The Deputy's Proof

by Carla Cassidy

  “I know. I’m just not used to being around so many people. But let’s do this,” she said with a tone of resolve and opened her car door.

  Jimmy’s Place had once been Bo’s Place, but when Bo had been accused of Shelly’s murder, the patrons of the hugely popular upscale bar and grill had stopped coming. Bo had left town and sold the place to his best friend, Jimmy Tambor.

  It was Jimmy who greeted them as they walked in the door. Lanky and slightly awkward, the sandy-haired man smiled even wider as he saw Savannah. “Gosh, Savannah, I haven’t seen you in forever. You look terrific. It’s great to have you here.”

  “Thanks, Jimmy.”

  “Table for two?” he asked and looked at Josh.

  Josh nodded, and Jimmy led them away from the bar area and into a dining area, where Josh immediately spied a table full of town officials.

  Mayor Jim Burns, former mayor Frank Kean, councilman Neil Sampson and Trey Walker all sat at a long table. With them was Rod Nixon from the amusement park. Trey motioned them over, and Josh immediately felt Savannah stiffen.

  Still, she walked next to Josh as he headed for the men. “Savannah,” Neil said with a smile. “What a surprise. I’ve heard you’ve had a rough time lately.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied tersely.

  “I wanted to let you know that I checked out Eric’s and Chad’s alibis for Saturday night,” Trey said to Josh. “Unfortunately both of them claim that they were at home alone all night, and nobody can corroborate their alibis.”

  “The exciting news is that we’ve mapped out miles of tunnels,” Jim Burns said.

  “And they all appear to be solid. We’re talking about how to capitalize on the find when we’ve finished mapping the rest and they all prove safe,” Frank Kean added.

  “The tunnels add a great feature to the amusement park,” Rod added.

  Josh nodded. “I’d like to get a copy of whatever map you have,” he said to Trey. “I’ve started my own map, but obviously you all have done a lot more exploring in the last couple of days.”

  “Stop by my office later this afternoon and I’ll give you a copy of what I have,” Trey said.

  “Will do,” Josh replied.

  Moments later he and Savannah were seated at a table some distance away from the group. Jimmy took their drink orders and then disappeared.

  “Okay, tell me which of those men you don’t like or don’t trust,” Josh said.

  She hesitated and unfolded her napkin in her lap. “It’s not a matter of trust. I just don’t like Neil Sampson. He’s an arrogant jerk.”

  “Does he know you think he’s a jerk?” Josh asked.

  “Probably, although I’ve had nothing to do with him for a long time. We dated briefly about three years ago.” Her cheeks flushed with a faint pink hue. “He was my first real grown-up relationship.” It was easy for Josh to read between the lines. Neil Sampson had been Savannah’s first lover.

  The conversation halted as Jimmy arrived with their drinks and took their food orders. After he’d left, Savannah continued, the blush still riding her cheeks.

  “We’d only dated for about a month when he decided it was time to get intimate. I didn’t really feel ready to take that step with him, but it happened, it wasn’t pleasant and after that I stopped seeing him.”

  “Did he rape you?” Josh asked in a low whisper, his blood starting to boil.

  “No,” she assured him quickly. “More like coerced, but I didn’t tell him no.”

  It didn’t matter. Josh still wanted to smash Neil’s handsome face in. “I know he dated Claire for a while, but apparently she didn’t find him to her taste, either,” Savannah added.

  Once again they both fell silent as Jimmy arrived with their food orders. “Neil is very ambitious,” Josh said once Jimmy had departed. “I think he’s grooming himself to be the next mayor. I wonder if he sees you as a threat to his reputation.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt his reputation by telling anyone that he was a crummy lover who pressured me into having sex with him when I wasn’t ready.”

  “You know that, but does he?” Josh looked across the room at the subject of their discussion. Neil was a good-looking guy who had become Jim Burns’s right-hand man. He was also arrogant and gave off an aura of entitlement.

  Josh shifted his gaze to the other diners in the place, seeking anyone who appeared to be paying too much attention to Savannah, anyone who seemed to radiate any animus. While the place was fairly filled with lunch diners, Josh didn’t notice anyone or anything odd.

  Josh attacked his burger. “Did you know that Shelly was having doubts about marrying Bo?” he asked after a couple of bites.

  Savannah frowned with a french fry in her fingers. “I know that Shelly loved Bo, but she wanted out of Lost Lagoon so badly, and Bo had built up his business and had his mother here. He wasn’t going to leave, and if she hadn’t died I think she wouldn’t have stayed here and married Bo.”

  She popped the fry into her mouth and then took a drink of her soda. “She told me before her death that she had a sticky situation to deal with and even though she wouldn’t go into any details with me, I think that situation had to do with the decision she had to make where Bo was concerned. I still don’t see how what happened to Shelly has anything to do with what is going on with me.”

  “I agree,” Josh replied. “I think we can put that piece of the puzzle behind us. It just doesn’t fit.”

  He looked again at the table of town bigwigs, his focus yet again on Neil Sampson. Had Savannah downplayed what had happened between them years ago? Had their intimate encounter been more of a rape than she’d indicated?

  If so, then Neil could potentially see Savannah as a risk to his grand ambitions. Rumor was that he not only wanted to become mayor but also had intentions of eventually entering politics in a bigger way.

  The fact that she had been a virtual recluse for the past two years might have lulled him into a sense of safety.

  He had certainly learned of the attack on her in the tunnels, and that might have made him realize if she left her isolated lifestyle, if she started to talk to people, then she might tell somebody about what had happened between them.

  That would definitely besmirch the stellar reputation he’d worked so hard to build for himself over the past couple of years.

  It smelled like a potential motive to Josh.

  * * *

  FIVE DAYS LATER, on Sunday afternoon, Savannah worked in the kitchen preparing a mandarin orange, bacon and spinach salad, beef Wellington and new potatoes in a garlic butter sauce.

  She had talked Josh into spending the day in after the past week of socializing and visiting nearly every storefront and person in Lost Lagoon.

  He now sat at the kitchen table with the newest tunnel map that Trey had provided him the day before. “If these tunnels were really made by pirates, then they made sure they had plenty of escape routes.”

  Savannah left her work at the counter and moved to the table to peer over his shoulder. “It looks like a colorful mess to me.”

  She was acutely aware of the scent of him that had become so familiar in the last week. It was a fragrance that evoked memories of the kiss they had shared and that moment when she’d seen him in the bathroom clad only in a white towel.

  She stepped back and returned to the counter and her cooking. She was becoming far too comfortable in Josh’s company. He made her laugh and he made her think. He fascinated her with his stories of his childhood and what it was like to be a twin.

  With each day that passed, she felt him getting beneath her defenses. They had developed a domestic intimacy that had her thinking about how things could be if she would only allow him into her heart.

  She’d been half in love with him before Shelly’s murder. She was walking that same path now, trying to fight against it but feeling she was losing the battle.

  It had even become easier each day for her to leave the house and interact with other people in town
.

  She’d forgotten how many friends Shelly had before her death, friends who had also been Savannah’s. As she met up with them, she was fascinated to learn who was dating whom, who had gotten engaged and all the girl gossip she’d missed for the past two years.

  Seeing those people again hadn’t been as painful as she’d expected. In fact, there had been a lot of laughter and warmth.

  She knew Josh was keeping in close phone contact with Trey concerning the attacks on her, but the official investigation had come to a screeching halt, as had Josh and her unofficial investigation.

  Josh had made it clear that he had three potential suspects on his short list: Eric Baptiste, Chad Wilson and Neil Sampson.

  He believed Eric might be involved in something illegal in the tunnels and was now angry that Savannah had told about the tunnels.

  He also believed it possible that Chad had some crazy crush on her and now wanted some revenge because she hadn’t shown any romantic interest in him.

  Finally, he believed it was possible Neil just wanted to silence Savannah forever so she wouldn’t be a threat to any future political ambitions he might entertain.

  She found it difficult to believe any of those men had been behind the attacks on her, but she also believed that Shelly’s killer had walked the streets of the small town for two long years and probably appeared to be a nice, pleasant man that nobody would ever suspect of being capable of murder.

  She was particularly aware of Josh this evening. She found comfort in him seated at her table, a sense that he belonged there for every dinner and for every morning cup of coffee. Dangerous thoughts, she reminded herself as she crushed garlic that filled the air with its pungent odor.

  Josh was here to protect her from a threat she was beginning to believe might already be over. Nothing had happened over the past week to shake her up. Nobody had acted odd or displayed anything but delight at seeing her out and around town.

  Equally dangerous thoughts, she told herself. She shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of safety just because it had been a quiet week.

  “There are a couple of tunnels off the main one that you used that still haven’t been explored,” he said, breaking into her thoughts. “Maybe you and I should go down and check them out.”

  She turned once again to look at him. God, he was so handsome with his dark hair slightly mussed and a gleam of intelligent concentration in his eyes. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a light blue T-shirt that hugged the breadth of his shoulders.

  “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think I can go down in the tunnels again,” she confessed. “Even the thought of it closes off my throat and makes me feel like I might have a panic attack.”

  “That’s okay,” he replied with an easy smile. “It was just a thought, but we can leave it up to the others to finish mapping the pathways.”

  He folded the map and shoved it to the side. “What’s for dinner? You’ve been working on it for a while now.” She told him her menu and he released a low whistle. “If you keep feeding me this great food each night, I might never want to leave.”

  And that was the problem. She was beginning to think she didn’t want him to ever leave. The silence of the house that she’d once found so comforting had been banished by Josh’s presence.

  They spent each evening after dinner with a glass of wine in the living room, where they talked about the little things that built a relationship.

  She knew his favorite color was blue, that he loved his work here but would eventually like to get on the day shift. She learned his mother’s name was Rose and his father was Rick, and she had shared some of her pain over the desertion of her own parents after her sister’s death. That had become her favorite time of their day together, when they sat on the sofa and shared pieces of themselves.

  She jumped as the doorbell rang.

  Josh was on his feet with his gun in his hand in a second. “I’m assuming you aren’t expecting anyone,” he said.

  “Definitely not,” she replied.

  “I’ll answer the door. You stay here,” he instructed her. He disappeared from the kitchen. A moment later he returned with Savannah’s brother trailing behind him. Mac Sinclair was a big man with an imposing build. He had the Sinclair dark hair and brown eyes and always radiated irritation that bordered on an explosion of anger.

  “Mac,” Savannah said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “Sheila thinks the lamp in my old bedroom will look perfect in our bedroom, so I’ve come to get it.”

  This had been a common occurrence since their parents had left the house and Mac had married and set up his own home. He’d already taken the gas grill, a recliner and sundry other items. It was as if when he needed to shop for something he just came here and took what he wanted.

  “But it looks nice where it is,” she protested and trailed after him as he headed down the hallway. “And Josh is using that room right now.” Josh remained in the living room, obviously deciding not to get involved in a sibling argument. “Why don’t you just go buy your own lamp?”

  They entered the bedroom where the pretty silver lamp sat on one of the nightstands. “Everything in this house is half mine,” he replied. “You’re lucky I’m just taking a lamp and not the sofa or something else. Besides, I doubt if Josh is doing any reading at night.”

  He yanked the plug from the wall and picked up the lamp. Savannah wanted to protest but decided an argument with her hot-headed, mean-tempered brother over a lamp wasn’t worth it. There was another lamp in the small locked spare room if Josh needed it.

  She followed him back down to the living room, where Josh stood waiting. “Josh,” Mac said as if noticing him for the first time.

  “Mac,” Josh returned coolly.

  “I heard through the grapevine that you were on babysitting duty,” Mac said.

  “Your sister is hardly a baby,” Josh replied evenly, but his jaw bunched in a ticking knot.

  “Just take the lamp and go, Mac,” Savannah said. She didn’t want to hear her brother degrade her or Josh defend her. She just wanted to get back to the peace she’d felt before her brother had shown up for one of his occasional raids.

  Once Mac had left, she and Josh returned to the kitchen. She went back to the counter to continue her dinner preparations, and Josh sat back at the table.

  Dinner was a success. The beef Wellington came out perfectly, as did everything else she had prepared. The conversation flowed easily, and it was just after seven when the kitchen was cleaned up and they each carried a glass of wine to the living room.

  As usual, he sat on one side of the sofa and she sat on the other. Now that they were out of the kitchen with the cooking smells, she could smell him, that heady scent of clean male and spice-laden cologne.

  “I’m probably going to gain a hundred pounds during my time here,” he said and patted his flat abdomen.

  “You’ll gain way more weight eating George’s greasy burgers or all that fried food at Jimmy’s Place,” she replied, but his words had pulled forth that erotic picture of him in the towel, the sculptured bulk of his magnificent body on display.

  They sipped their wine in a comfortable silence for a few moments. “Does Mac come by often and just take what he wants from here?” he asked.

  “Often enough,” she admitted.

  “Do you always let him take what he wants so easily?”

  A knot twisted in her stomach as she thought of her older brother. “Most of the time. To be fair, the house was left to both of us when Mom and Dad left town. He could have forced me to sell and split the cash, but thankfully he’s let me stay here, so if he wants to take some things from here, I don’t argue with him much. There’s an extra lamp in the spare room if you need one next to your bed.”

  “Nah, I’m fine with just the overhead light,” he replied.

  She took another sip of her wine, the knot in her stomach twisting tighter. “Sometimes I wonder...” she let her voice trail of
f, unsure she could speak aloud the haunting thoughts she’d entertained for the last two years.

  “You wonder about what?” Josh placed his wineglass on the coffee table and moved closer to her on the sofa.

  Savannah set her wineglass down as well, gazing at Josh intently. “Sometimes I wonder if it was Mac who killed Shelly.” The knot inside her eased as she finally spoke of the secret thought she’d held inside for so long.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josh stared at her in surprise. “Why on earth would you think that?”

  Her eyes misted with sudden emotion. “I don’t want to believe it. You’re the first person I’ve ever told, but for the last two years I’ve often wondered.”

  “Why would Mac kill Shelly?” Mac’s name had never come up in the initial investigation. He’d appeared nothing more than a grieving brother at the time.

  “Mac hated Bo. He didn’t think Bo was good enough for Shelly. He didn’t say too much when Bo and Shelly were dating in high school, but as their relationship continued on, Mac was on Shelly’s back all the time to break up with Bo. When they finally got engaged, Mac was livid. He tried every way possible to get Shelly to break off the engagement, to get her away from Bo.”

  The mist in her eyes had become pools as she continued, “I don’t think he meant to kill her, but Shelly gave as good as she got from Mac. When he yelled at her, she’d yell louder. While I was always a little bit afraid of Mac and his temper, Shelly never was.”

  “And so you think it was Mac she met that night at the stone bench down by the swamp?”

  “If Mac had asked her to meet him there at that time of night, she probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it. I believe it’s possible Mac tried to talk Shelly into breaking up with Bo, and things got out of hand between them. It’s possible Mac’s temper got the best of him. I don’t believe he killed her on purpose, but maybe they got into a tussle and Shelly wound up dead, and Mac stole the engagement ring as if to have the final say.”