Break Away

by Diane Benefiel

  He followed her instructions, scooping what seemed like an enormous quantity of kibble into a large metal bowl.

  “There are some carrots in the fridge. Throw a couple in with the kibble.”

  “You give your dog carrots?” He opened the fridge and found the bag. Lucy’s gaze tracked his movements, drool wetting the rug where she sat.

  “Carrots are good for dogs. They’ve got vitamins A and K, and help keep her teeth clean.”

  Levi set the dog dish to where Zoey directed him. “Sorry, Luce, I’m out of Slim Jims. I’ll pick up some later. Until then, it’s carrots for you.”

  He heard a muffled laugh over the sound of water running into a basin. “You will not pick her up Slim Jims. I want Lucy to live a good long life, not one hampered by preventable heart disease or diabetes.”

  “You’re pretty strict, Miz Hardesty,” Levi drawled.

  “With you around, I have to be.”

  Lucy pulled herself to a sitting position, the wet patch on the rug at her feet growing. Her eyes were fixed on the bowl of food, but she didn’t make a move toward it. “Your dog wants it but she’s not eating.”

  Zoey glanced over. “Crickets.”

  Lucy surged forward, burying her face in the bowl.

  “She doesn’t eat unless you say ‘crickets’?”

  “That’s the theory. Apparently her training doesn’t stand up against potato chips or Slim Jims. We’re going to work on that.” She glanced at him. “What questions do you have, Levi?”

  He thought for a minute, then shook his head. “Where’s a clean dish towel to dry with?”

  “You’re going to help me with the dishes?”

  “Yeah, I’ll help. I ate but didn’t contribute anything, so it’s the least I can do. We’ll get to the questions after.”

  He liked the way her smile lit the gold in her eyes before turning up the corners of her mouth. He was starting to think that there were quite a few things he liked about Zoey Hardesty, and maybe she was getting past being constantly pissed at him.

  She bumped her hip in the direction of a drawer. “Towels are in there.”

  Towel in hand, he dried, stacking dishes and utensils on the counter for her to put away. Since he liked the sound of her voice and wanted to hear more of it, he decided to ask a non-investigation-related question. “What’s your brother doing these days?”

  “College. He’s going to Cal State Fresno and majoring in computer science. Computers are Charlie’s thing. He’s interested in going into cyber security.”

  Levi had a vague recollection of an awkward, skinny kid with round Harry Potter glasses that made him look like an owl. Exactly the type of kid to be picked on in high school and hazed in college. “He doing okay there?”

  “His first year was rough. Making friends is hard for him, but he managed to find a couple. He’s in his second year now and seems to be doing better. He made the giant step of joining what he calls a geek club and found other kids interested in computers and gaming, and now he’s got a group to hang out with.”

  “Hey, that’s great.”

  “Yes, it is. It’s made all the difference. I finally feel like he’s going to be okay.”

  “And your mom?”

  “She got her degree and is working as a special ed teacher. She learned a lot being Charlie’s mom.”

  They worked side by side until Levi wiped the last dish and added it to the stack. He wondered if having a brother who needed so much attention had meant her needs were too often pushed aside. It was something to ask her, maybe when she was a little easier with him.

  Once everything was put away and Zoey had hung the damp towel to dry on the handle of the stove, he motioned to the front room. “Can we sit?”

  She nodded, moved into the living room and sat in a cushioned chair angled toward the fireplace. She was putting on the bracelets, and the beads were making little sounds as they clicked together. He followed her and took a seat in a sofa covered by a flowered slipcover.

  “You don’t have a TV.”

  “I’d intended to get one, but never got around to it. I found I didn’t watch enough TV to bother. I use my iPad if there’s a movie I want to watch, which isn’t often.”

  “I’m guessing you’re not a sports fan; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to forego the TV. Little screens don’t work for a ball game.”

  “True, I don’t watch sports.”

  “That’s just sad.”

  Zoey drew up her feet to tuck beneath her. “What are your questions, Levi?”

  “Not so many questions, but more of an exercise. I’d like to take you through a process that might help you remember some details from the time you were hit. That okay?”

  “Brad and Jack both questioned me. I already told them everything I remember.”

  “And now I’m doing the investigation. I want to try this my way and see if it shakes something loose. Humor me. Close your eyes, bring up a mental image of what you were seeing and hearing before the car hit you.”

  She closed her eyes. Her long, dark lashes fanning her cheeks.

  He forced himself to ignore the pull of attraction. “Once you’re there in your head, visualizing the scene, pay attention to impressions—images, sounds, smells—they’re all important if they give us a clue.”

  She’d opened her eyes as he’d spoken. “Try it. Close your eyes and concentrate. Think about getting out of your car, walking toward the intersection.”

  “Fine.” This time, she tipped her head back against the cushion as she closed her eyes. “If I fall asleep, give me a nudge to wake me, okay?”

  Her tone said she was doing as he’d asked to placate him. He shook his head. “Put yourself there that evening. You were going to a yoga class?”

  “Yep.”

  “What were you wearing?”

  “Stretchy exercise pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, Uggs.”

  “Were you carrying anything?”

  “I was carrying my yoga mat in my big hobo bag. Everything in my bag went flying across the intersection when the car hit me.” She opened her eyes to look at him. “It knocked my shoes off.”

  He’d seen the police photos. Zoey, sitting on a gurney, scraped and bruised. The dazed look on her face, her things strewn across the pavement. Anger twisted in his gut. The memories couldn’t be fun for her, either. “Eyes closed.”

  He caught the eye roll before she closed them, and held back his chuckle.

  “Where had you parked?”

  “In the parking lot behind your sister’s café. It’s not open in the evening, and Maddy doesn’t mind.”

  “Visualize the scene. Was there anyone on the sidewalk, coming in or out of any of the shops? Were there other cars in the café parking lot or on the street that you recognized?”

  Her brows dipped and he was relieved she was trying.

  “No, I don’t recall seeing anyone, and I don’t remember anything in particular about cars in the area.”

  “What about the shops near the intersection? Did any have their lights on like they were still open?”

  “No. That late in the evening and before the summer season, most close early.”

  He pushed back against the frustration. “Okay, think about when you were crossing the street. Give me all the sensory images. What you saw, heard, felt, and smelled.”

  “Okay.” She blew out a breath. “I was using the crosswalk. I’d waited for the ‘walk’ sign even though there was no traffic. But honestly? I was kind of on autopilot. Wait for the light to turn, look both ways, start walking. I was irritated.”

  “Irritated, why?”

  “There’s this woman in the yoga class. She’s competitive, passive-aggressive, and targets me with her attitude. It’s a damned yoga class. Yoga is supposed to relieve tension, but she’s all about showing that she can do these crazy poses that I don’t even know how to pronounce. I mean, good grief, it’s a beginners’ class.”

  “Had you seen her outside of the yoga cla
ss?”

  “No.” Her eyelids snapped open. “But she was obnoxious enough that I had debated not going. That’s why I was irritated. I’d seriously considered not going to the class I’d paid for and would otherwise enjoy because of her snide attitude.”

  “What’s this woman’s name?”

  “I’m not sure. We introduced ourselves the first day of class and she said her name is Karma, which I hope bites her on the ass. I’m pretty sure Karma isn’t her legal name.”

  He bit back a smile. He’d figure out who Karma was and ask her a few questions, too. “Eyes closed again. Think past being irritated. What other impressions do you have?”

  “There’s a truck or SUV coming up Pine, parallel to the crosswalk I’m in. Headlights are on. I can hear the engine. It was coming kind of fast and I thought it was going to go straight. By the time I realized it was turning it was too late to get out of the way, and bam, it hits me. You read the report, right? I gave the vehicle description.” Her fingers had knotted in her lap.

  Levi had read the report. Older model light-colored smallish pickup or SUV. That was it.

  “Did you hear anything besides the sound of the motor?”

  She breathed deeply as if to calm herself, the motion lifting her breasts.

  “Music.”

  “Music? Coming from the truck?”

  “Yeah, the window must have been down. Something with lots of electric guitars and heavy bass. Could have been metal, though I’m not positive about that. And weed. There was a whiff of weed. I hadn’t remembered that before.”

  “Smoking marijuana could be an incentive for the driver not to stick around. They didn’t want to face DUI charges.”

  “It’s possible. Being high would also have impeded their reaction time.”

  “Anything else you can add?”

  She shook her head, eyes opened and on his. The sound of Lucy snoring vibrated the air.

  “Okay. You’ve given more for me to think about. Thanks.”

  “You’re not bad for a cop, Levi.”

  He gave a brief laugh. “Isn’t that what they call being damned by faint praise?”

  Her smile lit her entire face. “I guess so. But it’s better than ‘I hate all cops.’”

  “There’s that.” He smiled. “I’m going now. Thanks for this evening. Good night, Zoey.”

  ***

  Charissa sat in the car in the darkest shadows of the already dark street. She’d given it a half hour and then carefully driven back, no headlights this time, to take up her spot for observation. It had been a mistake to come up to the driveway like that. She’d hadn’t expected that there would be people outside. Gathering on the porch, socializing, having fun.

  She tugged on her hair until it hurt, using the pain to focus. Now that Levi was back home where he belonged, things would get better. Only she hadn’t counted on him moving into the little cabin.

  Trish would have wanted him home, and he was a good boy, a loving son, and that’s where he should have gone. But that would have been temporary anyway, she thought, because after they were married they’d buy their own home. There was a beautiful log cabin home for sale on the other side of the lake she had her eye on. It had a three-car garage and a pool. She’d even gone to the realtor’s open house to check it out and found it perfect for a family. She’d waited long enough, and wasn’t getting any younger. She wanted a husband, a house, and a couple of children who looked just like their daddy. Dark hair and blue eyes was such an attractive combination.

  But when the headlights of her car had shone across that tableau on the porch, she’d been infuriated seeing Levi with his arm around that hippie woman. Resentment burned like acid in her stomach. Charissa opened her pill bottle and swallowed one of the little white tablets with a sip from the coffee in the cup holder. She followed the white pill with two of the chalky antacids, popping them in her mouth and chewing slowly.

  Levi was hers, and she didn’t share. She’d have to formulate a plan. It would have been more appropriate if Bradley had reciprocated her interest in him. He was the right age for her, and it bothered her some that she was older than Levi. She remembered the father’s funeral all those years ago. She’d hit on Bradley then, but he’d looked right through her like she didn’t exist. Then she’d offered the shell-shocked youngest son a hug that was a little more than a hug, but he’d withdrawn, his movements mechanical, as if going through the motions.

  Since Bradley was better suited, she’d done her best to make him notice her. She’d made sure to patronize Maddy’s café because big brother frequently dropped in. She loved how the family supported each other. It had burned, oh, how it had burned, when that bitch Emmaline Kincaid had shown up out of the blue, and stupid Bradley Lucas Gallagher had fallen like a blithering idiot at her feet.

  She wasn’t even that pretty. The fake damsel in distress act had worked though. It had nearly gotten Bradley killed. But when it should have been her at his bedside, nursing him after he’d been shot, making him love her, Emma had usurped that spot.

  Now they were married and Emma had given birth to those beautiful babies, who should have been Charissa’s by rights. She’d thought of getting rid of Emma and the children, causing an accident of some sort, then she’d be there to console Bradley. But in the end she had deemed it too risky. So she’d turned her attention to Levi.

  When he’d been a cop in Oakland, she’d even gone there that one time and “accidentally” bumped into him at his gym. She’d overheard Maddy talking about where he worked out and that’d given Charissa the idea. That café had its uses.

  She’d planned it so carefully and then he’d passed right by her without so much as a hint of recognition. She’d gotten a day pass and ended up having to tap him on the shoulder to say, “Remember me?” His vague “Oh, hey” had been a bruise to her ego. She’d ended up stalking him for several days. Long enough to be certain he didn’t have a girlfriend.

  Occasionally he came home to Hangman’s Loss, and she always made sure she was where he was.

  When he was in town, he’d spend evenings shooting pool at Hangman’s Brew Pub, so she’d made a point of being there. If the Gallaghers had a family gathering at the park, she’d be at the park, too. She always got her coffee from Maddy’s café, making a point to chat with her future sister-in-law.

  Charissa knew everything about the Gallaghers. Theirs was the kind of family she’d always craved. She’d been an only child of an alcoholic single mother, but when she married Levi, the Gallagher family would be hers. She’d have a brother and two sisters, and Trish Gallagher, who had once been so kind to her, would be her mother-in-law. Charissa wondered if she would call Trish “Mom.”

  Now was the time to act. Hangman’s Loss was Levi’s home and he’d finally returned. They would get married, and this time the beautiful babies would be hers, hers and Levi’s.

  She watched the lighted window of the cottage, relieved beyond measure when the door opened and Levi walked out. He and Zoey had been together inside her house for too long, but Charissa was thankful he’d had better sense than to spend the night with the hippie woman. Maybe Zoey needed a warning not to overstep the boundaries. And if she didn’t pay attention to the warning and kept throwing herself at Levi, well then, more direct action would be taken.

  Chapter Six

  Levi locked the door of the cabin and walked to his vehicle. He was enjoying working for the HLPD. Reconnecting with the community, learning what changes had come over the past ten years, what had stayed the same, was all good. Big drawback? The uniform. As a detective in Oakland he’d been able to wear whatever the hell he’d wanted, but now here he was in a navy shirt, name and badge on his chest, captain’s bars on his lapel. It would take some getting used to. Extra-big drawback? The body armor under the shirt. Necessary, but hotter than hell.

  At least the morning air was cool, and then there was the call of a red-tailed hawk echoing through the trees. Gotta like that. The coffee he sipped
from his travel mug gave him his first hit of caffeine. It wasn’t as good as Maddy’s, but he’d get a refill at the café later.

  He tried not to burn his fingers on the recently nuked Jimmy Dean egg and sausage breakfast sandwich. He blew on it, took a bite, and deemed it not bad. This morning was his last with the Suburban. He had the weekend off, and one more chore to handle. He was driving the hearse back to Oakland and retrieving his motorcycle.

  Settling behind the wheel, he started the engine and made the three-point turn to head for the road. Hitting the brakes had coffee sloshing in the mug. Bear dog sat in the patch of sunlight wearing her dog backpack, face turned up and eyes closed like she was worshipping the sun goddess. He edged forward a few more feet, and when she didn’t move, he lowered the window and whistled. Her eyes opened, ears perked up, and he tossed a chunk of sandwich onto the side of the road. Bear dog heaved herself onto all fours and sauntered to give the sandwich a sniff, before turning to face Levi.

  “What, now you won’t eat without the magic word?”

  He wasn’t fooled by the nonchalant act. That dog was drooling enough to fill a kiddie pool. “Crickets.” Like a switch had flipped, the dog leapt on the sandwich, and Levi drove past her with a grin.

  ***

  Thirteen hours later he returned from work in not nearly as good a mood. For one, Charissa what’s-her-name had run into him at the café. Literally. He’d gone to Maddy’s for that refill and he’d ended up with coffee dumped on his pants. The smell had stayed with him all damn day.

  Charissa had always been a bit weird, and the coffee spill wouldn’t have been a big deal, except it hadn’t felt like an accident. Then he and another officer had responded to a late afternoon call to Hangman’s Brew Pub where a couple of bros were following up their morning fishing venture with liquid refreshments of the alcoholic variety. What the hell would lead friends to duke it out over who tied the best fly-fishing lure? Levi had a suspicion that a fight over the lures was more a fight over the size of their dicks. Even that wouldn’t have messed with his mood, but the domestic violence call that followed had. As they always did. Especially when kids were involved.