by Lisa Harris
“Sharleen Malta. That her maiden name?”
“I have no idea.” Hollis glanced at him, then looked at the magazines. “She’s listed on the cover of this. The award-winning photographer.”
“This award is for significant contributions to the Vietnam peace initiative.”
Hollis frowned. “What on earth—?”
“There’s a Vietnam connection with some of the founders of Last Chance. The former police chief, the fire chief, and a doctor who worked in town.” Savannah said, “Maybe your mom knew them. Could be that’s how she wound up in Last Chance in the first place.”
“You think her mom is a founder?”
Savannah shrugged in answer to his question.
“It would set a few things straight, that’s for sure.”
Hollis continued looking through the box. “Mementos. Envelopes of old negatives. Letters…I think this is from her mom. My grandma.”
Will motioned with his fingers, and she handed it over. Then she pulled a blank envelope out and slid the note from it. “Rich Tathers.”
Savannah said, “Mia’s father?”
Hollis shrugged one shoulder and read the card aloud. “I’ll tell everyone what you did.”
Will looked up from the letter Sharleen had received from her mom. “She was being cut off. Your grandmother was refusing to give her any more money. Told her to get help. And a real job.”
“My grandmother?” Hollis said, “She never said anything about grandparents. Apparently, she was too busy blackmailing people.” She passed him a photo. “This was with the note.”
The image featured Rich Tathers and a young woman.
“Put it back.” Savannah gathered everything. “This all needs to be logged. But there’s also no point dragging up the past. I’ll talk to Rich. Find out what this was all about, before I take it to Conroy.”
“Because you want to protect him, and Mia, from the truth?” Will didn’t like that idea. Nor did he like the idea that Conroy or Mia might try to squash something. If Rich had committed a crime, then that needed to be addressed. Right now, they had no idea what was in front of them, so they had to tread carefully.
Savannah shot him a look. “You do your job, and I’ll do mine. Okay? Unless you need another case to investigate.”
“My mom was blackmailing people,” Hollis said. “But that doesn’t make her West.”
Will nodded to concede the point. “Could be she knows who is, though.”
“You thought that about me, and you were wrong.”
Will pressed his lips together.
“I’m going downstairs.”
He moved to follow her, but Savannah snagged his elbow. “Just one sec.”
He waited.
“If Rich did something, and it’s not outside the statute of limitations, it will be addressed. It’s not going to be swept under any rug or ignored because Mia is a lieutenant and the police chief is going to be his son-in-law.”
“Good. Now I need to be with Hollis.”
“Mmm.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Someone tried to kill us earlier. Of course, I’m going to do what I can to protect her.”
Will walked out, not willing to leave Hollis exposed to any more danger than she already had been.
The front door was open.
“Hollis?”
He glanced around downstairs but didn’t see her, so he went out onto the front step. Hollis was halfway down the drive. About to leave without him? Hadn’t she heard him talk about keeping her safe? He should be protecting her. That didn’t mean leaving herself exposed with him still in the house.
“Wait up one sec—”
A car engine revved. The sound of gunfire rang out as a dirty white pickup barreled down the street, past them. A semi-automatic pointed out the window.
Hollis’s whole body jolted, and she hit the concrete.
Chapter Fifteen
“Hollis!”
She didn’t move, despite Will’s cry. Hollis just kept herself as close to the ground as she could. Ridiculously exposed. Nothing but the concrete of the drive around her. Not even those two plant pots she’d gotten for her mom that one Mother’s Day to decorate the front step. The ones her mother had never set out. They were in the garage, the flowers dead.
Car tires screeched.
More shots rang out. So many she had to clamp her hands over her ears.
Hollis’s injured wrist slammed against the side of her head. She cried out, bile rising in her throat while her arm throbbed under the tight bandage.
Will fell to the drive beside her. “Hollis.” He squeezed her shoulder. “They’re gone.”
She lifted her head. “Donaldson.”
“What?”
“The officer over there.” She sat up, pointing with her good hand at the curb where the officer was parked.
“He’s down.”
She pressed her lips together, hardly able to say it.
“I’m going after them. Get to Donaldson.” Savannah ran past them, jumped in her car, and sped away with a screech of tires.
Hollis clambered to her feet.
“Easy.”
She shook her head and grabbed his hand for something to cling to, tugging Will over to the police car. Her ears were still ringing. She saw Donaldson before she heard him. In fact, the short pants of his breathing almost didn’t even register in her brain.
Will shifted. A second later, he said, “Officer down.” He paused, then gave whoever was on the other end of his call her mom’s address.
Hollis tuned it out and crouched by Donaldson. His face was pale, probably too pale. Blood coated the side of his hair, but she couldn’t see a wound.
He blinked at her, his eyes glassy. Shock and fear registered on his face.
“Hey. It’s okay.” She touched the buttons of his shirt, over his sternum, and tried to find a bullet wound. All she found was extra padding under his clothing. “You’re wearing a vest.”
“Of…course.” He coughed between the words, and then winced. “Hit my head diving.”
Hollis nearly sagged to the ground in relief.
Will crouched. “Conroy is on his way, as are EMTs.”
“I’m never gonna live this down.”
“You think he’ll care?” Will asked. “He’ll be glad you didn’t get shot.”
“I agree.” She had to say it, even though Donaldson clearly didn’t feel the same. “Conroy isn’t going to demote you for getting hurt. Right?”
She didn’t demote her employees for blunders at the diner. The fact was, people made mistakes. As someone who’d never received that consideration from others, Hollis actually thought it was important to give grace to the people around her. Surely Conroy was that kind of boss. If the police chief was a tyrant, or someone who played favorites, people would be quitting all around him. Or at least they wouldn’t be happy.
Instead, everyone who worked with him appeared both happy and completely loyal. Which was what she’d seen in both Stuart and Kaylee.
Was that why Kaylee had gotten so mad when Hollis announced she was leaving town? It hadn’t occurred to her to let the people she knew in on her plans. Stuart might technically be her employee, but they’d never hung out outside of the diner.
She didn’t know what to make of it. What she did know was that she had no answers, and her wrist hurt. A lot.
She hissed and sat her behind on the ground. It might’ve been more like falling, but she was a lady, so she pretended it happened on purpose.
“Okay?”
She shook her head at Donaldson’s question. “I’m more worried about you having a concussion.”
“You took a pretty hard spill.” The cop’s eyes softened.
Will said, “Yes, she did. Because she went outside without me. When I clearly told you that you should be under protection.” He shot her an unhappy look. “Believe me now?”
“I didn’t disbelieve you before.”
She didn’t get the chance to say m
ore. Conroy raced over, along with Basuto and several other cops she didn’t know. An EMT and Will helped her up. They walked her off to the side while the cops did their “brothers in blue” thing.
“Ouch.” She whirled to the EMT, taking her hand from his grip.
He held up both hands. “This needs an X-ray.”
“I already know it’s broken.”
He frowned at her.
“I’m not going to the hospital.” She only realized afterwards that she’d yelled in his face.
Will motioned away with a jerk of his head, effectively dismissing the guy. Hollis shot the EMT a smirk. Until Will touched her elbow. “Let’s go sit down.”
“I’m too mad to sit.”
He tugged her away nonetheless, making it known in a gentle but firm way that she definitely didn’t have any say in the matter. So, when he slowed his pace as he closed in on her mom’s porch, Hollis turned to him. “What?”
Will lifted his brows.
She sighed. “Sorry. But she never even put the pots out.”
His head jerked and he looked behind him, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
“My mother.” Hollis didn’t even want to go there. Ugh, it was just so cliché. She never loved me. Didn’t matter that it was true. “She treated me like crap. Now, when I try to get out of her life for good. Which—hello—she should be happy about it, right? No-o. She drags me right back into the middle of it.”
Hollis realized then that tears were rolling down her face. “Why can’t they just leave me alone?”
“Who?” There was a guardedness to his gaze. As though he felt there was something she’d withheld, which she might be just about to tell him.
Too bad she knew squat about what was going on, past the fact her mom was apparently in the middle of it.
“Those guys from the woods. Whoever just shot at us.” She sucked in a breath. “Do you know—she never even told me she was a photographer? I had no idea. And she’s won awards.”
“Holl—”
“Don’t bother. Whatever you have to say, it’s not going to make me feel any better.”
Will chuckled. Then he pulled her to him, so that her face smashed against his shirt. Not saying anything at all.
If he asked her if she felt better, Hollis would just deny it.
She could feel his chest shake against her cheek. “There’s nothing funny about this.”
“You’re very cute when you’re mad. This doesn’t bode well. If we argue, I’m liable to laugh.” He pulled back. “Or want to kiss you.”
Hollis stared up at him. “If you’re trying to distract me because my wrist hurts, I think it’s working.”
She saw the humor materialize in his eyes. It drifted across his face to curl up the corners of his lips. The transformation was like watching a piece of pottery emerge from a kiln.
“You guys okay?”
Will tightened his arms for a second before he let her go, but not too far. They faced Conroy together, Will’s arm around her shoulders, her body tucked tight against his.
Conroy said nothing, but his expression was clear he found it both amusing and interesting the way she and Will were standing.
“My mom is a nightmare. Other than my life being in shambles, and my broken arm? I’m fine.”
“Sure.” Conroy’s lips twitched. It didn’t have anywhere near the same effect on her than when Will did that.
She should be thinking about Phil and how mixed up her feelings were. She didn’t know this Will guy. And yet, everything about him felt familiar. There was literally not enough space in her brain to think about it. Nor was there time.
While they chatted about more cop stuff, Hollis realized she needed time on top of that to consider Rich Tathers. His name had been brought to the surface of this investigation. Conroy’s future father-in-law. Would Conroy protect the lieutenant’s father? Maybe Conroy even knew something had happened between Rich and Sharleen.
Blackmail. Just the idea her mom was embroiled in something like that, on top of everything else, made her sick.
Hollis sighed. She didn’t want to consider that they might be dirty cops. Or at least that they played favorites and swept things under the rug—which may seem like less of a deal, but it still meant they weren’t the honest law officers she’d thought they were.
Will said, “Savannah went after the truck. It was too fast for me to get the license plate.” He glanced down at her.
“I didn’t either. I just hit the ground.”
Will gave her a small squeeze. “Good.”
She didn’t know that she agreed with his assessment. Maybe there was more she could’ve done. “I don’t think I helped.”
“But you’re safe.”
That was relative, as far as she was concerned. “I still think leaving is the best option.”
She wiggled out of Will’s hold. For her to convince him, she needed to be able to argue her case. Which she couldn’t do while distracted by his presence. His strength so close to her.
Hollis lifted her chin. “I don’t want to be dragged in the middle of this. I want to be as far from these people as possible.”
“And when they follow you?”
“That’s why you’ll go with me. Right?” She wasn’t backing down. If Will wanted to protect her, they could compromise. It didn’t have to be solely on his terms.
“You know the plan is to stay together.”
“And if I don’t want that to be here? Would you leave town with me?”
Will opened his mouth, but he said nothing. He’d have to give up trying to get more and more evidence to give his boss, or whoever it was that was coming here to receive it.
He’d have to keep her safe at the cost of finishing this case personally.
Conroy said, “I have a question. Before you guys leave.” Like it was a foregone conclusion.
She did like the idea that he might be on her side.
Will mushed his lips together.
Conroy said, “Any idea how we can find your mom?”
She sighed. “I have no idea where she would go. It’s not like we hang out. And apparently I don’t rate high enough to know even the first thing about her.”
Both of them started to object. But Hollis wasn’t interested in either of them trying to convince her otherwise of what she knew in her heart to be true.
Her mom considered her nothing.
Less than nothing.
She held up a hand. “Just give me a second. Let me think about it.”
Hollis turned away and pulled her phone out of her purse as she took a couple of steps away. They spoke low behind her. Holding the cell was just reflex, mostly. A source of comfort. Familiarity, or habit, didn’t matter.
She scrolled to her mom’s number in her contacts and dialed it. Who knew, maybe she would pick up. Hollis could just ask her where on earth she’d gone and what was going on.
“Is someone’s phone ringing?”
Hollis spun around.
Basuto looked at Hollis and thumbed over his shoulder toward the open front door. “Sounds like it was left inside.”
Hollis strode there. Will got to the door first, and said, “Hold up.”
He went in, emerging again a few seconds later to show her the phone. “Your mom?”
Hollis hung up the call. “Yes.”
“Any idea what the passcode is?”
She tried a couple of combinations she remembered from years ago, when her mom first got the thing. Two wrongs, and then she hit on the right answer.
“Bingo.” Will grinned. “This is good. This is seriously good, Hollis.”
Conroy said, “He’s right. We can get evidence from this that might help us.”
It was the “might” that got to her. And the fact her mom’s phone being left here meant they couldn’t use her phone’s GPS to find her.
Hollis sighed. It felt like this was never going to end. Her mom was going to keep being her selfish self, while she was cau
ght right in the middle of it all.
The chump with no clue.
Chapter Sixteen
Conroy reached for the cell phone. “I’ll get this...”
Will stepped back. An involuntary action, but Conroy caught the meaning nonetheless.
“That’s evidence, Briar.”
“It’s also my case.”
The police chief frowned. “You’re gonna fight me on this? My office has the tech to get everything from this device, and your way will take longer.”
Sure, that sounded logical. Until you threw in the very personal angle of the note in that box they’d found stuffed in Sharleen’s closet. The one that was clearly addressed to the police chief’s future father-in-law.
“Why are you hesitating on this?”
Will needed an answer, fast. “I’m just thinking everything through. She left the phone for a reason. Or she forgot it.” He shrugged. “Likely, if there was anything useful on here, then she would’ve made sure to take it with her.”
Hollis looked like she wanted to either be sick, or pass out. Neither was a good prospect. He needed to get her out of here so she could sit. Which meant he should wrap this up with Conroy quickly.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
Will said, “I guess so.”
Just like Conroy was going to find out his fiancé’s father was mixed up in the middle of this. Time would tell what the police chief, and his department, did with that information. In the meantime, however, Will was interested enough to go to the source and find out for himself.
Will handed over the phone.
Out the corner of his eye, he saw Hollis glance at him but didn’t respond to it. Conroy shouldn’t know there was something they were keeping from him. That wasn’t necessary. It would skew the results of this experiment.
No, it wasn’t honorable to play the police chief just to test whether he was on the level. But Will didn’t know of any other way to see what a man would do when pushed far enough. If he’d hide the truth, or if he would put his feelings aside and do what was right.
The way Will hadn’t done.
“I’m going to drive Hollis.” He didn’t want to lie, so he neglected to mention where they were headed.
