On the Hunt

by SUE FINEMAN

  She sighed. “You’re like a puppy dog, aren’t you?”

  He stroked his beard. “Right down to the hairy face. I’ll help you shop, carry your packages, slurp your face.”

  “Thanks for being here for me, David.”

  “You’re welcome. Did you call your insurance company?”

  “No. I’ll call Chance. He can take care of it.” She pulled out her cell phone and made the phone call while Dave looked around inside the store.

  Mia told her brother about the fire. “It’s still burning, and there won’t be anything left when it’s all over. All the fire department can do is keep it from spreading.”

  Chance was all business, as usual. “I have the insurance information here in the office. Do you know the cause?”

  “Arson. Tell the insurance people to send an investigator, because the local police are right down there next to worthless.”

  “Come on, Mia. Why would someone burn the house?”

  “Who knows.”

  “Is Snoopy Snyder still there?”

  “Yes, she’s probably the one who called the fire department. I’ll be at the Four Leaf Clover for a few days. David Daniels is here. Remember him? He was Greg’s roommate in college.”

  “Do you mean Dave—”

  “Yep, that’s him. I need to buy some new clothes. Everything I brought with me is gone.” She had to call Mom, but she didn’t want to talk with her now. Bo would tell her about the fire. Mom had lost her only sister a few months ago, and now she’d lost her childhood home. If Mia talked to Mom now, they’d both end up crying.

  Chance said, “I don’t know what the insurance will cover yet, but just in case, keep your receipts.”

  “Okay.”

  Mia looked up to see Dave’s eyes on her. He showed her more concern than Chance, but then Chance didn’t often show his emotions. He never had, even as a child. She’d been close with Greg and Bo, but Chance didn’t get that close to anyone. Mom said he didn’t get the nurturing he needed as a baby. Chance lived in an orphanage for several months after his mother abandoned him. The people who ran the orphanage probably did the best they could, but the babies didn’t often get the cuddling they needed.

  Mia bought a few new clothes, but she didn’t replace everything she’d lost. Without a job, she had to be careful how much she spent. After a stop at the drug store for a hair dryer and a few personal items, Dave and Mia carried her purchases down the street to the Four Leaf Clover.

  Dave opened the door of the hotel and she walked straight to the desk and asked for a room. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, I thought you were staying with me.”

  Without looking at him, she said, “Thanks for the offer, David, but I don’t know you well enough to sleep with you.”

  “I understand, but you’ve been through a traumatic experience. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

  The desk clerk glanced at Dave and then at Mia. “The boss said your first night is free, Mia, because of the house burning and all.”

  “Thank you. Is there a washer and dryer in the building I can use?”

  Second floor, halfway back on the right. Afternoons after three is okay, after the maids are done.”

  “All right. Do you have a room on the second floor?”

  “I have two rooms with a connecting door, if you two want to take those.”

  “Yes, thank you,” said Dave.

  Without looking at Dave, Mia signed the register and took her key.

  Dave took his new room key and walked upstairs with Mia. He unlocked his door and the connecting door and walked inside his room with her packages.

  Mia opened the connecting door between their rooms. “What a dump. This place is in worse shape than Aunt Leona’s house.”

  He pointed to the little table under the window. “At least this table doesn’t have a book of matches under the leg like the room upstairs.” He looked up. “And the green light is on in the smoke detector.”

  Neither of them would sleep well tonight.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to move my things from the room upstairs.” Dave walked toward the door and turned back. “Mia?”

  She gathered the bags and looked up.

  “I’m sorry about the fire, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  She watched him walk out the door, his wide shoulders filling the doorway, and knew it wasn’t a good idea to be this close to him. Not now. The shooting in Tacoma, the missing girls, and the fire had all blindsided her, but not as much as the phone call to Bo. She always thought she’d be the first one to get married, the first one to give Mom grandchildren, the first one to be happy. When she left Boston, she left her hopes and dreams for the future on the pillow with her note. Since then, she thought she’d put it behind her, but Bo’s news brought the heartache flooding back.

  Over the past few months, she’d been so depressed she’d cut herself off from her family and friends. Most of her family lived in Texas, and she didn’t want them to see her like this anyway. Lonesome didn’t touch it. She was thirty-six years old, but she felt like a lost four-year-old, more vulnerable than she’d been since Dad died twenty years ago.

  With a deep sigh, Mia carried the packages to her own room and removed the tags, so she could wash them. She had clothes at home, but she’d brought all her jeans and warm shirts with her. Her favorite jeans were gone, along with her best bra and most comfortable sweatshirt. She didn’t buy a new bra today. The small store didn’t have any in her size. If she wore loose clothes, she could do without one.

  Mia listened to Dave tapping on the keyboard of his laptop that afternoon as she went in and out to do the laundry. At six, he called, “Hey, Mia, it’s time for dinner.”

  “Okay.” She wasn’t the least bit hungry, but he must be, since they’d both skipped lunch.

  He’d shaved his neck and tidied up his beard, and he looked better. He’d stopped scratching, too. It seemed a shame to cover his handsome face with a beard, neat or not. He didn’t have the dimple in his chin like Bo and Greg, but he had a strong jaw, quirky smile, and his blue eyes had little laugh lines around the corners. In spite of the serious nature of his work, Dave had held onto his off-beat sense of humor.

  She felt a strong pull of attraction, but according to Greg, Dave came from a wealthy, socially prominent family. Visions of the fiasco in Boston would keep her from making the same mistake again. Dave’s parents wouldn’t want her with him any more than Ted’s family wanted her with Ted. She’d never considered dating someone according to the color of their skin or their social background, but now she found herself shying away from some men because of it. It shouldn’t make a difference, and it never had in her family. But it did in some. She’d been foolish to trust Ted with her heart.

  Wearing her new red T-shirt with a red and blue plaid flannel shirt hanging loose over the top and her new jeans, Mia walked downstairs and into the restaurant with Dave. As usual, they sat at the big table in the middle of the room. The only other customers were three adults with two little girls.

  Was it just last night that she sat at this table and recognized Dave Montgomery? Only one day since she’d learned about the three missing girls? It wasn’t the first hint of trouble here, though. The cop with the gun was the first. Idiot! Did he think a burglar would clean someone’s house before robbing it? Not that there was anything there worth taking. Aunt Leona had taken everything of value with her twenty years ago, when she moved to Tacoma to be near Mom. They’d moved the worn mattresses and second-hand furniture in later, when they turned Aunt Leona’s home into a family vacation retreat.

  Aunt Leona had been married at one time, but they’d never had children. Uncle Harry was much older. He’d been married before and didn’t want more kids. Crazy how things worked out sometimes. Her aunt could have children, but didn’t want them, while Mom couldn’t have any and wanted dozens.

  Mia’s natural mother handed her over to Mom and Dad right after she was born. Chance w
as two when they got him from the orphanage in Korea. Greg was barely potty trained and Bo a year older than Greg when they came, brothers who’d lost their mother. At least they had some memories of their natural mother. She and Chance had none.

  Dave shook her arm. “Mia, are you with us?”

  She looked up at Peggy. The waitress had her pencil poised over her pad. “Sorry, I was daydreaming.” She handed the menu back. “I’ll have whatever David is having.” It didn’t matter what she ate.

  One of the little girls danced around the table where the adults sat sipping coffee and talking. She looked over at Mia and smiled.

  Mia smiled back. “Do you like to dance?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So do I. It’s too bad we don’t have any music.”

  Peggy brought two glasses of water to the table. “There’s music in the back. How ‘bout if I prop the door open and ask them to crank it up a little?”

  “Okay.” Mia took the little girl’s hand and moved into a more open area. As she rocked to the music from the bar, the other little girl came over. “Let’s make a circle,” said Mia. “And we’ll walk to the music three steps and kick, then three steps back and kick.”

  In minutes, Mia had the girls, who couldn’t have been more than five and six, dancing. She showed the girls how to move their shoulders and they put it in their routine, and then she showed them another move, and they added that one to their routine, too. The girls picked it up quickly, and their eyes sparkled.

  Dave watched in fascination. Mia was a natural teacher and her love of dancing showed on her face. She needed the distraction after the fire. This had been a tough day.

  He glanced at the door to the bar. A swarthy man with slicked back hair stood there, watching Mia. He looked a little like Al Pacino, except his skin was darker. From the gleam in his eyes, he liked what he saw in Mia. Dave stared at the man, sure he’d seen him before, but he couldn’t remember where.

  Two other men came to the door to watch. The tall, muscular man with very short hair and a square jaw had a hard look about him. The other man, police chief Ken Knight, spoke a couple words to the other men and they walked into the bar. They closed the door behind them and turned the music down, which ended Mia’s dance with the kids.

  The man who looked like Al Pacino liked what he saw in Mia, but Knight’s disgusted expression said he wanted her gone. Why was Knight so anxious to get rid of her? Was he responsible for the fire? What in the hell was going on in this little town?

  After dinner, Dave told Mia, “You had an audience.” He described the two men with the chief of police. “Al Pacino liked what he saw.”

  “What about Arnold Schwarzenegger?”

  He shrugged. “I can’t read everyone.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “You know, I could—”

  “No, you couldn’t.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “Yes I do, and you’re not—”

  “Don’t boss me around, David Daniels.”

  He leaned close to her and stared into her eyes. “You will not make yourself a target. You’re enough of a target already, and we both know it.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

  “Forgotten what? That you’re my best friend’s sister, one who shares his profession, and—”

  “And I’m a damn good dancer, which might get me—”

  “No.” Dave pushed back from the table and stood. He leaned into her face. “I mean it, Mia. Don’t do it.” He had enough on his mind without Mia making herself any more of a target than she already was. He didn’t want anyone shooting at her.

  Dave walked away, but he didn’t go upstairs. He walked into the bar and ordered a bourbon. He felt like getting drunk, but he couldn’t do it now.

  He didn’t want Mia involved in this operation. If she disappeared or got herself killed, he’d never forgive himself.

  <>

  Mia walked upstairs and unlocked her door. The connecting doors between her room and Dave’s stood wide open when they walked downstairs for dinner. Now they were partly closed. She checked to be sure the intruder had left and then began checking for bugs. She found one behind the nightstand in Dave’s room and another on the back of the headboard of her bed. Were the phones tapped, too? Why would someone want to listen to her? And why would they burn Aunt Leona’s house? What if they’d snooped in Dave’s things and found his true identity? Would they go after him next?

  Pulling on her coat, Mia walked out to the hallway to see Dave walking down the hall toward her.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “For a walk.” She held up a flashlight and her cell phone. His eyes widened with understanding. If she wanted to make a private phone call, she’d have to do it outside.

  Dave unlocked the door to his room. “I’ll get my coat.” As he walked inside, he said, “Hey, Mia, I’m sorry I blew up downstairs. I’ve been a pain since I lost my job. That’s why I’m here. My brother told me to get lost for awhile.”

  She walked into the room behind him. “I don’t have a job either.”

  He whipped around to face her. “I thought you were on leave or something.”

  “Yes, but I’m not going back. I’m on the payroll for another few weeks, and that’s it. I hoped to live here in Clover Hills for awhile, but now I can’t.”

  “Don’t you have an apartment in Tacoma?”

  “Through the end of the month, and then I’m homeless.” She hadn’t given notice to her landlord yet, but she would, because she couldn’t afford to keep an apartment without a paycheck. “I’ll find another job, but it won’t be in law enforcement. My father was a good cop, but I’m not. I couldn’t shoot someone to save my own life.”

  Dave gazed into her eyes with such intensity she couldn’t look away, not even when he leaned down to kiss her. His mouth tasted like bourbon, but she didn’t mind. Without touching anything but her lips, he made her entire body tingle. She fought her attraction to him, knowing it would never work between them. The sting of the last rejection lingered. It had been a harsh dose of reality.

  “God, you taste good, Mia.” Dave stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Are you sure you need a walk? It’s cold out there, honey, and it’s too dark to see anything. You were thinking of going to look at your place, weren’t you?”

  She sighed loud enough for the microphone to pick it up. “I need to look at it, Dave. I need to see if there’s anything left. I have to move my car anyway.”

  “Then let’s go before it gets any darker.”

  Minutes later, Mia stood on the street in front of what was left of Aunt Leona’s house and stared. Dave had moved her car so the headlights illuminated the scene. All that remained was the big stone fireplace, a few charred timbers, and a pile of blackened rubble. She walked as close as she could without contaminating the crime scene.

  The fire had singed the side of Mrs. Snyder’s house. The drapes pulled back slightly and the old woman peeked out. Would Mrs. Snyder talk with her about the fire?

  Leaving Dave standing beside the car, Mia walked through the stream of light from the headlights toward Snoopy Snyder’s house, wondering if the old woman would answer the door. As she stepped up on the porch, Dave turned the headlights down. Mia knocked and waited. And waited.

  Thinking the woman wouldn’t answer the door, Mia started down the porch steps. The door opened behind her and she jumped, startled. She turned to look at the frail old woman. “Mrs. Snyder? I’m Mia Gregory. Would you have a minute to talk with me about the fire?”

  “Come closer, so I can see you.”

  Mia walked up the steps and stood gazing at the little white-haired woman with all the wrinkles. She looked older up close, and very frail. The sadness in her cloudy blue eyes tore at Mia’s heart. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to know if you saw anyone messing around the house after I left this morning.”

  “Come in.”

  Without
looking back at Dave, Mia walked into the house and pulled the door closed behind her. It was the first time she’d ever been invited inside and one of the few times she’d actually spoken with Mrs. Snyder. There were several pictures in the living room of a pretty blonde with blue eyes. Mia smiled. “Is this your daughter in the pictures?”

  “Yes, she died many years ago.”

  “She was beautiful.” So this was the girl Mom told her about, the one whose death made Mrs. Snyder so sad.

  The woman’s voice shook when she spoke. “Please sit down.”

  Mia perched on the edge of the sofa while Mrs. Snyder sat in a wingback chair across from her. “I don’t want to intrude on your evening, Mrs. Snyder. I just need to know what happened next door. The police chief thinks the fire started in the fireplace, but I know it didn’t. Did you see me leave this morning?”

  “Yes, I did. About an hour or so later, I smelled smoke. It’s always a worry with so many trees in the area, but it didn’t smell like wood smoke. It smelled more like old tires, if you know what I mean.”

  Nodding, Mia said, “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.”

  “Why did you come to Clover Hills this time of year? You people always came in the summer.”

  “My people?”

  “Your family.”

  “Aunt Leona died a few months ago and left the place to me and my brothers. I thought I’d come up and check on things, clean it up.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know about Leona. What about the rest of the family?”

  “Bo and Greg moved to Texas. Greg is the county sheriff and Bo runs a horse ranch. They’re both married. Greg has a little boy, and Bo has two adopted kids. Mom lives there now, too. Chance and I are the only ones left in Tacoma. He’s married, too.”

  While she had Mrs. Snyder’s attention, Mia asked, “Why did you watch me so much when I was a little girl?”

  The woman’s face closed as if someone had slammed a door, and Mia regretted asking the question.

  Mrs. Snyder stood and walked to the door. “I’m sorry the house burned and I’m sorry about Leona. I always liked Leona and Carol.”

  “And I’m sorry you lost your daughter.”