CHAPTER SEVEN
An hour and a half and a stiff back later, Holly pointed him off the freeway and into town. It was dusk, but he could see they’d gone all out for the Fourth of July. They passed white picket fences lined with American flags. On Main Street, red, white, and blue bunting adorned every storefront. And from each quaint lamppost hung baskets overflowing with red and white flowers.
Holly directed him to a restaurant called The Rusty Nail, and he parked in a gravel lot full of pickups. Cole got out and rubbed his back.
“Ya good?” Holly asked, noting his discomfort.
“Newer cars have better ergonomics,” he said. “But I’ll be fine.”
A group of four women rushed out of the building. Holly ran to them, slightly favoring her uninjured leg. He stood by as they hugged and greeted each other. Except for one, who was noticeably shorter than the rest, they were all tall, athletic, and seemed to be very familiar with each other.
He scanned the parking lot but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Well, unless you counted a couple of horses tied to a nearby fence. That was weird. Holly noticed him gaping.
“You ain’t in New York City anymore,” she teased. “Come meet my friends.”
He walked to where they stood.
“These are my best friends in the world, minus one. Maddie went back to California already. Faith, Alex, Tess, and Juliet, this is Cole.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, nodding to the four of them, committing their names and faces to memory. Alex would be easy to remember—she was the only short one.
Faith looped her arm in his, and he stiffened, surprised by the sudden close contact.
Holly laughed. “This is going to be fun. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Tess said.
“Yeah, so?” Holly said, leading the group into the restaurant. “Alex, you got the stuff?”
Alex laughed and produced a cell phone. “I opened and charged it for you.”
“Oh, sweet poison. Come to momma.” Holly grabbed the phone and kissed it. “How I’ve missed you.”
“Get a room,” Tess said.
Holly slipped the phone into her pocket. “Thanks, Al. Shut up, Tess.”
Inside, classic country music flowed from overhead speakers, and the scent of grilled onions and meat made his stomach growl. From floor to ceiling, everything was different shades of wood. Black and white pictures covered the walls—mountains, lakes, farms, and a town square in various stages of construction.
One ginormous picture stood out. It was a girls high school basketball team, captioned, “New Hampshire State Championship—2017.” The young women wore wide smiles and held a huge trophy as confetti rained down. He did a double take, glancing back at Holly and her besties, who had huddled up. The players’ names were etched under the photo, and he leaned in to read them. Sure enough, it was Holly and all the friends he’d just met.
“We’re mighty proud of our girls,” a deep voice said from behind.
Cole turned to face an older gentleman. He wore a wide straw hat and a white bushy mustache. “We’ve never had a better team—boys or girls. Those gals brought the town together like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Sure,” Cole said.
“Gordon Hayes.” The man thrust out a meaty hand, and Cole shook it. “Town sheriff. You new ’round here?”
“Oh, no. I’m here with Holly.” Cole pointed at Holly and her pals, who were still locked in conversation.
The man’s eyebrows shot up.
“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you,” Cole said. He gave a brief explanation of why he was in town and the trouble Holly was in. He gave Gordon his card and asked him to call if he saw anything out of the ordinary.
“We get a lot of tourists this time of year, but I’ll keep my eyes open for sure. Let me know if you need anything.” He tipped his hat and was gone.
Cole scanned the room, but finding nothing suspicious, he tapped Holly on the shoulder. “I’ll sit at the bar while you have dinner,” he said.
“Okay,” Holly said. “Thanks.”
“Where are your manners, girl?” Faith said. “Of course you’ll eat with us. Come on, we already claimed a spot in the back.”
Faith took his arm again and dragged him to their table.
“But we have stuff to talk about,” Holly whispered to Faith, staring daggers.
“Later.” Faith waved a hand dismissively.
“You don’t have to do this,” Holly said to him. “Really.”
“It’s not like I want to. But if you sit back here, I can’t see you from the bar. Just pretend like I’m not here,” he said, plopping into the chair beside her. “That’s what I plan to do.”
She huffed. “I already regret agreeing to this.”
They sat at a big round table, Holly on his right, Faith on his left, and the other three across from him. The waitress came and took their drink orders. As soon as she walked away, the girls all leaned in.
“All right,” Alex said. “Let’s get to business. First, tell us about New York, then we’ll get into the ‘other thing.’”
“Yeah,” Tess said. “Murder preempts a jackass leaving you at the altar.”
“How’d you meet Cole?” Juliet asked.
“Oh, well,” Holly said. “I stopped at this bar for a drink. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, and Cole showed up.”
“She got into a brawl,” Cole said. “Someone called the cops, and when my partner and I arrived on the scene, she was soaked head-to-toe in beer and being accused of assault.”
“Hol-ly!” Juliet said.
“That is a gross overstatement of how it went down,” Holly said. “What happened to pretending you weren’t here?”
He shrugged.
“I accidentally fell into a server, who, unfortunately , was carrying a huge tray of drinks.”
“Now that, I believe,” Alex said.
“The only time this one isn’t a complete klutz,” Tess said, hitching a thumb at Holly, “is on the court.” They all nodded in agreement.
“She’s pretty smart,” Faith added. “But has a tendency to be outwitted by a spoon.”
“Cups and glasses are also vexing,” Alex said with a smile.
“Any. Way,” Holly continued. “This diva got a little beer on her shoes, freaked out, and called the police.”
The waitress brought their drinks and took their food order. Cole only had a second to glance at the menu and, rather than hold everyone up, just copied Holly’s request—a firecracker cowboy burger and fries.
“Okay. So, you met that night. How did he end up on guard duty?” Juliet asked.
“The very next day, I was in Central Park,” Holly started.
“And you got lost,” Alex stated.
“Who’s tellin’ this story?” Holly demanded. Cole bit back a smile, and her friends zipped their mouths and stared at Holly with wide eyes, silently begging her to continue. “And I got lost.”
They burst out laughing. Even Holly. “All right. All right. Make fun of me if you want. But things got dead serious after that.”
They knew the basics of what had happened and turned appropriately somber. “Did you really see someone shoot a guy?”
“I was hiding in some bushes from here to there away,” she said, pointing to the pinball machine. “It was so surreal. Like watching TV, but knowing it wasn’t fiction. I made a noise, and the bad guy came after me.”
“You must have been terrified,” Juliet said.
“And then some,” Holly admitted. “I hauled ass outta there and climbed a tree to get away.”
They all paused to sip their drinks. Not a lot to say to that.
“I found her the next morning, still in the tree,” Cole said, picking up the story. “She’s agreed to be a witness, and that’s why I’m here. The killer leads a gang called the Fire Vipers. This wasn’t his first murder.”
“You must be fun at parties,” Alex muttered.
Cole shot her a look, but ignored the comment. “Holly could be in real danger. I need you all to be vigilant.”
“We’ll do anything to help keep her safe,” Tess said. They nodded solemnly. “Did you find a place to stay?”
“Farmer Jen’s gonna put us up until a cabin opens at Alex’s,” Holly said. “That reminds me, Juliet, can Lady stay an extra day or two?”
Cole nudged her. “Who’s Lady?”
“My dog,” Holly said. “Juliet owns a kennel outside of town. Lady’s been with her while I’ve been away.”
“Of course,” Juliet said. “I don’t even have her in a kennel. She’s been staying at the house with me and Ranger.”
The waitress arrived and chitchatted while handing everyone their food. Once she made sure they had everything they needed, she left.
“All right,” Holly said, shoving a fry into her mouth. “New topic.”
“What are you going to do about Rick?” Alex asked.
“Any topic but that .” Holly shot Alex a “not now” glare, and Alex shrugged.
Rick must be the twitchy-legged, would-be groom. Wishing he was anywhere but here, Cole bent his head and focused on his burger.
“You’re going to have to deal with it,” Juliet said sympathetically.
“My plan is to show up at work and pretend like nothing happened,” Holly said.
“You are the worst at confrontation,” Tess said. “I’d head straight over there and kick his ass.”
“Holly’s not you,” Faith said. “She’ll handle it when the time’s right.”
“Any word on why?” Holly asked uncomfortably. Cole wasn’t sure if it was his presence or just the situation in general.
“Told Bo he just wasn’t ready,” Alex said. “What do you think?”
Holly darted a sideway glance at Cole. “I’ll be fine.”
Cole stood. “I’m gonna do a quick perimeter check and use the restroom. Be back in a sec.” They needed a chance to catch up without his prying eyes and ears.
He took his time circling the room and then checked his phone for messages. Curiosity got the best of him, and he clicked on the group chat Holly had started.
Hey y’all. FYI – Lost my phone. I’m unreachable for a while.
Holly?
Of course it’s Holly. Who else would lose their phone and know all our numbers? You all right, Bennett?
Debatable. I saw a guy get shot, then spent the night in a tree. Definitely not in Kansas anymore…
Holy crap, Holls . Surprised emoji.
A tree? In NYC?
Central Park . Two tree emojis.
Why didn’t you climb down? Leave it to you… Eye roll emoji.
Hurt my ankle. Running from a murderer!!! Runner emoji.
WHAT?? Hol-ly! When are you coming home? Two big eyes emoji.
How’d you get down?
Tomorrow. If I survive that long. Cop thought he could catch me. Squished him like a pancake. Stack of pancakes emoji. Laughing with tears emoji.
Whose phone are you using? Phone emoji.
Cop emoji. Stack of pancakes emoji. Gotta go.
Cole chuckled and shook his head. The last text was short and sweet.
En route from the airport. Best behavior tonight. Or else…
That was followed by four thumbs-up emojis from four different numbers.
When he returned to the table, they’d finished their food and were talking about the upcoming Fourth of July festivities.
“We’ll do it like we always do,” Faith said. “Too bad Maddie couldn’t stay an extra couple of days.”
“I feel terrible about her coming to town for nothing,” Holly said.
“Not nothing,” Juliet said. “The fam was glad to see her.”
“Maddie and Juliet are sisters,” Faith explained under her breath to Cole. So far, he’d kept up with all the new names, but since he wasn’t invested in getting too chummy with everyone, he just nodded.
They finished their drinks and said goodbye. Next stop, Farmer Jen’s.
This oughta be good , he thought.
Holly directed him out of town to a small farm close to the base of the mountains. He shut off the truck and got out. The only noises were crickets and frogs. The only lights were the moon, the stars, and Jen’s porch light.
He stared up at the dark, dark sky. “I am so far from home.”
She chuckled. “Can’t beat nights like this though, huh, city boy?”
A woman, Cole guessed to be in her late sixties, came out on the porch to greet them. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but was happy to note there were no overalls or straw hats involved. Jen wrapped Holly in a hug and then threw her arms around him!
“Cole.” She breathed into his neck. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He stood rooted in place, unsure how to handle the intimate greeting.
“Jen.” Holly laughed. “I don’t think Cole’s a hugger.”
Jen pulled back. “Well, I am. Come on. Let’s go inside, and you can tell me what’s going on.”
Cole returned to the truck and hauled in their luggage. Holly was regaling Jen with her New York trip when he entered.
“So, anyway, Cole’s here to make sure the bad guy doesn’t take me out.” She sliced a hand across her neck. “It’s probably not necessary, but better safe than sorry.”
“Thank you for letting us stay here, Jen,” Cole said. “Do you mind if I have a look around?”
“Mi casa es su casa,” she said. “Can’t see much outside in the dark. But I’ll show you around tomorrow.”
“I go back to work tomorrow afternoon, and I guess Cole’s coming with me. Rain check for tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” she said. “Make yourselves at home. I’m heading upstairs to bed. Cole, there’s a flashlight next to the door.” She pointed to an entryway table. “See you in the morning.”
“Is she really a farmer?” Cole asked.
“No,” Holly said. “We just call her that ’cause she lives on so much land, has a big garden, and lots of animals.”
He nodded. “Is your ankle going to be okay to work?”
“I’ve played with worse,” she said, shrugging. “I’m hittin’ the sack too. Looks like the couch is made up for you. Unless you want to sleep with the horses?”
“The couch is fine. I’m gonna take a quick lap around the house and make sure all the doors are locked. Good night.”
Outside was eerily quiet. Disconcertingly so. Even the crickets and frogs had taken a break, and it was like the world had been unplugged. He did his checks and brushed his teeth.
He’d only been in town a few hours and already regretted agreeing to this assignment. Yes, it was important to keep Holly safe, but he resented having to give up his vacation time to be here. He should be studying for the detective exam, not traipsing around Hicksville babysitting a witness. Then again, if not him, who?
And Holly was nice enough. Even kind of pretty if he was being objective. Not that it mattered. He would stay vigilant, keep her safe, and hope the detectives back home caught Cruz soon. Until then, he’d make the best of it. Maybe things would look better in the light of day.