Or maybe he was just trying to keep his focus anywhere but on the bar. Even though he’d only been there once, his thoughts had been sliding back to the place for months. Back to the night when he’d met a woman with honey in her voice and a smile in her eyes.
Back to the night when they had played pool, laughed a lot, and things had been anything but sleepy.
A pull of regret momentarily tightened his stomach. He only had one thing to remind him of that night outside of his memories. The small piece of paper tucked into his wallet was a constant reminder of one of the best nights he’d ever had.
And how a man like him shouldn’t have anything beyond that.
“Now that we’ve had a look at where some of the nightlife of Carpenter takes place, I want to show you a few spots of interest during the day,” the sheriff said. He paused before continuing and seemed to consider his next words. “Listen, Henry, I know that you’re used to fieldwork and that this ‘touring the county’ thing is probably driving you a little up the wall, but while sitting in a car as I point at stuff might not be exciting, it’s hard to serve a county you’re flying blind through.”
Henry didn’t dispute that.
He’d spent the last five years in Tennessee, bouncing around when the job called for it. Not too far a cry from South Alabama but enough of a difference that he couldn’t pretend to know the county’s flavor just yet.
Henry pulled his mind away from the blond-haired beauty he’d rescued from a blind date, and tried to refocus on the task at hand. This was the first day he’d spent out of the sheriff’s department. One of several days to come that he’d spend touring with the sheriff and the chief deputy before getting partnered with another deputy. Then, after a while, Henry would finally get his own cruiser and be able to get back to working alone.
He hoped.
It had been a long time since he’d had a partner, and he wasn’t itching to get back into the swing of being one of two.
Sheriff Reed’s guided tour took them through the whole of Carpenter, one of three small towns in the county but, according to Reed, they were barely scratching the surface of his hometown.
“Carpenter has been through a lot in the last decade or so. Heck, the county has been through a lot,” he said later when they pulled into the parking lot of a small diner across the street from the department. Apparently, it was also a law-enforcement favorite, and not just because of its close proximity. “It’s made the community stronger, but it’s also made the people that make trouble smarter. Trickier. Carpenter, and Riker County as a whole, has a lot of nooks and crannies, country roads and open land, not to mention a good deal of abandoned properties scattered throughout the towns and city, that all make it harder to do our jobs. To keep the community safe, to keep the bad guys from getting the upper hand. Which means we get to work harder and adapt so that never happens.”
He put the Tahoe in Park and cut the engine. Henry couldn’t help noticing the temperature on the dash read ninety degrees. Though that wasn’t counting in the humidity.
Billy glanced at the temperature, too, and smirked. “Which means after lunch I’ll start showing you the juicy stuff. Until then you’re about to experience one of the best burgers in town and one of the most powerful commercial air conditioners, too.”
“And I won’t turn that down, either,” Henry was quick to say. It wasn’t like they were allowed to wear shorts on the job to help fight the heat. Plus, it had been a long time since he’d had a good burger.
They got out of the Tahoe and started across the parking lot. It was summer and the heat kept sticking to its guns. The air was hot and heavy, pressing against his uniform without hesitation. Tennessee had its moments of uncomfortable, but one week in Riker County and he thought he understood the meaning of the word melting.
“You weren’t kidding about this place being popular with the badges,” Henry observed after trying to memorize their surroundings for later. He noted two cruisers at the corner of the building and, if he wasn’t mistaken, there was also a personal vehicle of Chief Deputy Suzy Simmons parked in front of the entrance.
“The power of good food in a small town is second to none,” the sheriff responded, seemingly not surprised by the turnout. “Though today it’s less about the food and more about celebrating.” Billy pulled open the door but paused to explain himself over his shoulder. “One of our dispatchers is finally back from an extended vacation. We love all of our department, but I don’t think I’m being too sentimental when I say she’s close to the heart of it.”
Henry had heard that one of the night-shift dispatchers was out of town, but he hadn’t thought any more on it. Carpenter might have been a small town, but Riker oversaw two more towns and one city. He hadn’t had a chance to meet all the deputies in the department, let alone all the support staff. He hadn’t even personally met the dispatchers currently working.
“Plus,” the sheriff continued with a smirk, “I may be a man of the law, but I’m not one to turn down a chance at cake.”
Henry laughed and followed him inside. It was a small room but efficient. Booths lined the right wall along the windows while a counter stretched across the other with stools in front. In the back corner three booths were filled with deputies, Chief Deputy Simmons, and even one of the detectives, Matt Walker. Some were off duty; others wore their uniforms. All were seemingly in good moods.
Henry spied the half-eaten cake in question sitting in the center of the middle booth, but the woman of the hour wasn’t across from it. Even without knowing it was a celebration for her, Henry could have guessed easily enough. Everyone seemed to be leaning in toward her. She stood at the head of the closest table, a gift bag in one hand and tissue paper in the other. Henry couldn’t see her face, but he had an uninhibited view of her hair.
It was blond and curly and familiar.
“Deputy Ward,” Sheriff Reed announced as soon as they were close enough to the group. Everyone quieted and turned their attention to their leader. Including the woman of the hour. “I’d like to introduce you to our very own Cassie Gates.”
Two beautiful green eyes found Henry’s and widened.
The woman Henry had spent months trying to forget wasn’t just a dispatcher for the department. According to the sheriff, she was the heart of it.
On reflex alone Henry outstretched his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. There was a distant tone to his voice. Even he could hear it. Like someone who had just been blindsided. Which, he realized, was exactly what was happening.
Cassie’s long lashes blinked a few times but she collected herself quickly.
“Nice to meet you,” she repeated. Her tone also sounding dull, hollow.
At least he wasn’t the only one who had been caught wholly off guard.
The change in both of their demeanors didn’t go unnoticed, either. The sheriff raised an eyebrow. He didn’t have time to comment.
The sound of glass shattering filled the air.
And then, right in front of Henry’s eyes, the sheriff took a bullet to the stomach.
* * *
BETWEEN THE SPACE of two breaths, all hell broke loose in the diner.
Cassie dropped to the floor, a scream caught in her throat. Almost simultaneously the weight of someone else was on top of her, sandwiching her flat against the tiled floor.
Yelling followed by more glass shattering kept the noise levels high and heavy. What was once a celebration had turned into terror. Like a light switch had been flipped, bathing them in a whole new array of shadows. Whoever was covering her tightened around her body, making a cage.
More gunshots sounded overhead. So close, her ears rang in protest. Her colleagues, her friends, were returning fire.
Memories of being in a similar situation years before filled her head.
She’d done this before.
She’d been here before. Under fire...
When she thought she was supposed to be safe.
Cassie sucked in a breath, panic thronging her body. If her hands had been free, they would have gone straight to her neck. A gut reaction she’d honed in the last two and a half years. Her fingers would trace the scar at the side of her neck. She’d remember the blood and terror. However, now she couldn’t go through that routine. Not when the weight of someone was keeping her to the floor.
So she did the best thing she could. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited.
What felt like an eternity went by until silence finally cut through the madness. It was brief but poignant. As if the diner as a whole had decided to take a collective breath. She couldn’t have been the only one whose heart was trying to hammer itself out of her chest.
The body holding her didn’t move.
Then, as quickly as the shot had invaded the diner in the first place, the yelling started again. A collective muddled sound where everyone spoke together, canceling one another out with no real progress.
It wasn’t until one voice climbed its way above those of the patrons and staff that the chaos was curbed.
“Billy! Billy’s down!”
Cassie’s personal cage loosened around her enough so that she could look toward Suzy. The chief deputy dropped to her hands and knees next to the sheriff, hands already pressing into the gunshot wound in his stomach. Cassie couldn’t look away as blood began to flow onto Suzy’s dark hands.
Billy didn’t complain about the shot or the pressure.
He didn’t even move.
“Are you okay?”
A new voice was at Cassie’s ear. The weight on her eased off until a man’s concerned expression swam into view. Still, she couldn’t look away from the sheriff. She could almost smell the blood.
“Are you okay?” the man repeated. “Cassie?”
Two warm hands came up to cradle her chin. He was gentle as he forced her to look away from the anguishing scene no more than two feet from them. Her boss. Her friend.
“Are you hurt?”
It was like he reached out and slapped her. The shock, the fear, the panic turned analytical. Cassie focused on her body, a new kind of worry coursing through her.
Had they been hurt?
Other than her racing heart, nothing felt different.
“Cassie?”
Clear eyes implored her. She finally recognized them as Henry’s. If they had been in any other situation, she would have been fighting a storm of emotions just at the sight of him. Instead she answered him simply. “I think I’m okay.”
Henry dropped his hands from her face to her shoulders. He pulled her up but not to her full height. Instead she let herself be led behind the counter that ran the length of the diner. Two waitresses were already huddled there, a reflection of the fear Cassie felt in their faces.
“Stay here,” Henry ordered. “There could be more than one shooter.”
She nodded and watched as he disappeared. Without his weight keeping her arms down, Cassie was able to reach up and touch the scar on her neck.
Then she dropped her hand to her stomach.
Henry’s voice joined the chorus of law enforcement in the diner. It had been so long since she’d heard it like this. Panic and determination. Fear and anger. Uncertainty and planning.
And then here Henry was, among them, adding to the group. It had been over seven months since she’d seen him. Now here he was after no contact whatsoever.
And still he’d tried to protect her.
Cassie rubbed the bump beneath her loose-fitting shirt.
Henry Ward had no idea he’d just protected his unborn child, too.
Chapter Two
The man who had shot Sheriff Reed had been killed on sight by Chief Deputy Simmons. She hadn’t even needed to leave the diner to do it, shooting through the shattered window from next to the booth. Though the man had taken a hit or two from Deputy Dante Mills and Detective Walker in the process.
As for who the shooter was? That wasn’t answered until that night inside the department. Suzy, as everyone called her, straightened her back and addressed a room filled to the brim with staff on and off duty. With the sheriff out of commission, she was next in line to lead, and from what Henry had seen of her so far, he more than believed she was ready for the job.
“I just got off the phone with Mara,” she began.
Henry knew she was talking about the sheriff’s wife. It wasn’t a secret how much the man loved his wife and two children. It had been a point of envy for Henry when Billy first talked to him. Now it did nothing but make him feel even more for the man. He knew he wasn’t the only one.
“She said that according to the doctor, he isn’t out of the woods yet. The bullet missed any vital organs, but he lost a lot of blood.”
The woman paused, pain crossing her expression before she could rein it in. Billy had also not kept it a secret that his chief deputy was his best friend and had been for years. They were even godparents to each other’s children. He was her family just as the rest of the department was. That closeness was apparent in how the room around Henry seemed to be hanging on her every word.
He couldn’t deny he missed that feeling.
Camaraderie that was familial.
“But the doctor also said he’s optimistic,” she continued. A small smile pulled up the corner of her lips. “And we all know how hard-headed Billy is. Knowing him, he’ll be giving out orders by the end of the week from his hospital bed, fussing for his cowboy hat.”
There was a chorus of laughter and agreement.
It didn’t last long.
Neither did Suzy’s smile.
“The reason we’re all here is a man named Darrel Connelly,” she started again, her tone sharp, serious. A leader addressing those who followed her. “He had no ID on him, but a local police officer recognized him. We ran his name and found that he hadn’t been arrested before, but his brother, Tanner, had been for the attempted murder of his girlfriend. Billy’s testimony sent Tanner to jail, where he was killed in an inmate-led riot. He was Darrel’s only family. So I don’t think it would be going out on a limb to say that Billy was targeted out of revenge.”
The same group who had laughed in agreement a minute before cursed in unison.
Henry joined in.
“However, until we complete an official investigation, no one in the department will comment to the press. Understood?” Suzy didn’t wait for an answer. Instead she took a quick breath and gave a small nod. “While Billy is out, we will continue to do our jobs with the best of our abilities. Any and all questions in the meantime can be addressed to me or Captain Jones. When I know more about Billy’s condition, I will update you. Until then, let’s continue to make the sheriff proud.”
The room’s mood swung into a cheer before they started to break up. Suzy stayed up front, talking to those who stopped at her side. Almost like a widow after a funeral. Henry just hoped the analogy didn’t come true.
He stayed to the outskirts of the room, hanging back while the bulk of people filtered out. He looked through the crowd, hoping to see the woman he hadn’t ever thought he’d see again.
Cassie Gates.
One of Riker County Sheriff’s Department’s dispatchers.
Henry hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to her since the diner. After they had secured the area, she’d left with one of the deputies and his wife. She’d been visibly shaken. They all had been, though, if he was being honest.
“Hey, Ward.”
Henry turned as Detective Walker came up to his side. He ran a hand through his blond hair and let out a sigh. It was tired.
“Not how you pictured your first week,” he commented. It wasn’t a question. “Wasn’t how I pictured my week, either, to tell the truth.”
&nbs
p; Henry nodded. “Bad guys don’t take breaks for long,” he said. “My partner used to say that all the time.”
“I hate that it’s true but it is.” Matt ran another hand through his hair. He’d been the one doing the legwork on Darrel since they got back. Henry imagined he’d have a full, exhausting day tomorrow, too. “One minute we’re eating cake and the next—” The detective cut himself off, anger rising to the surface of his expression.
Henry let him have the moment in silence. He took another visible breath to calm himself.
“I just wanted to say thank you for what you did today.”
Henry couldn’t help his eyebrow rising in question.
The detective elaborated. “You covered Cassie without hesitation,” he said simply. “Made sure she was safe before we could get a hold on the situation. Good instincts can’t be taught, but they can be thanked.”
That surprised Henry. For two different reasons. One, trying to protect Cassie was a gut reaction. One his body started before his mind could even catch up and act on. He’d heard and seen the shot and then trying to protect her had been his only priority. He hadn’t done it for praise or thanks and was surprised he was getting both.
Two, being thanked was strange enough, but being thanked by the detective raised a few questions. The first and loudest was why was Matt invested in her safety? Or, more to the point, was it more personal than colleagues and friends? Did he care more for the woman than the rest?
And why was the mere thought of the two having more than a working relationship bothering Henry so much?
He’d only known Cassie for the one night—and the following morning—and then they’d parted ways. The slip of paper in his wallet was the only connection he’d had to her past then. It was foolish to think she was the same woman. He hadn’t seen her in over seven months.
A lot could happen in less time.
Henry shouldn’t, and couldn’t, be surprised that she might be in a relationship. Heck, they hadn’t even had one to begin with.
The Deputy's Baby Page 2
