by Lauren Carr
Gasping in defeat, Wyatt looked up to see the black sensible work shoes of Sheriff Tanya Williams before him. He followed the shoes to the black uniform pants and stark white shirt towering over him. Her gold sheriff’s badge sparkled in the early evening sun.
“First, we have a fainting bank robber,” she said. “Now, we have a pantless killer. It’s just another day in Pine Grove.”
“My! If this doesn’t bring back memories,” Ryan said with a shake of his head.
“What memories?” Nikki’s tone was filled with misery.
“Let’s see,” he mused. “The last time we were handcuffed together was our junior year in high school. You were clerking at the hardware store and somehow convinced yourself that the items a strange man had purchased were to kill his wife and dissolve her body. Despite all of my objections, you roped me into your investigation. The bad guy ended up being a counterfeiter. He and the wife he hadn’t murdered tied us up and left us in a root cellar while making their getaway.”
“It was a wine cellar. And we weren’t handcuffed. We were tied up together back to back and left sitting on the cold floor.”
“It was a root cellar,” Ryan said. “But you are right about being tied up. How many hours did it take us to get untied?”
“Five.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “I never should have gotten you involved in that. We both could have been killed.”
“Hey, it ended up fine. We got loose. We’d collected enough information for the feds to track them down and arrest them. They ended up being on the fed’s most wanted list. The lead forensics investigator became one of my best mentors.”
“Are you talking about Dr. Grissom?”
Ryan nodded his head. “Great guy. I still confer with him about tough cases. It was his recommendation that got me promoted to chief of the crime lab.” He grinned at her. “And to think it all started with you noticing the items on some guy’s shopping list.”
She gave him a sheepish grin.
“Which makes me have to ask what is wrong with you that you didn’t realize I was NerdyGuy?”
“You tricked me.”
Ryan let out a breath. “I did not intend to trick you when I first messaged you as NerdyGuy.”
“What did you intend?”
“I intended for us to reconnect,” he said. “For weeks, I thought you knew who I was.”
“How was I supposed to know who you were?”
“NerdyGuy! Nikki, think about it. I’m the nerdy science guy.”
Nikki leaned back and looked him up and down. With his dark hair, penetrating eyes, brilliant handsome smile with two deep dimples, and lean muscular build—Seriously? Has he ever looked in the mirror?
“I have always been the nerdy guy,” he said. “That’s what everyone called me all through school. How could you not know it was me? It wasn’t until you said something about how lucky my wife was that I realized you didn’t know.”
“Because I knew you weren’t married,” she said softly.
“I told you that the only girl I truly loved was the one who got away. Then you responded saying—”
“Saying that I knew how you felt because no man could ever measure up to my first love.”
Ryan lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I kind of thought that was me. But by then, it was too late to set you straight.”
They sat in silence.
“I keep blowing it,” she said in a soft voice.
“And I don’t? Hey, I’m the guy who ditched you for Ashleigh for the science fair.”
“We were kids then. Truth is, I ran away because I was too chicken to confess to being an idiot. I should have handled things more maturely.” She shot him a sideways glance.
“I guess we both should have behaved more maturely.” He watched her cock her head at him. An eyebrow arched. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come right out and tell you who I was when I messaged you out of the blue.”
“Isn’t there something else you want to tell me?”
“I love you?”
“I love you, too.” She smiled softly. “I thought maybe you’d want to apologize for dating my college roommate.”
His brow furrowed. “Why should I apologize for that?”
“Because you went out with her while you were in love with me. You just admitted it.”
“But I wasn’t dating you. I was dating her.”
“It’s because of you dating her that I grabbed that job offer in Washington so that I wouldn’t have to see you two together. It was like a knife through my heart every time I saw you with her!”
He stared at her.
She let out a breath filled with misery.
“I—I had no idea you still thought of me that way,” he said in a soft voice. “The last time you had dumped me you’d said never again.”
“That was like in high school,” Nikki said. “This is college we’re talking about.”
“Excuse me for not knowing that ‘never again’ has an expiration date.”
“You’re incorrigible!”
Together, they sat in silence. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She slumped in defeat.
“I guess—” Nikki stopped. She let out a deep breath and started again. “I guess maybe—your messages made me start thinking more about you. I mean, I always think about you. Even after all these years, I’d think about what we had. I always had so much fun when I was with you. I could be me and knew that you would love me on bad hair days, rash decisions, and all. I know the other kids at school thought you were—” She struggled for the right word.
“Weird.”
“Different. When you started messaging me and I didn’t realize that it was you, I found myself thinking more and more about you. I think it was because—” She let out a heavy sigh. “I guess deep down, I did know—or at least hoped.”
He leaned in close to her. “You can’t be mad at me, you know.”
She fought the smile wanting to cross her lips. His eyebrows arched. The corner of his mouth turned upward to display one of the dimples in his cheek. He chuckled.
“You’re The One,” she said with a roll of her eyes. She let out a groan. “I might as well deal with it.”
“Are you ready to get out of here?”
She rolled the chair in the direction of his lab case. “I assume you have a key.”
“Yes, but I don’t need one.” Ryan jerked his arm and the handcuff slipped off his wrist.
Nikki’s eyes blazed while he took the cuff off her wrist. “Do you mean to tell me these are trick cuffs? What are you doing carrying trick cuffs in your lab case?”
“I never know when I’m going to run into a little person wanting me to show him a trick.”
“Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been sitting here cuffed to you—”
“What can I say? I like being cuffed to you,” he said with a wicked smile.
“Ryan Spaulding! I should—” He cut off her curse by covering her mouth with his. She melted with his touch.
As he pulled away, he said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry again for—I guess I liked the anonymity. You were saying things about how you felt about me that you never told me to my face. You answered a lot of questions that I—”
She cut him off with her lips on his. She caressed his face with her hands. She pressed her forehead against his chin. “Don’t ever let me leave again.”
“Never again.”
The sound of a throat clearing made them part.
Sheriff Tanya Williams stood in the doorway. Her face as stern as ever. “We got Wyatt Altman down in the parking lot. Elmo caught him—by the seat of his pants.”
“I warned Wyatt that Elmo was going to bite him in the butt.”
“I hope you have a recording for us.” Sheriff Williams held
out her hand.
Nikki reached into her pocket and extracted her phone, which she realized was still recording. She had turned it on to record as soon as she and Wyatt started talking after the meeting. “Wyatt admitting that he ran down Noah Harper and that he killed Dad because he wanted him to turn himself in. It recorded everything.”
Looking from one of them to the other, Tanya said, “I hope this recording doesn’t have anything awkward on it.”
His cheeks turning pink, Ryan took the phone. “Maybe the crime lab should process this first.” He took an evidence bag from his case.
Chapter Sixteen
It was late at night before the clerk at the sheriff’s department had finished assembling the last of the paperwork for her statement. Ryan had left Nikki in Sheriff Tanya Williams’s office to go to the lab. He hoped Helga would have some updates on Ashleigh Addison’s case.
Nikki knew from experience that the media was assembling outside the sheriff department’s main entrance in anticipation of grabbing a statement upon her departure.
“It’s probably not a good idea to make a statement while I’m still mad,” Nikki told Elmo while stroking the top of his head. Elmo lifted his head from her lap and looked in the general direction of the news cameras. The camera hog could smell a photo op.
“You can go out the back door,” Tanya said from her office door. With the paperwork requiring Nikki’s signature, she gestured for Nikki, with Elmo in tow, to step into her office. She closed the door. “So you’re dating your brother?”
“He’s not my brother.”
Cocking her head, Tanya arched an eyebrow at her.
“By marriage only. Come on, Tanya, you know Ryan and I always had a thing for each other going way back.” Nikki stopped. “Why am I telling you this?”
Tanya lifted a shoulder.
Realizing the motivation behind the sheriff’s unpleasant attitude toward her, Nikki jabbed a finger in her direction. “You had a crush on him.”
Tanya shoved the statement at her. “Read this over and sign it.”
“You’re the anonymous source who told my mother about me picking the lock to get into the school to collect evidence against Mr. Dunleavy for growing pot in the science lab.”
“You broke into the school!”
“I didn’t break anything.”
“You trespassed!”
“The point is, you knew full well that once my mother found out about it that I’d be grounded and unable to go on the school trip to Hershey Park,” Nikki said with a wave of the statement in her hand. “Who just so happened to sit next to Ryan on the bus and and hung out with him all day to keep him company?”
“Sheriff Williams.” A deputy knocked on the door and stuck his head into the office.
Embarrassed to be caught in the middle of her emotional outburst about an ancient incident from her youth, Nikki flushed and plopped into a chair. Even Elmo hung his head in humiliation of his human’s behavior.
“Yes, Patterson,” Tanya said.
“Altman’s lawyer is here. He says his client would like a word with Ms. Bryant.”
“He’s said enough.” Nikki whirled around in her seat. “Tell Altman’s lawyer to tell his client that he’s fired.”
“I think he knows that already,” Tanya said.
Nikki read through the statement while Tanya glared down at her with her beady eyes. The sheriff had her arms folded across her chest.
Elmo gazed up at the woman, her face a hard expression. The room filled with a chill and it wasn’t the physical temperature.
Finally, Nikki signed her name and dated it. Anxious to get home to her family, she stood up. “Do you need anything else?”
“No.” The sheriff picked up the statement and went behind her desk.
Nikki was almost to the door before Tanya stopped her.
“I have to tell you, Nikki.” Tanya’s tone softened. “What you did today? I never would have expected you to keep your cool the way you did—not with all that was at stake. But you did it. I have to give you credit.”
“Thanks, Tanya.”
“I still hate your guts. By the way. About Hershey Park. Ryan had spent the whole day talking about you.”
With a wicked grin, Nikki left the office. She went through the offices to escape out the back door.
She was on her way past a conference room when a short man in a dark suit and carrying a worn leather briefcase intercepted her. “Ms. Bryant?”
Without shaking his offered hand, Nikki looked him up and down.
“Oscar Feldman. I’m Wyatt Altman’s lawyer. I recognized you by the dog.”
Nikki looked down at Elmo, who peered up at the man as if to decide if he was friend or foe.
“Listen, my client really wants to talk to you. He says it’s important.”
“I’m not giving him his job back—even if he can beat this charge. I think even the ACLU would consider handcuffing your boss to a chair to be grounds for firing.”
“Well, to be fair, your dog did attack my client and he was off-leash at the time. We do have leash laws in this county. We could sue you.”
“My family could sue him for wrongful death. As a matter of fact, we may do that. He killed my father and I have his confession on audio.”
Elmo stepped forward to position himself between the lawyer and his human. The large dog licked his chops while trying to determine if Oscar’s cheap suit was tasty or not.
Oscar Feldman backed up a step and placed his briefcase between him and Elmo. “This is the only suit I have.”
“Then I suggest you get out of my way.” Nikki tried to move past him.
“It will only take a few minutes.” Oscar’s tone was pleading.
Nikki regarded him with narrowed eyes. She took a second look at him. He had thought he could intimidate her with the threat of a dog complaint. Her challenge was unexpected. She saw now that his suit, while well-made, was slightly worn. Thus, he could not risk Elmo’s defense.
Where did Wyatt get this guy? I thought Mom paid him better than that.
“Two minutes.” She stroked the dog’s head. “Elmo comes with me.”
Refusing to take his eyes off Elmo, Oscar nodded his head. Slowly, he opened the door. As Nikki and Elmo passed, he cleared the way, leaving plenty of room between him and the dog, who glared at him for good measure.
A sheriff’s deputy was standing guard inside the room. Seeing that a meeting was taking place between Wyatt and his lawyer, the deputy stepped outside.
Handcuffed to the table, Wyatt looked up. He was clad in a pair of hospital patient pants. A glimmer of hope came to his eyes. “Oh, Nikki, thank you so much for agreeing to see me.”
“You’ve got two minutes.” She took a seat across from him. Elmo position himself next to the table where Wyatt could see him.
“First, I want you to know, Suzanne had nothing to do with anything,” Wyatt said.
“She was an accomplice,” Nikki said. “She was in the car when you ran down Noah Harper.”
“She was passed out. She had no idea that I had hit anything. By the time she came to the next morning, I had left with the car to go to my cousin Walt’s.”
“She had to hear the news about Noah Harper getting killed and when Sheriff Van Metre said he was looking for a red BMW—”
“Suzanne is not that smart,” Wyatt said with a heavy sigh. “It’s not that she’s stupid. If it doesn’t concern her, she doesn’t care. I told her that I had to go to Youngstown because Walt needed some work done. In exchange for my fixing his entertainment center, he was going to fix her bumper. Since Walt couldn’t get the mirror until Monday morning, I called Suzanne on Sunday night and told her not to go in the next morning. I reminded her about how mad Ross was. I suggested that we let him cool off one more day. On Monday, I called in that our basement
was flooded.”
“But Suzanne helped you cover up my dad’s murder. That makes her an accessory after the fact.”
“She never suspected me of doing that. After I had left your dad’s office, I went downstairs to the mechanical room. Like you and Ryan figured out, I’d disconnected Ross’s phone at the main switch and plugged in another phone and took the phone on and off the hook to make it look like he was making phone calls. Then, I called Debra on the intercom. I lowered my voice and was short so that she wouldn’t notice. After a while, I sent Suzanne up.”
“And she didn’t—”
“She had no idea he was dead. I’d told her that Ross was about ready to fire her. You see, Tuesday morning, I had talked Ross out of firing her.”
“He gave Suzanne another chance because he considered you his friend,” Nikki reminded him.
Wyatt hung his head. “Ross agreed not to fire her after the fight at the country club if she started going to AA meetings. At first, she said yes. The next day, it was no. She figured that Ross would let it go. So, Friday afternoon, I told her that Ross had said that if she didn’t attend a meeting that very day, he was firing her. That was all I needed to tell her. She went flying up to the third floor. I knew that Debra had stepped away from her desk for a few minutes to go to the restroom by then. She was in the habit of taking a bathroom break and visiting with other people on the floor about once an hour to stretch her legs. I figured that she would give in to let Suzanne into the office—they’d discover the body together and assume someone had slipped in and killed Ross while Debra was in the bathroom.”
“But Debra called Ross on the intercom instead,” Nikki said. “And you answered. So you called her at four-thirty-five to send her to the mailroom. Then you ran up and unlocked the door and opened it. Before Debra returned, Sam Hill walked in and found the body. So you helped Debra cover up for Sam, knowing that if it ever came out, he’d take the fall.”
“It was a good plan.”
“Until Ashleigh discovered Sam Hill at the nursing home,” Nikki said.
“I knew nothing about Sam overhearing Ross’s call to Walt,” Wyatt said. “Plus, I never knew anything about Ashleigh finding Sam at the nursing home.” He pounded the tabletop. “Heck, I never even knew anything about Ashleigh having any breaking news story until after someone else killed her. You have to believe me, Nikki. They’re planning to pin Ashleigh’s murder on me. They may get away with doing that, but if they do, her real killer will still be out there. It may even be someone on the staff at WKPG-TV.” He leaned across the table. “Do you really want to take that chance?”