by C. J. Urban
“Dale Street should be in this one,” Skye whispered.
“Let’s hope so.”
He pulled it open, and rifled through the files until he came across Julie’s house’s file. He pulled it out, holding the spot where it was open, and pulled another file out from beneath his jacket, sticking it in the open spot.
“Thought of everything, didn’t you?” Julie asked.
“Can’t have anyone catch on to us, now can we?”
Suddenly a thud had come from the hall outside the clerk’s office, and Skye felt his stomach drop. He pressed his finger to Julie’s lips. He didn’t know if she had heard it, but he definitely had. “We need to get out of here, now,” he whispered to Julie. She nodded, eyes wide with panic.
Chapter 21
He stowed the file safely in his jacket where the fake file had been and took Julie by the hand. They crept silently out of the file room and into the clerk’s office. Skye saw Julie’s eyes grow wide and knew she had seen movement through the glass.
“What do we do?” whispered Julie.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like the person plans to come in here, or else they’d already have done it,” replied Skye as he calculated all the possible ways they could get out of the building without being seen.
Suddenly though, to Skye’s and Julie’s horror, they heard the sound of the door handle being turned, and saw a thin strip of light as the door was pushed open slightly. Skye grabbed Julie’s hand and pulled her down toward the floor, motioning for her to follow him behind several file cabinets to hide beneath a desk against a wall.
Once they were safely hidden, Skye let go of her hand, realizing he had been holding on to it extremely tightly. He cast an apologetic look toward her and then sat stone-still against the wall.
The door had now been pushed open entirely, but still no one entered the room. Skye was puzzled until he heard the sound of a disgruntled voice. “Gotta be quick,” it whispered. Skye tried to place it. It was certainly a female voice and somewhat familiar, but the whisper made it difficult for him. Skye felt Julie grip his wrist tightly, and he turned to see her eyes wide with terror.
“What?” he mouthed to her.
“It’s her,” Julie mouthed back, eyes still wide.
“Who?”
Julie seemed to be deciding whether or not to tell him, as she sat there looking at him with her lips pressed together tightly.
“Who?”
“Langley,” Julie finally managed to mouth.
Skye clenched his jaw. “Crap.”
He knew they couldn’t move, but he also knew that if they were caught by Langley, there would be hell to pay. At the very least they’d be arrested.
He heard Langley move slowly through the room, her heavy boots making soft thuds against the thin carpet. What is she doing here? Skye wondered. He had a strange feeling that she was here doing the same thing they were; getting information. She could just come in during the day though, he thought. Why does she need to come under the cover of night?
He listened closely as the clanging of keys filled the room. The door to the file room opened quickly, and then shut, giving off an eerie silence. Several silent, extremely long minutes passed until Chief Langley roughly shoved the door open again.
She threw a file onto the front desk cursing under her breath. “Gone, all gone,” she uttered bitterly as she threw something into the trash. She strode angrily out of the room without another word, leaving Skye and Julie in bewilderment.
They waited a few minutes to make sure they were alone again. Then Julie asked, “What was that all about?”
“Let’s check the trash,” he said heading over to retrieve the file. He stood motionless as he looked over the open file in his hands.
“What was it?” Julie asked.
He turned around giving her a concerned look. “It’s the fake file I just put in.”
“What? No way. Don’t mess with me, Skye.”
“See for yourself,” Skye said, handing it to her.
Julie looked down at the file to study it, and when she looked up again, her face was etched with worry. “What would she need this for?” she asked.
“No idea, but we have the real file, so let’s get back to your house and find out.”
Skye placed the keys to the file room back in the drawer, and the pair crept quietly from the clerk’s office into the hall, checking for Langley as they went. Skye led Julie back to the supply closet they had come in through and closed the door behind her, leaving them to struggle with an onslaught of toxic bleach vapors again. He found the door leading out to the side of the building and pushed it open, taking in gulps of fresh air to rid his lungs of the fumes.
Skye had parked in an alley across from City Hall to avoid suspicion. When they reached his truck, the pair hurriedly got inside. He handed Julie the file, and drove out from the alley, looking around for any evidence that they had been seen. The night was still, however, and it seemed as though neither their entrance nor their exit had been witnessed.
Skye forced himself to drive slowly and calmly to Julie’s house. The relaxed pace of the drive helped to calm his nerves, which were still slightly on edge.
They arrived in front of Julie’s house, exited the truck, walking quickly toward the front door. Again, Skye knew he would feel much more relaxed once they were inside. He waited for Julie to open the door, and then noticed she was no longer paying attention to it, but rather to the ground below the window to her living room.
“What are you staring at?”
“Look at the ground,” she said quietly.
Skye walked over to the patch of dirt just below the window, and, once again, saw a pair of large footprints. He observed them more closely, noticing that the front part of the print was deeper than the rest, suggesting whoever it was had stood on tip-toe.
He turned to her, trying to keep the expression on his face calm not only for her sake, but his as well. “I see no signs of forced entry through the front,” he told her. “But let’s check the back just to be sure before we go inside.”
They walked through the gate around to the back of the house and stopped just before the door. Skye looked carefully at it, and then tried it once. “It’s locked, Julie. I doubt anyone got into your house.”
Julie trusted that Skye knew what he was talking about, so she unlocked the door and entered, flipping on the lights. Skye followed her, still feeling an uneasiness tugging at him, but the house seemed to be in perfect order as he shut the back door behind him. He followed Julie into the kitchen and sat down across from her.
“Let’s see what’s in this file,” he said, pulling it out from his jacket. He laid it on the table and began sorting through the papers, dividing them into two equal stacks to sort through. He handed a stack to Julie, and began carefully examining his own. He was astonished to find the same surname pop up repeatedly as he looked through the papers.
“Oh, man,” Skye said, barely able to believe what he was seeing. “The second person sighted here the night Tara was murdered was…Langley.”
Chapter 22
Julie and Skye sat across from each other at her small round oak kitchen table, pouring over the evidence they had recently discovered.
“I just can’t believe she was never convicted. Probably not even questioned,” Julie said.
“Well, it’s not too hard to see why,” Skye said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “She’s the chief. She probably has all kinds of people in high places watching out for her.”
“Still, she murdered someone, Skye.”
“We still don’t know that for a fact.”
“Oh, come on. After everything we’ve been through, you’re still skeptical? I need you to be on my side.”
“I am on your side. I just don’t want us being too hasty, that’s all. Besides, didn’t Tara’s diary say a boy was watching her?”
“Then we must have been wrong in deciding it was he who murdered her.”
“Not
necessarily. We’re deciding things based on barely any evidence. It’s impossible to know what really happened. It was a long time ago.”
“There’s only one thing left to do, then.”
“And what’s that?”
“I’ve got to break into Langley’s house,” Julie said plainly.
“No,” Skye said half-rising from his chair. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I wanted us not to do.”
“I’m not going to stop until I figure this out, Skye.”
“You’re just pumped up because we got out of City Hall without being caught. Someone’s house is totally different.”
“It’s not my fault,” she said, batting her eyes at him. “It seems as though I’ve caught some kind of breaking and entering bug from you.”
“Not funny,” he said bluntly, “and you’re not going alone.”
Julie thought it over for a moment. There wasn’t any reason she needed to go alone, and it would be very helpful having Skye around should something go awry. “Alright. You can come.”
“When exactly were you thinking of executing this incredibly foolish plan of yours?” Skye asked.
“Well, that’s the problem. I have no idea when the chief is at home and when she’s out. So what we need to do first is get her schedule somehow.”
“You know how difficult that’s going to be, right?”
“No more difficult than anything else we’ve done so far,” Julie said matter-of-factly.
“Wrong. What we’re going to do is much harder. Langley is a suspicious woman at heart. She’s not just going to leave her things around for prying eyes to look through. Believe it or not, she’s a very private person. She doesn’t live in town, and she doesn’t share her personal life with others.”
“She doesn’t?” Julie asked. “I thought everyone knew everything about everyone else in Dupont.”
Skye shook his head. “Not her. No one knows much about her. She took over as Chief of Police when our old Chief died, about 25 years ago, from what I understand. But she’s always kept her distance.”
“Huh,” Julie said, pondering this new information.
“I’m telling you, Julie, this could be dangerous. I mean, seriously. Are you sure you want to break into her house?”
Julie thought a moment. The idea was more frightening than breaking into City Hall. But she thought about Tara, how tragically she’d died. And how Chief Langley had been rude, even threatening to Julie right from the start. There had to be a reason for it.
“I’m sure,” Julie said. “And I have an idea. We need a way to get Langley out of her house, right? So, why don’t you set up an appointment of some sort with her. Maybe take her out to dinner? I only need an hour or so.”
“That could work, but I don’t want you having to break in on your own. Who knows what could be in her house.”
“I know, but this is the only way we’ll know for sure where she’ll be, and how long she’ll be there,” Julie implored.
Skye sat quietly with his chin propped up on his palm staring into a corner of the room, considering the plan.
“Well?” asked Julie, after several strained moments of silence.
“All right, here’s what I’m willing to agree to,” Skye said in an official tone. “I’ll ask the chief out to dinner some night next week. She’s been after me to go to dinner with her for a while now anyway.”
“Really? I thought you said she was a private person,” Julie said in disbelief.
“She is,” Skye answered. “I doubt she’ll tell me much of anything I don’t already know. And what, you think I’m not date-worthy?”
“No! It’s just that she’s a lot older than you.”
“Yeah,” Skye said, his tone somewhat dismal. “She’s kind of a cougar.”
“God,” Julie rolled her eyes. “Alright, go on.”
“If she agrees, then I’ll coach you on how to break into her house. But you have to promise to be careful. If something happens, get the hell out of there, whether you’ve found anything or not. Otherwise, I don’t want you to be involved in any way, because it’s too dangerous.”
“I’ll agree to that,” Julie said. “But I don’t want you flirting too much with the chief on the date.”
“I don’t know if I can agree to those terms. The chief is awfully sexy,” he teased. Then he took her hand and kissed it gently. “I’m just going to wing it and make the conversation as interesting as possible. After all, she’s the one who’s been pursuing me. This dinner should be easy.”
“I suppose that’ll work,” Julie said, distracted by his kiss.
Skye kissed her hand again, then turned it over and kissed her wrist. Rising from his chair, he moved smoothly closer to Julie, working his kisses up her arm, and reaching her neck.
Julie felt his breath at the back of her ear, and her own breath quickened. She brought her lips to his neck, and wrapped her arms around him.
“Julie…” he whispered. He held her tightly, his lips all over her now, as well as his hands.
Julie could barely breathe. She stopped for only a minute, and he drew back, looking at her questioningly. She took him by the hand and led him toward the stairs. He followed closely behind, moving in synch with her stride, and nibbling the back of her neck.
In her bedroom Skye playfully teased her, his hands moving everywhere they could while she lit a couple of scented candles. Then she turned to him and slipped off her dress. He took his shirt off and enfolded her in his arms. He was full of fire, but he took his time, savoring every second of making love to Julie for the first time.
The next morning came much too soon for them both. They hadn’t gotten much sleep, and when Julie did fall asleep, she had nightmares about breaking into the chief’s home to find everything from zombies to vampires concealed within it. But whenever she woke she found Skye’s arm protectively around her.
In the morning light, Skye moved a finger lightly down her body, and her stomach flip flopped. It was still early, and she reached for him, pulling him close again.
Chapter 23
“I’m starving,” Skye announced later.
“I’ll make you some breakfast,” Julie replied. “Come on.”
A half hour later, Julie watched in amazement as Skye wolfed down the scrambled eggs, sausage and waffles she’d made for him.
“What?” He asked. “I worked up a good appetite.”
Julie just laughed. She felt wonderful this morning, despite the dangerous plans they’d made the night before.
“Julie,” Skye said, looking up at her seriously now. “I know you really want to figure out this murder, and I get why, but you could be getting yourself into a ton of trouble. You do realize this, don’t you?”
“I do,” she said. “But there’s something inside me pushing me forward. Haven’t you ever felt that way? Like something truly important may have just been placed in front of you? That’s how this feels. I can’t ignore it, Skye.”
“Then just promise me you’ll be careful. Sam needs you.”
“I promise, and I know.”
“All right, I’m going to get a move on inviting the chief to dinner. Finding her is going to be a task all on its own. She never seems to stay in one place for more than a few minutes.”
“Let me know as soon as she’s given you a day and time,” Julie said.
He kissed her goodbye, and turned to go. “I’ll call you,” he said as he made his way to the front door.
Julie heard the door shut and knew she should be leaving soon to pick up Sammy. She couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet, though, and sat down at the table to enjoy some alone time to explore her thoughts clearly.
She was worried about Sammy, and was beginning to think chasing after this murderer was foolish, as Skye had said. Julie picked up the case file, which hadn’t been moved from last night, to peruse it further. She flipped through the pages with Langley’s name on them, trying to figure out how she could have gotten away with it. She was
definitely an unpleasant person, but a murderer? And there was still the motive to contend with. Why would she have wanted Tara dead?
Julie set the file down, full of more questions than answers. She checked her watch and saw that it was nearly eleven o’clock. Feeling even guiltier for leaving Sam with Gloria for so long, she quickly left the house to get him.
After picking Sam up and giving a long thank you to Gloria, Julie and Sam headed to the police station to see if Skye had made an appearance. As Julie pulled in the parking lot, she saw the chief leaving the building.
Sam suddenly screamed, and Julie turned her head quickly toward him to see Skye’s handsome figure outside the car with one hand on it to steady himself as he laughed.
“Not funny, Skye,” Julie said, rolling down the passenger window. “You really scared him.”
“Did I scare you?” Skye asked Sam.
“Nah, I’m fine.”
“See?” he said to Julie. “I’m sorry, though,” he added as she threw him a dirty look.
“I guess you’re forgiven.”
“Well, don’t you want to know if I was able to make dinner plans with Langley?”
“Yes, of course,” said Julie, switching her irritated expression to one of keen interest.
“Tomorrow night. Eight o’clock,” he said proudly.
“Great. Think you can buy me at least an hour?”
“Definitely, and I can always flirt with her if things start to lull,” he added.
“Ha ha,” Julie said dryly. “Why don’t we have a barbeque tonight and relax?”
“Sounds great,” Skye said. “I’ll bring drinks.”
“And I’ll make an attempt at marinating some steaks,” Julie laughed. “How does seven o’clock sound?”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then,” Skye said, before turning toward his truck.
Julie drove home slowly, her mind fixed on all the possible problems she might run into trying to get into the chief’s house, if she could get in at all. As she pulled up to her own house, she immediately knew something was wrong. Her front door was open just slightly.
