by Amie Denman
“The best one I’ve ever had,” she said.
Matt laughed.
“I should run back and get that...uh...thing I was reading.”
“Do you want me to come with you? Or wait here for you?” In the dim glow from the lights in the parking area, she saw hope on his face. It was there in the way his eyebrows raised and the lines around his eyes deepened and curved.
Was this really the best night he’d had in a while? A smart, attractive man like Matt couldn’t possibly have trouble finding dates, could he?
Not unless he was already married to his work.
She shook her head. “I should call it a night. Early shift tomorrow.”
“I have the early shift every day. But I also have tomorrow evening free.”
Was he asking her out again?
“I’ve been thinking about what you said the night we met,” Matt said. “About how I’m building a roller coaster, but I don’t usually ride them.”
“I remember. I shouldn’t have given you such a hard time.”
“But you were right. Since we both have the early shift tomorrow, is there any chance you’ll hold my hand while I try out the most thrilling coasters at Starlight Point?”
She shouldn’t. But the memory of his lips on hers combined with the hopeful expression on his face made her cancel her plans—laundry—for the following night. And if she said yes quickly enough, he’d go home and let her dash back to the restaurant to reclaim the report that hadn’t yielded any answers. Yet.
“If you say yes, I’ll also let my crew go home an hour early. They work hard, they deserve it.”
“That’s very persuasive.”
“I hope so. They’ll be really surprised, especially since the forecast for tomorrow is perfect working weather.”
Caroline hesitated. It would be fun to ride coasters with Matt. Her feelings were already going up hills and through loops.
“It’s also perfect amusement park weather,” Matt added.
“What time?”
“I’d like to run home to shower and change, so maybe five o’clock?”
“You didn’t go home and change tonight,” she said, pointing at his work clothes.
“Tonight was a special occasion. I saw someone I care about sitting alone on her birthday. It was an emergency.”
Caroline laughed. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow at five. Wear comfortable shoes.”
Matt held out his hand, inviting her to take it. “One more kiss before I go?”
She had already taken a few backward steps toward the restaurant, but she couldn’t resist Matt. She’d been doing it all summer, and she was out of ammunition.
Caroline stepped into his arms and kissed him just long enough to be certain he’d be thinking about her until they saw each other next.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE NEXT DAY at half past three, Caroline happened to look out her window and saw the construction trucks leaving the work site. She wondered if Matt had told his crew why they were starting their evening a good hour and a half before they usually did. Was he putting the job at risk by knocking off early? The thought worried her until she rationalized Matt’s decision. In a year-long build, did a few hours matter?
There was no doubt building a ride was complicated. She had stayed up until nearly one in the morning trying to focus on the state report about the accident on the Loose Cannon. She was paying attention to every detail, although she had to reread a page more than once because her thoughts strayed to Matt.
And the way he kissed. And how sweet it was for him to buy her dinner and cake on her birthday. When was the last time someone had gone out of his way to be nice to her? Sure, the other cops were cordial and friendly. She had friends among the seasonal workers. The Hamilton family treated her like a little sister.
But Matt was different. He seemed...interested. He was five years older than she was. Did it matter? No. Was she looking for romance? No. But how often did someone find what they were looking for? It was one of the first things she’d learned about being a detective. Sometimes unexpected clues and good and bad surprises were right in front of your face.
The report itself had been disappointing. The photographs were old and their clarity was further decimated by being photocopies. The structural notes on the ride itself revealed no obvious answers, no smoking gun. Notes indicated no mechanical problems with the ride, no broken parts or missing bolts. The bolts, grade eights she noticed, were described as new. It made sense, considering the ride itself was new. Interviews with witnesses conflicted or were discounted because they were fuzzy or based on what people had heard, not seen with their own eyes.
If the accident had happened during daylight, it might have been different. If the inspectors had arrived the night of the accident, they might have found something else. In the light of the next day, there were no obvious answers.
Could someone have altered evidence overnight? Was George Dupont there for that reason? If so, who was he protecting? Himself? Starlight Point?
Caroline had finally shoved the papers into the envelope and tried to sleep on her narrow bed in her dorm. She’d stood in the sun outside the construction zone all day, trying to stay sharp on only a few hours of sleep. She hated to admit, even to herself, how much she’d thought about Matt throughout the day.
And now she waited for him on the bench near where they had kissed the previous night. Caroline wore a butter-yellow T-shirt with a sailboat on it. It was one of her few shirts that had nothing to do with law enforcement. She wore navy blue shorts and sneakers, and had her money, employee identification and cell phone in a tiny purse she could hook to her belt loop when she went on rides.
It was almost five o’clock when she finally saw a tall blond man walking along the sidewalk on the Outer Loop road.
As she watched him approach, she noticed his blue T-shirt and khaki shorts, his broad shoulders and his confident walk. A smart, strong man, he had every reason to swing his arms and take long strides. But he’d revealed something personal last night, letting her know he wasn’t acting on bravado. He, like many other people, was driven by what he wanted and what he feared he would lose. It made her like him even more than she already had.
How long had she liked him?
She had to admit it. She’d liked him since that first night when he’d offered to surrender in the beam of her flashlight.
“Don’t tell me you parked in the main lot and walked all this way?” she said as he approached.
“I did. I don’t have a parking permit for this lot, and I’d be lying if I said I was eating in the restaurant again. Although I enjoyed it a lot last night.”
Caroline stood and hesitated. Should she give him a hug? Kiss him? Shake hands?
“And I thought it would be a lousy start to our date if you had to write me a ticket,” Matt added.
He put a hand on her upper arm, touching her lightly. She moved into his embrace and loved how he smelled of shaving cream. He’d shaved for her.
“I would have let you off with a warning,” she said.
“How about if I kiss you right here in the daylight where people can see? Would I get a warning for that, too?”
“You’ll have to make it a quick one. If people see, I’ll lose my reputation as a tough cop.”
Matt kissed her, his lips soft and tender. It was quick, just as she had requested, but it left her wanting more. He took her hand and they turned toward the park. It was only a short walk across the parking lot to the entrance gate for marina guests and employees.
“Would you like to eat first or ride first?” he asked.
Caroline shot him a quizzical look. “I’m starting to think you’re really serious about not riding rides.”
“Why?”
“You can’t eat before riding coaster
s. Unless you’re tougher than I think you are.”
“How tough do you think I am?”
“Just right,” Caroline said. He could probably pick her up and carry her over his head through the marina gate. But he wasn’t the kind of man who’d prove himself in that way. And that’s what she liked about him.
“You should plan our itinerary,” Matt said.
“Big coasters first. Then dinner. Then baby rides.”
Matt laughed. “I’m following you.”
Caroline dug her employee identification out of her tiny purse as they approached the gate. “Do you have a ticket or a pass?” she asked.
“Season pass. Jack gave it to me. He said his wife taught him that you have to have fun on the job sometimes and not take yourself too seriously.”
“I can picture Augusta saying that. She loves her work, and so does everybody who eats her cookies and cakes. I guess it would be fun to do a job where everyone loves you.”
“Everyone doesn’t love police officers?” Matt asked. He handed his season pass to the girl working the turnstile.
“Depends on the situation,” Caroline said. “And which side of the law they’re on.”
Matt put a hand on Caroline’s back as they entered Starlight Point. Tall trees formed an umbrella over them, but they still heard the roller coasters overhead and the sounds of music and crowds.
“I’ll make sure I stay on the right side of the law,” Matt said.
“Good plan. Right now, I’m thinking of lining up for the Sea Devil. It’s the largest and wildest coaster here. For now, anyway. I heard there’ll be a better one next year.”
“I hope.”
Caroline headed straight for the entrance of the Sea Devil where a sign announced only a fifteen-minute wait. It was a weeknight, so it was a good time to ride without spending the entire night in queues. Saturdays, forget it. Caroline knew the patterns from one and a half summers of watching the crowds and lines at the Point.
“You have fifteen minutes to dread this,” Caroline said.
“I have fifteen minutes to enjoy with you. Before I put my fate in a tiny steel track.”
“Don’t you trust these rides?”
“Tough question,” he said. “Your favorite kind.”
Caroline swatted him playfully on the arm. “Am I really so bad?”
“No.”
As they stood in the queue winding under the structural supports of the ride, Caroline thought about the Loose Cannon. What had caused that accident? Would she ever learn the answer? She caught sight of a large electrical panel fenced and gated off from park guests. How did a man, experienced with electricity, accidentally die? And on the same night an accident claimed the life of a young girl.
There had to be more to the story. There had to be an answer. She owed it to the families of the two people who had died thirty years ago.
“You look as if you’re facing down a murderer,” Matt said. He leaned on the railing across from her. His large forearms rested on the metal bar and he looked relaxed.
“Are you actually afraid of riding this?” she asked. “Because you don’t look it.”
“I’m excellent at faking bravery. It’s how I make it through every single day of doubting myself.”
“You shouldn’t doubt yourself.”
Matt smiled and pointed above them at the complicated network of towers, track, hydraulics and wires.
“I see your point,” Caroline said. “So tell me how the Sea Devil works.”
“I didn’t build this one, but it’s much like the one I’m installing right now. Of course, we’ll bring in experts when we get to the more technical issues of installing and testing track. There are companies that specialize in coasters, guys who spend their lives dreaming of tall hills, inverted loops and air time.”
“But not you.”
“I’m more a concrete footer and nuts and bolts guy.” He pointed to a beam over them. “Mechanical and structural elements are my thing. Not the creativity part.”
Caroline looked at the beam he pointed to. Several rows of large bolts circled a joint in the beam. Most of the bolts were painted the same blue as the ride, but a few of them were shiny silver. Matt followed her glance.
“Looks like they replaced a few bolts, probably at the beginning of the season,” he said.
“Why?”
“They wear. If you look closely, you’ll see there are little painted marks on the bolts that line up with a painted line on the beam. That way, the maintenance guys can see if the bolts are turning with the force of the ride. If they find that, they have to address it before it causes a failure.”
Caroline thought about the pictures of bolts in the file in her dorm room. They were labeled New by the state inspectors, but were there degrees of new? Were the bolts in the Loose Cannon at the time of the accident the same bolts it began the season with? If not, would there be a maintenance record documenting a change? Too bad the photographs were of such poor quality. They might have revealed something.
“Cop face again,” Matt said.
Caroline laughed. “Sorry. I was thinking about ride failure and what a nightmare that would be.”
Matt’s expression sobered. “It would be.”
Although neither of them mentioned the Loose Cannon, Caroline would have bet her badge they were both thinking about it. It was the elephant in the room between them.
Matt’s family didn’t talk about it...but why not? Was it just a painful memory, something that had taken the wind out of his uncle’s sails? Now that Matt’s stepfather was in failing health, was it too painful to bring up?
Would opening an old wound be so shocking that it would shorten Bruce Corbin’s life?
The line ahead of them moved, and Caroline and Matt walked side by side through the queues, their arms touching and hands brushing. Matt squeezed Caroline’s hand and gave her a small sideways smile. His touch and his smile were much more pleasant than dredging up a dead-end case, no matter how much Caroline believed in her heart it wasn’t really a dead end.
She wouldn’t find the answer tonight.
They climbed the steps to the loading platform and took their place in the holding area for the next train.
“Ladies first,” Matt said when the train’s lap bar released and the ride operator directed guests to enter the cars.
“You’re not going to run away, are you?”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said. He plopped down in the seat next to Caroline and snugged up his seat belt. He pulled the lap bar down, but because he was so much taller, it stopped when it hit his knees. Caroline had plenty of wiggle room under the bar. “Are you sure that’s safe? I could always ride with someone closer to my size.”
“I was planning to hold your hand the whole time.”
“Then I’m staying right where I am.”
After the Sea Devil, which Matt rode without screaming once, Caroline led them toward the older wooden coaster in the Wonderful West part of the park. She and Matt had walked the Western Trail one time before, the first night they’d met.
“That’s where my tent was,” Matt said, pointing to a patch of grass near a saloon and gift shop.
“I was just thinking about that,” Caroline said.
“Did you ever imagine you’d be having fun with a trespasser like me?”
“I have an excellent imagination. It helps me think like a criminal and will make me a better police officer.”
“I don’t doubt that one bit. How many more rides do I have to endure before I’m allowed to have dinner?”
“How about two?”
“I can handle two. I skipped lunch today so I could quit early, so I’m operating on the breakfast I ate at six this morning and a granola bar I found in my toolbox. I have no ide
a how old it was, but I’m still alive so that’s a good sign.”
“How about one more ride and then we’ll eat amusement park food that will make that granola bar look even healthier than it probably was.”
“I love you,” Matt said.
Caroline drew in a quick breath and glanced up.
“Your plan,” Matt said. “I love your plan.”
“That’s...what I thought you meant,” she said. She laughed. “It’s obviously a good one.”
“I agree.”
Did Matt really love her plan, or had a slice of truth slipped out in a candid moment? Caroline weighed the evidence, but she couldn’t rule out the fact that there was something unexpected and wonderful happening between her and Matt.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE OLD-FASHIONED wooden coaster in the Wonderful West wasn’t as thrilling as the Sea Devil, but Matt’s heart was racing anyway. It had to be the company. Having Caroline next to him, her leg touching his as they were catapulted over hills and through loops, sent waves of excitement through him.
“Are you in the mood for something sweet?” Caroline asked as they exited the swinging gate at the end of the ride.
I certainly am.
“Food,” she said. “Aunt Augusta’s Last Chance Bakery is in the back of the park. We could get a cookie as an appetizer and then walk up front and eat on the midway.”
Matt nodded. Caroline took his hand and started walking.
“I know a shortcut,” she said.
“I imagine you know this park inside and out.”
“Have to. Every gate, food stand, ride entrance and merchandise location. It’s part of the early season training—we have to know where we’re going when we get dispatched somewhere.”
She led him down a deserted alley behind the Starlight Saloon. It was nearly dark and they were alone, even though there was plenty of ambient noise from the amusement park all around them. Caroline glanced up at him and the evening light cast a pink glow over her face.
Matt was thunderstruck by her beauty. He’d noticed it all summer long, but the more he knew her, the more he knew her beauty was deeper than just her exterior.
