by Amie Denman
An odd question for her to ask. Her expression right now said investigative cop.
“It’s a peninsula on the lake. Of course there are moisture issues and sand.”
“And that contributes to the failure of a building or...other things over time?”
“Tough questions,” he said. “You’d be better off asking a soil engineer.”
They walked in silence a few minutes until they got to the parking lot at the end of the path. Matt stopped at the bike rack. “Here’s my ride,” he said.
“Mine’s over there.” Caroline pointed to an older vehicle that looked like a former police car. It didn’t have official decals, but it still had a spotlight attached to the driver door.
“Nice, huh?” she said, smiling. “I bought it at a police auction for five hundred bucks.”
He laughed. “You don’t drive that on dates, do you?”
“Not yet,” she said. She waved and walked across the lot.
“See you tomorrow,” Matt yelled.
She acknowledged him with a head bob as she climbed into her silver car. Matt watched her drive away, already looking forward to seeing her the next day at Starlight Point.
CHAPTER FIVE
IF IT HADN’T been so early in the morning and so quiet, Caroline might not have heard the crunch and the swearing. Without the luxury of air conditioning in the employee dorms, she kept her window open night and day. Her window faced the construction zone, and she considered it her responsibility to keep watch even when she wasn’t on duty.
She jumped out of bed and went to the window. A dump truck was creeping away from one of the traffic pickups parked outside the construction gate. The traffic truck wasn’t usually there. And she could see how the dump truck driver might not have seen the smaller truck as he backed through the gate. It was understandable.
The dump truck driver got out and slammed his door. Caroline watched as he walked back and inspected the front fender of the yellow traffic pickup. He pulled the hem of his work shirt loose and rubbed the paint on the fender. Looked around. Looked over his shoulder.
And got back in his truck as if nothing had happened.
Caroline took in a sharp breath and grabbed the shorts and shirt she’d worn last evening after she got off work. Slid her feet into sneakers without slowing down for socks. She grabbed her phone and raced down the stairs. The truck was making a careful three-point turn and it was obvious what the driver’s plan was.
He was fleeing the scene.
She dashed across the road and held up her hand, traffic-cop style, in front of the dump truck. The sun was just up, but she had no doubt the driver could see her. His window was down and he had one thick arm resting on the open frame. He stuck his head out the window.
“Problem, lady?”
“Yes, there is. You backed into that truck,” she said, pointing at the yellow pickup without taking her eyes off the driver.
He cocked his head and Caroline could see him thinking about a way out of it.
“Is it your truck?”
What kind of stupid question was that?
“No, it belongs to Starlight Point,” she said, trying to keep her voice cool.
“Then it’s none of your business.”
“It’s everyone’s business, especially those of us who work here.”
“Did you actually see me back into it?”
Rage bubbled up in her throat. She wanted to lie. Desperately. Wanted to say that she had seen it with her own eyes. But it wasn’t the truth. Not exactly the truth. And she was an officer of the law. She risked a glance at the damaged truck. The morning sun glinted off the yellow fender’s large dent. The bumper was crinkled and the headlight broken.
“I heard it,” she said. “And when I looked out my window, I saw you rubbing your truck’s paint off the fender. Trying to destroy evidence.”
“Maybe I was just cleaning it,” he said. “Construction zones are dirty. There wasn’t nobody in the truck, and nobody actually saw anything. You should go back to bed and let me do my job.”
Caroline put her fisted hands on her hips and shook her head. “You know what you did. I’m Officer Bennett of the Starlight Point Police Department. Step out of the truck.”
She had no badge, no gun, no uniform and no radio. All she had was tangled hair, a college T-shirt, good posture and the cop face she’d practiced in her mirror. She had no backup, but she had justice on her side. If she did nothing, some seasonal employee would be blamed for the damage to that traffic truck. Starlight Point’s insurance company would be stuck with the bill. She wasn’t standing by and letting it go.
The burly dump truck driver sat back in his seat and stared at her through his windshield. I’ve got him. He’s going to give up without a fight.
And then he laughed at her. Crossed his arms over his belly and laughed. Caroline stood her ground in the middle of the road, snapped a picture of his license plate with her phone and hit the speed dial number for Starlight Point’s police dispatcher. She relayed a quick report of a noninjury accident and gave her location so a uniformed officer could come out and write a report.
The driver stared defiantly while she called it in, and Caroline realized she was in for a long two-minute wait for someone to come over from the station. If she could arrest the driver for mocking her, she’d do it. But she would settle for busting him on leaving the scene of an accident if he tried to drive away before backup arrived.
Her indignation churned into adrenaline when the driver swung open his door and stepped out. He was twice her size and moved toward her with an ugly expression. Even if she called dispatch again and asked for emergency backup, it would still take a few minutes for anyone to arrive. Caroline had self-defense down to a science, but the truck driver had size and anger in his arsenal.
The last thing she wanted to do was back down, but she was almost considering it when she heard a loud truck right behind her on the outer loop road. Given the time of day and location, it was almost certainly a construction vehicle.
Great. Construction workers probably stick together.
The driver turned off the engine. She heard the squeaking of a window being rolled down.
“Is there a problem?” a voice behind her asked.
A familiar voice.
She looked over her shoulder and saw Matt Dunbar at the wheel of a blue pickup, his yellow hard hat in place as always, but his usual smile replaced with a look of worry. His eyes met hers for a moment as if he was assessing her.
The driver had stopped his advance, but his menacing expression and tense body language remained obvious and reminded Caroline how lucky she was Matt had come along at the right moment.
“There is a problem,” she said clearly, her words reverberating off the fence in the silent morning air. “One of your trucks backed into that parked vehicle. And the driver is trying to deny it.”
Matt’s attention swung from the pickup to Caroline and his look of concern deepened. “Anybody hurt?”
“Not yet. Just property damage,” Caroline said. She liked that his first question was about potential injuries. It was a definite mark in his favor. Arriving just in time to save her from a fight was also a giant red check in the plus column.
“Good,” he said. “Let me pull off the road and we’ll do the paperwork.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Your driver is denying it.”
Matt laughed, his tense expression replaced by something closer to his usual smile. “That man behind you is not my driver, but he is delivering stone for my project so I feel responsible for his actions. If he worked for me, I’d fire him.”
“For an accident?”
Matt shoved his hard hat back on his forehead. “I’d fire him for trying to lie his way out of it. And whatever else he was a
bout to do. That’s not how I operate.”
“Come on,” the dump truck driver said. “That damage could have been there already. I can’t stick around all day and fill out reports. I’m supposed to be back at the quarry for another load of stone right now.”
Although it was technically her jurisdiction and she was the one standing in the middle of the road stopping traffic, Caroline waited, curious about how Matt would handle the situation.
He took off his seat belt. Got out of his truck. Stalked over so he was nose-to-nose with the driver. “You will pull off the road. You will cooperate with this police officer. Or your company will never do business with mine again.”
The hard steel in Matt’s voice made Caroline glad she wasn’t in the other man’s shoes.
“You don’t really think that girl’s a cop, do you?” the burly driver asked.
And that’s the end of my sympathy for that guy.
Caroline dialed on her phone and gave the dispatcher an update as she watched Matt reach in and take the keys out of the dump truck’s ignition.
* * *
MATT INSPECTED THE back of the dump truck. A minor dent and some yellow paint would probably not be noticed by the truck’s owner. But the yellow Starlight Point traffic pickup was not so lucky. It needed serious attention to its front corner, bumper and headlight.
Despite the relatively small section of damage, Matt knew the cost could run into the thousands. When his mother had backed into his stepfather’s car in the driveway last year, it was a similar toll.
A Starlight Point police cruiser pulled up and the chief got out. Matt waited while Caroline approached her boss and gave him a quick explanation. His day would be going a lot more smoothly right now if he were inside the gate supervising his crew as they used the stone to pack the newly poured footers for the ride. But there was no way he was going to make an enemy of anyone at Starlight Point—especially Caroline—by glossing over a serious infraction.
She was gesturing with her hands as she talked with her boss. No doubt she’d already exchanged words with the dump truck driver before he’d pulled up. What would have happened if Matt hadn’t shown up when he did? Would the other guy have continued to give Caroline a hard time? Left the scene of the accident? Or worse?
Matt had an odd sensation in his chest when he thought of Caroline facing down big burly jerks like the guy driving the dump truck. Smart and tenacious, she could take care of herself as well as anyone. But life wasn’t always fair. He’d learned that the hard way watching his father make the mistake of flouting the law.
He would never forget the day his biological father was led off in handcuffs, despite his assurances it would never happen.
Caroline usually wore her long brown hair in a tight ponytail, but her clothing and the time of day made it clear she’d just gotten out of bed. Matt pictured her flying from her bunk in the dorms to stomp out injustice. He smiled just imagining it.
Caroline glanced in his direction and he felt as if a searchlight had caught him making a prison break. He hoped she wouldn’t ask him why he was staring at her and grinning. What if she thought he was mocking her or not taking the accident seriously?
He sobered his expression. She was waving him over to talk with her and her boss. Matt crossed the road, the keys from the dump truck jingling in his shirt pocket.
“Dunbar,” the chief said. “Heard you happened along at the right time.”
Matt wondered what Caroline had told her boss about the driver’s apparent refusal to cooperate. He didn’t want to imply Caroline couldn’t have handled it herself.
“Or the wrong one,” Matt said, shaking the chief’s hand. “If I’d been here a little earlier, I might have prevented the dump truck from backing into your pickup. Wish I had.”
“That would have ruined Caroline’s fun. She hasn’t gotten to arrest anyone this season.”
Caroline narrowed her eyes at her boss. “Hey, it’s only June. Give me time.”
“If it’s okay with you,” Matt said, addressing Caroline, “I’d like to get that truck off the road. Can I pull it inside the construction fence while you write up the charming driver? It seems like a hazard on this narrow road.”
“Fine by me,” she said.
Matt started the engine while the dump truck driver leaned sullenly against the fence. The police chief inspected the yellow traffic truck while Matt drove through the gate. He stepped down from the driver’s seat and found Caroline waiting by his door.
“Thanks,” she said. “For what you did.”
“I didn’t do much,” he replied. “Just encouraged him to own up to his mistake.”
Matt held out the keys to the dump truck but Caroline shook her head.
“We’ll release him in a few minutes after we get a copy of his license and write him a ticket. He can make his trip to the quarry for more stone.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. But he might want to trade jobs with someone and send a different truck back here,” Matt said.
“Do you have a lot more stone trucks coming in?”
Matt nodded. “Shoring up the footers for the top secret ride you probably don’t know anything about.”
Caroline smiled. “I heard they were building an office supply store here.”
“A thrilling one.”
Caroline glanced over at her boss who was writing on a clipboard while the truck driver stood there, arms crossed over his chest.
“So you already poured the concrete footers,” she said. “Are you on track with the project?”
“Almost,” Matt admitted. “There are always surprises.”
“Like remains from a previous construction on this site?”
Matt took a deep breath. Why was she asking him about that? “I’d rather not think about the past when I’m trying to make darn sure the future ride is a success.”
Caroline’s expression reminded him of cop shows on television where someone was getting interrogated in the police tank.
“You’ve seen the...uh...evidence of the old ride, the Loose Cannon,” she continued. “Was there anything that would explain the accident back in 1985?”
Did Caroline know that the company that had built the ride belonged to his stepfather’s brother? Was that why she was asking him these questions? If she didn’t know already, it wouldn’t take her very long to discover the connection. For the sake of honesty and keeping his relationship with her friendly, he should probably just tell her right now.
But he couldn’t. The story of that ride had been forbidden in his family for so long it felt strange to talk about it, especially with someone he hardly knew. Someone who seemed to have a dogged sense of justice and a love of investigation.
Might she turn up something he didn’t want to know? Not that he believed his family was covering something up, but the failure and subsequent sale of the company made him wonder. He didn’t want it dredged up, especially with his stepfather’s poor health.
“That was before I was born,” Matt said. “I’m afraid you’re asking the wrong guy.”
Caroline blew out a breath. “I keep trying to find the right person to ask, but—”
The police chief walked up and started taking pictures of the back bumper of the dump truck.
“We’ll have him out of here in a few minutes,” the chief said, “and then the insurance companies can fight about it.”
Matt handed the chief the keys to the dump truck, nodded at Caroline and walked to the open gate to wave in another truck full of stone that had just arrived. Dwelling on an old story wasn’t going to help him meet his deadlines, and Caroline’s questions made him wonder if he should try to keep his distance from her or keep her close by.
CHAPTER SIX
STARLIGHT POINT TOOK its role as the flagship busines
s of the local community seriously, Matt thought as he ran through the park in the early morning hours. Already this summer, he had endured the Campout for Charity, purchased advance tickets for the Beer and Barbeque for Bikes event on the July Fourth weekend, and today he was running with his brother in the Starlight for Shelters 5K, a race benefiting the local homeless shelter.
The running part was easy. Turning off his brain was the challenge. Everywhere he went, Matt Dunbar saw structures that ignited his engineering imagination. The roof of the Starlight Saloon’s porch that probably didn’t slope enough for rain runoff. The authentic copper rain gutters on the train station’s passenger depot. The emergency staircase spiraling down from the ride platform on a roller coaster.
Although he was no architect, he appreciated the thought and science behind every construction decision. Loved the smell of blueprints and the feel of the paper rolled out under his fingers—even though laptops were replacing paper blueprints on construction sites.
Matt remembered the home he’d grown up in. The wide sandstone steps where his mother had taken his picture on the first day of kindergarten. He should go back there sometime, just to see the Craftsman-style house with an engineer’s eye. An adult’s eye.
When his mother had remarried, he and his brother had a much larger and finer home. His stepfather’s construction company had built it, and Matt and his brother, Lucas, had reveled in having their own rooms joined by a walk-through closet and bathroom. It was a nicer home in every way, but someday nostalgia might take him back to the place where he’d taken his first steps.
Someday. Maybe running with his brother was making him nostalgic.
“Walk break,” Lucas said, holding his side and slowing down.
Matt instantly adjusted his pace to match his younger brother’s. Their first mile had been strong and they almost kept up with the lead pack, but they had gradually slowed somewhere around the Wonderful West railroad station.
The early morning run had drawn a sizable crowd. Possibly because the entrance price for the race also included a ticket to Starlight Point for the whole day. And a very cool neon orange T-shirt with a roller coaster motif.
