“At first I started training just to get tough, but it didn’t take me long before I realized I loved it. I loved the discipline and I developed a strong relationship with my sensei, who encouraged me to use my powers for good, not evil. As a result when I turned twenty-one I went into the police academy and that eventually brought me here.”
At that moment Travis returned to the table with their soft drinks. “Sheri, we’re square, right? You forgive me for the other night.”
“I forgive you, but I might not be so forgiving if it happens again,” she warned.
“Trust me, it won’t,” he promised, and then left their table.
Sheri looked at Jimmy expectantly, wanting him to continue to tell her about himself.
“Actually, that’s enough about me,” he said. “To be honest, I don’t know that much about you, aside from being a close relative of a victim of a crime and that you have two sisters, one who tends to talk too much.”
She had a feeling there was much more in his past to explore. He had some darkness about him that had momentarily deepened the hue of his eyes and tightened his handsome features with tension. But he’d shared what he was comfortable sharing and she wouldn’t push him for more.
“You know our mother abandoned us with Aunt Liz when we were just kids. But I had a wonderful childhood as far as having my aunt and my sisters beside me. It was a little less wonderful when I started school.”
She paused to take a drink of her soda. She rarely told people about her stuttering issue, but if she and Jimmy were going to be good friends, then she thought she should tell him about it, especially since it still raised its ugly head occasionally.
“For most of my school years I was a terrible stutterer. The favorite saying of my peers was, ‘Sheri, stupid stutter Sheri, she’ll never find a boy to marry.’” Her cheeks warmed at the memories of those horrible days. She had been tormented into being a silent, withdrawn student at school who had no friends.
“Kids can be crazy cruel,” he replied. “If I’d been there I would have beaten up those jerks.”
Sheri smiled. “I had Roxy to do that for me. I can’t tell you how often she was in trouble for threatening some kid who’d been teasing me.”
“But you don’t stutter now.”
“Yes, I do, if I get overly emotional or upset or frightened. I’m just warning you in advance that it’s a part of me. If we’re going to be friends, then you should know about it.”
“Oh, we’re definitely going to be friends,” Jimmy said and there was a glimmer of promise in his eyes that made her heart leap expectantly. “I already like everything I know about you.”
“You don’t know everything,” she countered, half-teasingly.
“Then tell me everything I don’t know, especially the bad things, so I know what I’m getting myself into.” His eyes had lightened to a dark caramel as he teased her.
“No way,” she replied with a laugh. “That’s what friendship is all about, getting to know the positive and negatives about each other as the relationship grows.”
“Since I’m new to all this, I didn’t know there were rules to being friends.”
“There are definitely rules, like you have my back and I have yours. Friends forgive each other their flaws and they want only the best for each other. They share secrets and can be trusted without question.”
“That sounds easy enough,” he said.
“Actually good friendships are hard to maintain. They’re like little flowers that have to be fed and watered all the time in order to flourish.”
“I’ll be glad to feed and water you whenever you need it.” His grin teased her and she realized again that she liked this man.
“I like you, Jimmy. I liked you when you were helping us with Aunt Liz’s case and I like you now,” she said with the refreshing honesty she was known for.
“I liked you when we were actively working the case, but I thought you were very quiet and shy.”
“I was always in the police station with Roxy and Marlene, and Roxy especially has never known a silence she doesn’t want to fill. I’m usually pretty quiet when they’re around, but I’m not really shy. I couldn’t be and run the store.”
“Business is good?”
“We’re heading into the best part of the tourist season, so yes, things are going well at the store. Marlene has quit working there to focus on her bakery and today I rehired Michael Arello as a part-time worker.”
Jimmy raised a dark brow. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I guess only time will tell. At least we all know why he was caught stealing food first from Roxy’s restaurant and then from my store. He had bad judgment but good intentions.”
“Last time I checked on the three kids he found in that mountain cabin they were doing well with their foster family in Hershey. I think the foster parents might be considering adopting all three of the kids.”
“That’s nice to hear. Those kids deserve to have a happy ending.” Sheri frowned as she suddenly thought about the car she believed had followed her here. It was getting late and they both had to get up and work the next morning. She really should call an end to the evening, but she was reluctant to get back into her truck and head home.
“Are you okay since the scare last night?” he asked, as if he could read her thoughts.
She hesitated before replying. “Actually, I got a little freaked out driving here from the store. I swear the minute I hit the highway, a car pulled off the side of the road and followed me.” She gave a little unsteady laugh. “I think maybe last night freaked me out a bit more than I admitted.”
Jimmy didn’t return her laugh. Instead he leaned closer to her, his eyes once again a deep, dark brown. “Somebody followed you when you left the store? Somebody who pulled out of the woods?”
“That’s what it looked like to me.” Her heart thrummed anxiously as she realized he wasn’t scoffing at her words, but rather appeared to be taking her quite seriously.
“What kind of vehicle was it?”
She could tell he was in full cop mode now, the relaxed lines of his face taut with tension, making him only more handsome with a small hint of danger sculpting his features.
“Definitely a car, but I couldn’t tell if it was black or dark blue. I think it was a car that followed me last night, too.”
“Did you get a tag number?”
Sheri looked at him, stricken by her stupidity. “No, I didn’t even think about it. I was just so scared. When I turned in here the car went on down Main and I thought maybe I’d just imagined that I was being followed because of what happened last night.”
“I don’t like it. I don’t like the idea of somebody following you and I definitely don’t like the idea of you being afraid.”
She wasn’t sure why, but his concern made her feel better. At least he wasn’t accusing her of being some kind of a hysterical female jumping at her own shadow.
He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late. Let’s get out of here and I’ll follow you home and make sure you’re safe and sound.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it and nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”
It didn’t take long for them to leave the tavern and for Sheri to pull out of the parking lot with Jimmy’s car on her tail.
There was no question that there was comfort in the sight of his headlights just behind her, in the knowledge that he was watching her back.
She had no idea if she’d mistaken the car’s intent on the way to the tavern. She only knew that with the two incidents in two nights, she was more than a little on edge.
Maybe it was because Aunt Liz was missing, or because Roxy had nearly been killed by Steve’s former girlfriend and Marlene had found her life in danger by that girlfriend’s crazy lover.
<
br /> Perhaps she was looking for trouble where none existed. She felt almost embarrassed as Jimmy pulled up next to her truck in front of her cottage.
As she stepped out of her truck the only sounds that greeted her were wonderfully normal...the faint whisper of the wind through the treetops and night insects singing their comforting, familiar songs.
Jimmy joined her and together they walked to the front door. “Why don’t I come in and look around just to set your mind at ease?” he suggested.
“I feel like I’ve already taken advantage of you by having you follow me home,” she protested.
He smiled and lightly touched the tip of her nose with his index finger. “You can’t take advantage of a friend.”
She gave him a warm smile and then turned and unlocked her front door. She didn’t want to think about how her nose burned with a pleasant heat from his simple touch.
Highway stood just inside the door, his tail wagging as he caught sight of Sheri. She grabbed hold of Jimmy’s hand. “Highway, zocar.” She released Jimmy’s hand. “I just told him you were safe.”
Jimmy eyed her curiously as Highway sniffed his leg, then his hand and then wagged his tail once again. “What language did you use?” he asked curiously when Highway returned to Sheri’s side.
“No real language. It’s something Jed makes up when he trains a dog for protection. It’s nonsensical and specific to each dog. It’s so that bad people can’t command the dog because they can’t guess the right commands.”
“So, if you or I said ‘attack’ to Highway?”
“He doesn’t know that word,” she replied, and scratched Highway behind an ear. “There’s no need for you to look around. Everything is fine here,” she said as the dog lay down at her feet. “Otherwise Highway would be acting differently. But I can’t thank you enough for coming here tonight. I don’t know, maybe I’m just now processing the horror of the last couple of months.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “You’ve definitely had plenty of excitement in your life lately. Is it permissible for a friend to give another friend a hug good-night?” he asked.
Sheri realized at that moment how badly she wanted to be held, how hungry she was for big, solid arms to surround her. She’d thought she’d managed to tamp down the disquiet that had simmered inside her for the past two days, but she’d been wrong.
“I think a hug would be a great way to end the night.”
Before the words were completely out of her mouth he had her in his arms. And they were big and strong and surrounded her with warmth and a sense of protection and security she’d never felt before.
As he held her around the waist, she reached up and wound her arms around his neck, melting against him for just a brief delicious moment before she broke the embrace and stepped out of his arms.
“Good night, Jimmy.”
“Good night, Sheri.”
The instant he stepped out of the door, a sense of loneliness immediately gripped Sheri’s heart. In the shelter of Jimmy’s arms she’d forgotten all about any potential danger that might be near. More unsettling was the fact that as she’d smelled the woodsy scent of him, cuddled into his firmly muscled chest, she’d also momentarily forgotten about any blond prince that held her future.
Chapter 5
“Detectives, in my office,” Chief of Police Brad Krause yelled across the room.
Frank stifled a yawn as he got up from his chair and Steve grabbed his mug of coffee to carry into the chief’s office with him. The three of them had only walked into the building minutes before. They’d started their Monday morning as they usually did, with a big breakfast at Roxy’s restaurant and then had headed here.
Jimmy wondered what was up. It was rare for Krause to call an early morning meet, especially when there were no real pressing cases on their desks. Even though Liz was still missing, the case was cold enough not to be pressing anymore.
“Shut the door,” Krause said once the three were inside. He motioned them to the chairs in front of his desk.
Brad Krause was relatively young for a chief of police. He was in his mid-thirties, with shaggy brown hair. It was only when you looked into his intelligent green eyes that you recognized he was an old soul.
“I got a phone call this morning just after six from our good mayor.” Krause frowned and Jimmy wondered if he was irritated because he’d been awakened from sleep or if he and Ralph Storm were butting heads again, which they did on a regular basis.
“He’s worried that we’re in the middle of a crime crisis that might affect tourism for the town,” Brad said.
The three detectives looked at each other and then back at their boss. “A crime crisis?” Jimmy repeated with more than a hint of disbelief.
Brad nodded. “With everything that has happened in recent months concerning the Marcoli family and now this armed robbery at the convenience store...”
“Solved,” Steve replied. “At least we think we’ve solved it.”
“We just need one more interview with the clerk who was on duty during the robbery and then we should have it all cleared up,” Frank added.
“Does one of you want to catch me up on who you’re arresting?” Brad asked drily.
“We believe it was an inside job. The clerk and her boyfriend cooked up the whole scheme,” Jimmy explained. “We’re pretty sure another round of questioning of her and she’ll break.”
“Isn’t she like sixteen?” Brad asked.
“Seventeen and six-months pregnant, and her boyfriend, Ned Manning, is twenty-two. We’re going to tell her we intend to charge him with statutory rape unless she talks to us about the details of the robbery,” Frank said. “And then we’re going to arrest him for statutory rape anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Krause said with a satisfied nod.
“As far as the latest cases concerning Roxy and Marlene Marcoli, they’ve been cleaned up. The only two unsolved we’ve got on our desks are Agnes Wilson, which has been a cold case for some time, and Liz Marcoli,” Steve said.
“And we’ve run out of leads on that case,” Jimmy added.
Chief Krause frowned once again. “I don’t know why but that case has Storm chewing on my butt with a frenzy. His wife was friendly with Liz.”
“We’ve explored every avenue possible at this point,” Jimmy said. “Unless we get some new evidence or leads our hands are pretty well tied. There’s no place else for us to go.”
“Keep looking,” Krause said. “Keep digging. Ralph is looking for reelection in November. He doesn’t want any more crimes in town to give somebody an opportunity to use them against him when voting time comes. He wants a nice, quiet summer.”
“Don’t we all,” Steve replied.
With that, the three detectives were dismissed. They left the office and pulled chairs up to Steve’s desk. “So, we don’t just have to worry about solving crimes, we’ve also got to be concerned about Ralph Storm’s election chances?” Jimmy said with disgust.
“Ralph Storm is a pompous jerk,” Steve added.
Neither Frank nor Jimmy objected to Steve’s assessment of the mayor. There was nothing worse than a big fish in a little pond and forty-year-old Storm thought he owned the town of Wolf Creek.
His one saving grace was his wife, Julia. She was a pretty blonde with a generous spirit and a sense of community service. She was always putting together charity events for a variety of worthy causes or out visiting the sick and the elderly. People put up with Ralph, but they adored his wife.
“Either of you have any fresh ideas on where to find Liz Marcoli?” Steve asked wryly.
“I’m still trying to find Jimmy Hoffa’s body,” Frank joked.
Jimmy grinned, although the situation wasn’t particularly funny. In fact his heart ached as he thought of the continued torture for
the Marcoli sisters and their loss, their lack of answers or closure where their aunt was concerned.
As always when he thought of the sisters, his head filled with the memory of the hug he’d shared with Sheri three nights before.
She had fit so perfectly in his arms, against his chest. He’d been almost breathless by her nearness, so that for a moment he’d forgotten it was just supposed to be a friendly hug. He’d forgotten that he wasn’t, that he would never be, the man she wanted in her life on a romantic basis.
Still, just thinking about her now made him want to see her again. They hadn’t spoken since the night they’d all met at the tavern, but she’d certainly been on his mind.
Maybe it was time for him to call and see if she might be interested in having dinner at the local pizza place. This time he wouldn’t make the same mistake of mentioning anything about it to Steve or Frank.
Frank and Jimmy headed to their own desks and Jimmy made the call, pleased when Sheri agreed to meet him that night at The Pizza Place at six-thirty. Although he assumed that with their schedules, late night dinners would be the norm for their friendship, she insisted she’d be able to get away early tonight, and unless something popped on the criminal end of things, Jimmy had no problem leaving work by that time.
Thirty minutes later the three detectives were on their way to Susan Thompson’s home. The young clerk who had been robbed at gunpoint in the convenience store still lived with her parents, who had been cooperative so far in the investigation.
They had been livid to discover that their just-turned seventeen-year-old was pregnant by a twenty-two-year-old loser and had encouraged law enforcement to pursue the statutory rape charges.
At the moment all Jimmy was interested in was getting a confession from the young teen that it had been her boyfriend behind the ski mask and he’d probably been holding a toy gun on her when she’d given him all of the money in the cash drawer.
The surveillance film from the store had shown only the back of the robber, indicating that he’d probably known where the camera was located. He was the right height and weight to be Ned Manning and in playing and replaying the film, they’d noticed that Susan had looked at the door as if in anticipation seconds before the robber had burst inside.
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