by Julie Miller
George opened the file and stood, flipping through the pages. He frowned. “You have to go now, Court. I have work to do.”
“What else is new?” With another sniffle, she apologized for her sarcasm. “I’m sorry. Of course, you do. You’re an important man.” Courtney rose, tossed the soiled tissues into the trash and smoothed her blond hair into place. She smoothed the skirt and blouse she wore, too, before tilting her red-rimmed eyes up to George. “You’re okay with this? You promise you’ll help me?”
“It doesn’t make much sense to me, but...” He closed the folder and nodded. “I promise. But this is it, Court. I haven’t been your husband for a long time now. You’ve got to learn to stand on your own two feet.”
“I will.” Courtney Reiter stretched up onto her toes and kissed his cheek. She would have kissed his mouth if he hadn’t turned his head at the last moment. “Thank you.”
George groaned as if he’d heard that promise before, and wiped the pink lipstick from his skin as Courtney breezed past Elise and out the door. “We need to talk,” he said to Elise, reaching around her shoulder to push the door shut behind her. He held up the folder between them. “This is the wrong file.”
“What? No, I’m sure I...” She pulled it from his grip and read the label. Budget Notes. “I’m sorry. I must have grabbed the wrong one. It’s a simple mistake.”
“If you made mistakes, it would be. But you don’t.” He held the door firmly in place when she reached down to open it.
Elise held her breath, thinking it was an accident that she’d been caught in the space between the door and George’s chest.
But there were no accidents with this man. He flattened his palm on the wood beside her head and leaned closer, dropping his gaze to match hers. “Talk to me. You’re scaring me, Elise. I don’t like it when I don’t have the answers I need. Tell me what’s going on. Did something else happen?.”
“Something else? No, I... No.” Her breath rushed out as she braced her hand on his chest to push him away. “Denton Hale is waiting. I think he’s on a shift break, so I’m sure he doesn’t have long. And I need to...get the transcripts.”
George’s skin was warm, his muscles firm beneath the crisp ecru cotton. When she felt the strong beat of his heart leaping beneath her palm, Elise realized she was doing more lingering than pushing, but couldn’t seem to break away from the tempting intimacy. He probably didn’t even know how all this closeness and concern was affecting her. Or maybe he did.
He covered her hand with his before she could make herself escape. His fingers splayed over hers, infusing her with warmth from both his body and touch. “We need to discuss this, too.”
The quiet depth in his tone, along with his firm touch, made his message perfectly clear.
“What ‘this’? There is no ‘this.’” There couldn’t be. Knowing he felt something, too, would only make it that much harder to keep a professional distance from him. She hugged the folder to her chest and pulled against his grip. “We’re coworkers, George. Friends, at best. I respect you tremendously, and I’m grateful for the job, but you’re not the kind of man I want to get involved with.”
“What kind of man do you think I am?” His eyes darkened like granite and his hand fell away. “Don’t answer that.” Giving her the space she’d asked for, he retreated to his window overlooking the north edge of the city. “Get me the right file and show Hale in.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to call him back. To tell him none of this was his fault—to admit how easily she could fall for him. She wanted to explain her screwed-up track record with men and how her best line of defense was to avoid giving in to any of this attraction or that need. But Elise knew a smarter plan of action was to overlook the sting of his words, accept his dismissal and scoot on out of the room.
She opened the door to find Denton Hale standing next to the chair behind her desk. He’d been slightly stooped over, but pulled up as soon as he saw her. Odd. Elise crossed the room to roll her chair back into position and reclaim her personal work space. “Did you need something?”
He spun his uniform cap between his hands, nervously covering for whatever he’d been up to. “I was just trying to double-check when my appointment was. I have to report back at three.”
“Sorry for the wait. The deputy commissioner will see you now.”
“Dent?” George called. “Come on in.”
Officer Hale’s brown-eyed gaze danced over her face for a moment before he heaved a sigh. “Sorry. I know I seem a little uptight about gettin’ in to see Madigan. But I need this job. My family depends on me.”
Now why did that apology sound like some kind of threat? Would she ever trust what a man said to her again? “I’m sure they do.”
With a nod, he circled around her desk and closed the door as soon as the two men shook hands.
Squeezing the back of her chair as if she needed its support to stand, Elise warned herself to get a mental grip instead. She dropped the budget file onto the desk and sat down to straighten it. Yes, the appointment calendar had been moved, but so had a couple of other things. And her screen saver was no longer on, meaning Officer Hale had either bumped the mouse in his brief search, or he’d clicked it on purpose to view something on her screen. While she did keep both a written and electronic record of the deputy commissioner’s appointments, the only thing on her screen was the budget report she’d been working on.
Had Denton Hale seen the paragraph about salary freezes pending evaluations for officers with poor performance reviews or reprimands in their files? Was he truly in fear of losing his job? What did Hale’s service record with the department look like?
With suspicion already pumping through her blood, Elise clicked off of the report and brought up the link for KCPD service records. Just as quickly, she backed out of the system. If Denton Hale did have something in his file that targeted him for extra scrutiny and job probation or termination, it wasn’t her business.
After all, she didn’t want KCPD or anyone else looking too closely into her past mistakes, either.
* * *
ELISE TURNED OFF the motor of her car and reached across the seat to retrieve her purse and the pumps she’d exchanged for tennis socks and walking shoes after work.
Home. The dark red door of the gray-and-white Victorian welcomed her like a familiar sanctuary. She climbed out of her Explorer, but paused for a few moments as the hundred-degree heat and matching humidity crept over her skin, pricking open pores and sapping what energy she had left. She tilted her gaze up to the heat lightning sparking in the distant sky beyond her rooftop. There wasn’t a cloud above or an answering rumble of thunder. So no break in the weather this evening.
The silent violence in the evening sky felt appropriate. Ominous and hopeless somehow. She’d become a lightning rod for suspicious people and unexplained events. She hadn’t forgotten the returned roses or the missing key.
Bringing her gaze down, she studied the windows and doors, making sure nothing looked out of place. The flowers wilting on the porch needed a good soaking, but they hadn’t been moved. There were no footprints in the grass, no packages left on her front steps. Maybe the key disappearing had been a fluke. As upset as she’d been with James’s visit last night, she could very well have simply misplaced it and not remembered.
The only way she was truly going to know if a thief or vandal had stolen the key and broken in was to march up those steps, unlock the door herself and give the house a thorough search.
Fisting her keys in her hand and steeling herself with a resolute breath, Elise slammed the car door.
Spike barked an instant mix of excitement and welcome. Only it wasn’t the muted sound of the dog announcing her arrival through the window from the back of the couch. This was louder. Clearer. Closer. What the...?
“Spike?” Elise turned towa
rd the sound. He was outside. “Spike? Spike!”
She heard the jingle of his tags hitting together before she saw him dash around her neighbor’s hedge and run to meet her.
“Spikey?” Elise dropped her shoes and scooped him up as he leaped into her arms. She kissed his head and hugged him tight, alarmed by his panting and how hot his little body felt against her chest. “How did you get out?” She checked the rapid beat of his heart and looked into his dark brown eyes. “Are you okay, sweetie? Have you been out all day? Did I...?”
She swung her gaze toward the house. Surely she hadn’t left him in the backyard in this heat. With no water? Had he climbed the fence or dug underneath it to escape? And she never let him out in the front without being on a leash. “I know I put you inside.”
But she’d been out of sorts and running late this morning, so she must have forgotten him. She seemed to be forgetting a lot of things today. What was happening to her?
A lick on her earlobe, demanding more petting and less thinking, cut through Elise’s confusion. She scratched his belly and tried to shake off that nagging sense that she was losing it. “It’s just you and me. I’d never forget you.”
Yet here he was, running through the neighborhood, waiting for her to come home.
“Come on, sweetie.” She moved the toodle to one arm and bent down to pick up her pumps. She didn’t care that they’d gotten scratched on the concrete. She was fighting hard to stop second-guessing herself and stay in the moment. “Let’s get you something to drink.”
Instead of going straight up the front steps, though, Elise carried the dog around the side of the house to the backyard. “Good.”
She’d gotten at least one thing right today. The gate was still latched. She opened and closed it behind her, carrying the panting black dog up onto the deck. Pulling her keys from the outside pocket of her purse, she quickly glanced around the yard for possible escape routes. There were no holes in the dirt or gaps in the fence that were readily visible. But she’d investigate the hidden places behind the bushes and landscaping later. Right now, she needed to get Spike into the air-conditioning with a wet towel and some cool water to drink. He didn’t seem bleary-eyed and shocky. Hopefully, he’d stayed in the shade or made himself at home with a friendly neighbor. But she wasn’t taking any chances with her dearest companion.
Elise inserted the key into the back door, feeling another glimmer of relief to discover the knob and dead bolt were both securely locked.
Once inside, she carried Spike straight to the kitchen and set him down in front of his water bowl. While he greedily lapped up the reviving liquid, Elise set her things on the counter and turned on the faucet to wet down a kitchen towel. “Feeling better, sweetie?”
Spike nosed the food in his dish—a good sign that he wasn’t feeling the ill effects of the heat, she hoped—before going back for another noisy, messy drink. Elise turned off the running water and wrung out the towel before stooping down to wrap it around the dog. “Easy—”
A loud noise banged overhead.
Spike barked a warning and lurched from her grip. But Elise grabbed him before he could get away from her. She picked him up, wet towel and all, and hugged him against her racing heart. “Spike?”
Elise looked up as the dog tipped his nose to the ceiling and barked again, a cautious little yap followed by a squeal of alarm and a high-pitched growl in his throat. It was enough of a distress signal for Elise to push to her feet. She grabbed her keys from the counter, looped her purse over her shoulder and retreated toward the back door at the sound of footsteps on the floor above her.
Footsteps running from her bedroom.
Someone was in her house.
Chapter Four
“Ma’am, I’m sorry. I just don’t see any signs of forced entry.” Denton Hale pointed to the television, jewelry box and smart tablet on Elise’s dresser and bedside table. “And you yourself said that nothing’s been taken.”
Elise’s head was throbbing with too much stress and a lack of food. She held herself together by hugging her arms tightly around her waist and glancing over at Spike, who was curled up next to the pillows on her bed. She schooled her patience and tucked her hair behind her ear before turning back to the uniformed officer and articulating every last word. “He was in my house. I heard him running down the stairs and out the front door.”
She’d said the same thing a dozen times in the past half hour, to both Hale and his partner. She’d said it when she’d met them at the front sidewalk, said it again in every room they’d gone through together. A man was in her house. She was certain it had been a man by the heavy tread of his step.
A man who sent her flowers and stole her key?
Or some other threat, altogether?
“You didn’t get a look at this guy?” Officer Hale asked.
“No. I didn’t want a confrontation with him in case he was armed or wanted to hurt me.” If the man hadn’t made a noise... If Spike hadn’t barked... She rubbed at the goose bumps dotting her bare arms and tried to block out the horrible what-ifs swirling in the back of her mind. Harming her could very well have been what the intruder had wanted since theft didn’t appear to be the motive. “I called 9-1-1 on my cell and went to the Kecks’—the retired couple next door.”
“The front door was locked when we came in, Elise. May I call you that?” She didn’t care. She just wanted him to believe her. “None of the locks have been tampered with, and there are no broken windows.”
“So he locked it when he ran out. I told you the key was missing.”
“Are you sure?” Officer Hale pulled his gloved hand from where it rested on his thick utility belt and touched her elbow. His eyebrows arched with a sympathetic smile. His tone patronized as if she was an imbecile—or a desperate woman who was making this all up to get some attention. “It’s there now. You opened the box in the flowerpot and showed it to me. Remember?”
Why not just pat her on the head and say, “There, there”? Elise jerked her arm away and took a step toward her closest ally. “Spike and I both heard him.”
Hale shrugged, sounding exasperated with her seeming lack of reason. “Unfortunately, I can’t take the word of a fuzz mop.”
Apparently, he wouldn’t take her word, either. “I’m not lying. He could have taken the key and made a copy,” she argued, still looking for a reason to explain what she knew to be true.
“I didn’t say—”
“Elise!” After a quick rap on her front door, a deep, clipped voice bellowed from the foyer below.
With a woof, Spike sprang to his feet.
“George?” She swung her head toward the sound of the deputy commissioner calling her name through the rooms on the main floor.
“Ma’am, wait.” Officer Hale put his arm out to block her rush toward the bedroom door, but Elise skirted around him. “We don’t know who—”
“I do. G... Commissioner? What are you doing here?”
Spike hurried down the steps after her. The broad back of George Madigan’s navy suit jacket turned to reveal an open collar and that inviting chest. At the last second, common sense reined in Elise’s relief, and she stopped herself from running straight into his arms, denying herself the haven of security he offered.
But he clasped her shoulders anyway, his slightly rough hands making contact that shot through her skin like a bolt of lightning, exciting frayed nerves and weakening a resolve that couldn’t handle many more demands on it. “I heard your address on the scanner driving home. I called Dispatch to verify that you’d reported an intruder. Officer Boyd just let me in.” Although he lowered the volume of his voice, there was no less authority behind it. “Are you okay?”
Denton Hale loomed up like a shadow behind her on the stairs. “I didn’t know you two were...” The tone of the officer’s voice snapped
to attention. “The scene is secure, sir.”
Without asking permission or apologizing for startling her, George tucked Elise to his side, draping an arm around her shoulders to keep her snugged against his solid flank. “She works for me, Denton. That’s all you need to know. But it doesn’t matter who she is. Get outside with your partner, Boyd, and double-check that everything’s secure, from the basement to the attic. Don’t forget her car and the garage, too.”
“Her car wasn’t here when the alleged intruder—”
Elise snapped her gaze up. “Alleged?”
She felt a squeeze on her shoulder as George moved them out of the uniformed officer’s path to the front door. “Do it. Canvas the neighborhood, too. Get statements from anyone who saw anything around Miss Brown’s house today. Ask if there have been any other break-ins or suspicious activity in the area.”
“Boyd is already doing that.”
“Good. Then you’d better get out there and help him. There are a lot of homes on this street.”
“Yes, sir.” Denton pulled his cap from his rear pocket, squeezing it in his fist before turning to Elise. “Ma’am, if anything I said or did—”
“Now.” George dismissed Hale before he finished his apology. As soon as the door closed behind the officer, George tugged Elise into step beside him and crossed through the arch into her shrouded living room. “So what did he say or do to upset you?”
“He took my statement.”
“And?”
Elise’s feet didn’t seem to be moving under their own power. “I don’t think he believed me.”
George may have muttered a curse. But whether it was aimed at Officer Hale or the cluttered state of her house, she couldn’t tell. Other than a pause to orient himself to the drop cloths and sawhorses in front of the fireplace, George led her to the furniture that had all been stacked against the opposite wall. Even a small black dog sniffing around his feet didn’t slow him down or alter the purpose of his stride. “Don’t you generate any heat, woman? It’s a hundred degrees out and you’re freezing.”
