Chapter 4 #2
“I was going to tell you not to put yourself out until you said you were making chocolate chip cookies.”
He laughed. “They’re the only cookies I know how to make.”
“They’re the only ones you need to know how to bake, as far as I’m concerned.”
They ordered their meals, and not long after, the waitress delivered them to their table.
Everything smelled so good. Selena dug right in.
“So what’s been your most harrowing case while you’ve been a deputy sheriff?” she asked.
“We had a shoot-out with three bank robbers in town. Peter and I were hit, but along with the other deputies and some wolves Peter had deputized, we managed to take them down. We have several citizens who are deputized to help in situations like that.”
“Oh, wow, I imagine that was harrowing. I’m glad you both were okay.”
“Yeah, it took a while to heal from our bullet wounds. I had nightmares about it for months. What about you?”
“Seeing remains that were a distant cousin’s was pretty shocking to me.
Her ex-husband had shot and killed her because he didn’t want her to have half of the proceeds of the house, bank accounts, and other properties, I later discovered.
I believe he didn’t want to let her go, either.
I never knew them, but her DNA proved she was my cousin. ”
“That had to be eerie. What happened to the ex?”
“It was eerie. He ended up in prison for life with no possibility of parole.”
“If she’s a cousin, is she a wolf?”
“Yeah. He was human. I did a background search on her and found she’d been married to a wolf.
When he died, her family said she’d vowed never to mate another wolf.
She’d been loyal to his memory.” She exhaled and said, “I finished up that case two weeks ago. I was ready for a break and a different place to live. At least I’ve never been shot at over my job, though I’ve been threatened about my findings and stalked a few times. ”
“Not if I’d been there.”
“It would have been nice to have known you then. I didn’t think I would have anything to worry about in a wolf-run town.”
Daniel shook his head. “We still have criminal elements, both wolf and human, come through town.”
“Just like everywhere.”
“Exactly. Are the stalkers a reason for you moving?”
“Yeah.”
“If you had issues like that here, you would have the support of the entire pack to deal with them.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said, so glad she had moved here.
They finished dinner, and she checked out the lodge’s gift shop to make sure she didn’t duplicate what they were selling. Mostly, they carried ski clothes and ski ornaments.
Then Daniel took Selena to her shop where she’d left her car.
“Thanks so much for dinner.” She kissed him.
He kissed her back. “My pleasure. If you need me to help you further at all, just let me know.”
“I will. Thanks.” Then she went inside her shop to put away some more merchandise. Afterwards, she called Brett. “Hey, this is Selena, and I want to put an ad in the paper for the grand opening of my shop.”
“We were just waiting for the information on time and date, and it will be front page news, courtesy of the Silvers.”
“Oh, wow, thanks. That would be great. Saturday between 2 PM and 4 PM.”
“You got it. I’ll run by and take a picture of your shop tomorrow, if you’ll have it ready by then.”
“I will. Thanks!”
“I’ll be over around three to give you time.”
“Okay, perfect.”
Then she called Daniel. “I’m having the grand opening on Saturday from 2-4. Brett’s having an ad run in the paper.”
“We’ll all spread the word.”
“Thanks, well, I’m just wrapping up some more decorating before I call it a night. Brett is coming over at three tomorrow so I need to make sure that everything is ready for picture time.”
“If you need me, let me know.”
“Okay.” But she didn’t want to bother him with decorating the shop when he had a job to do.
She finally finished what she wanted to do and broke down the boxes. She would take them out tomorrow. She would have finished her work, but tonight she felt spooked about going out into the dark alley since all the other shops around her were closed for the night.
Then she closed shop, locked the door, and was perfectly pleased the way things were going.
She sighed. She really needed a box of clothes out of her storage unit because the weather was getting colder than she had expected.
And in one of the boxes, she had a Greek Princess Andromeda dress with lots of gold trim, inspired by the mythological woman, which she would wear at the shop on Halloween.
She hopped in her car and headed over to the storage units. In the middle of the various sizes, hers being one of the larger ones for her household goods, she unlocked her unit's door.
And thought she saw the black Mazda with a couple of dents where it had been in an accident or two, parked outside the gate for the storage units. The hit-and-run vehicle?
Her heart pounding, she locked the storage unit, loaded the box of clothes into her car, and called Daniel, but then the vehicle took off. She left the storage unit area and started following the car so she could keep Daniel apprised of the situation.
“What do you need?” Daniel asked, sounding cheerful to hear her voice.
“Sorry to bother you, but I might have found your hit-and-run car.”
“Where?”
“At the storage units. It was just parked there outside the gates. It is a black Mazda and has two damaged fenders. Not badly.”
“I’m on my way with the troops.”
“He just turned on north on Pine Street.”
“Tell me you’re not following him.”
“I am. So hurry up and…”
“Selena?”
Her skin chilled. “I have to pull off. They’re slowing down. I think they realize I’ve been following them.”
“Shit. Selena, find a lighted area where there’s traffic and people.”
“I’ll go to the service station.” People would be there, and it would be well-lit.
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
“You’re supposed to follow the Mazda.” She wanted him to catch the menace!
“The other guys will. I want to make sure they don’t follow you to the service station.”
“All right.”
When she pulled into the service station, she parked by the store. Daniel came rushing up with his police car’s lights flashing.
She just hoped the guys weren’t watching all this while the others were trying to chase down their car.
She got out of her car, and Daniel joined her, giving her a warm embrace. “What were you thinking?"
“I saw the car and wanted to follow him until you could locate him and arrest him. Anyone would have done what I did to help the police.”
He shook his head. “It’s late at night. These guys are unpredictable. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll escort you to the hotel.”
“Thanks.”
When they arrived at the hotel, he carried her box of clothes to her room upstairs, then they kissed goodnight, and she knew they were bound to continue dating, the way she felt about him.
It helped that he was interested in everything she was doing—looking through cemeteries at night, running a shop, and even her past as a forensic anthropologist. And she loved that he was a deputy sheriff, and that he enjoyed cooking and gardening.
She just hoped the driver of the Mazda she’d been following didn’t realize she’d been after him and that she had reported him to the police!