Chapter 2
Brandon’s day had startedpretty damn well. With images of a certain brown-haired, green-eyed pixie consuming his thoughts, he didn’t think his day could go south.
Boy was he wrong.
Immediately after he left Carly’s place, a call had come through his walkie talkie that there had been a burglary at The Rinky Dinky down in the center of town.
As acting police chief of Cedarville, he was required to be on the scene of all crimes.
He hadn”t asked to be acting chief but when Chief Dodd had a heart attack earlier in the winter, he was next in line until the town could hold an election.
And he knew from living there all his life, that this town didn’t do anything fast.
Foregoing changing his clothes, he drove directly to the center of town. There were more people than normal milling around which told him that everyone wanted to know what had happened.
He made his way to The Rinky Dinky and met up with one of his deputies. “What the hell happened, Tim?”
“Don’t really know, sir.”
Brandon gave the deputy – and his friend of almost twenty years – a dirty look. “What the hell have I told you about calling me that?” Brandon hated being called sir, especially by his friends. It made him feel older than his already thirty-three years of age.
“Sorry,” Tim said.
“Tell me what you know?” They walked side-by-side toward the store.
“From what we can figure, someone hit the place after midnight but before four.”
“Was someone here until midnight?”
“Not here, but Mike and Sally were both at the diner until just after midnight and the store was still intact.”
Brandon looked at the front of The Rinky Dinky and saw what Tim was talking about. The window had been broken and there was glass everywhere. Mike and Sally would absolutely have noticed that when they’d left the diner since the diner was right next door and they always walked by The Rinky Dinky to get to their cars in the lot at the end of the block.
“And at four?” Brandon asked.
“Betty was opening the bakery for the day and she happened to look over and see the broken window.”
Betty was the owner of For the Love of Sugar, the town’s one and only bakery and, in Brandon’s opinion, the best bakery this side of the Mississippi.
“So we have four hours where no one saw what happened?”
“That’s not completely true si–Brandon.” Tim corrected himself quickly.
“For the love of God, just tell me who saw what.” Brandon loved Tim like a brother but damn if he didn’t take forever to get to the point.
“Mr. Clarkson was out with his dog around three and saw a silver midsize car drive by with New York plates.”
Brandon froze in place. “A silver car?” he asked. Wasn’t the car that Leah drove silver? It for sure had New York plates since Carly had told him that she had driven in from New York.
“That’s what Mr. Clarkson said.”
He didn’t know Leah, not from Adam. But he didn’t want to think that the pint-sized pixie could be the culprit here.
“What was taken?”
“That’s the strange thing,” Tim said. “As far as we can tell, nothing.”
“Nothing?” he asked, not sure he heard Tim correctly.
“Nada.”
Forcing thoughts of Leah from his mind, he got busy examining the case.
By the end of the day, he was turned so inside out that he couldn’t believe that just that morning he had been thinking of maybe, possibly finding a way to ask Leah out. And now here he was on his way to interview her as a suspect in a burglary that wasn’t really a burglary.
They’d found no evidence that anything had been taken and it seemed like the only damage was the broken window. And other than Mr. Clarkson, no one else in town had seen or heard anything.
When he pulled up to Carly’s house he noticed Leah’s silver Malibu still sat where she had parked it last night. He pulled his truck in beside it and parked.
He was dreading this. And not just because she was the first woman in a long while who stirred things inside him that had long since been dormant, but because Leah was Carly’s friend and Carly was not going to take this well.
Walking up to the front door he kept going over what he was going to say in his mind. He wanted to come across as friendly and helpful, not accusing.
Normally he would just walk in but today, for this, he felt the need to knock. A few seconds later he heard footsteps and then the door opened.
And thankfully it was his cousin Carly standing in front of him.
“Why the hell did you knock?” she asked with a shocked look on her face.
“Can you step out here so we can talk for a second?”
“Uh oh,” she said. “Someone has his official cop face on.”
“Please,” he added. He really wanted to go over this with her first before he met with Leah.
She closed the door behind her and they both sat down on the swing.
Not sure where to start he said, “The Rinky Dinky was broken into last night.”
“Oh no,” she said, eyes wide. “Is anyone hurt?”
“No and nothing was stolen either. The perp just smashed the window.”
“Well that’s good at least.”
He chose his next words carefully. “I need to ask you about Leah?”
Her mouth formed a perfect O. “What? Why?”
“Someone saw her car drive by during the hours that the window could have been broken.”
“Of course she drove by.” She stood up. “She got into town after three and that road is the only way in or out.”
She was pissed. “Calm down, Carly. I’m not accusing her but I do need to ask her some questions.”
“It sure sounds like you’re accusing her, Brandon. What the fuck!” She turned and paced away from him. “You were the one who saw her when she got here. Did she seem like she had just smashed in a window?”
He stood too. “Of course she didn’t, but I have to follow up on all leads. You know that.”
Carly turned back to face him, a little calmer now. “I need to talk to her first. She’s had a rough few months and this could put her over the edge.”
“I can’t let you talk to her alone,” he said, hating how the words sounded coming from his mouth.
“So now you don’t trust me?”
“Goddammit!” he swore. “None of this is easy for me and I am just trying to do the best damn job that I can. Don’t make me the bad guy here, Carls.”
She sighed and walked past him, opening the front door. “Come on then. Let’s go talk to Leah.”
Brandon knew that was Carly’s way of saying she was sorry. He followed her inside and they found Leah in the kitchen cooking something that smelled better than anything he’d eaten in months.
“Hey Leah,” Carly said. “You remember my cousin Brandon from last night.”
“Hey,” she said, turning and he finally got a good look at the face that had been front and center of his thoughts all day.
A face that was more beautiful in the light of day making him question how the hell he was going to do this.
“That smells great,” he said, indicating to whatever she was cooking.
“Thanks.”
“Anyway,” Carly said. “He has some questions for you and I want you to know that I’m going to be here the whole time.”
“What kind of questions?”
Before he could speak Carly took over. “It seems there was a break-in at one of the stores in town last night and it was near the time you drove through.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Why would you need to ask me questions?” She looked at him.
“I’m the chief of police,” he answered.
“You’re the chief of police?” she asked, concern in her voice.
“Yeah.”
She gave a little laugh and closed her eyes. “That is just my luck,” he heard her say under her breath.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” he asked.
She shook her head. “So obviously Carly told you about my past and you”re here because you what, think I broke in and stole some cash?”
He didn’t know which part of that sentence to focus on first: the part about her past or the part about stolen cash.
“Leah I didn’t tell him anything,” Carly said vehemently. “I told you I wouldn”t and I haven’t broken that promise.”
“Someone needs to tell me what is going on so that I can do my job.”
Leah dropped her head into her hands. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“Leah,” Carly said, moving in front of her, “this is not a bad idea. You needed change and to get out of New York. This is the best option and honestly, I’m grateful. I’m so excited to have you here.”
Leah looked up at Carly. “This is going to follow me everywhere I go.”
“Look at me?” Carly said. “You are not the bad guy here. You did nothing wrong and eventually everyone will realize that. Until then, you just have to stay strong.”
“When did you become all wise and shit?” She laughed.
“I’ve always been wise and shit,” Carly said back. “Now go sit down and talk to Brandon. I promise you,” she turned and glared at him, “that he will not be a jerk.”
“Might as well get this over with,” he heard Leah say before she walked into the living room. She sat on the couch and he sat opposite her on a chair.
He wanted to ask her about the past she had mentioned and that Carly obviously knew about. But not knowing if it was relevant, he wasn’t really able to.
He cleared his throat. “As Carly said, there was a break-in at a store in town last night. It happened somewhere in the hours between midnight and four. Since I know you got in a little after three and a witness saw your car drive by, I just wanted to find out if you saw anything.”
She hadn’t been looking at him while he talked but when he finished, she looked right into his eyes. “That’s it? You just want to know if I saw anything?”
“For now yeah.” He stopped and realized that he needed to be honest with her. “Here’s the thing, Leah. You’re new in town. Nobody but Carly and Melanie know you and on the same night you drive through town we have a break-in. This town hasn’t had a break-in in like fifteen years.” He put up his hand to stop her from talking because he could tell she wanted to butt in. “And I am not saying you are involved. But if you were me, wouldn’t you feel like you had to dig a little deeper?”
He saw a slight side-to-side shake of her head. “You make a good point. Go ahead and ask all your questions. I’ll answer them.”
Relieved he asked. “What time did you leave New York?”
“Around six,” she answered. “I texted Carly right as I was getting in my car.”
Figuring he could check with Carly on the exact time, he went on. “And did you make any stops along the way?”
“As soon as I got out of the city, I stopped for gas. I have the receipt in my purse.”
“And about how long was that after you left?”
“Maybe an hour,” she shrugged.
“Any more stops?”
“I stopped at a McDonald”s somewhere along the way and I know it was before eleven because I remember being thankful they were still open inside so that I could go to the bathroom. I should have that receipt, too.”
“That’s it then?” he asked.
“I stopped one more time for gas and I know I was in Ohio but I am not sure where. Again,” she said, “I have the receipt.”
“I’ll have you get those in a minute,” he told her. “Do you remember what time you drove through town?”
She nodded. “I do and only because I was having a conversation with myself.” She looked him directly in the eyes. “And yeah I talk to myself sometimes and this time was about how this was going to be my home now.”
“And you didn’t stop at all?”
“No.” She pursed her lips. “I had my GPS on but since I have been here twice before and it’s a pretty small town, I vaguely remembered where I was going.”
“You’ve been here before? To Cedarville?” This was news to him. He had lived in Cedarville all his life except for the four years he’d gone away to school.
“Yeah,” she said. “The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college and again for Spring break junior year.”
He quickly did the math in his head figuring that she was the same age as Carly which made her five years younger than him. He figured she must have been in town the week he was away at the academy the first time but the Spring Break one he couldn’t place. Something to think about later.
Continuing with his questioning he asked, “And then you pulled in here?”
“Yep. And you know the story from there.”
“And you don’t remember seeing anything when you drove through town. Nothing weird or out of place?”
“I hate to tell a cop that I wasn’t paying attention, but honestly...I wasn’t paying attention. I was sorta in my own little world.”
“Okay then.” He stood. “If you could get me those receipts, I’ll leave you to your dinner.”
She didn’t stand, instead, she just sat there twisting her hands in her lap. “That’s it? You’re not gonna ask about my past?” She looked up at him through long lashes.
“Is it relevant to this?”
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and nodded. “I’m pretty sure it might be.”
Those were not the words he wanted to hear but he sat back down, prepared to listen.