by Vella, Wendy
Chapter 26
Looking around at what someone had done to her pride and joy, Maggie wanted to cry. This had always been the place she found peace. Her workspace, the place she’d created, her dream.
“Bastards!”
“Chief Blake will catch them, sweetheart.” Joe brushed a kiss on her cheek before he wandered over to inspect something.
“I think Chief Blake is right in that they were looking for something,” Fin said.
He still stood beside her, an arm around her shoulders, and she had to fight the urge to turn into that body and let him hold her. She didn’t need to fall apart; she’d done that enough over the last year. Yes, her gallery had been broken into, but no one was hurt, and she would put it back the way it had been.
She made herself step away from Fin.
“I need to take photographs, Maggie. Get my deputy to tag everything and bag it. You can clean up after that,” Chief Blake said.
“Okay. You and Joe can go, Fin. I’ve got this.” Maggs didn’t look at him. He wore a Christmas sweater, and it should look silly, but of course didn’t. The man could wear a flour sack and look hot.
The look the park ranger threw her was enough to force her back a step. “That’s probably the most stupid and insulting thing you’ve said to me.”
“Excuse me, but I just had my place of business torn apart, and you’re calling me stupid?”
“Like I’d leave you to face this.” Fin glared at her. “Like I said, stupid.”
“Asshole,” Maggs said, then realized both Chief Blake and Joe were watching their exchange closely.
She shut her mouth, stood in the doorway, and watched. Fin, she noted, stayed inside with Chief Blake and Joe, which annoyed her more for no reason at all, as he was doing this for her. The room wasn’t big, so it was a squeeze, but they all seemed to be busy doing something.
“Okay, so I may as well use you two seeing as you know this stuff, Fin, and you’re not dumb, Joe.”
“Much appreciated,” Joe said.
“Did I miss the Christmas sweater day memo?” Chief Blake asked.
“Mrs. L hijacked us,” Fin said.
“Woman’s good, there’s no getting around that.”
“She’s a pro,” Joe muttered.
They worked methodically, taking pictures, writing notes. Chief Blake inspected things, muttered stuff to Fin, and Joe snapped pictures.
“I’d say there’s definitely anger at work here,” Chief Blake said.
Fin moved with his usual confidence, never a man to go anywhere without a reason. Like the other man, he wore authority well, and even if she was annoyed with him for no other reason than he’d made her off-balance, she had to admit he was ridiculously hot. He wore the old jeans she’d seen him in many times. Worn at the knees, they hung low on his hips. Hips she’d cradled.
Shut it down.
He shot glances at her, she knew to check she was doing okay, and this made her feel even more bitchy. He was a good guy, like the others she was close to in this town. But did she want him to be her good guy?
“Okay, that’s it for now, Maggie. I’ll need you to check if anything was taken, but it’s my guess there won’t be. Just a robbery attempt and mindless destruction. I’ll call by tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Chief Blake. I’ll start working through that today.”
“Good girl. Now you don’t worry, we’ll find whoever did this, and I’ll lock them away for life.” His smile was gentle. “I’ll go and speak with Joan now.”
“Okay.”
“How’s it going tracking down the handwriting?” Chief Blake asked as he pulled off his gloves. He’d given the letter she found in the brown wallet back to her to study when she’d told him it looked familiar.
“No joy,” Maggs said, looking at the drawer she kept the letter in. It was hanging open. Moving closer, she looked inside, searching the contents. “It’s gone.”
“Are you sure that’s where you kept it?” Chief Blake stood beside her.
“Yes. Maybe it’s here.” She pointed to the papers on the floor.
Fin dropped down with her and started searching, but there was no sign of the note.
“When did you last see it?” Joe asked her.
“Yesterday. I was looking at it again.”
“And pretty much everyone in town knows you had it,” Chief Blake said. “No way were the Robbins sisters keeping that to themselves.”
“Do you think whoever wrote it is still in town? That they wanted it back?” Fin asked. “You think that what happened here could be connected to that?”
“It’s a stretch,” Chief Blake said. “But it is missing.”
“Why would they resort to this type of vandalism to retrieve it?” Joe asked.
“To make it look like a robbery perhaps.”
Maggs went cold.
“If the note’s not here, I’ll need you to remember as much as you can about it for me,” Chief Blake said.
“I can do better than that.” Maggs got to her feet and grabbed her phone from where she’d placed it on the counter. Flicking through her photos, she found the one she wanted. “I took a photo of it to show Pip. I didn’t want to carry the note around.”
“Nice work. You text that to me.”
“Is she in danger?” Fin asked.
Maggs hadn’t thought of that, but wasn’t sure why she would be if the note was no longer in her possession.
“I wouldn’t imagine so, considering more than just Maggs saw it,” Chief Blake said.
“But Maggie said she recognized the handwriting,” Fin persisted.
“I think from now on you say you’ve had no luck identifying who that note belonged to, Maggie,” Chief Blake said.
“I haven’t,” she pointed out.
“But make it known,” Fin added.
“We’ll watch over her,” Joe said.
“Nobody is watching over me,” Maggs said. “Seriously, there is no need. The note may turn up, and if, on the outside chance, it was this A.J. dude who took it, then it’s done with anyway.”
“It’s not done with if he thinks you can identify the handwriting of the woman who wrote it,” Fin insisted.
“Oh please, that’s ridiculous,” Maggs scoffed. “You’re being paranoid. Why would he do all this,” she waved a hand around at the destruction, “just to take a note?”
“What if in some way it is connected to Simon Linbar?” Joe asked.
“How?” Maggie demanded.
“I don’t know how.”
“Or this A.J. never left his wife and this L. never left her man, and maybe they live in town and the thought of being identified is terrifying them,” Fin added.
“That’s speculation and nothing is proved without facts,” Chief Blake said. “I’ve shown the wallet to Noel Linbar and he said it was not Simon’s, so my thoughts are that counts him out.”
“People buy new wallets all the time,” Joe said.
“Mine’s five years old,” Chief Blake said. “Now I’m heading to see Joan. You think of anything or you need me, you call, Maggie. And remember what I said, you put it about you’ve given up looking for the writer of the handwriting.” He then left, leaving her with a head full of thoughts, none of them good.
“I’ll call Dylan, and he can fix the door,” Joe said, pulling out his cell phone.
“I think this is all just speculation, and nothing will come of it, Fin. There is no need to think I’m in danger.”
“So what? Let’s just take the risk you’re right?”
“Yes.”
“You being a trained professional in this kind of thing, after all?” He’d got to his feet too and looked pissed off, which was how she felt.
“Don’t be a wiseass.”
“Don’t be an idiot.” He stepped closer to her. Maggs refused to back away.
“Go to hell.”
His smile was small. “I’ve done some time there, and I don’t want a return pass.”
“I’m sorry—”
“It’s all right, Maggie.” He kissed her softly. “Let’s clean up the mess, and then we can go through your stock, just to check nothing is damaged or missing.”
She didn’t have the energy to argue with him. When had he been to hell?
Dylan arrived to fix her door; with him came Jack and Luke Trainer.
She’d gone through her inventory, and nothing was missing except the note, which made her feel cold all over again.
“Bastards!” Jack stalked in. He then proceeded to curse colorfully and loudly. Luke slung his arm around Maggs and hugged her. It all made her feel better. She had people in her corner.
“You need to call your family,” Fin said to her.
“I know that, and I will, later. No point in worrying them now.”
“Of course, because let’s face it, we don’t need the support of the people who love us unconditionally in times of stress and pain, now do we?”
His words made her teeth snap together. “I said I’d do it.”
“And yet your track record would suggest otherwise.” Fin was leaning on the broom he’d been using to sweep up the mess.
“Be quiet,” Maggs muttered. She didn’t want to discuss this now. Not with the others here. He’d made her realize she needed to tell those close to her what had happened, but surely now wasn’t that time?
“Care to enlighten us as to what the hell this conversation is about?” Joe said calmly.
Fin shrugged and went back to sweeping. Damn him, he’d made her start thinking about what she’d done. How the people she loved would be devastated to learn she’d not told them about what happened in England. The guilt now sat heavy on her shoulders.
“Someone speak or I’m getting angry,” Joe demand. “I hate when people know shit I don’t, and it’s double when it’s Fin.”
“Not my story to tell.” Fin shot her a look that niggled at Maggs.
“I need to tell my family first.” She wanted to kick him hard in the shins to shut him up. How dare he speak like this when she’d told him what had happened in confidence.
“And still we wait,” Jack said, folding his arms.
“Could be a long one,” Fin muttered.
“All right! Stop getting at me,” she snapped. “This is my life, not yours!”
“And it’s all going so well for you, after all.” Fin bent to pick up some glass.
“I’m going to sit on someone soon,” Jack muttered. “You guys are making my head hurt with all these innuendoes.”
“I was shot, all right!”
Dylan closed the door with a soft click. It was the only noise for several seconds.
“I beg your pardon?” Luke faced her. “What do you mean, shot?”
They all moved together, a wall of male hotness. Had she been having a better day, she’d appreciate it a great deal more. Now they looked like the firing squad, all lined up before her. Faces grim and determined.
“In England, that thing that happened. I was shot. I was hospitalized and I still have nightmares, and loud noises send me back there. I’m nervous and pretty screwed up at the moment, but I’m working on that, and since being back here I’m stronger.”
“And what? You never told anyone about this?” Joe said the words softly, but she saw the anger. “Not even your best friend who happens to be my wife. Not your family?”
“I thought I’d come out of hospital and get on with my life. I didn’t want to worry anyone.”
“Not worrying someone is not telling them you’ve been hit with a parking violation, not a bullet!” Jack shook his head. “You had no right to keep that kind of thing from your family or us. No right at all.” He glared at her.
“It’s my life.” She felt cornered, and yes, guilty, because they did have a right to know. She’d lived with these people for years. They were her extended family, and she knew every important decision or thing that had happened to them, and yet she’d hidden this.
“We should have known, Maggs. Could have helped you through this when you returned.” Luke just looked sad.
Maggs felt sick, like her insides were in a blender. Fin was right, the choices she’d made had been the wrong ones, even if she’d convinced herself otherwise.
“I almost feel sorry for you when the women find out,” Dylan said.
She looked at the faces of the people she’d known most of her life. The men who had been boys. Each had overcome their challenges to be who stood before her. Good, strong men. Men who had always looked out for her, and yes, considered her one of theirs.
“I’m sorry,” Maggs whispered. “Really.”
“Well now, here’s the thing.” Joe stepped closer. “When you love someone, you expect they’re going to screw up, Maggie, and you love and forgive them anyway. I’m seriously pissed with you, as I know the others are, and that’s because we care about you, sweet cheeks. You’re my sister in every way that matters. But here’s another something for you.” He lifted her chin. “You don’t ever keep anything like this from us again.”
“I w-won’t.” The tears started then, and she fell into his arms. “And I-I don’t plan on getting shot again.”
“Good to know.” Joe kissed her forehead, then stepped back.
They all hugged her, except Fin, who just leaned on the broom and watched.
“We have to go now, but you know we still love you, even if we’re angry,” Joe said. “And that stems from concern.”
“I know.” Maggs watched her friends leave the gallery, and suddenly she was alone with Fin again. She almost wanted to run after them.
“You shouldn’t have made me tell them.” She rounded on him. “It was my right to do that, or not.”
“I don’t keep things from my friends, and they would have found out sometime—or were you planning to wear long sleeves all summer so they didn’t see your arm?”
“It was my story to tell.”
“And now you’ve told it. Feel better?”
She wanted to slap him, but the truth was, she did.
“Did you speak to your father yet?” She hit back at him.
His face tightened.
“I mean, if we’re coming clean and baring all.”
“Not happening, end of story.” He rested the broom carefully against the wall, then walked toward her.
“Coward.”
“Yes, where he is concerned, I am.”
Her heart hurt for him. “Fin—”
“Let’s go.”
“I can walk home, Fin. The fresh air will be n-nice.”
“I’m driving you to your parents’. You’re telling them, and it will be like ripping off a scab, nice and clean. Get it all done in a day.” He grabbed her arm and walked her through the gallery and out the front door. “Lock it.”
“I can drive myself. Seriously, Fin, I don’t want to hold you up any longer.” Maggs fumbled with her keys and managed to jam them in the locks. “Besides, I need to come back here later and get things ready for tomorrow so I can open.”
“The gallery part is fine. You can do the rest tomorrow.” He pulled a woolen hat out of his jacket pocket, then tugged it onto her head. “The cruiser is this way.” He took her arm again.
“Don’t manhandle me!”
“I won’t have to if you move your feet. It’s cold out, and you have wet hair.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Think again. Right now, I’m over discussing stuff with you and not getting anywhere, so I’m taking action.”
Maggs snarled at him as he placed his hand on her head and lowered her into his car. She gave up the fight as he ran around the hood and leaped in the driver side. If she made a run for it, he’d just catch her. He turned on the ignition, and soon they were heading out of town.
“I’m a big girl, Fin. I don’t need you forcing me to do this or taking charge.”
“Sure you are, but let’s face it, you’d put off telling your family as long as you could, and that’s wr
ong too. They should know. I gave you a few days. That time’s up now.”
“I shouldn’t have slept with you.” The words came out fast. “It’s messed everything up, Fin. We need to just forget about it.”
Maggs almost laughed at the words. As if she could forget about him and how’d he’d made her feel, his big body, his scent, and the places he’d taken her to when he’d been inside her.
“It didn’t feel wrong. Nothing that good could be wrong, and no way in hell do I want to forget it.”
She looked away from him and out the window. Maggie had no answer to that, because he was right. It had felt good, more than good.
Chapter 27
They’d been greeted with delight when they’d arrived at her parents’ house, and while her mother and father had shot him a few speculative looks when Maggs had said she had something to tell them, they’d simply ushered them inside. Coffee had been made, and then Fin had settled in a chair and waited.
“I have something to tell you,” Maggs said when they were all seated.
“Excellent timing on my part then.” Nash wandered into the room, and sat after a nod at Fin. “You just keep turning up, Ranger.”
“I do, and I’m not going anywhere,” Fin said, smiling through his teeth.
He couldn’t fault the man for being protective of his sister, but Fin was going to be a part of Maggie’s life, and Nash needed to get used to that.
“We’re listening, Tigger,” her father said. “You go on and tell your story now.”
She was tense, her hands twisted together as she began, but she got it all out, and the hostile look she sent him told Fin she wasn’t happy that he’d made her.
Why had he made her, he asked himself. It wasn’t like he was an open book or anything, after all; in fact, his family life was hell, and he’d been avoiding his father since the night he’d said they needed to talk.
Was it his place to force her to do this? Possibly not, and yet it was done and he hoped she felt better for it and didn’t hold it against him for the rest of his life.
“You were shot and nearly killed and didn’t tell us!” Nash’s roar pulled Fin from his thoughts.