Bachelor in Blue Jeans

by Lauren Nichols

  Kristin grinned and took the chair beside her. “They aren’t my favorites, but I bought them to go with this dress. Turquoise is hard to match.” She paused. “Actually, I’m ready to go, too, but it looks like Chad and your husband have a lot in common.”

  Emily studied her for a moment, then said, “Forgive me for saying so, but I’ve been thinking that you’ve wanted to leave since you got here. There’s no sparkle in those brown eyes tonight.” Her tone softened. “Still upset about the fire?”

  Yes, but it was Zach who had her more upset. Even though she had no intention of forgiving him, he hadn’t called last night, and sleep had been a long time coming.

  “I guess I’m a little distracted,” Kristin replied. “Patience isn’t one of my virtues, and I’ve had to wait for everyone under the sun for the go-ahead to clear my lot and start rebuilding. I got so antsy yesterday, I bought a few things to resell, even though I’ll have to store them for a while.”

  “It was a shame you lost Anna Mae’s pieces,” Emily said, bending to massage her toes. “She had some lovely things. I didn’t know her well, but her working for Hank gave us an opportunity to talk occasionally. She had a first edition Mark Twain that was in wonderful condition.”

  But that was gone now, Kristin thought, along with the compassionate woman who’d purchased it.

  “I don’t suppose her hidey-hole survived?”

  “Hidey-hole?”

  Emily’s smile turned to a wince as she wriggled back into her shoes. “That was what Anna Mae called it. It was an antique wooden chest about the size of a breadbox. Mahogany, I think—or maybe cherry. It had a hinged top and several narrow drawers running down the front, but there were also a few sliver-thin compartments that were nearly undetectable because of the way the wood was spliced together. It was one of her favorite pieces.”

  Goose bumps cropped up on Kristin’s arms. She’d seen that chest only days ago in her storage unit. But if it were one of Anna Mae’s favorite pieces, why would she store it in the attic instead of keeping it nearby so she could enjoy it?

  “Well, I’d better get out there and round up my fella,” Emily said with a laugh. “If he’s not ready to go, I’ll read for a while.” She patted her handbag where a book obviously resided. “I’m never without options.”

  Kristin pushed to her feet as well. “I’ll walk out with you. I need to find Chad.” And she needed to examine that chest!

  “Anything going on there?” Emily teased as they reentered the hall. “Or with the good-looking bachelor you bought at the auction?”

  Kristin forced a wan smile. “No. Chad’s just a friend, and Zach…” She tried to keep the disappointment from her voice. “Well, Zach’s leaving in a few days. Nice talking with you, Emily.”

  “Same here,” the older woman returned, eyeing her curiously. Then she half walked, half limped toward a group of officers where her husband was holding court.

  Chad was just leaving his friends when Kristin reached his side. “Chad, I’m sorry, but I have to go. If you want to stay, that’s fine. It’s only a four block walk back to my apartment.”

  His forehead lined instantly. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. Something might be right.” Her conversation with Emily Nance rushed from Kristin like a dam bursting. Her excitement was contagious.

  “You think you saw this chest?” Chad repeated.

  “Yes, that’s why I need to go out to the lake—to check the compartments. Chad, Anna Mae called it her ‘hidey-hole’.”

  “I’m going with you. It’s too dark and secluded out there at this time of night for you to go alone. Give me a couple of minutes to say my goodbyes and make sure Len’s not driving himself home.”

  “Okay,” she replied, glad for Chad’s vigilance where Len was concerned. “He’s been hitting the sauce pretty hard tonight.”

  “Not just tonight. He’s been hitting it hard for quite a while.”

  Kristin shook her head, sorry to hear that. Then she nodded toward Emily who’d just taken a seat at one of the tables and pulled a paperback from her handbag. “I’ll visit until you get back.”

  Zach stepped out of the shower and toweled off, his nerves on edge and a litany of curses banging around in his head. For the past twenty-four hours he’d been trying to drive her out of his mind—trying to center on the work and business that gave him so much pride and satisfaction. But every tick of the clock just brought her nearer. There was no use fighting it. He was in love with her all over again. That’s why he was such a fault-finding horse’s ass at the architect’s office yesterday. And that’s why he didn’t want her rushing full-tilt to rebuild, or doing dinner favors for Hollister. He wanted her with him—wanted the dream of Kristin chasing that little replica of herself along the beach.

  She won’t move, a voice in his head said smugly. She likes it right where she is, and right now, she doesn’t like you at all.

  But she could change her mind, couldn’t she? There had to be more going on between them than chemistry or she wouldn’t get so ticked off at him every time he turned around.

  Zach flung the towel over the shower rod and pulled on his clothes. He loved her and he needed her, and he was going to swallow his pride, take a chance on being rejected and drive out to the damn Horseheads Inn to grovel like a fool. He had to get to her before Chad convinced her that he was her future. Hollister’s sudden attraction to Mary Alice Hampton was a fairy tale. No man in his right mind would look at another woman if he thought he had a snowball’s chance in hell with Kris.

  And he had less of a chance than that.

  Fifteen minutes later, Zach passed Len Rogers as he strode through the taproom and entered the banquet hall. He looked around. There were only a dozen or so people left in the hall, most of them in uniform, and none of them, Hollister. He went back to the bar.

  Rogers was three sheets to the wind, nursing a drink, and in a surly mood. Zach didn’t have time for it. “I said,” he repeated, “have you seen Hollister tonight?”

  “Yeah, I saw ’im,” Len grumbled after another sip from his rocks glass. “He came by to collec’ my car keys and my little envelope.” He snorted a mirthless laugh. “Which became his little envelope, jus’ like always.”

  Zach frowned. “Envelope?”

  Rogers eyed him hesitantly, then scowled and went back to his drink.

  A big, burly officer in a brown uniform ambled over to them. “Did I hear you mention Chief Hollister? I’m looking for him, too.”

  The man’s nametag said W. Schrecongost and Zach knew immediately that he had to be Hollister’s cop friend from York. How many crime-fighting William Schrecongosts could there be in the area?

  Len attempted to focus on the man, his head weaving. “You a good buddy of our illus…trious chief’s?”

  Schrecongost flicked an amused look at Zach, then answered Len. “Not really, but we generally see each other once a year at this thing. He took your keys, huh?”

  “Took more’n that,” Len muttered, slamming his empty glass down and moving uncertainly off his barstool. “Prob’ly selling my car right now.” He flung a limp arm toward the banquet room as he staggered off. “He was talkin’ to Nance’s wife las’ time I saw him. Maybe she knows where he is.”

  Schrecongost let out a long, low whistle. “Good thing he’s walking tonight. He’s really had it.”

  “You bet,” Zach replied, but his mind was already back on Kristin. “You don’t happen to know what Mrs. Nance looks like, do you?” He couldn’t recall ever seeing her when he lived here.

  “Yep. Nice woman. Gray hair, blue dress. She’s the only barefoot reader in the room.”

  Moments later, Zach was standing over her. “Mrs. Nance?”

  Looking up over her half glasses, she smiled wryly and glanced toward her husband. “For the moment at least. Do we know each other?”

  “No. Councilman Rogers said you’d been talking to Chief Hollister. Is he still around?”

&nbs
p; “No, he and his date left a few minutes ago.”

  Disappointed, Zach turned away. “Thank you. I’ll try them at Kristin’s.”

  “Wait, young man.” Mrs. Nance studied his face for several long beats, then smiled. “Why, you’re Etta Gardner’s nephew, aren’t you? The man Kristin bought at the auction.”

  Zach was startled until he remembered how small towns operated. Everyone knew everything about everybody. “Yes. And she’s the one I need to talk to.”

  His admission seemed to delight the older woman. “Well, you won’t find her at home. She and Chad went to her storage place to examine an antique chest.”

  “They’re at Lakeside?”

  “If that’s where her storage bay is.”

  Calling his thanks, Zach hurried to his truck, unsettled as visions of Chad and Kristin swam in his mind. He could see them searching together, Chad playing the gallant supporter and Kris smiling her appreciation. But after a few moments, the visions started to make him crazy, and he had to blot them out.

  He was nearly to Lake Edward when his preoccupation with her backed off just enough to let a few stray thoughts through. They hit him like a pile driver.

  He searched his memory for two recent conversations he’d overheard, then he compared them with those he’d heard tonight. There were discrepancies in them. Big ones.

  In the next instant, he shook his head. He was getting as bad as Kris with this amateur detective crap. Len’s drunken rambling about envelopes was probably nothing, even though he’d seen Len give Chad an envelope at Kris’s shop. And although Schrecongost had implied that he and Chad hadn’t seen each other for a year, Hollister probably had been with the big cop the night of the fire. Schrecongost wasn’t obligated to tell a stranger like Len anything—particularly that he and Chad were currently working a case together.

  Still, Zach’s mind continued to spin. Was Chad dirty? Was he accepting payoffs? And could Chad have been the “man she’d once cared about” in Anna Mae’s journal? The man with the vicious temper?

  Zach’s heart pounded as he considered Chad’s rash behavior the night he’d followed Kristin, and he pushed his boot down hard on the accelerator. He didn’t like what he was thinking—couldn’t trust it. But the damp prickles at the back of his neck wouldn’t let him ignore the possibility that Kris was in trouble.

  Eagerly, Kristin dropped to her knees and dug board games, puzzles and cards from the large cardboard carton, then set them in the middle of the floor to join wisps of packing material from her previous search. She lifted out the antique box and flashed a smile up at Chad, who stood over her. “Here it is! Keep your fingers crossed.”

  “Believe me,” he said. “They’re crossed.”

  Kristin ran her fingers lightly over the seams, looking for those two hidden drawers. Her heart leapt when she found them near the bottom, camouflaged in the trim. In a second both drawers were open and she was beaming.

  “They’re here!” she said excitedly. Quickly, she pulled out two snapshots and what appeared to be a letter. “Chad, look! Here’s—” Shock nearly immobilized her. It quickly turned to stunned disbelief.

  Slowly, Kristin inched back to sit on the sealed carton behind her. She couldn’t believe her eyes. But there was no mistaking the identity of the man on the right.

  She looked up at Chad again, the bare bulb overhead illuminating his grave expression. “Who’s the man with you in these pictures?”

  Sighing, he eased back against the tall boxes lining the left wall. “His name is Pax Lafarge. He’s a dealer I picked up on drug charges about a year ago.”

  “And the envelope he’s handing you?”

  When he didn’t answer, Kristin lifted the letter. “I imagine it’s all written down here, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

  “It’s gratitude money from some businessmen whose…enterprises…were saved because I had Lafarge make a phone call.”

  “What kind of phone call? And why would he do a favor for you?”

  “I think you know,” Chad returned in the same beaten tone. “In exchange for Lafarge’s telling the dealers they were about to be raided, I made sure that a kilo of cocaine with his prints on it disappeared from my evidence room. Pax knew that it could be ‘found’ again if he ever crossed me.”

  “Chad, why would you do such a thing? You’re so wonderful with the kids. You go out of your way to warn and educate them about the dangers of drugs.”

  “The oldest reason in the book. Money.”

  “Money?” She got to her feet. “But I thought—”

  “—that my parents left me well off? They did. But along with the house and other assets, they also left me an appreciation for the finer things in life. The money went fast. Taxes alone on that brick monstrosity damn near bankrupted me. Although,” he added smugly, “I got a very nice reduction when I found out that Harlan likes to dress up in women’s clothes and go clubbing in Philadelphia.”

  “You blackmailed Harlan?”

  But he didn’t appear to hear the question. “I did it all for you,” he said, his face lining earnestly. “The glassed-in room for the hot tub, the in-ground pool, the state-of-the-art kitchen—I wanted the house to be perfect for you when we got married.”

  Kristin felt herself pale.

  “I’d lost heavily in the market, and when I got a tip that tech stocks were going through the roof, I bought a ton of them on margin. I needed to recoup my losses.” He paused. “The damn things sank faster than the Titanic. The brokers wanted their money, and I didn’t have it. I had to do something, didn’t I?”

  “Did you even consider getting a loan from the bank?” she asked. “How did Anna Mae find out?”

  He sent her a droll look. “My dear secretary accidentally opened some personal mail that was sent to the office—a notice from my broker saying they’d attach my wages, possibly my house, if I didn’t pay up. She was full of apologies for opening it, but the damage was done. I couldn’t have her running off at the mouth and destroying my standing in the community.”

  Chad’s tone cooled. “I’m afraid I said some harsh things to her that day. When she left, she was…well, terrified.” He nudged a clump of excelsior packing with the toe of his shoe. “I don’t recall exactly what I said, but I figured she’d keep her mouth shut and stay the hell out of my business from that day on.

  “But she didn’t. The night she died, she told me that she’d been listening in on my phone calls. She knew I was getting money from Harlan and Len, and she knew I’d met Pax to pick up my…reward.”

  “Len, too?” she asked in dismay.

  “After his last DUI, he should’ve done jail time. Jail’s not a good thing for a councilman who wants to get reelected.”

  Harlan, Len…drug dealers? Dear God.

  Chad nodded at the photos she held. “Anna Mae said she’d take those to the state police if I didn’t turn myself in—said she wanted me to do it because she cared about me, and things would go easier on me if I went to them. Like hell she cared. She was scared and saying anything she could think of to diffuse the situation.”

  “Chad, did you hurt her?”

  “No,” he answered, and she could see that he was sincere. “I only wanted the pictures, but she wouldn’t give them up. Not even when I told her that everything she had on me, including those snapshots, was circumstantial. I could’ve easily said that the money from Pax was part of a sting I’d set up to learn more about the scum he dealt with. No one with a brain would take the ramblings of a senile old woman over the word of a decorated police officer.”

  He paused. “But…she got panicky and things got out of hand, and I…I guess I shoved her. I didn’t mean to.”

  But he had, and now Anna Mae was dead.

  Chad moved closer, his face lined with remorse. “Now you know. I’m glad in a way. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time. It’s wrong to keep secrets from the people you love.”

  Chills ran down Kristin’s spine as she realized he w
asn’t sane. How had he kept it a secret for so long? She spoke quietly. “Chad, we should be going now.”

  “Where?”

  “Back to town. It’s getting late, and I…I’m expecting a call from Rachel.”

  He pursed his lips thoughtfully, then shook his head. “No, I think we should stay right here. I still owe you an apology.”

  “For what?” she asked, though she knew.

  “For running into you on the attic stairs. For torching your shop. That gave me no pleasure, Kristin. And it wouldn’t have been necessary if you had let me toss the journals in the trash that night.” He released another lung-clearing sigh. “And my last apology is for what I have to do now.”

  Chad shifted his stance, blocking the path to the open doorway, and Kristin’s heart catapulted into her throat. “Did you happen to notice the rowboats down by the long dock? They’re not even tied, just pulled up on shore. If we took one out on the water to enjoy the moonlight, no one would even care.”

  He won’t hurt me, she told herself. He cares about me. But they were empty words.

  “I do love you,” he said calmly. “But not enough to give up my freedom. I’m not going to jail, Kristin. I’m afraid there’s going to be an accident.”

  Lightning fast, Kristin scooped the chest from the floor, hurled it at his face and bolted for the doorway. She heard it crash to the concrete as Chad swore and ran after her. He caught her by the arm—yanked her back to him. Whirling to face him, Kristin brought her spike heel down hard on his instep, then rebounded with a knee to his groin. Roaring obscenities, Chad dropped like a stone, clawing at her on the way down.

  She kicked off her heels and raced for the car. He’d left the keys in the ignition! She’d seen them! She could get away!

  Whimpering, she grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, but he was coming again.

  Chad lunged for her, knocking her to the dirt and gravel. He pinned her body beneath him and she screamed again.

  “Shut up!” he yelled, but she kept screaming. “Shut the hell up! You’re just making it worse!”

  Kristin’s mind went white-hot with rage. Was she supposed to just let him kill her? “No!” she cried. “No!” With all her strength, Kristin yanked her right hand free and slashed his face with her fingernails.