Chapter 5 #2
Daniel was calling in the new incident to Peter. Then he said to Roxie, “I need to take Selena to the storage unit to see if anything is missing. I don’t want anyone here who is unprotected in case the men return. I’ll help her with the rest of her merchandise.”
“All right, but if you need more muscle, my brothers can provide it,” Roxie said.
“Thanks, Roxie,” both Daniel and Selena said.
Selena was glad that Daniel was also concerned about Roxie’s welfare.
Then Roxie left, and Selena locked up her store.
“Has this anything to do with you following them?” Daniel asked, sounding worried.
“You know that case that I told you about where my distant cousin was murdered by her ex-husband? Those were the man’s sons.”
“Ahh, hell. So they believe you’re responsible for putting their father away in prison.”
“Yes. He’s appealing his conviction, but it’s a solid case. I doubt he can get off.”
“So what do they want you to do about it?”
“They didn’t say. I suspect they weren’t sure what to do. When you called, they wouldn’t let me answer it. I told them you were a deputy sheriff and that you were coming to see me. So I think that spooked them.”
“Good. But I hated to learn they were here, harassing you.”
“Do you think they’re the ones who broke into my storage unit?”
“Yeah. We’ll have to match up their scents with the men in your shop, who were the same ones I confronted.
Your storage unit was the only one broken into, and they tampered with the security cameras, disabling them, so we don’t have any surveillance footage.
But smelling their scents at the location will be enough. ”
“Great.”
“On a brighter note, do you want to have dinner with me at my place tonight?"
She smiled. “Yes. I would love it. That’s the problem with staying at a hotel without a private kitchen or a restaurant. You have to leave the hotel to eat out all the time. So a home-cooked meal would be great.”
“How about beef stroganoff made from scratch?”
“Yes, it sounds delightful.” She was glad he could cheer her up after the confrontation with the brothers.
They arrived at Selena’s storage unit, where yellow crime scene tape had been strung up. The bastards had broken a set of her mother’s dishes and rifled through files, probably looking for documentation to discredit her testimony on the witness stand.
“I’m sorry about the dishes.”
“There wasn’t any reason to break them.” Her eyes misted with tears. “But I definitely smell the three men’s scents.”
“Yeah, it’s them.”
She noted another box of files had been taken, related to other cases. They probably had gotten spooked about staying too long at the storage unit and figured they would look through the files somewhere else, where they wouldn’t get caught.
“One box of files is missing, but nothing related to their dad’s case.”
“Why not take the box of files that has their dad’s case in it?”
“I imagine they were nervous about being caught and quickly rifled through it, but didn’t see it. So they left it behind.”
“Okay. That makes sense. I often overlook something I’m trying to find when I’m in a hurry, and it’s right there.”
“Yeah, me too. Then, thinking it wasn’t in the first box, they grabbed the second one, believing it would have the information. But the thing of it is, all that information I had on their dad was shared at the trial.”
“They’re vengeful amateurs.” Daniel took photos of her broken dishes and the box with the files that had been rifled through. “Do you need anything from here since we’re here?”
“We’ll take the file for their dad’s case to safeguard, and I have three boxes of fall and Halloween decorations I can use to decorate my shop further.”
“All right. Which ones?”
She pointed them out, then he helped her haul the boxes to his SUV. “I’m concerned that since the men know where your household goods are, and they know about your shop, they could know that you’re staying at the Silver Town Hotel.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” she asked.
“That you stay at my place?”
That’s what she figured he would say. “All right.” He was a deputy sheriff after all. And she could cook at his house so she wouldn’t have to eat out all the time. She would thoroughly enjoy his company further.
He looked surprised that she would so readily agree. “Really?”
“Of course, I feel pretty safe at the hotel, but after the men confronted me at my shop, broke into my storage unit, and knowing they are the hit-and-run drivers, I would feel safer at your place, with you.”
“I’ll have someone park your vehicle somewhere safe and out of sight.
You can duck down when I take you home. Someone will be at the shop while you’re there, and we’ll have someone drive by it periodically to make sure it’s not vandalized or broken into when you’re not.
I still can’t imagine why they would believe only you had anything to do with putting their dad behind bars.
The prosecuting attorney, police detectives, other medical experts, and witnesses would all have had a say in it. ”
“I know. Unless they tried to intimidate the others involved in putting their father behind bars already. Are you sure you’re ready to have an overnight guest for a while?”
“Are you kidding? I’m delighted.”
“Okay, good. We’ll need to drop by the hotel so I can check out.”
“I’ll have one of the deputies do it so if the men are watching the hotel, they won’t know you’re leaving there.”
“Oh, good idea.” She wasn’t really thrilled about having someone pack her things, but she understood the reason. “I’ll give the ladies a call then.” When she called them, Laurel was horrified.
“Should we be worried?” Laurel asked as Selena put the call on speakerphone.
“Not as long as Selena isn’t there, but Peter will make sure you ladies are safe,” Daniel said.
It helped that Peter was married to Meghan MacTire, though the sheriff’s department staff was bound and determined to keep everyone safe in Silver Town.
“I need to give Peter an update on everything,” Daniel said.
“So Selena’s the target,” Laurel said.
“Right. The three men involved were also driving the hit-and-run car,” Selena said.
“Oh, no,” Laurel said.
“I’ll explain everything later, but someone will come and pack up my things, and I’ll be staying at Daniel’s place.”
“We’ll pack for you and give it to whoever comes for it,” Laurel said.
“Only the good guys.”
Laurel chuckled. “That goes without saying.”
“We’re going back to the store to unload some more decorations. I have those that are for just appearances. I’m not selling them.”
“Your own collection then. You'd better put them out of reach.”
“I am, and I’ll put a sign up saying not for sale.”
Then they ended the call, and Daniel drove her to the shop.
While there, he took pictures of her broken jack-o’-lanterns before they unloaded the boxes of Halloween and fall decorations from his SUV.
Before she could even start unpacking them, she began getting calls from everyone—all the ladies who had approved her application for the store, and both Darien and Lelandi, who were concerned about her feeling threatened.
Also, Peter, who told her he had deputies scheduled to watch her store and storage unit throughout the night. Brett, who told her he would change the time for seeing her, if she needed a later time, and people she hadn’t even met yet.
“Wow, I didn’t know belonging to a pack had so many perks,” she told Daniel as he cleaned up the broken shards of the jack-o’-lanterns. “Thanks for that.” She opened the boxes containing the Halloween decorations.
“Yeah. We all have each other’s backs.” Then he emptied the decorations from the boxes onto the check-out counter.
“We’ll put those up on the highest shelf where I would need a ladder to reach.” She began making a sign that read: "Personal Items Not for Sale."
He pulled a ladder over to the shelves, and she began handing him the items.
“Your boss is going to fire you for missing work so much.” She worried about him taking off so much time from work.
“Nah. You’re the key to the hit-and-runs and the break-in at your storage unit and the threats to you at your shop. Even if I weren’t dating you, one of us would have been here safeguarding you.”
“Okay. That makes me feel better.” She was amazed by the service they provided here. If she had been back in Fort Wayne, no one would have safeguarded her like this.
Once they finished placing all her special personal decorations on the top shelf, out of reach of customers, he put her sign there, stating they were not for sale. Then Brett arrived.
Perfect. Just in time for picture taking.
Brett took some pictures from outside and several from inside her shop. And then he took some photos of her at the check-out counter, smiling. “Perfect. I’ll develop these and then place them in the ad. Lelandi’s having posters made that will be left off at each business also.
“Oh, wow, that’s great.”
Brett disappeared around the corner, and Selena wrapped her arms around Daniel without warning.
"The shop is really coming together, isn't it?
" she said, her voice warm against his shoulder. She was nervous about tomorrow and the grand opening, hoping she wouldn’t be overwhelmed or that no one would show up on such short notice.
He enveloped her in his arms and kissed her. “You’ve got a winner.”
She loved how affectionate and upbeat he always was.
She felt a little nervous about going to Daniel's home with him. Should she stay in a guest room if he had one? Or stay with him in his master bedroom if he offered it to her? She wanted to, but she was in unexplored territory here. She never stayed overnight at a boyfriend’s house.
“Do you want to go to my place now?” he asked.
She put some sale signs up for some of her products as an incentive for the grand opening tomorrow. “Yeah. We’re done here.”
Then she got into his SUV and ducked down. He drove for what seemed like forever before he finally pulled into a garage. Did he live way out? Or had he been trying to shake off anyone who might have tried to follow him?
Had anyone followed him?