Throw Dylan from the Train (S.A.F.E. Detective Agency)

by Piper Davenport

  Dylan frowned. “Yeah, that part doesn’t make sense. She knows there are cameras in the hallways. Everyone in this town gossips.”

  “But does anyone in this town review the footage?” I asked. “Other than the sight of Mrs. Rogers smacking Wyatt on the ass, this isn’t exactly riveting viewing material.”

  “Good point. But still...the married DA? You’d think she’d be more careful than that.” Dylan rewound the video and we watched Brandy kiss the district attorney again. “See, she initiates it. And she’s like, smack dab in the middle of the camera. Why would she do that? Something’s off.”

  “Do you think he’s her baby daddy?” I asked, watching the evil couple and wondering what their spawn would look like.

  Dylan shrugged. “Who knows? She sleeps with a lot of men.”

  “Daddy issues.”

  “I have daddy issues,” she countered. “I haven’t slept with anyone. You have daddy issues, and you’re not a tramp.”

  “Yeah,” I acquiesced. “It kind of makes me feel sorry for her, though.”

  Dylan sighed. “Me too. I can’t imagine being stuck in this place with a baby and no way out.”

  “No. Money does give one choices.”

  “Yeah, it really does, Addie,” she said, pointedly.

  “It doesn’t buy you happiness, though.”

  Dylan giggled. “But it can rent it.”

  I grinned. “That’s super true.”

  “So, we need to find out what Brandy knows and why she’s returning the jewelry.”

  I hummed in agreement, leaning closer to the computer screen with a frown. “Isn’t that your dad?”

  Dylan mimicked my stance and frowned. “Yep.”

  “Why’s he going into Ms. Long’s room?” I asked.

  Her eyes didn’t leave the screen, but she gave a small shrug. “Dad used to be pretty tight with Ms. Long’s nephew. They don’t talk anymore, but maybe he still checks in on Ms. Long. She was like family when I was growing up.”

  “You’re probably right, but we should check and see when Ms. Long’s jewelry went missing.” I scanned the notepad in my hand, checking for the date. Damn. It was the same. “Coincidence?”

  Dylan nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.

  “It doesn’t mean he did it, buddy. Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”

  “You’re right. I just...let’s keep going.”

  As we watched, Dylan tallied nurses, doctors, and visitors, checking for consistency against the dates the jewelry went missing. Unfortunately, Dylan’s dad was the only one there for each theft.

  Dylan turned off the video and shook her head.

  “He could still be innocent,” I said, even though I didn’t see how. “Maybe someone’s framing him.”

  Dylan dropped the remote onto the bed and lowered her head.

  I rubbed her back. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on in that overactive brain of yours.”

  She took a deep breath. “He’s guilty, Addie. He did it. There is no setup.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because this isn’t the first time,” she whispered.

  * * *

  Dylan

  Feeling sick to my stomach I closed my eyes, but it didn’t help. I could still see the footage of my father going into each of those rooms. I knew he was guilty. To be honest, I’d had a hunch from the moment he called me, which is why I didn’t want to get involved. This would have been so much easier had we just hired a private investigator from Klamath.

  “Ohmigod, would you open up to me already?” Addison asked, gripping her pillow. “Talk before I beat it out of you.”

  “Okay, okay.” I threw my hands up in surrender, maybe talking about it would help loosen the knot in my stomach. “It happened the summer before I came up to Portland.”

  When I didn’t immediately continue, she gave me her signature death glare. “You’re gonna have to give me more than that.”

  “Fine. Just chill the hell out. This isn’t exactly easy for me.”

  Her expression softened, and she gestured for me to continue.

  “Right after I was accepted to your school I started taking odd jobs...mowing lawns, walking dogs, cleaning, babysitting, whatever I could get. We were broke and I knew I wouldn’t fit in.” I was silly and naïve. “I thought if I raised some money and got some new clothes, maybe I wouldn’t stand out so much.”

  Addison gaped at me. “You were what, eleven?”

  “Something like that. It’s not a big deal. Lots of people here worked that young to help their families. I mean, nothing full time. Just little jobs. Builds character. Anyway, I saved up a couple hundred dollars, and...”

  My throat constricted and I couldn’t force the words out. For so long, I’d convinced myself Dad needed the money. He had to support us, and he was going through a rough time. But now that I was older and fully understood his addiction, the betrayal hurt even more. Which in turn pissed me off, because as a grown-ass woman I should be over it by now.

  “That bastard!” Addison stood. “He stole from you?”

  My eyes stung, and oddly enough, my immediate response was to defend him. “Booze is expensive.”

  Whatever Addison saw in my expression caused her to refill my wine glass and set it on the end table beside me. “Oh honey, why didn’t you ever tell me about this?”

  It was such a ridiculous question I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Like when? When we first met? Hi, I’m Dylan. I’m from the sticks. My dad’s a drunk who stole my school clothes money, but he doesn’t beat me or make me go hungry or anything so...”

  The next thing I knew, Addison was crushing me in a hug. She let me cry on her shoulder until I pulled myself together and pushed her away.

  Wiping my cheeks, I got back to business. “I still don’t understand what Brandy has to do with this. I can’t see her covering for my dad. I mean, she wouldn’t exactly turn him in either. Nobody would.”

  “Well, we sure as hell aren’t letting him get away with this,” Addison declared.

  She was so cute with all her hope and optimism. She didn’t understand how the town worked. “Addie, my dad has been caught drinking and driving more times I can count. He’s probably spent a thousand nights locked up, yet has never been charged with anything.”

  “Why not?”

  I shrugged. “The DA is his second cousin, and he’s related to most of the police force. Dad’s the town butcher...the guy everyone brings their deer to. People have this weird mix of pity and appreciation for him.”

  “Nobody’s untouchable.”

  “I know,” I admitted. “But we need to make sure we have so much evidence they have no room to screw with this case.”

  “Okay, we can do that. We just gotta think about what he’d do with the jewelry. Is there a pawn shop in town, or would he sell to the locals?” I asked.

  “I think the closest thing we have to a pawn shop would be the Murphys’ weekly garage sale or the secondhand store, but Dad wouldn’t sell it here. To many busybodies.”

  “So what’s he doing with it?” she asked. “It has to go somewhere.”

  I pulled out my phone and checked the Internet. “There are three pawn shops in Klamath Falls. It’s about a hundred miles away, but Dad goes there at least every other week for supplies for his butcher shop.”

  Addison sighed. “Well, I guess we can make calls, right? I don’t know how much information they’ll give us over the phone, but we can try at least.”

  “I’ll make the calls. Klamath is still a pretty small town and I’ll get more traction as the daughter trying to track down my grandma’s missing necklace that my dad thinks he accidentally pawned than you will by pulling the PI card.”

  “Makes sense. But are you sure you’ve got this?”

  The underlying Are you okay? was unmistakable. I forced a smile. “We’re going after the bad guy. That’s what we do. I just...I knew he was a wreck, and I left him. Maybe if I’d stayed he wou
ldn’t—”

  “Be stealing from old people?” Addison asked. “You were a kid trying to get out of a bad situation, and I will not let you blame yourself for your father’s mistakes. You hear me?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I get it. But you might have to remind me a few times.”

  She giggled. “Don’t think I won’t. Now go make those phone calls and I’ll start a pretty little spreadsheet showing the dates and times your father went into the rooms.”

  I took my refilled glass of wine into my room, set it on the end table, and collapsed on my bed. I’d never put my dad on a pedestal or anything, but finding out he was a thief was pretty much wrecking me. If Addison and I were able to collect all the evidence, and the justice system actually worked, he’d most likely spend time behind bars. My family would never forgive me for putting him there.

  But could I forgive myself if I let him go? He stole from his own mother. Worse, he stole from my sweet kindergarten teacher. He had to pay for what he’d done.

  Desperate for an extra shot of courage, I took a big gulp of wine and pulled up my background photo on my phone. Asher’s sexy smile greeted me. It had only been a few days since I’d last seen him, but it felt like forever. He was back in my new life and I felt trapped in the old one. I almost called him and told him what was going on, but stopped myself. He was busy and didn’t need to be dragged into my stupid family drama.

  Determined to do the right thing, I put on my big girl panties and made the damn phone calls.

  Addison

  THE NEXT MORNING Dylan and I were stuck, as far as the case went, so we spent a few hours working with Bucky, grabbed takeout burgers at the Burger Queen (yes, Queen), then headed to the motel to eat. Sitting around the small table in my room, we discussed what we had so far.

  I took a drink of my shake and said, “Tell me again what you found out from the pawnshops.”

  Dylan swallowed her bite. “Two of them said they didn’t have anything that fit the stolen jewelry’s description. Trapper Dan’s Pawn and Loan said they had a necklace that could be my grandmother’s, but when they pulled out the paperwork, they wouldn’t tell me anything else. The clerk said nobody by the name of Chad James has ever pawned anything there.”

  “Do you think he could have had someone else get rid of the goods?” I asked.

  “That would be smart. Maybe some business associate from Klamath? Nobody here would make that connection, and I don’t know how much the pawnbroker will tell us. We can flash our PI badges at them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll cooperate.”

  Dylan seemed a little too willing to throw in the towel, and I can’t say I blamed her. I wasn’t close to my own dad by any stretch of the imagination, but I still wouldn’t want to see him get locked up. And I definitely wouldn’t want to be the one who put him behind bars. Still, we had a job to do, and I knew my bestie well enough to know she’d never forgive herself if she stood by and let little old ladies get robbed.

  “There has to be something we can do,” I said. “Maybe we should make the drive anyway. At least try.”

  Dylan nodded. “I’ll grab my purse.” She headed into her room.

  There was a knock on my door. Wondering who it could be, I stood and answered.

  “Hey, sis, you miss me?” Asher asked, grinning. He wore jeans, a T-shirt, a pair of cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.

  “What the hell happened to you?” I asked, gaping.

  “The hat’s too much, huh?” he asked. “I tried to tell the salesman it was, but he said if I was coming to sweep my cowgirl off her feet, I had to dress the part.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “The hat actually works. You look great. Dylan will love it. Wait, how did you figure out which room we’re in?”

  He pointed at my car parked right in front of the door. “Well there’s that, and I also had a little help from a cop.”

  “Addie, you ready?” Dylan called.

  “Ashey, what are you doing here?” I demanded, but he looked past me.

  “Ash?” The relief in Dylan’s voice broke my heart a little.

  It also spurred Asher to action. He pushed past me, keeping his eyes on Dylan. They met and he smashed his mouth down over hers as though he were dying of thirst and she was a canteen of water.

  “Addison.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, the tortuous pain that voice instilled in me washing over me. I turned and stared into the face of the only man I’d ever loved, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. Ohmigod, he looked edible. Dark jeans, a tight black T-shirt, and motorcycle boots made me want to forget my manners and drag him into my room. “Jake.”

  He gave me a tentative smile. “How are you?”

  Sad, angry, missing you horribly.

  “I’m well.” I crossed my arms. “How are you?”

  “Not so great, actually.”

  “Oh?” I bit my lip. “Well, that’s too bad. I’m sorry, but we need to go.” I glanced over my shoulder at my brother and best friend still trying to swallow one another, and I forced myself not to swear. “Dylan?”

  “Addison, can we talk?” Jake asked.

  I turned back to him. “No.”

  “Baby, please.”

  “Oh, hell no!” I snapped as I wagged a finger at him. “You do not get to ‘baby’ me.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. But if you’ll just hear me out—”

  Before he could finish whatever he was going to say, Wyatt drove up and climbed out of his truck, and I couldn’t help but smile. He looked gorgeous in his tight Wranglers and cowboy boots.

  “Excuse me, my ride’s here,” I lied.

  Jake grabbed my arm. “Addie, please. Let’s just talk.”

  “Addison?” Wyatt asked as he closed the distance between us. “You okay?”

  “She’s good, man,” Jake said.

  “I’m thinkin’ she’s gonna tell me whether or not that’s true,” Wyatt countered.

  “Hey Wyatt,” Dylan said, and I gave her a look of confusion. She shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to work this morning, so I thought I’d stop by and see if you ladies wanted to head out and ride,” he replied.

  “That’d be great!” I said, as Dylan said, “Thanks, but we already rode this morning.”

  Wyatt looked from me to Dylan and Asher to Jake. “Is everything okay here?”

  Dylan stepped forward before I could answer. “Yes. Actually, it’s better than okay. Wyatt, this is my...my boyfriend Asher, and Addison’s uh...Jake.”

  “Ex,” I said. “The word you’re looking for is ex, Dylan. As in, over, done, caputzki.”

  She smiled a little too sweetly. “Regardless, it’s really good luck that a cop we can count on appeared right when we need to get some information on our case, right, Addie?”

  The case. Dylan was asking me to play nice with the guy who’d chewed up and spit out my heart for the sake of our case.

  I glared at her. “Fine.” Then turning my own sugary-sweet smile onto Wyatt, I added, “Everything is fine. Thanks for asking. We do need to work on the case, though. Maybe we can go for a ride tomorrow?”

  He frowned and turned toward Dylan. “You sure you want to mess with this case? You know how the town is. Maybe it’s best to sit this one out.”

  Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know something, Wyatt?”

  He shook his head. “No, just worried about you two. And I won’t have time tomorrow. The bull riding is tomorrow night. You guys are coming to watch me, right?” he asked.

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” I replied.

  “Good.” His smile fixed on me. “With you cheering for me, I know I can’t lose.”

  I could almost feel the heated rage coming off Jake, and I’ll admit I basked in the glow a bit. He dumped me. He deserved it.

  Wyatt climbed back into his truck and headed out, while Dylan herded the rest of us into the motel room to talk.

  Jake sat down on the chair by the window and I put distance bet
ween us. “What’s this about needing a cop?” he asked.

  Dylan got out two bottles of water and offered them to the guys. “We’re trying to get information from a couple of pawn shops in Klamath and we’re running into roadblocks, mostly because we don’t have shiny badges to flash.”

  “We could just go there and show them our PI badges, Dylan,” I countered.

  “They probably won’t give you confidential customer records though,” Jake said. “Assuming that’s what you’re looking for.”

  “They might,” I countered.

  “Ba—” I glared at him, cutting off his endearment, and he dragged a hand through his hair. “Sorry. Addison. They’ll be more responsive to my badge, so it would be a good idea for me to go in person.” He turned to Asher. “Up for a longer road trip?”

  Asher shook his head, pulling Dylan back to him. “You’re on your own on this one, bud. I just got my girl back in my arms. I’m not letting go for a while.”

  “Addison, you should go,” Dylan said.

  “I am not spending hours in a car alone with him,” I snapped.

  “But you know what the jewelry looks like,” Dylan argued, glancing at her phone. “It’s already almost four. If you go now, you’ll get there by six. This place says it’s open until eight. I wouldn’t recommend driving back tonight, though. The road between here and Klamath is pretty curvy, with limited visibility and lots of deer. You can stay at the Running Y. It’s much nicer than this place. Come back first thing in the morning with the information to solve this case, and we’ll hit the rodeo in the evening to watch Wyatt ride. Then our event’s on Sunday, so we can head home on Monday. We can solve the case, win the race, and get the hell out of here.”

  “You think you got this all figured out, do ya?” I ground out. It was difficult to be too mad, watching the way Dylan was snuggled against Asher, though. My bestie was going through a lot and I knew she needed the type of therapy alone time with Asher would give her. I decided to turn my irritation on Jake instead. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

  He shook his head, but I didn’t miss his slight smile. “Since I know you know I’m not clairvoyant, I won’t answer that. But I do think it’s a good idea.”