Thirty
Sunlight crept into the office and the warm glow filled Eliza’s eyelids. She stirred under the blanket, pulling it over her chin before yawning and opening her eyes.
Her night in the old recliner had gone by quickly. She’d had no dreams, just darkness and rest. She rose, stretching, and picked up the towel and bag of toiletries her mom had brought the night before. Slipping on her shoes, she headed into the chilled morning air.
Two buildings down from the office were the nearly finished short-stay rooms. She snuck into the first one, her footsteps echoing in the empty space. There was no furniture yet but, according to Joey, the hot water heaters had been replaced the week before and were in working order.
She turned on the shower and stood beneath it until the mirrors fogged with steam.
After getting dressed, she returned to the office and packed her things. There was a text waiting from her mom.
Good morning, sweetheart! I hope you had some rest. Let me know when you’re awake and I’ll come by!
The birds sang and the waves crashed. She wouldn’t be stuck in prison forever. She believed that. She had to.
No need. I’m calling the Chief now. Don’t worry! It’s all going to work out!
She hit send, then immediately called the San Juan County Police non-emergency number. A woman answered.
She took a shaky breath. “Hi. My name is Eliza Dennet and there is a warrant out for my arrest.”
It came out just like she’d practiced.
“Hold please,” said the flat voice. “I’ll transfer you.”
The line clicked and Chief Hank answered. “Eliza! I was told to expect your call.”
“Hi, Chief. This is Eliza Dennet and I have a warrant—”
He cut her off. “I know. I talked to your Granny this morning. She said you’re a rule follower.”
“Uh – yes, I guess so.” She hesitated. She’d planned for more resistance, or at least more urgency. Was it every day people turned themselves in? “Can I give you my coordinates? I’m on Stuart Island. I’m not quite sure how to get back…”
Taking Joey’s phone was perhaps not her brightest idea. She’d forgotten she’d need a ride this morning.
The thought of seeing him made her stomach flip. When he’d thrown her phone into the ocean, she’d thought for a split second they might run away together. The thrill that had run through her then…
“How about I come pick you up?” Chief said.
“That would be great.”
“I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Thank you.”
She put on her coat and waited at the dock, her legs folded beneath her. Sea otters rolled and splashed at the edge of the shore and a pair of seagulls bickered over a fish. It would have been a perfect place to meditate if she weren’t waiting to be arrested.
The police boat first appeared as a silver spot in the distance. Eliza stood and waved. “Over here!”
Chief Hank pulled up to the dock with a hard frown on his face. “Eliza Dennet?”
“Hi, Chief. Yes, it’s me.”
He removed his black aviator sunglasses and squinted at her. “I’m under strict orders to take you for breakfast before placing you under arrest.”
She shook her head. “That’s okay, I don’t need—”
“ Strict orders,” he said firmly, a smile crossing his face. “Hop on.”
“If you’re the Chief Deputy Sheriff,” she asked, carefully stepping onto the boat, “who are you taking orders from?”
He grinned, starting the engine. “I’ll give you one guess.”
They took off and Eliza zipped her jacket shut. Chief Hank pointed out spots of note – a rock where he’d jumped onto an unmoored boat during a storm; the remnants of a house fire where the family goat alerted the family late at night and everyone had gotten out safely.
“I have to say,” he told her, hands in the pockets of his black coat, “I’m impressed with how you solved that bank robbery. You could have a promising career as a detective.”
Eliza turned to him, laughing. “You can’t be serious.”
He kept his eyes straight ahead. “I am.”
She turned back. They were gliding past another island – she wasn’t sure which one. The shores were smooth and graceful, bowing in and out of the sea. “Thanks for that.”
They landed on Lopez Island and had breakfast at a little restaurant where everyone knew Chief. One woman spotted him through the window and came in to yell at him about her chickens disappearing.
“There’s a chicken thief on the island and no one is taking me seriously,” she said before storming out.
Her plate of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon glistened with butter and syrup. She tried to avoid looking at it, taking small bites until Chief was done eating.
On their way out, after they’d finished their meal, the chicken lady caught them again. “You aren’t going to believe this, but my two missing chickens are back! I guess the thief heard you were in town.”
He nodded. “I guess so.”
She handed him a half carton of eggs. “For your troubles, Chief.”
Eliza watched her walk away, the hood of her jacket bouncing with every step. “Do you think she’s the thief?”
“I think her chickens like to go for walks,” he said with a smile. “But you already knew that, didn’t you, Detective?”
Eliza smiled. “Is it time for me to be arrested yet? We’ve had breakfast.”
“What, are you in a hurry?” He raised an eyebrow. “I need to talk to the deputies here. Check on morale. Make some calls.”
What was the point of her trying to rush him? Granny had clearly gotten to him. “No problem. I’ve got all the time in the world.”
After talking to the local deputies, they borrowed a cruiser and investigated a citizen complaint. A man on the eastern side of the island claimed his neighbor was throwing paint onto his deck. Upon investigation, Chief Hank and Eliza determined the paint was, in fact, bird poop.
“Another case closed,” Chief said, dusting his hands off when they got back to the car.
Eliza smiled. “This is fun and all, but I’d really like to be arrested now. Can you please stop stalling and put me out of my misery?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He started the car. “We’ll go back to the boat—how’s that?”
Eliza never thought she’d be relieved about getting arrested, but on the boat ride to San Juan Island, she was finally able to relax. She sat peacefully on the boat, looking out on the water as the sun warmed her face.
She was doing what she was supposed to do. She trusted the FBI would do the same and it would all work out.
Unless, of course, Stacy and Derek found out what she’d been up to and managed to plan a daring escape…
She stood from her seat. There was no point in thinking like that. She’d done all she could do. The rest was out of her hands.
They arrived in Friday Harbor and walked to the police station.
“You’re the least wily criminal I’ve ever had to deal with,” Chief said.
“Really?” she frowned. “I thought I was pretty clever, hiding at the sea pen site.”
He scoffed. “That would been the first place I would’ve looked if I’d ever gotten that warrant on you.”
“You haven’t seen it yet?”
“Fax machine was unplugged. Figure that.” He shrugged, pulling the door to the police station open. “After you.”
She walked in and Chief Hank followed. He stopped to speak to the secretary, then two of the deputies, then a concerned citizen who wanted to report goats grazing on his property.
“I won’t have it, Hank! I just won’t,” the man said, stomping his foot.
Chief nodded, pulling a notepad and pen from his pocket. “Where again did you say this was?”
Eliza leaned in, looking at the notepad. In the center of the page was a sketch of a goat.
She pulled away, biting her lip.
Finally, they got into his office. “Take a seat.”
She did and he sat across from her. Chief sighed, typing on his computer keyboard one finger at time.
He clicked here and there, then sat back and sighed again before punching the red button on his desk phone and dialing a number.
A voice came through on speakerphone. “Agent Burns.”
“Hey, it’s Chief Deputy Sheriff Hank Kowalski over on San Juan Island. I had a warrant for an Eliza Dennet come through yesterday. I have apprehended the fugitive, but I can’t seem to find the warrant in my system.”
“Ah, hang on.” Clicking. Typing. “It’s been canceled. You can release her.”
“Thank you.”
He lifted the phone’s receiver and dropped it with a click. “Looks like you’re free to go.” A phone rang outside the office, the hollow sound filling the room.
Eliza stared at him. “What?”
“I expected you’d be relieved, but I can’t tell you how relieved I am.” He sat back, resting his hands on his belly. “Your Granny said she would gut me like a fish if I arrested you.”
A cold feeling expanded from her stomach and out to her limbs. “Does that mean they got Derek? Is there enough evidence to arrest him?”
Hank shrugged and put his hands up in the air. “No idea! All I know is I get to live another day and not get baked into one of your Granny’s fish pies.”
Eliza put her hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe this.”
“Would you like a ride home?” he asked.
She’d taken up enough of his time. “No. Thank you, though. I’ll just call my mom if that’s okay.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
There was nothing quite like telling a police officer about needing to call her mom to make her feel like a giddy schoolgirl.
She punched in the number and her mom answered with a shaky, “Hello?”
She leapt out of her chair. “Mom! I’m coming home!”
After much squealing, they hung up and Eliza went outside to wait. It took six minutes for her ride to get there.
“I can’t believe you turned yourself in!” Mom yelled through the open window when she pulled up to the police station. “But I’m so happy we can put this all behind us.”
Eliza grinned, hopping into the passenger seat. “I know and I’m sorry. I didn’t want anyone else to get involved.”
“I wanted to fly up there as soon as I got your message, but I couldn’t find Joey.”
“Oh really? Where is he?”
“I don’t know! No one has heard from him all day. Russell was about to rent a water taxi to come and get you.”
Something tightened in her chest. “Do you think he’s okay?”
She waved a hand. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Is the plane at the dock?”
Mom tapped her chin with her finger. “No. It’s missing, too.”
Eliza looked down at her hands. She shouldn’t be surprised he’d taken off after all this craziness, and yet…she was.
She’d held onto hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d forgive her for what she’d said.
She stared out the window and let out a breath.
It didn’t matter. Even if he had forgiven her, it didn’t mean he wanted to change. There was no use trying to change him – or anyone. Joey was someone who had to run away. She had to let him, for her own sanity.
They pulled into the tea shop and Granny came running out in her apron.
“You did it!” She hugged Eliza so tightly she couldn’t breathe.
“I did,” she squeaked.
“Now did Hank arrest you? Because if he did –”
“No, Granny. He stalled for hours. I got a police tour of the island. He even took me to breakfast.”
“It better have been somewhere good,” Granny said, scowling.
Eliza laughed. “It was.”
“Shall we go inside?” Mom said with a smile.
Mackenzie walked out of the kitchen with a teapot in her hands. “My fugitive sister has returned!”
Eliza took a bow. “Thank you. Yes, I am back.”
“Good.” She set the teapot down. “What do you think you’ll do with the reward money?”
She laughed. “I don’t care about the money. I’m just glad not to be in jail.”
“You certainly deserve to get the reward!” Granny said, taking a seat. “If it weren’t for you, Stacy and that man would’ve gotten away with it.”
Mackenzie laughed. “If it weren’t for you darned kids…” She pulled out her phone. “Look at this! I just got a news alert.”
They leaned in and Mackenzie played a video with the headline DISGRACED ATF AGENT ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH STRING OF ROBBERIES.
Eliza gasped. Stacy was front and center, arms handcuffed behind her back, making a sour face at the reporters shouting questions.
“I thought they said there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest her?” Eliza said.
“Guess they figured it out,” Mackenzie said airily. “What do you want to do with your freedom?”
She smiled. “I think…I just want to enjoy a cup of tea.”
Mackenzie locked the door to the tea shop and hung a handwritten sign: Closed today for a family emergency.
For the next two hours, they drank tea and laughed and ate cookies. Eliza was about to open the new peach green tea they’d ordered when they heard a banging at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Mackenzie said, leaping out of her chair.
She returned a moment later. “Mom? Granny? I think we’re needed back at the house.”
They shot each other a look and got up without another word.
“Where are you going?” Eliza narrowed her eyes. “What are you planning?”
Mackenzie pretended to zip her lips closed and winked. They disappeared through the back door and Eliza stood, staring at the mess of a table they’d left behind – napkins, half-drunk tea, and crumbs.
Maybe they were making dinner. Or maybe –
“Hey!”
She spun around.
Joey.
The air left her lungs. He was dressed as though he’d stepped out of her memory, wearing the same thing he’d worn the day they met. The black LL Bean bomber jacket. A gray shirt, dark jeans, and white Nike sneakers with a red swoosh.
The only thing missing were his RayBan sunglasses, which he’d left with her at the sea pen site.
“I have something for you,” he said, holding a finger up. He slipped out the front door and reappeared holding an enormous piece of cardboard almost as wide as he was tall.
Eliza gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. It was a giant check. Handwritten on the check was her name, along with an attempt at a cursive one hundred thousand dollars.
“This isn’t the official check,” he said, frowning. “I picked it up at a novelty store in Seattle. But I did confirm with the bank that they’ll be crediting you for catching the robber.”
She had both hands on her face. “ Joey!”
He looked down at the check and smiled. “My handwriting’s not the best, but I think it gets the idea across.”
“Where have you been?” she blurted, dropping her hands.
He set the check down and propped it against a chair. “I’ve been trying to find a way to show you I’m sorry. And to tell you…” He cleared his throat. “Tell you how much you mean to me.”
Eliza leaned in, squinting at his scrawled handwriting on the check. “You’re the one who wrote ‘aka Elizabeth Bennet’ on here?”
“Yeah.” He opened his mouth, then shut it. “Because ‘I fell in love with you the first day I met you’ wouldn’t fit.”
Her limbs tingled, her fingers almost numb. “I think I need to take a seat.”
Joey rushed forward and pulled out a chair, the wooden legs screeching across the floor. “Please.”
She sat down, the room spinning away.
He took a seat across from her. “I was a jerk.”
She put a hand up. “I accused you of being the bank robber. I get it.”
“You never believed that,” he said with a half smile.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from that smile. “No. I didn’t.”
“You were right, though. I was planning to leave. Fly away, as you eloquently put it.”
“Is that eloquent?”
“It was, and kinder than I deserve. I’ve been running away for years.” He sighed. “Hiding, really.”
Those beautiful green eyes. “Hiding from what?”
He looked down, then back up, locking his gaze. “At first, it was thrilling to go to these places. Life was an adventure, but after a while, it all started to blend together. I wasn’t excited anymore. I wasn’t scared.”
A smile curled on her lips. “You like being scared?”
“I thought I did, but meeting you scared me more than anything; I wouldn’t admit it to myself. I just wanted to run.”
She laughed. “So cliché.”
“Oh, like you aren’t? A brilliant, beautiful prodigy with self-deprecating humor and a knack for catching criminals?”
Her breath hung heavy in her chest. “Beautiful, you say?”
Joey smiled and put his hands on hers. “Yes, beautiful.”
“Hm.” His hand was so warm and so soft. Her mind went fuzzy and all the muscles in her body seemed to melt.
He cleared his throat. “I need to tell you I saw Derek this morning.”
She tilted her head. “Derek?”
“I convinced him I was dating Stacy and she was setting him up to take the fall.”
She gasped. “How did you do that?”
“Just a few photoshopped pictures.” Joey shrugged. “He’s a hothead. It didn’t take much. He turned himself in to get a better deal. Ratted her out.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Joey! What if he’d tried to hurt you?”
“I’m not afraid of old wanna-be poet Derek.”
“But—”
He squeezed her hand. “It was worth it. You’re safe.”
Her face grew hot and tears pricked her eyes. “Thanks,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He flashed a smile. “I had this idea I wasn’t cut out for love. That I’d tried it once and it showed me I was supposed to fly solo.” He shook his head. “I really believed it, and I don’t know what makes me more of a dope – that or giving rides to criminals.”
Eliza scrunched her nose. “Probably the criminal thing.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I was wrong, but I didn’t know it until I met you.”
“You saw me in here and thought, ‘She’ll catch the guy I gave a ride to, I just know it.’”
Eliza smiled at him as he shook his head. Joey put his other hand on top of hers. “Yeah, but I don’t care about any of that. It was just a cover. An excuse to spend more time with you.”
“Ah. So I didn’t have to pretend to be the perfect investigation partner?”
He leaned in. “I just like you, Eliza. I didn’t fall in love with you because you’re perfect. I fell in love with you because you’re you. Everything about you is enough.”
Enough. With one word, a dam inside her chest cracked, the sound of thick timber giving way.
The idea she didn’t have to have a perfect career, a perfect body, a perfect life before someone could love her?
Tears burst from her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.
Eliza leaned into him, closing her eyes and resting on his firm chest. “You smell nice.”
He laughed. “So do you.”
She looked up at him. “You know, you’re going to have to do better than that for our first kiss.”
He grinned down at her. “My apologies.”
She closed her eyes. His lips fluttered onto hers and the room disappeared around them.