5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
T his was a first.
A dognapping in Kringle Falls.
Parker quite honestly never had a case like this one. There were protocols for human kidnappings. They would call in the state police and the FBI, but that wasn’t going to work for a dognapping.
He and the deputies walked the scene while he had Belle wait in her car. He didn’t want her with them, because there was just something about her that inevitably distracted him.
Normally, he’d let his deputies handle the call. If they needed him, they knew to call. But when he’d heard the call go out over the scanner, he recognized the address from Belle’s driver’s license. He knew she was in trouble, and he’d grabbed his keys and headed out the door.
When he was satisfied that Belle’s house was secure for the moment, he had her join them in the living room. He had her repeat the events that had led her to call nine-one-one.
“So, you think whoever broke in took your dog?” he asked.
“I know they did.” She led them to the kitchen, and there on the island was a handwritten note.
When she went to pick it up, he stopped her. “We’ll need to check it for fingerprints. Did you pick it up before?”
She opened her mouth to answer but then wordlessly closed her mouth.
“It’s okay if you did,” he said. “We’ll just need to take your fingerprints for elimination.”
Worry lines creased her beautiful face. “I… I don’t know. I can’t remember.”
“It’s okay. We’ll get this figured out.” He turned to Deputy Stark. “Can you bag and tag this? Then I want you both to go outside and check the perimeter. See if you see any footsteps or any other signs that someone has been here.”
Once they left, he turned back to Belle. He could tell by the torment in her eyes that she loved her dog very much. “Are you absolutely sure that you closed and locked the front door? Is there any chance you were in such a rush to get back to work that you forgot to close it?”
She frowned at him. “Really? You’re trying to blame this on me. You think that I played a part in my Odie being dognapped?”
He shook his head. That wasn’t what he was implying.
But from the deputies’ accounts of the inside, there were no other points of entry.
This was done either by a professional, which he didn’t think was the case, or by someone she knew—someone who knew her routines and their way around the place.
He tried again. “Think about it. Is there anyone that has a key to your house?” When she shook her head, he said, “Do you leave a key outside, like under a mat or in one of those little garden decorations?”
She once more shook her head. “No. I haven’t done any of those things.”
He frowned. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
He ignored the happiness that zinged through him upon learning that she was single. After all, he had a job to do. Besides, Belle was all wrong for him. She didn’t follow the rules, she was stubborn, and the one time he’d asked her out, she’d shot him down.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he said, “Can you look around and tell us what’s missing?”
“You mean besides Odie? Because he’s all that I really care about.” When the sheriff nodded, she said, “I… I’ll try.”
He followed her gaze to the dog crate. As she stared at its emptiness, there was a vulnerability that showed in her eyes. It was all he could do not to go to her and hold her in his arms. He wanted to assure her that everything was going to be okay.
But the professional part of him knew he couldn’t do that. First, he didn’t know if it would all work out for the best. And second, he had to maintain a professional distance.
Instead, he directed her attention away from the dog crate. “Is there anything missing from the mantel?”
Her gaze hesitated before moving toward the mantel. After a moment of sweeping her gaze across the collection of snowmen in all different sizes, she shook her head. It was then he directed her to the next area to search.
He noticed how her house was completely decked out for Christmas.
He couldn’t help but wonder if she was one of the residents who kept the decorations up year-round, since Kringle Falls had been deemed a “Christmas Town.” Their claim to fame grew each year, drawing in more tourists.
On one hand, it was good for Kringle Falls, but on the other hand, his department hadn’t grown.
The tourist business was putting a strain on his officers. But that was a problem for another day.
It wasn’t until they reached the kitchen that Belle said, “They went all through here.”
He had to admit that this crime was strange. So far, they stole a puppy, and now they’d rifled through the kitchen. It didn’t make sense, unless it was a diversion to throw them off the track of what they were really after.
Ding.
Ding. Ding.
When Belle pulled her phone out of her coat, he asked, “Do you need to get that?”
She looked at the screen and shook her head. “It’s just my friends. They heard something was going on and wanted to make sure I was all right.”
He was glad she had such good friends. “Maybe you should message them back.”
Belle nodded. She typed a very brief message and then put the phone back into her pocket.
He turned his thoughts back to the crime scene. They were missing something. Perhaps the answer would be upstairs in one of the bedrooms.
He cleared his throat. “I take it you don’t normally leave the cabinet doors hanging open?” He didn’t think so, but he had to ask.
“No.” Her answer was firm.
“Can you tell us if anything is missing?”
She walked over to the cabinets and hunched down. “The bag of puppy kibble is still here. So are the cans of moist dog food.”
He watched as the color drained from her face. He figured she was panicking. And he couldn’t blame her. Having someone break into her home—her safe zone—would rattle anyone.
“I can’t believe someone did this.” And then her eyes widened. “Do you think they’ll hurt him?”
He saw a tear roll down her cheek and heard the waver in her voice. He acted on instinct and pulled her into his arms. He didn’t know how she’d react. For all he knew, she might shove him away, yell at him or stomp off.
But she didn’t do any of those things. Instead, she followed the lead of his pull until her head was resting against his shoulder. His arms tightened around her waist. And in that moment, he noticed how well they fit together—as though they were made for each other.
The last thought startled him to the core. His immediate instinct would be to step away from her because their connection was short-circuiting his mind. He fought that reaction. This moment wasn’t about him or his totally out of control thoughts. This was about Belle.
Her home—her sanctuary—had been invaded. The puppy she obviously loved had been taken. And she was feeling off-kilter and longing for her four-footed friend. Giving her a hug was the least he could do in that moment.
He stood perfectly still with her in his arms. When he inhaled, the gentle scent of jasmine came over him. The scent was sweet and slightly musky. It was a complex scent, much like the woman in his arms.
She could be so frustrating and argumentative one moment, and then it was like the layers were peeled back to reveal her tender, caring side. And he wasn’t sure how to deal with this gentler side of her.
He breathed in another whiff of jasmine. He didn’t think he’d ever smell it again without recalling this moment—of having his arms wrapped around Belle.
She pulled away, and the moment was over as fast as it had started. She lowered her head and sniffed as she swiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry about that.”
What was he supposed to say in response? Did he tell her he didn’t mind her leaning on his shoulder? No. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. He wasn’t interested in her romantically. She was simply a victim whom he was going to do his best to help.
Speaking of the case, they needed to get back to it.
He had her look around the downstairs another time before he followed her upstairs.
When they reached her bedroom, he hesitated.
Even though he was working on a case, it always felt as though he were intruding when he went into a victim’s bedroom.
Still, he stepped through the doorway. The walls were… He stopped and stared at them for a moment. They were the lightest shade of pink. Weren’t they?
A white chest of drawers was over in the corner. There was a box on top of it, perhaps a jewelry box. The bedside tables had lamps on them. The queen-size bed frame matched the rest of the furniture. There was a white duvet with a red rose pattern.
The part that he hadn’t anticipated was the mess. There were discarded clothes tossed across the bottom of the bed, as though she’d gotten up that morning and hadn’t been sure what to wear. So she’d tried on and discarded outfit after outfit until she found the right one.
On the floor beneath the discarded clothes were various shades of high heels lying on their sides—again she couldn’t make up her mind about what to wear.
Closer to the closet, he noticed a pair of black knee-high boots also discarded.
It seemed that Belle wasn’t a decisive person—unless it came to him.
She’d definitely made her mind up about him, and it was not positive.
“They’ve been through all of my drawers.” Belle’s voice drew him from his thoughts.
“Are you sure?” After all, the room wasn’t the neatest.
“Of course, I am.” She frowned at him.
“Don’t touch them. Let me see if they checked them for fingerprints.” He contacted his deputies who were still outside. They’d found footprints and tracks that looked like they belonged to an ATV as well as a partially open window with the latch broken.
After he finished his conversation with the deputies, he turned to Belle. “We should go downstairs.”
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you downstairs.”
“No. I want you to tell me now.” She pressed her hands to her rounded hips.
“Fine. They found footprints and tracks that most likely belong to an ATV.” He didn’t know what sort of reaction to expect from her. To his surprise, she appeared to take it in stride.
“Any sign of Odie?”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m afraid not. Let’s go downstairs until they have a chance to print this room.”
He stood off to the side of the doorway in order for her to take the lead. However, he must not have stepped far enough out of the way because her shoulder brushed against him. And then he got another intoxicating whiff of her jasmine scent.
How had he ignored her beauty all of this time? Maybe it was that they’d been sparring with each other for so long he never took the time to see her in any other way.
And now wasn’t the time to see her as a beautiful, desirable woman. Right now, he needed to stay focused on this break-in and the dognapping. He never had a case quite like this one.
As they made their way downstairs, questions came to him. “Do you know who is overly fond of your dog?”
“No.”
“Maybe a family member? Or friend?”
At the bottom of the steps, she came to a halt and turned on him. Her fine brows were drawn together in a formidable look. “I don’t have any close family. And none of my friends would have done it either.”
Her frown didn’t intimidate him, but he was relieved to see the fire come back to her eyes. “So, you believe whoever broke in here is a stranger to you?”
“Yes, I do.”
He was willing to go along with this thinking to a certain point. Because his training dictated that he started with her inner circle and worked his way outward. However, he didn’t want the conversation to stop now that he’d gotten her to start talking.
“If it was a stranger, what do you think they wanted?”
She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “My dog.”
He nodded. “I understand that, but they wanted something more. They wouldn’t have searched your house if all they wanted was the dog. Think. Is there something valuable you have?”
The stubborn frown remained on her face. “Trust me. There’s nothing valuable in this house.”
“There has to be something here for them to break in. What do you know about the dog?”
Her brows rose. “Are you thinking that the original owner wanted him back?”
Parker shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just throwing around ideas.”
“I don’t know the dog’s history. He came from Ohio as a stray.”
Suddenly, he realized what was going on with the dog. “Is he one of the strays that Candi brought to town?”
Belle nodded. “Yes. But it was Merry Kringle that matched me with Odie. At the time, I didn’t even want a pet until I met him. We instantly bonded. And now…” Her voice cracked with emotion. “I just don’t understand why anyone would take him.”
He made a note to speak to Candi Goodman and Merry Kringle. Maybe they could tell him more about Odie.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He didn’t usually make promises when he had absolutely no idea how he would resolve the issue, but there was something about Belle that had his mouth offering a promise he didn’t know if he could deliver.
It took a while longer for the deputies to print the upstairs.
In the meantime, Belle went through the downstairs to see if she could uncover anything that was missing.
Aside from Odie, everything appeared to be there.
Maybe it was something small, and it would take her a bit of time to notice it was missing.