No Good Deed: A Small-Town Romantic Suspense Novel

6. Damaged Goods

Troy spent the morning working the store, catching up on paperwork, and ordering supplies. Carl and Jim had taken Piper with them as they ran errands in neighboring towns. They wanted her to see how other towns operated in this area of the world.

It was another thing he hoped to change in the future. It would be great if the men could get all of their supplies in town rather than spending money elsewhere. He hoped Piper was coming up with lots of ideas.

She said she needed a few more days before she shared her thoughts. Everything about her manner promised she was happy with her ideas. He wanted to pester her to share, but figured it was better if she was left to follow her own process.

Troy was itchy to see her again. He missed her even though he’d seen her the night before and would see her when she returned. How was he supposed to convince himself she was leaving town and he wasn’t looking for temporary?

He’d never felt as instantly comfortable with a woman as he did with Piper. Their personalities meshed and conversation never lagged. She was interested in so many things and her brain popped with creativity.

Everyone who came into the store asked him how she was enjoying the town. There were more than a few not-so-subtle suggestions that he and Piper made a great couple. The entire town appeared to like her and they hadn’t even heard any of her suggestions yet. He knew exactly how they felt.

When she walked into Phail General with her dog and the BB owners a few hours later, his entire being lit up. He was definitely ridiculous. “How’d the errands go?”

Jim grinned. “Great. We showed Piper how much better it is in Phail than any of the other towns.”

She smiled. “These two could be your town ambassadors.”

Carl rubbed his hands together. “I like the sound of that.” Then he looped his arm through Jim’s. “We’re going to make lasagna for tonight, so you’d both better bring your appetites. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

They hugged Piper before they left. While the couple was friendly with everyone, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen them hug a guest before. She made an impression on everyone.

When the men were gone, Piper turned to him with another smile. “Do you mind if Oreo and I hang out here for a while? The wind is bitter out there and I don’t want him to freeze.”

“You’re always welcome here. Take him off his leash and let him wander. I’ll grab him a water bowl.”

“Do you let other dogs off leash in here?”

He shrugged. “Yep. Most of the dogs around here are well-trained. People use leashes until they know how the dogs are going to react to strange situations. Some dogs always need them, but others roam free.”

When he came back with the water bowl, he found Piper adding more notes on her tablet while Oreo sniffed at the shelf containing cleaning supplies.

She looked up at him. “Do other business allow dogs inside?”

He nodded. “Fiona lets them come into Phail Phoods as long as they’re leashed. Same with Ginny at the diner, although they’re not allowed in the kitchen. Rachel owns Yoganna Love it, and I know she lets her clients bring in their pets if they like.”

Piper grinned and typed some more. “Have you taken a yoga class?”

“No.” But with the twinkle in her eye, he figured he might be taking one soon.

By the time they left the store, the sun had long since set, but the snow kept everything bright as they strolled to the BB.

Piper’s gaze never rested. Neither did her mind. “Do you always have snow before Christmas?”

He shrugged. “Most of the time, although climate change is causing that to be less certain. We tend to have our first snow in either October or early November. It’ll melt and then snow again a few times, before it settles in for the season. It’ll start melting in March, although we’ve sometimes still had snow in May.”

She laughed at that. “Chicago’s winter usually isn’t quite so long.”

When they approached the corner leading to the BB, Oreo bounced and then danced in a circle. Piper grinned. “I think you know we’re almost home, don’t you?”

Home. He wondered if she realized how she smiled when she used the word. And that she used the word for a BB where she’d stayed for only a few days. Again, he wondered about her past. She’d referenced her recent bad luck a few times, but had never gone into more detail.

Snow drifted down as they stopped at the corner. Piper turned her face up to it and let the flakes drop to her cheeks. “It’s lovely without the icy wind that usually blows through Chicago.”

“We get those days too. It’s not always this idyllic.”

Piper gestured down the street. “This scene is totally idyllic. The pretty houses, the soft lights from the street lamps, the huge snowflakes. Definitely some good advertising fodder right here.”

He followed her gesture to check out the street. To him it was just a street in his town, but she was right and he could see it from her point of view.

As he studied the scene, he watched someone dart from a tree and around the hedge that bordered the BB. The figure wore all dark clothing and a hood. Troy didn’t recognize the person from this distance, but everyone on this street was elderly. “Anyone else staying at the BB?”

“No. Jim said they don’t have any other reservations until the weekend. This time of year is slow until families arrive for Christmas.”

The house next to the BB was empty for the winter. No one should have been there. Over the top of the shrub, Troy could see the hooded figure stop. Right beside Piper’s car if she hadn’t moved it. Every sense he’d honed in the Army flared to life. Whoever he was, this guy was up to no good.

A loud crack came next and Troy’s body reacted immediately. He scooped up Oreo and put him in Piper’s arms. He leaned in to speak quietly into her ear. “Take Oreo, and stay behind me. When we get close enough, get into the BB with him.”

As he spoke, the crack repeated twice more, along with the sound of glass breaking. Oreo barked loudly at the sound.

Troy raced ahead without a word, hoping to catch whoever was at the car. He couldn’t see any movement now. His steps creaked on the snow, and he hoped it wasn’t enough to alert the guy if he hadn’t heard the dog.

When Troy rounded the hedge, he found the rear window of Piper’s car shattered, but no one was in sight. Footprints headed to the back yard, spaced wide apart as if the person was running.

Troy ran around the other side of the car, hoping to preserve any evidence. If it was Jim or Carl checking out the noise, the prints would lead to the house. Instead, they moved past the garage and into the woods behind. Troy jogged into the woods but lost the trail quickly. The snow brightened the evening, but figuring out the prints was still tricky.

Instead of trying to figure it out, he jogged through the empty lot behind the BB and into the street behind. This was a mostly empty road that led to a few farms and the next town over.

Troy stayed under the cover of trees as he searched the area beyond the bush. There weren’t any streetlights along this stretch, but he should be able to spot anyone moving against the snowy backdrop.

For a few minutes, he simply stood and watched, listening for noises around him and stretching his senses. After more than a decade in the Army, he’d learned to feel the air move in advance of an attack.

When nothing stirred, he eased back from his position and checked the other yards around the BB. In those yards, the recent snowfall made it easy to see nothing had been disturbed.

Back in the BB’s backyard, he looked for anything he’d missed, but there were no clues.

As soon as he moved from the shadows, the back door flung open, and Piper walked out. “Are you okay? What was all that about?”

Jim and Carl stayed inside, but both watched them curiously. “Someone broke the window of your car. I tried to chase them down, but no luck. I’m going to call Marcus to report it.”

Piper wrapped her arms around herself, and her gaze flew around the yard. When Jim opened the door, she called out. “Lock up the doors. Someone broke into my car. Troy’s going to call his friend.”

He’d already texted Marcus, so he turned to her. “You can go inside where it’s warm.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s my car. I need to check on Rusty.”

“Rusty?”

“My car. I’ve only had him for a week, but he’s a good car.”

He nodded but touched her arm when she started to move into the driveway. “Let’s stick to this side so we don’t mess up the footprints. I doubt there’s any evidence to find from them, but it’s better if we don’t disturb them until Marcus has a look.”

She nodded, and they moved along the house to stand near her car. “Nothing was touched on this side.” When she moved around and saw the mess on the other side, she gasped. “What a mess. Poor Rusty.”

Marcus pulled up in the squad car, and Piper smiled wryly. “There are definitely a few advantages to small town living. It can’t have been three minutes.”

Troy doubted it was even two. Marcus brought out his Mag Lite and shone it over the area as he greeted them. Then he walked over. “You must be Piper Keenan. I’m Deputy Marcus Ramirez. Sorry to meet you under these circumstances. Did you get a look at the person?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t see or hear a thing. Troy spotted someone moving in the driveway.”

Troy nodded and walked Marcus through what he’d seen and done. The deputy played his light over the car and the glass scattered on the snow. “Thanks for not messing up the footprints. I’ll take some photos. Do you know if anything was taken?”

Piper shook her head. “It all happened so fast, I doubt there was time. The only thing in the back seat was a bag of snacks for the road trip. He better not have taken my Oreos.”

Marcus smiled at her. “Why don’t you grab your keys and then open the doors on that side to see if anything was taken.”

She headed inside to get her keys while Troy held the light so Marcus could record the scene and check for evidence.

Once they were alone, Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Any ideas?”

Troy shook his head. “Not really. She’s mentioned a run of bad luck a few times, but she hasn’t shared any details. I don’t know if there’s anything in her background that might be big enough to follow her or if this is something random.”

Marcus grunted at that. In a town the size of Phail, random crime was almost nonexistent. They’d had several major incidents over the past year, but they’d all been connected to individuals who’d come to Phail or Midnight Lake.

Piper returned and beeped open the car. She opened the back door. The dome light allowed them to see the inside. Glass covered half of the back seat but he could see a cloth bag with a pack of Oreos sticking out the top. Not a stretch to see how the bulldog came by his name.

“I’m glad the creep didn’t get my cookies.” She opened the front door. “I don’t see anything missing, but I didn’t have much inside. Just the snacks and an extra hoodie in case I got chilly driving. Do you think I can check the trunk to see if my suitcases are okay?”

Marcus frowned. “You don’t have your suitcases inside the BB.”

She shook her head. “No. I have a couple of duffels of what I’ll need while I’m here. The suitcases hold everything else I own.”

Marcus straightened at that and studied Piper over the roof of her car. “Everything you own?”

The light was dim, but he was sure Piper’s skin flushed as she shrugged. “I was laid off from my job and had a run of bad luck in Chicago. I haven’t decided where I’m heading next.”

He could tell she was trying to be casual about the words, but he knew better. Because he already knew her well enough to tell.

Marcus moved to the rear of the car while she opened her trunk. The two suitcases Troy had seen before appeared to be untouched. “Why don’t we help you get these into the BB and we’ll see if Jim and Carl have anything to use to cover up the window. Do you mind if I check the undercarriage of your car?”

Her eyebrows rose. “Of course not, but why? This was probably some kid hoping the dumb tourist left spare change in her cup holders.”

Troy held his tongue and let Marcus respond. “Just a hunch. Better to be thorough than miss something.”

She nodded again. Marcus squatted down and ran his hands under the wheel wells and the undercarriage.

It didn’t surprise Troy in the least when his friend grunted and motioned him over. Piper followed. Marcus handed Troy his phone. “Take a video. I’ll need it for evidence.”

“Evidence?” Piper’s voice was high.

Marcus nodded and when Troy started the video, he stated his name, the date, and the people present. He gave a succinct account of the vandalism and then, with gloves on, pulled a tracker from the wheel well.

Marcus held it up. “This is a tracking device. I think we can rule out a random crime.”

* * *

Piper huddled into the couch in the BB’s living area with Troy at her side and another hot cocoa in her hand. The flummoxed feeling continued. Carl and Jim had bustled around, covering up the window in her car, and checking locks before taking Oreo into the kitchen so she could talk with the deputy.

Someone had put a tracker on Rusty. “Can you tell how long the tracking device has been on the car? Maybe it was there when I bought it.”

The deputy shook his head. “Did you buy the car from an individual or was it on a car lot?”

“On a lot.”

He shrugged. “If the tracker was there before, they had ample time to remove if. The lot owners would have caught it when they checked it over. I’m sorry, but that points to you being the target.”

Her stomach tightened at the word target.

Troy squeezed her knee. “You’ve mentioned a run of bad luck before. Is there any way this tracker could be connected?”

That made her feel ill. She’d taken this job and headed out on this adventure to leave those troubles behind. Had she inadvertently brought that trouble to Phail and its people?

Deputy Ramirez ignored his hot cocoa and focused on her. “Why don’t you tell me more about this string of bad luck?”

Piper blew out a breath and shot a look at Troy before turning her attention back to the deputy. “I think it’s just that. A string of bad luck.”

The man nodded and waited her out.

“Fine. Someone broke into the urban planning office where I worked a few weeks ago. They stole laptops and monitors, dumped desks, and opened cupboards. They tossed everything around.”

The deputy nodded. “What personal stuff of yours did they touch?”

A shudder ran through her. “Everything. They uprooted my plants and ripped pictures off the walls of my cubicle. They emptied my drawers. I had containers of office supplies on the desk. Pens, clips, USBs, sticky notes, that kind of thing. They tossed everything around the room.”

“Did they take any of your personal items?”

She shook her head. “Not that I could tell.”

“What about your work computer?”

Another shake. “I usually take my laptop home in case anything comes up.”

The deputy kept his steady eyes on hers. “What kind of projects have you been working on recently?”

She smiled at that. “Nothing that would cause anyone to be upset. A park with a splash pad for a low-income neighborhood. An outdoor activity area for a nursing home. Community gardens with teaching and composting areas.”

The man chuckled. “No obvious reasons to upset the mob in any of those.”

She smiled back. “Most of our work aims to improve life for community members. We try to improve accessibility while recognizing and celebrating marginalized people.”

Troy squeezed her knee. “Sounds like we’ve hired the right person to help us out here.”

Her heart swelled at that. She’d worried they’d be kicking her out unceremoniously, like her last job.

Marcus tapped the pencil on his book. “I agree. Why don’t you tell us about the next incident?”

This one was more difficult. More personal and definitely more traumatic. “Okay. A few days after the break-in, someone mugged me.”

When she paused, the deputy nodded again. “Tell me more about that.”

“There are police reports on all of this. Wouldn’t it be easier to just call the local police?”

He smiled. “I’ll do that but it’s always good to hear first-hand accounts.”

She huffed out another breath. She didn’t have to like it, but if there was even a chance she’d brought danger to Carl and Jim, she’d do this. “I was walking home from work one night about eight. When I passed an alley, someone grabbed me from behind. He dragged me into the alley, and shoved me to the ground. He sliced off my cross-body laptop bag.”

She kept her eyes on her mug. “He knelt on my back and pressed something into it, telling me not to move and he’d let me live. I don’t know if it was a gun, knife, or stick.”

The next part always made her shudder. She closed her eyes to control her nerves before speaking again. “He slammed my head into the ground. I was dizzy and scared, and he started touching me. At first, I believed he was going to rape me, but he searched through my jacket pockets instead. When he didn’t find anything, he slammed my head onto the pavement again. I heard some shouting and then he disappeared. They found my bag and my laptop but not my wallet. I had to cancel all of my cards.”

Troy’s large hand moved from her knee to wrap around her shoulder. “That’s horrible, Piper. I’m sorry you experienced that.” Then he brushed back her hair to check where she’d pointed. The scab was hidden by her hair, and he grimaced when he saw it.

She nodded but didn’t respond. Instead, she drew in more breaths, preparing her for the rest.

“Did he take your keys?”

She shook her head. “No, they were in the front pocket of my pants, and he didn’t get that far.”

Marcus wrote in his notebook. “Okay. What happened next?”

“Someone broke into my apartment. I came home from work one night and found the door ajar and the knob broken. I pushed it open and saw someone had ransacked the place, so I called the police.”

Troy squeezed her shoulder. “I’m glad you weren’t home.”

She nodded and leaned into his warmth and strength. “Me too.”

The deputy nodded. “What did they take?”

She shrugged but didn’t move away from Troy. “Not much. I don’t have much. There was some cash I had for tipping delivery people. An old computer tablet. I don’t own jewelry or anything expensive. They had to walk down the hallway and out through the lobby, so they apparently only wanted things they could stuff in their pockets. The police think they tossed stuff around because they were angry they couldn’t find anything valuable.”

Troy made a humming sound that didn’t sound like agreement. Deputy Ramirez sighed. “Do they think it’s connected to your office break-in? Is there anything you might have had that was private or valuable information?”

Piper shook her head. “No, although the police asked about that as well. I don’t work on the inner city stuff that is worth millions. My work focuses on suburbs and recreational spaces. Nothing secretive. Nothing sensitive.”

Marcus nodded again. “I’m glad they looked into the connection. Just because they didn’t find anything doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. You could have something you don’t realize is important.”

She sighed. “That’s what they said, too. I’ve gone through everything I can think of, but I have no idea what I might have.”

Troy squeezed her shoulder again. “Tell us about the car crash.”

Another tough one. The sound of nails clicking on the floor had her looking up. Oreo trotted through the kitchen door and into the room. He made a beeline for her and stood up with his paws on her knees. She scooped him up, and he licked her face before settling into her lap.

Troy reached over with his free hand and scratched Oreo’s head. “Good boy.”

Carl looked into the room, to see if they wanted him to take the dog. Piper smiled at him. “It’s okay. He’s good here.”

She knew the men wouldn’t forget about the crash, so she decided to just tell it. Get it over with. “One day, I drove to the nursing home to review the proposed activity center with the director. I used a company car because I didn’t own Rusty at the time. A few blocks from the facility. I drove through a green light, and a truck came flying through the intersection and slammed into my car, sending me crashing into a pole. The airbags deployed like they were supposed to, but I was still stunned by the crash. I remember a man opening my door. I thought he was helping me, but when another car drove up, he got into a truck and took off. The witness said the truck’s license plate was covered with mud. The police called it a typical hit and run. Someone hadn’t seen the red light.”

But now her brain was clicking through the incidents. When she told them all in a row like that, having so many issues without some connection didn’t seem likely. At least between some of the incidents. The break-ins? What could they be looking for?

Troy’s thumb rubbed her shoulder, and she focused on that to keep her nerves under control. She was safe.

The deputy tapped his notebook. “What about information? You said you had a work laptop, but what about your personal one? Do you keep anything from work on there?”

She shook her head. “Never. That’s against company policy.”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing else.” Because that was enough for anyone.

When he spoke, Troy’s voice held a note of disbelief. “After all these incidents, your company laid you off?”

She nodded. “Me and a junior planner. They said between the cost of repairs after the break-in and the crash, they needed to cut costs.”

But had they just wanted to get rid of her? She couldn’t stop the shiver running through her. Was the person now here in Phail and what did he plan to do?