The deputy stepped away from the agent, glancing back and forth between Emma and Croft. “He better not.” He walked from the room, brushing roughly past the man with his shoulder.
The door slammed and Emma jumped.
“What the HELL was that all about?” demanded Croft with anger burning in his eyes.
“Greyson, you’re blowing this out of proportion,” she replied, trying to remain calm.
“I’m blowing this out of proportion? I leave you for three minutes, and when I return, I find you on the bed we just made love in with another man, crying in his arms. How the hell am I supposed to feel?”
“Greyson, it wasn’t like that,” she soothed, trying to keep her world from crumbling around her. “We were just talking.”
“You weren’t talking, Emma. You were crying in his arms. It wasn’t my arms you were in but another man’s. For that alone, I could just…” He let it hang there. “It makes me want to shake you! You just don’t get it, do you?”
“No, Agent Croft, I must not have a damn clue!” With that, she stormed past him, flinging open her door to put as much space between them as possible. When she hit the living room, Briggs, Reese and the two lab techs looked up in surprise at the commotion.
“Emma, wait for me!” Croft demanded, following her right behind her. “I want you to stop!”
She pointed at her deputy. “Reese, I’ll see you at the station, and I want a report on what they find. Lock up when you leave.”
“Sure thing, boss,” he said as he tried not to laugh. All the fear was gone, and now his friend was on the warpath and acting like her old self. Noticing the look of panic on the agent’s face, maybe Emma did have it all under control after all.
The sheriff swung the door open, storming into the bright morning light. She hopped into her Jeep, turning it over. When he tried to access the passenger door and found it locked, she revved the engine and prepared to drive away.
“Emma, damn it! I said wait!” He banged on the window, incredulously. “Don’t do this!”
She never turned to look at him. If she did, she’d tell him off. Staring forward, she pulled out of her driveway and away from the most infuriating man on the face of the earth. At that moment, she needed to put as much space between herself and Greyson Croft as possible.
Staring back into the rearview mirror as she pulled away, he stood there with a surprised look on his face. The dust began to settle around him, and her tears began to flow.
“Well shit,” she muttered, as she wiped them away. That was the second time she cried over Agent Croft in one day.
This was more proof.
Emma was definitely in love.
“Son of a….” he cursed, as she left him standing there. Croft had no idea how the day went to hell in a hand basket. It was the best day of his life when they woke up, and it escalated downhill fast.
When he turned around, Briggs and Reese stood in the doorway behind him. The deputy fumed and his partner kept his face completely neutral
“What?” barked Greyson, glaring at his partner. Briggs simply turned around and went back into the cabin, saying nothing.
“You know what, Croft?” said Reese. “Everyone you brought here says you’re pretty damn smart. After watching you this morning, I think they’re dead wrong. You haven’t a damn clue.” He stormed back into Emma’s home.
Croft had the overwhelming urge to tell Reese that if he didn’t have his woman in his arms, then he wouldn’t have been so irrational. He let out an angry breath and started walking to his cabin. He needed to shave and calm down before he went into town. Emma had him beyond worked up as so many questions were running through his mind.
Was any woman worth this aggravation?
Why was she surprised?
Emma was the one sitting on their bed in another man’s arms. She didn’t cling to him and weep, but went to another person. The more he dwelled on it, the more it pissed him off. It wasn’t until he was in the cold shower, cooling off his anger when it hit him.
What if she never wanted to see him again?
What if he lost her forever?
His gut twisted again, and he stuck his head under the chilly spray, paying his penance for being an asshole. Now, he had another problem to worry about.
How was he supposed to keep Emma safe when she wasn’t speaking to him and on the run?
One of her biggest pet peeves was being late for work, and thanks to a killer, the message, and Greyson Croft, she was more than late. Emma angrily stared at the clock on her dashboard as she pulled into the parking spot in front of her office. It was one thing to be a few minutes behind, but over an hour?
All she wanted to do was scream!
As she hopped down and raced to the front door, taking the steps two at a time, Emma ran into Deputy Ridge at the top.
“You okay, Sheriff?” asked Ridge.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just running late this morning.” She went to walk past him, but he stopped her.
“Sheriff, just walk right past Lila and don’t look her in the eyes.”
“Why not?”
He looked over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear. “After yesterday’s fight, her boyfriend dumped her. Anyone who asks her what’s wrong gets sucked into the whole story and blubbered all over.” He pointed to the wet patch on his sleeve. “Save yourself, boss. Run for your life.”
If it wasn’t such a shitty day, Emma might have laughed. “Great. What else can go wrong today?” she asked.
“Excuse me, Sheriff?”
“Never mind,” she said. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll be hiding in my office if anyone needs me.”
Deputy Ridge stared after his boss in confusion. Generally, she was a happy person, but today she looked downright miserable.
Emma managed to walk in, giving no direct eye contact to the woman. How long her good fortune would last was another question. If anything, Lila was persistent when trying to vie for attention.
“Sheriff?” her secretary called, waiting at the door.
Emma’s stomach sank. “Yes, Lila?” She glanced up at the girl and prayed she’d keep her woes to herself. After all, Emma was having her own man issues.
“Here are the reports you needed typed.”
“Thank you,” she paused, knowing she wouldn’t get away that easily.
“I also made that appointment you requested with the mayor. It’s in an hour,” Lila added.
“Thank you.” It appeared the woman was going to keep it together after all. There was a God! When Emma looked up from the papers she’d been handed, tears were filling Lila’s eyes, and she knew the woman was about to lose it.
Lila closed the office door and the tears fell in torrents.
Well hell.
“He broke up with me last night,” she sobbed.
She was pretty sure this didn’t fall under the duty of the sheriff. What she wouldn’t give for an HR department at that moment or a staff shrink.
Emma crossed to the girl with a tissue in her hand, figuring if she soothed her, then Lila would leave sooner rather than later.
Lila sat in the chair, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. When she had calmed down, she continued with the story. “He was mad because I was flirting with that FBI agent. He said I was throwing myself on him like a whore.”
Emma froze in her spot. “He called you a whore?” she asked, everything in her going on alert.
Lila just nodded her head and sniffled
“He used that exact word?”
“Yes! I’m not a whore!” she protested. “I was just flirting. Agent Briggs is cute, and it was just something to do to pass the time. I didn’t mean to get Billy mad at me.” She wiped her nose again.
Emma got a sick feeling in her stomach. Could Billy be the killer or was it because that word was just common. Emma knew she needed help on this one, and she also knew she wouldn’t crawl to Croft begging for his assistance. When he apologized, she’d forgive him.
“Lila, I need a huge favor,” Emma said, grabbing some paper from her desk.
Lila looked up at her. “What is it, Sheriff?” she asked.
“I need you to give this to Agent Briggs when he gets here.” Emma wrote a quick note on the paper, folding it in half and addressing it to the younger agent.
She didn’t mind in the least, having to talk to the hot agent again would cheer her up. “No problem. Do you want me to tell Agent Croft anything?” she asked Emma.
“Nothing at all.” She was in love but she was still pretty damn pissed at him. “Agent Briggs will read the note and handle everything.”
“Okay, Sheriff.”
Emma patted the girl on the head. “It’ll be fine. Men usually say things out of jealousy. Wait for him to apologize and go from there.” It was as if she was giving herself the same advice.
Lila looked vastly better.
“Now, I have to get to your father’s office for my meeting. Don’t mention it to Agent Croft.”
“Sure thing,” she said, sulking back out to her desk to mope. Man, she was going to miss Billy. Now who would fill her time and bed?
It wasn’t until Agents Croft and Briggs walked in the door that she smiled again. Well at least now, she was free to flirt.
“Hello, Agents.” Lila smiled at Briggs. “How’s your face?”
Briggs touched his cheek. “Sore, but nothing I can’t handle.”
Croft found himself trying not to make some comment. If his partner planned to chase the ditz down, more power to him. He had his own problems.
“Uh, Lila, where’s the sheriff?”
She started giggling. “She’s on a secret mission,” she teased, pulling out the folded paper. Yeah, she’d snuck a peek and looked. It was all very spy like and sneaky. “Oh, she left this note for you, Agent.” Croft stepped towards the desk, but Lila pulled it out of his reach. “Not you, sir. It’s for Agent Briggs.”
“What?” he asked as he stared down at the note. “What do you mean a secret mission?” he asked with his voice rising and blood pressure spiking. The woman was trying to kill him, and this was his proof.
“She stepped out for something important.” Lila handed Briggs the note. When he winked in gratitude, she sighed lustily.
Croft was beginning to get that overwhelming need to tear the town apart to look for her. The killer was after her, and she took today to disappear on something ‘official’ without them?
“You’re red, partner,” Briggs said.
Then there was the intense anger at what had been put into the note. Then it was fear that washed through him. He watched as Briggs sat and unfolded the paper. He was touching the cut on his lip that Emma had cleaned for him yesterday.
“I know I’m red, but what the hell does it say?” bellowed Croft, ready to throttle his own partner.
Briggs glanced up at him and folded the note, calmly. “Emma needs me to do something for her.” He was still touching his lip, but this time it was more to block the smile that crossed his face.
Croft took a menacing step forward then stopped. He sat in a chair, putting his head into his hands. “I think I really screwed up, Curtis.” This was out of his realm. He needed outside perspective.
The acknowledgement shocked Briggs.
He continued, “I walked down the hall and saw her crying in Reese’s arms and hit the roof. I may have lost her because of my damn temper.”
“I see,” said Briggs, keeping his comments to himself. He had an opinion on Croft’s rage, but why rub salt into the wound.
“Is that all you feel like saying to me, Curtis?”
The man laughed at that. “Oh, I feel like telling you plenty, but even I can see that you’re suffering enough. Hey, this paper smells like Emma’s perfume.” He sniffed the unscented stationery, wanting to see his reaction.
Croft’s eyes flashed fire. “You think this is funny, Briggs? You think that whatever she wrote in that note won’t rip my heart into more pieces? That I’m not scared shitless that she’s out there alone and the killer could be following her?”
“No, what I find amusing is that you’re in love with her and too stubborn to own it.” Briggs smiled, enjoying the look on his partner’s face. “You're so worried about being the big, strong, dominant man, that you’ve missed the most important message your heart is trying to send to your brain. You, my friend, are a goner.”
Greyson was speechless for a few seconds. Yeah, he knew it, but did everyone else see it too?
“The first step is to admit it,” Briggs suggested.
He was a rational man, and although he was feeling it, there was still that little niggling doubt that love at first sight didn’t exist.
“Stop overthinking it. Why can’t you just accept it for what it is, and go from there?” Briggs tried warning him.
Croft ignored him. His partner may think he knew it all, but he wasn’t an expert on him. He admitted he’d fallen hard, but what he wouldn’t say out loud was that he was scared shitless of the rejection. If he could lock down her heart, he’d jump in headfirst.
“What about the note, Curtis?” They needed to get back on the topic of work.
He slid it across the table and Greyson read it. It explained the situation between Billy Barnes and Lila and requested a background check on him. When he finished reading it, he brought it to his nose to sniff the paper, desperate to smell the lavender once more.
Briggs snickered.
“This doesn’t smell like Emma.” he said matter-of-factly. “You said that to piss me off.”
“No, I said that, Croft, to prove a point and make you get it through that thick skull of yours. You’re acting exactly like Billy Barnes did yesterday. How about you trust her a bit? Emma is a pretty smart woman, and she doesn’t seem like the type to bed hop between men. If she’s sleeping with you, there’s most likely a reason for it.”
He was probably right.
“I think I’ll get the pretty lady what she requested,” he added, grinning. Now, he’d enjoy torturing his partner.
Croft just let it go. His mind was on other things. The note fell from his fingers to the table as he pictured her being stalked, taken and hurt, all because he acted like an asshole that morning.
“I have to find her,” he muttered.
Briggs looked up at his partner. “Hang in there, buddy. She’ll be back before you know it. Then you can do something stupid to piss her off again.”
His stomach knotted once more because chances were his partner was right. When it came to Emma, he was striking out each time at bat.
Sitting in the mayor’s office, Emma stared around the room, taking in all the photos and décor. It was way overdone for her taste, and she was assuming Will Taylor had something to do with it. There were giant pictures of the mayor kissing babies, shaking hands and looking like some pious deity.
Frankly, it irritated the hell out of her.
“Sheriff, the mayor will be right with you,” said Tate’s secretary, Betty Kline. The woman went back to working at her desk, basically ignoring Emma.
When her phone rang, she pulled it out of her pocket, fully expecting it to be Croft. When it wasn’t, she answered it.
“Sheriff Starling.”
There was a pause. “Sheriff, it’s Megan Landry’s mother.”
Emma swallowed the first words that came to mind. “Yes?”
“I’m calling to apologize for my behavior last night. I saw the paper today, and the picture of me striking you. I’m so sorry.”
Great. It was one more thing to make her feel a little bit sunnier. She was on the front page being bitch slapped by an old woman. The day kept getting better and better. What could happen next? Maybe she’d be getting run over by a car full of clowns.
“It’s fine, Mrs. Landry,” she lied, getting the words out.
“I thought about what the FBI agent said, and he was right. Megan used to keep a little black journal w
ith all the contact information of anyone in her phone. She was paranoid that the backup would go down and she’d lose all her business contacts.”
That brightened Emma’s day. Maybe the woman had put the killer’s name in her phone book. If they got the name tied to the burn phone, they would have a solid lead.
“Do you have it?” she asked, trying to remain neutral. Betty Kline was watching her intently. Apparently, she’d seen the paper.
“Megan kept it at her store in Philadelphia. I believe it’s in her safe.”
Emma was definitely getting excited. “Can you email me the combination? I’ll drive into Philly and pick it up.”
Going back into that city was going to be brutal, but to stop another woman from dying--or ending up a victim herself--she’d suck it up.
“I’ll email it to you and again, I’m sorry.”
Emma let it go and recited her address to send the combination. It was her job and this in her mind made up for it. Getting that book could mean breaking this wide open.
“Thank you for your call, Mrs. Landry. We’ll keep you updated,” she hung up the phone, contemplating on calling Croft to tell him.
Before her mind was made up, her thoughts were interrupted.
“Sheriff, come on into my office,” welcomed Ron Tate from his doorway.
Betty glanced up and Emma caught the look and wink that passed between them. Emma just shook her head wanting to toss her cookies. The man was slicker than a snake, and she didn’t see the allure. He certainly wasn’t her type. Apparently, she had a thing for angry, hot headed, stubborn FBI agents.
“Thank you for seeing me on short notice.”
“No problem. Have a seat. We both know that our offices should keep in close communication.” He smiled at Emma, waving a hand at a seat. “Anything new on the killer of these poor girls?” he asked with genuine concern in his eyes.
“No, Mayor, but that’s why I’m here.” She measured him up. “It’s been brought to my attention that you had a personal relationship with Connie Hart,” she bluffed, pulling out the oldest cop trick in the book.
Celestia is Falling (A Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 1) Page 25
