The agent nodded, shot another hard look toward Liza, and followed his partner out the door.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“No problem. I’ll let you know if he calls.”
“I need to talk to Steve.” Liza shot a wan smile toward us and headed toward the front.
I was wondering what to do next when I saw the sheriff coming our way. I moved to meet him, opening my notebook as I went. “What is the sheriff’s department’s plan for dealing with this break in?”
The sheriff shook his head. “This is out of my league, and you can quote me on that, little lady.”
“How about we just say your office is investigating, but you don’t know anything yet?”
The sheriff, whose nametag read “Richards,” smiled as he addressed Ace. “I like her. Madison would have printed exactly what I said, and then made more of it than it really meant.”
Ace looked sideways at me. “Madison’s a reporter to the core. Shay writes fiction, working for the paper is a part-time job for her.”
“You write books?”
My face heated. “Yes, I do. I write contemporary romance.”
“So this reporting stuff gets you out of the house.”
My stomach churned. I did not like where this was going. “And it helps pay the bills.”
He chuckled. “I thought authors were all rich.”
There was a twinkle in his eye that had me wondering if he wasn’t playing with me. I shrugged. “Only people like Stephen King or James Patterson.”
“Yeah, them and that Nora Roberts my wife loves to read.”
He looked over my head for a moment, nodding as if contemplating something.
“That Nora does write a fairly good book.”
“Yes, she does,” I said, fighting the smile pulling at my lips.
He straightened his back as if putting on his official persona. “I’d better get back to work. This is the craziest thing Ugly Creek has ever had to deal with, and that’s saying something.”
Just what did that mean? “Good luck,” I told him.
“Thanks.” He turned and strutted off.
“He seems nice.” I said.
“He can be.”
I looked at Ace, and he shrugged.
“He’s the sheriff; he has to answer to all the citizens of our little burg.”
“What did he do to you?”
“Later.”
I followed Ace’s gaze to see Steve walking toward us. The closer he got, the more obvious the circles under his eyes became. My heart ached for the man. What a disaster. The men shook hands.
“Holding up?” Ace asked.
“More or less,” Steve said.
I gave him a hug. I figured that was unprofessional and past the boundaries for a person I barely knew, but it seemed like the thing to do. I guess I called it right, because for a moment he seemed to be hanging on to me, as if I was giving him something he needed. Probably he did. Hugs are great relievers of stress. In my opinion, folks don’t hug nearly enough.
He let go, and I backed away a step. “Anything I can do for you?”
“Unless you can make this whole mess disappear, I don’t think so.” His smile was a bit sarcastic with a touch of frustration. He looked up and groaned. “I’d better get back to…” he sighed. “To whatever I have to do next.” He went toward a waiting company security guard.
“We might as well go,” I said. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can find out, or do for them.”
Ace shook his head. “Unfortunately not.”
We headed out to his car. We both sat silently all the way back to the newspaper office. Contemplating, or at least I was, the enormity of the situation. Wow. He stopped at the front of the building.
“See you later, Ace.”
He nodded and I headed for my car. I clicked on my seatbelt, put the key in the ignition, and turned it. Nothing happened.
I checked the gearshift position, made sure everything looked right and my foot was on the brake. I tried again. Still nothing. Crap! I popped the hood and got out to look. I knew the likelihood of me seeing what was wrong was about one in twenty-four hundred million, but what else was I going to do?
“Something wrong?”
I gave Ace a glare. “No, I’m standing here with the hood open because nothing’s wrong.”
He stuck his head under the hood. “Won’t start?”
“Nope.”
“I don’t see anything wrong.”
He checked the tightness of the battery cables and a couple of other things I wouldn’t have thought to do. “I can try to boost you off.”
“I’d appreciate it.” I looked at him, feeling a little guilty about my earlier sarcasm.
He touched my hand, then went toward his vehicle. He pulled in so the cars were nose-to-nose, then hooked the cables to both batteries. When he finished, he looked into my eyes, his expression serious.
“If it starts, go straight to Bryson’s Garage.”
“Where’s that?”
“Turn left at Third, and it’s about five blocks on the right. He’ll check the battery and alternator for free.”
“Thanks.”
He just shrugged and headed toward his car.
****
An hour-and-a-half later I pulled into the driveway behind Terri’s Fiat. A new battery appeared to have made my car happy, but Ace was right behind me, just to make sure.
I got out and went toward him and he met me halfway. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. I’m just glad it was only your battery.” He handed me one of his business cards. “Call me if you need anything.”
I reached in my purse and handed him one of my cards.
He gave me a questioning frown.
“I found them when I paid for the battery.”
He laughed. “Figures.”
We locked gazes and the air between us seemed to shimmer for a moment. He touched my cheek with the tips of his fingers, then turned toward his car. With a quick smile in my direction, he headed toward his house. The man was nicer than I’d thought. Maybe it was because he’d shaved.
“I’d be careful if I were you.”
I jumped like a schoolgirl caught daydreaming during geometry class, not that I’d know anything about daydreaming in a math class. “Miz Carlisle! I didn’t see you there.”
“I tried to warn you before, that Ellison boy is trouble.”
The flare in her eyes looked kind of loco to me.
“My car wouldn’t start and he helped me out.”
Her eyes widened. “I heard on the news about some boys who did things to cars so they could ‘help’ the girls out.”
The woman was beginning to irritate me. “Ace and I were out on a story. We were together the whole time.”
She shook her head. “I still don’t like it.”
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself.”
The woman’s eyes widened a little too much. “With somebody like him, you never know what he’s going to do.”
“Um, I really have to go. Thanks for your concern.” I backed away a few steps, then turned and walked toward the house, looking over my shoulder every couple of steps.
Once inside, I closed the door and leaned back against it. My neighbor was odder than I thought, or maybe odd wasn’t the word.
I realized I was still holding Ace’s card. For some crazy reason, feeling it made me smile.
“Our neighbor’s nuts, and her cat’s the devil’s familiar.” At least Terri was wearing a robe.
“Devil’s familiar, huh?”
She nodded. “That cat loves picking at Trixie. Sometimes Trixie growls at her just for fun.”
“You realize how weird what you said sounded, right? And it sounds like the feelings between you and the cat are mutual.”
“He started it.”
I snorted. Terri glared and stomped into the kitchen. I followed.
By the time I got there, she had her head in
the fridge. “What should we have for dinner?”
I shrugged. “We could get a pizza.”
“I like the way you think, cousin.”
“I need to work on my manuscript anyway.” I sighed, the deadline rushed toward me like a brakeless train going downhill.
“I could use some extra word count myself,” she said.
“I want lots of veggies.”
Terri narrowed her eyes at me.
“I want lots of meat.”
“Half with your meat, half with my veggies.”
“Sounds good.” She got to her feet. “Let me get dressed and I’ll go get it. That way I can make sure they make it right.”
“Go get ’em.”
She stopped just outside her bedroom and looked back at me.
“That Ace dude is cute.”
I studied her twitching lips and the mischief flashing in her eyes. “He’s nicer than I thought too,” I admitted.
“Go get him,” she whispered, then turned and disappeared into her bedroom.
I smiled as I sat back and wondered when thinking about Ace had gone from yuck to yummy.
****
A couple of days later, I was in the yard tending to Aunt Ruth’s beautiful pink, lavender, and blue azaleas when I heard footsteps on the sidewalk. I looked up to see Ace leading Hugh toward me. He opened the gate on our fence and led the dog into our yard.
“Is Trixie around?” he asked. “Hugh said he wanted to play with her.”
I stood and stepped out of the rock perimeter flowerbed. “Said, huh?”
“Dogs have their own way of communicating.”
“That’s true.” I glanced toward my car, the only one in the driveway. “Sorry, but Terri took Trixie to the vet.”
“Something wrong?”
“No, just some shots or something.”
Ace scratched Hugh’s head. “Sorry, boy. Maybe next time.”
Did that dog look sad?
“Would you like something to drink?” I glanced back and forth. “Either of you?”
“Thank you, but I think I’d better get this troublemaker back home.”
I wasn’t disappointed, or if I was, it was because I wanted to see Hugh. Yeah, that was it. Hugh was a very nice dog. I didn’t want to see the man. Much.
Ace shifted from foot to foot as he studied the ground. “I do have a favor I’d like to ask.”
“I’m good at gardening, writing, cooking, and planning murders.”
His gaze shot up, and I grinned.
“You know I do animal transport?” he asked.
“Stephie mentioned that the other day, but I don’t know exactly what it is.”
“We move animals, usually dogs but it can be anything, from where there aren’t homes for them to another where there are. It’s a relay. One volunteer takes them so far, then hands them off to someone else who takes them from that spot to another, and so forth.”
“Sounds like a great idea.”
He nodded. “A lot of animals have found their forever homes because of the animal transport system.”
He wasn’t telling me something. “So you do this transport thing a lot?”
“Not a lot, really, but I help out when I can.” He glanced down, then met my gaze. “I agreed to do a transport this weekend, but I’m in over my head.”
Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting. “Over your head? But you do this all the time.”
“With dogs.” He cleared his throat. “These are cats.”
I managed to catch the laugh in my chest before it flew out, although I don’t think I got my hand to my mouth fast enough to cover the smile. “Yep. Over your head.”
He gave me a dirty look, but then nodded. “Know anything about cats?”
I shrugged. “I had one when I was little.”
“Makes you an expert compared to me. Would you like to take a trip tomorrow?”
I resisted the urge to jump on the opportunity like a contract with a huge advance. “Trip?”
“To Nashville to pick up the furry things, then to Atlanta to deliver them, then back here.”
I blinked. “That’s a long way.”
He nodded. “It’s actually two legs combined. They couldn’t find anyone, so I volunteered. Besides, there might be a couple of Labs that need a ride back here. The coordinator isn’t sure yet.”
Okay, it wasn’t as simple as I’d thought. That was a lot of hours to spend with a guy I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss or bury in his own backyard.
“I know it’s a long way, and you don’t know me very well.” He took a step toward me.
“And I know you don’t trust me.”
Damn, he’d taken up mind reading. “Yet you asked me. You must have had a reason.”
He shrugged. “I thought maybe it was time we got to know each other. Besides, I really do need the help.”
I stared into those warm eyes and realized there was a lot more to this guy than smartass remarks and hair that never stayed in place. I had an opportunity to get to know him, and I really couldn’t turn that opportunity down. “Sure, why not?”
He chuckled. “Don’t ask that as a question, I might answer it.”
Just then, Terri’s car pulled in the driveway. Crap! She couldn’t have stayed away a few more minutes?
“I think Trixie just got home,” Ace said to Hugh. The big dog looked toward the car with interest.
Terri got out, alone of course, and came our way. “Hello, Ace. Hi, Hugh.” She reached out to pet the dog.
“Where’s Trixie?” Ace asked.
“I told Ace that you’d taken Trixie to the vet.”
“Oh,” she said. “I did. I, um, I left her at the groomers. I needed to come home to do a couple of things.” She smiled as she turned toward the house.
Ace had a frown on his face and I didn’t blame him. He turned back to me. “Okay, then. See you tomorrow?”
“When do we leave?”
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
I was nodding when I realized what he’d just said. “Six? As in a.m.? Surely you jest.”
He just grinned. “See you in the morning.”
Ace and Hugh left, and I followed my cousin into the house. “That was a little too close.”
Terri was sprawled on the couch reading a People magazine. “Not a big deal.”
I jerked the magazine from her hands. “Not a big deal? What the hell would you consider a big deal? Would somebody have to actually see you shift to make it something you’d worry about.”
“Chill, Shay. I’ve handled this my whole life.”
She reached for the magazine, which I pulled out of her reach.
“You’ve always lived in a very rural area. We’re too close to our neighbors to be careless.”
Terri swung to her feet and jerked the magazine out of my hand, then flopped back down on the couch.
“I’m not careless.”
“You don’t give much thought to your actions, what would you call that?”
Her gaze locked on mine and her eyes narrowed.
“All I did was go out for a bit. Since when is that a crime?”
I closed my eyes and focused on keeping my temper contained. “You could have let me know you were going out.”
The air puffed from her as she let out quick, forceful breaths. “I’m an adult. I don’t have to report to you or anybody else.”
My jaw was so tight I wasn’t sure I could talk. “I’m not talking about reporting to me. I’m talking about letting me know things so that I can cover for you.”
She threw the magazine on the couch and stepped right up to me, her nose an inch from mine.
“I’m a big girl, Shay. You don’t have to take care of me or cover for me. I’ll handle my life by myself, thank you very much.”
She spun and marched to her bedroom door, which she slammed behind her. I stood staring at the door, trying to prevent my smoldering anger from flaring into fire. What had Aunt Ruth been thinking when she as
ked us to move in here together? Would she still have two nieces when she came back from her world tour? Groaning, I went into my bedroom and grabbed my laptop. Maybe I needed some time to think, and if I managed to get some work done while I was at it, all the better.
Ten minutes later I was at the library. There wasn’t a lot of choice in Ugly Creek. God forbid they get a Starbucks. Oh well, it was quiet and I could sulk in peace.
About an hour later, when I had gone from sulk to anger and back to sulk a few times, I’d managed to write a whole fifteen words on my latest manuscript, and I was ready to scream. I knew the deadline was coming up soon, but damn, I just couldn’t get into the thing. It wasn’t only because of irritation with my immature cousin either. I’d been struggling with the thing for weeks now. I figured it was just the stress of the move from Jacksonville, but even after getting settled in, nothing changed. I hated the characters, the setting, the plot, my editor for offering the contract, and myself for signing it. I dropped my head into my hands.
“You don’t have to take the world on your shoulders.”
I jumped, but at least I held in the squeal. There was a tiny, vaguely familiar woman standing beside me. Her white hair was up in a simple do. She had wrinkles, but they seemed to fade in the light of her smiling face.
“Excuse me?” I said, for lack of anything better.
She gave a little snort. “You heard me.” She held out her hand. “Folks call me Aunt Octavia.”
I stood and took her hand in mine. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Interesting things, I’m sure.”
That she was eccentric, actually. People also claimed she was quite the psychic, but I’d ignored that rubbish.
She kept my hand in hers, turning it over so she was studying my palm.
“You have life lessons to learn before you can reach your destiny.”
Okay, that didn’t compute. “If it’s my destiny, what I do doesn’t matter.”
She shook her head. “Call it your potential, if you like. You are meant to reach that place, but we are always free to choose our own path.”
Her finger rubbed my palm as she squinted at something apparently written in the lines and such.
“Let me guess, there’s a tall, dark, handsome man in my future.”
“Actually, there is.”
I rolled my eyes, but she only chuckled.
Doggone Ugly Creek Page 5
