by Riley Storm
“Who’s a good boy?” Pace cooed in doggy-voice, his hands rubbing Barton’s sides vigorously, without forgetting his head as well. “Barton’s a good boy. Isn’t he? Yes he is!”
Gah. How is it that he can be so cute!
And then there was Barton. Her dog had gone from hating people, to escaping her house to go see Pace. A man the dog had only met once before. What was going on here?
Is it because he picked up Pace’s scent on me last night? Does he think we’re…we’re a thing, is that it? So he’s showing that he approves?
Carla bit her lip, chewing on that thought. She’d spent a lot of time the night before thinking about everything that had happened yesterday. Including the kiss they had shared. Even the memory of it had been enough to get her blood stirring while she lay on the couch, trying to relax.
It had been good. Really good.
Shaking it off, she pushed the thought to the side. Now was not the time for those ideas to be filling her head. They had a case to solve. A case in which she still couldn’t be completely certain that Pace wasn’t some sort of suspect. There was a lot about him that she didn’t know, that he was holding back, and until she knew him better she would keep her lips to herself and her mind on the task at hand.
“Barton,” she said, walking down the front path and onto her driveway. “Come on, boy. Time to go inside.”
Pace looked up, smiling at her, and Carla had to double down on her self-control. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach and her heart skipped a beat. The eyes, and the brilliant smile, it was just too much.
“Good morning, Carla!” a friendly voice called from nearby, accompanied by the sound of plastic wheels rattling over pavement.
She stared at Pace for an extra second before lifting her gaze to see her neighbor Patty out for a morning walk, pushing her stroller in front of her.
“Hi Patty,” she said with a smile. “How’s Mandy doing today?”
Pace stood, one hand down at his side to keep Barton occupied. “Hi,” he said politely. “I’m Pace.”
Carla watched the pair introduce themselves before Pace crouched down at the edge of the stroller, waving the fingers of one hand in patterns. The baby inside gurgled happily, entranced by the big man’s hand-waving and facial expressions.
“You have an adorable daughter, Patty,” he said. “Such a cutie.”
The butterflies disappeared, replaced by something else. It took her a moment to realize what the feeling was. A longing. An empty longing for something unfulfilled.
Stop it. We made this decision.
That was twice now, in a matter of days, that she’d been forced to suppress an urge she hadn’t experienced in years. What was going on?
“Thank you, Pace. So sweet of you,” Patty said, smiling up wide-eyed at the big man.
“Come on, Barton,” Pace said. “Time to put you back inside.”
He walked past Carla, the dog at his side, obeying easily.
“Well he seems nice,” Patty whispered when he was out of earshot. “Who is he?”
“Um. That’s Pace,” Carla said, her brain still distracted. “Um. He’s helping me. On a case.”
“Oh, I see. Well, he certainly has a way with animals. And children,” Patty said with a smile. “Nice guy. Have a good day!”
Then she was gone, power-walking her way through the rest of the neighborhood. Thankfully, Carla wasn’t left alone with her thoughts for long, because Pace returned.
“Ready, Deputy?” he asked in a light tone, indicating he was teasing her with the name.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you were going to meet me at the station?”
“Oh.” Pace’s expression dimmed. “I just…I thought this would be easier.”
She looked up at him, trying to judge his sincerity.
“And I wanted to say hi to Barton again,” he added sheepishly.
Carla sighed. “Yeah. I don’t blame you. He’s a good boy. Seems to have taken quite a shine to you too. He’s never escaped like that before.”
“Sorry.” Pace shifted uncomfortably, then gestured at her car in the driveway. “Shall we?”
“Huh? Yes, yes, let’s,” she said, realizing what he was saying halfway through her response.
They both moved at the same time for the car, and she ended up basically stepping into his chest. Pace’s arms came up and around her, but froze halfway, without actually embracing her.
“Ahhh,” they said in unison.
She coughed, and Pace made a noise and dropped his arms.
“Yeah,” he said uncertainly.
Carla blushed bright red. “Right. Um.”
Pace stepped back. “You go first.”
She smiled tightly, trying to push back the memory of the last time she’d been in his arms and what had happened. “Okay. Thanks.”
Walking stiffly, she went around the edge of her car and hopped inside, trying desperately to get her heartbeat under control. He hadn’t even touched her and it was racing wildly. Carla was nervous.
“So,” he asked, folding himself into her cramped passenger seat.
Carla glanced out her rear-view at his much larger truck. Why hadn’t he suggested they take his vehicle today? It would make him so much more comfortable.
“Off to the hacker’s house today?” he continued when she didn’t say anything. “Carla?”
“What? Oh, yes. Stile. Yes, I found out where he’s living. We’re going to go pay him a visit.”
Taking a deep breath, she braced herself mentally and yanked her mind back under control. It took considerable effort, but Carla knew what she was made of, and a few hormones and a good-looking guy were not going to get the better of her.
“It’s time to get cracking,” she growled, and put the car in gear.
Nothing was going to distract her from solving this case and throwing it in Dunbar’s face.
Nothing.
Chapter Sixteen
Pace
“Where is this hacker-person living anyway?” he asked once they were under way.
“North end of town. In the newer section,” Carla replied.
Pace frowned, but kept his attention focused forward. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but he was pretty positive he’d detected an unusual tightness to the Deputy’s voice. Like something was wrong.
Replaying the entire morning in his mind, he tried to pinpoint when he could have screwed up.
Wait. Why are you assuming this is something you did? It’s not necessarily about you. Maybe it’s about the case?
Except that didn’t fit. The case hadn’t changed since they had called it a day after the warehouse. It was exactly as they’d left it, so there was no reason for her to be upset. Which left only him.
Was it because he’d surprised her at her house that morning? Had that left her feeling uncomfortable, perhaps, not quite comfortable with the idea that he would just be showing up at her house unannounced?
You idiot. You should have called ahead. I knew it!
Pace had thought about that, but had decided to just show up. It was easier to meet at her place and then go from there. No need to bother with anything else.
“I see you got your truck back,” she said.
Now Pace was certain something was up. This was the first time she’d felt compelled to fill the silence while they drove. Trying to conjure up the small talk to cover up her silence was a huge giveaway.
“Yeah,” he said. “Picked it up this morning after it got a clean bill of health. It’s nice to have it back.”
“Mmmm,” Carla agreed.
He was about to force the issue, to ask her what was going on, when she abruptly changed the subject.
“What does this hacker have to do with our potential robber?” Carla asked suddenly. “I can’t figure that angle out.”
“That part’s easy,” he said. “This guy will be the one that actually gave our bad guy the information necessary to gain access to the Ate
rna accounts. Otherwise, there’s no way our baddie could have even bothered to try stealing from us this way.”
“Oh,” she said. “Yeah, that makes sense. But if he was able to get the information, then why didn’t the robbery succeed?”
“Because I changed it.”
“Huh?” Carla glanced over at him.
It was Pace’s first opportunity to really look at her since he’d realized something was up, and even now he could see the signs. Tightness at the corners of her mouth, the usual upward tilt to her round cheeks missing, and a flat look in her eyes. Quite the contrast to the upbeat and driven person he’d seen yesterday.
“I changed the information,” he said. “After my, uh, brother, was robbed, I decided to go in last week and change everything. I’m the one responsible for the finances of my family. At least, our joint accounts. I handle it all. So if we were to get robbed, it would be my fault. So I changed it up.”
“Right, yes I remember you saying that now. So our hacker guy didn’t give the suspect the right information, which meant he was unable to actually take anything from you. But he would have, if you hadn’t done what you did.”
“Exactly,” Pace said, noting the way she repeated herself. Carla wasn’t focused. “Which means that our Bad Guy, capital B, capital G, is likely pretty pissed at our hacker. I wouldn’t be surprised if we can extract the information we need in exchange for providing protection to the hacker.”
Carla tilted her head. “That’s a good plan, actually. I hadn’t thought of that.”
I know. Because your head isn’t in the game. You’re growing more distracted.
“Thanks,” he said, not sure what else to say. Looking away, he focused his attention ahead of them, admiring the landscape as they drove.
His home was up there, right in front of them and a little to the left. Mount Aterna, one of five mountains that surrounded the town. Pace usually hated leaving the cliffside enclave of his clan, but his travels with Deputy Frazer so far had really pulled him into the town itself, giving him a different view of it. More up close and personal.
In his periphery, he saw Carla shake herself, shoulder’s stiffening. He smiled. She was pulling herself together now.
Yes, yes he was liking his travels with her a lot.
“We’re here,” she said abruptly, pulling up to the curb, parking at the bottom of the driveway to block the only car in the driveway, just in case the suspect tried to flee. “Be careful, follow my lead.”
Pace nodded, then got out of the car without waiting for her. If the assailant from the day before was in the area, he needed to be ready.
Because whoever they were, Pace knew they weren’t human, and Carla wouldn’t stand a chance against them if they tried to strike again.
They approached the house, Carla with her hand on her weapon. At a nod from her, he hammered on the door.
“Sheriff’s Department! Jack Stile, open up, we know you’re in there!” she barked in an impressive command voice.
After a pause, Pace lifted his hand to bang on the door again, anticipating her request. Carla smiled tightly as the two of them operated in concert without needing to discuss it. This time, the door shuddered under his impact.
But still nobody responded to her repeated request.
“Let’s go around the back,” she said quietly.
Pace noted as they went around the side, she had drawn her gun. Although he wasn’t detecting any reason for the excess caution, he focused harder, listening for any sound that might come their way that would signal an ambush.
He reached up and banged on the back door, while Carla repeated her command.
“Nothing,” he growled. “What do we do now?”
Carla holstered her weapon, standing up straight. “We keep trying to track him down, I guess. I’ll put out a call to have his place watched. We’ll get the power and water killed to it. Try to flush him out if he is in there.”
Pace nodded and stepped back, scratching at an itch on his shoulder. “Okay. Damn. This sucks. I was hoping we would get a lead.”
Carla smiled at him. It was tight and reserved, but he was pretty sure it was genuine. “Doesn’t always work that way,” she said, stepping up to the door and peeking through the window, in an effort to see what was beyond.
His eyes went wide as she stepped back sharply, pulling out her weapon.
“What is it?” he asked, returning to full alert, scanning the area for any signs of danger.
“A body.”
Chapter Seventeen
Carla
“What a waste of a day,” she grumbled as the body of their supposed hacker was wheeled away under a black tarp. “Did you guys find anything?”
The medics shook their head. “Just his wallet, Deputy, sorry.”
Carla nodded in thanks. At least they were done now.
Things didn’t happen fast in Five Peaks, not even with a dead body. The morning and much of the afternoon was already gone.
“Do things normally take this long?” Pace asked, looking around at the scene.
Another Deputy, medical staff from the local clinic, several city officials, and even a reporter, were all milling around the scene. It was as busy as she could remember seeing a crime scene in town before.
“No,” she said. “Normally it’s much, much faster than this. But dead bodies aren’t something we have a lot of, so it attracts a lot of attention. As you can see.”
Pace made an affirmative noise. “No kidding. I feel like we’ve been stuck here for hours, filling out forms.”
“Police departments across the country are funded by paperwork, didn’t you know?” she said dryly. “If it’s not done in triplicate, it may as well not be done at all.”
“What an annoying thing to have happen,” Pace said, giving voice to her feelings.
“Tell me about it,” she said, her eyes drawn to a slate-gray pickup truck pulling up to the scene. “Oh perfect, just what I need.”
“What is it?” Pace asked, suddenly concerned.
She saw him edge closer out of the periphery of her vision and smiled. Ever since she had discovered the hacker, he had been reluctant to let her out of his sight. Normally, she would feel insulted that someone wanted to be so protective of her, but the finding of the body had left her slightly rattled, and she was happy for the company.
This wasn’t the way she’d seen the case progressing. Theft was one thing, but straight up execution-style murder? That was something else.
“Frazer!” a voice bellowed over the general din.
“That would be the Sheriff,” she sighed. “My boss. Stay here, okay? I got this.”
She patted him once on the arm, trying not to squeeze his bicep and then walked over to the Sheriff, bracing herself for whatever tirade he decided to go off on this time.
Carla wasn’t to be disappointed.
“Look at this, what the hell have you done now?” Dunbar barked, looking around. “You shot an innocent man?”
“The victim had his neck snapped,” she said, barely managing to refrain from shaking her head. Was Dunbar losing his mind? Nobody had said anything about a gunshot over the radio. “It happened before I got here. There is a murderer in town, Sheriff.”
“Regardless of how he died, this is your fault!” Dunbar looked around the scene. “All of this, all this waste of resources, none of it would have happened if you hadn’t gone poking around where you shouldn’t have.”
“Perhaps I could have gotten to this man in time if I’d been allowed to investigate from the start,” she said, not backing down. They were in public, and there was only so much Dunbar could get away with.
The look in his eyes said he knew it too. “Careful,” he snarled, leaning in close to her, his mustache catching the spittle as he spoke.
Ew.
“You had better have a damn good explanation for this!” he said, straightening, his voice returning to that bark-like command. As if that made his subordinates more intere
sted in explaining things to him.
There was a scrape of boot on footstep as Pace approached.
“Sheriff Dunbar, I can assure you—”
“I’ve got this,” she said, sticking up a hand and cutting Pace off. “Thank you, but I’m fine.”
Pace looked at her, shrugged, then retreated. Carla was grateful for his desire to help, but this was a fight she had to take on her own. She didn’t want, nor did she need, his help to deal with Dunbar.
“I don’t know who killed this man,” she said. “But I am going to find them.”
Dunbar snorted. “You had better. You’re a Deputy in Five Peaks Sheriff’s Department. I run a tight ship here, I won’t have any murder victims running about my town.”
She nodded, relieved.
“But remember, Frazer. You’re on the clock. Five days.” Dunbar looked up at the sky, where the sun was already descending on the western edge of the valley. “Well, more like four,” he chortled. “Good luck with that. Now get back to work. I have to go clean up your mess.”
She trembled with anger, but before she could respond, Sheriff Dunbar walked away, having forgotten about her as he saw the city officials and went to go talk to them, to pretend like he was more important than he actually was.
“What an asshole,” she hissed, clenching her fists.
“You know, your boss is a real asshole.”
Carla looked over to see Pace standing there, his eyes fixed on Dunbar’s back. She could almost draw a line connecting the laser beams from Pace to her boss.
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“I could go knock him out if you want,” Pace offered.
Carla gaped at him. “That’s assault on an officer, Pace. That will land you in jail, for a long time. You can’t do that!”
“Party pooper,” he grumbled unhappily.
She laughed, grateful for the reprieve. “Though I appreciate your enthusiasm about the idea. I certainly feel like he could use it.”
“He’ll get what’s coming to him,” Pace said thoughtfully. “Soon enough, I think.”
“Whatever, forget him. We have a case to solve.”
“Yeah,” Pace said, coming to stand at her side. “What’s that about you only having four days to go? Are you quitting?”
