Chapter 26 #3
“She is amazing. The people in this town are amazing. Now you, you’re different. You really are incorrigible, but you’re kind of cute so I’ll give you a pass.” Her laugh would always light a fire under me.
“I’ll try not to allow that to get to my head.”
“Please don’t or I’ll need to knock it off.”
At least I had her laughing. Maybe it was best to enjoy her company and leave the heavier conversation until later.
One drink turned into a second along with appetizers. We were both able to relax, even if for only a little while. Yet everything continued to weigh heavily on both our minds. I sensed it in every movement, every flash of her eyes. If only I could take away her pain.
I sat back, noticing the chief of police had arrived, not in his official duty but with his wife.
When he walked in our direction, I was curious if he’d stop since he had finally had an officer come out and take a look at the shed.
I’d also emailed a picture of the boot imprint and had heard nothing.
He broke away from his wife, who moved to a table.
“Steel. Nice to see you. I was going to call you tomorrow,” the chief said.
“Chief Taylor, Violet Livingston.” I nodded toward her.
He smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Ms. Livingston. Don’t worry. All good. Although I was sorry to hear about your Jeep.”
“You’re sure it’s not linked to this gang of kids?” I pressed.
The chief sighed. “Look, I know you think the kids might have been using your shed and potentially even the house Ms. Livingston is living in, but we just don’t have enough evidence. There’s nothing indicating a single identity.”
“And what about the person I saw in the woods?”
He appeared exasperated. “You know as well as I do without a license plate number or a description, finding this person is likely not going to happen.”
Violet narrowed her eyes. “Wait. What makes you think the kids were using my house? And you saw someone in the woods?”
“Yeah. I chased them down, but they got away. That was a couple weeks ago when I went and grabbed Zorro. I thought someone might have been in the house. Maybe I stopped them before they could break in, but I just sensed someone might have gotten inside. Plus, Jasper mentioned the previous tenants had trashed the place. I thought maybe they might be involved. Maybe they left something. Did you see anything?”
She shook her head. “No, but I haven’t had the time to search a couple boxes that I found in a closet. Maybe there’s something of value inside. Why not knock on the door?”
“Maybe they thought you might turn them in.”
“Interesting,” the chief said. “Jasper didn’t really say much about his tenants. However, I’ll have another chat with him. All he said was that the tenants moved out at least a week before Ms. Livingston moved in.”
I remembered Jasper mentioning the timeframe. “Interesting. I swear I noticed lights on days after he thinks they moved out. Just thought of that. They were on when I was called to the big fire in California.”
“Well, there won’t be any fingerprints, but I’ll see if anyone else had a call about the house or did a drive by. If you think of anything else, just drop by the precinct.” The chief nodded to both of us. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she said, immediately leaning over the table. “Why didn’t you tell me you thought someone was inside the house?”
“I didn’t want to worry you since there were no obvious signs other than Zorro was intent on remaining by the front door growling.”
She looked away briefly. “He did that a couple times. Including the night we found him. He just sat by the door and growled. Do you think there’s any chance these kids nicked the wires on the Jeep?”
Another type of ache formed. “If I find out they did, they will suffer.”
She slipped her hand across the table, wrapping her palm around mine. “You should have told me. I might seem fragile to you, but I assure you that I’m not.”
“Lady. You are without a doubt the most resilient woman in the world. Strong too. A little too much for your own good. That’s why I need to keep you under control.”
“If I remained, that’s what you’d do, keep me under control?”
I leaned as far over the table as she was. “Brat, I’d ensure I had full control over you. Every. Sweet. Inch.”
“Mmm… You know how to push a girl’s buttons.”
“Funny, I was just saying that. Well, a guy’s, but you know what I mean.” Damn it. When I heard my phone at this time of night, it usually meant there was a fire I needed to get to. “Hold on.” When I noticed Josie’s number flashing across the screen, my stomach coiled. “Josie. What’s going on?”
“It’s Damon. I don’t know what happened. I just went to the kitchen.” My sister was close to being hysterical.
“Calm down and tell me what’s going on,” I instructed, shifting my grip until I had my hand wrapped around Violet’s. Her eyes were wide, her chest heaving.
“He seemed fine, but after he asked for something, when I returned, he’d left. I did look for him.” Josie moaned.
“Alright. You did the right thing. We’ll be right there.”
“What is it? What’s wrong with my baby? What?” Violet gasped, squeezing my fingers.
“He walked out of the house and Josie can’t find him.”