be the one who broke in, or worse, he could be the murderer.”
Damn if Robby didn’t have a legitimate point. She hadn’t thought about that, but it just didn’t feel right to suspect Luke. He was kind and gentle, sexy and funny. She couldn’t see him being the killer that Hank was looking for,
and after their amazing night together and how he made breakfast for her and her mother, she couldn't see him breaking into her store like that either. She wanted to defend him to Robby, but for the first time in a long time, Robby was trying to protect her and she had to give him credit for that.
She put her hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks for caring, Robby, but he’s a good guy.”
He moved closer to her and looked in her eyes. For a moment, he was the Robby that she used to know, the one that helped mow her yard and chased her around the barn to sneak a kiss. He used to carry her books and walk her to school. If not for Chrissy, they might have stayed together, maybe even gotten married and had a family by now.
“Let’s get you back inside the SUV to warm up.”
She nodded and felt more at ease around him again. He helped her climb up into the SUV. Robby went back to the driver’s side and started it up again. They sat there in silence while they waited for Luke and Hank to come back. Could this day get any weirder?
Then her door flew open, and she was being yanked outside once more. This time, it was Chrissy glaring daggers at her.
“You fat bitch! You dare to try to steal my boyfriend?”
She couldn’t stop from snorting. “He was my boyfriend first before you stole him from me!”
“So now you’re trying to get him back? Well, that ain't going to happen.”
“Stop causing a scene, Chrissy!” Robby yelled as he got out to try to help her.
Chrissy turned her anger on him. “I can’t believe you would cheat on me with her!”
“You broke up with me, remember?”
Chrissy tried to take a swing at him but slipped and ended up hitting Rita square in the face. She went down hard and hit her head on the icy sidewalk. She just had time to think to herself, Next time, I’ll duck, before everything faded to black.
17
God, her head hurt. She winced at the loudness of the voices around her. Didn’t they know her head felt like it was cracked?
“Stop—too loud.”
“Oh, Rita, are you okay?” Mindy asked, touching her forehead.
“Where am I?”
“Lord Jesus, she has amnesia!” Mindy yelled, panicked.
Rita laughed, but it caused a sharp pain to shoot up to her head. She opened her eyes to glare at her friend. “I know who I am, silly. I remember getting hit by Chrissy. Where is she, by the way? I have some things to say to her.”
“I think I’ll be going now,” Chrissy called out from the other side of the diner, and ran out the door.
Figured she would skip out. “Someone help me sit up.”
Luke was there in a flash, easing her up. “How are you, baby?”
“I’m fine. What’s going on with my store? Did you and Hank find something?”
“I found a lead for Hank, but he needs me to help him track the killer. I told him I didn’t want to leave you.”
She was a little confused by what he meant by tracking, but if Hank trusted him to help with this, then she could certainly trust him, too. “Go, I’ll just stay here until things stop spinning.”
“I had Mindy call your mother to come and get you. She’s still at the hospital but will be leaving in two hours when the family comes to take over their watch. You’ll stay put until she comes.”
“You're the bossy type, aren’t you?”
He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. His voice deepened, “I seem to remember you taking my orders last night without complaint.”
She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “Shhh . . . someone might hear.” She glanced around him and noticed how Mindy was suddenly looking up at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing, and that Robby was not looking too pleased where he was standing by the door.
Luke’s cell phone beeped. He pulled it out of his coat pocket and checked the message. “I’ve got to go and help Hank. Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I promise not to get punched out by ex-high school cheerleaders half my size.”
He gave her a smile before kissing her deeply on the lips. When he pulled away, she forgot about her head and everything else for a brief moment.
“Do you have to go?”
“Yeah, I do. I think I can help find this guy and stop him from hurting anyone else.”
She reached up and skimmed her fingers against his cheek. “Then go, but stay safe and return to me.”
“I will.” Another brief kiss and then he was walking out of the diner.
“Wow, I didn’t know you two were seeing each other,” Mindy commented as she sat down in the seat across from her. “I want details, all the juicy tidbits.”
Rita laughed as she shook her head. “There are too many juicy tidbits to tell. Where do I start?”
“How about last night? What happened and how did it happen and do you think it will happen again?”
She smiled at her friend, knowing she was blushing, and told her how she and Luke ended up together.
“Man, I didn’t see that one coming. I should have, though; I saw the way he looked at you.”
“He could barely stand me.”
Mindy shook her head. “No, he had a heated look in his eyes. There was major sexual attraction from the beginning. I think it was unexpected, and he just wasn’t prepared for it.”
“That makes the two of us. I wasn’t looking for anything, but when he touches me, it’s like I finally found what I’ve been missing my whole life. We just—fit together. I can’t explain it.”
Mindy reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m happy for you, honey. You so deserve this.”
“Thanks.” She glanced over at the door and was relieved to see Robby had left. Maybe he had left to go make up with Chrissy. Well, good luck to him with that one.
“I’m going to go start the next service. You stay here until your mom comes,” Mindy told her as she stood up.
“You’re a bit bossy, too.”
Mindy laughed and gave her a wink. Truth be told, her head was starting to hurt again. She lay back on the booth seat and closed her eyes. A little rest might be nice.
18
“Robby, I want you to take your truck and circle the town. Look for any suspicious person—or even any animal that seems out of place. Don’t confront them, just call me.” Sheriff Hank hung up his cell phone and turned to face Luke and his beta Riker. “Who are we looking for?”
Luke ran a hand through his hair. “When I went through Rita’s store, I caught a scent that was familiar: my father’s old beta, Shepard Cross. Shepard wasn’t happy when I took over as alpha. He challenged me and lost the fight. Instead of killing him, which I now realize was a mistake, I exiled him. He left town and we hadn’t heard from him for years.”
“I remember Shepard, he was a bad seed. Do you think he’s doing these things because he wants to take back the pack?” Sheriff Hank scratched his chin.
“He’s killing shifters in my territory, which makes me look ineffective as an alpha. The council could allow him to challenge me again.”
“I don’t understand why he was shifting suspicion to Rita,” Riker said.
“Well, if he knew she was his mate, that would be my first thought.”
“But he was killing before I even met Rita, let alone discovered she was my mate.”
Hank cleared his throat. “My second thought is that he targeted Rita because she now owns the store that used to be his before he ran into financial problems.”
“So he was trying to kill two birds with one stone. Setting up Rita to look guilty while making Luke appear useless as an alpha,” Riker summed up.
Hank nodded. “Pretty much. I’ll put out an APB for Cross.”
“What if he figures out that Rita is Luke’s mate?” Riker asked with concern.
Luke looked at the other two men and his bad feeling returned. “I need to get back to her. Right now.”
* * *
“Mom, please. It will bother me and I’
ll worry over it all night if I don’t straighten the store up,” Rita pleaded with her mom, who had just shown up at the diner to pick her up and drive her home. She wasn’t ready to go home yet; her store was still a wreck. She needed to at least clean up the debris.
“Did Sheriff Hank tell you it was okay to go back there?”
She shrugged. “He didn’t say I couldn’t go back. He’s out hunting the culprit now.”
“I just don’t know if it’s safe, honey. We should wait until Luke comes back to help.”
She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. “I don’t need Luke to fix my life. And it’s not like he’s my husband.”
“It’s okay to let someone help you. It doesn’t take anything away from you.”
“I just don’t like feeling dependent on a man to make me happy or to make my life easier.”
“Not every man is like Robby. There are good men out there, like your dad and like Luke. I just want you to be happy.”
Her mother’s words soothed her. “I know people think that I pushed Robby away, and maybe in a way I did. There was something missing in our relationship, it never felt quite—right.”
“Does it feel right with Luke?”
She nodded her head. “It does. I know it sounds crazy, I barely know him, but when we’re together, I feel like I’ve known him forever. I look into his eyes and I see everything I ever wanted.”
Her mom hugged her. “You’re falling in love, honey.”
“I am, and it’s scary as hell—sorry.”
Her mom just laughed. “I’ve heard curse words before, dear. Just don’t let it be all that comes out of your mouth.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, then, let’s go clean up the store.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Rita turned and walked over to the counter. “Hey, Mindy!”
Mindy poked her head out of the door to the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“Mom and I are going to my store to clean up the debris.”
Mindy looked concerned. “It may not be safe. Does Luke know you’re going there?”