20. Tripp
Chapter 20
Tripp
I t only takes two slices of pizza and a warm cup of tea for Ivy to fall asleep tucked in under my arm. With the stress from her apartment being broken into, I expected the exhaustion that must have been waiting to claim her. But she gave in to it peacefully in my arms, as it should have been. I’m glad she talked some sense into me. I’m glad she’s here instead of at her parents’ house tonight.
Before us, the flames dance and cast out the only light in this room. I could stay like this all night, holding her while she sleeps. And I’m honestly relieved she fell asleep before I could send her to my room, forcing myself to stay alone on the couch, way too far away from her. With my nose near her hair, I inhale her jasmine vanilla scent, letting it flood my senses. It has an instant calming effect. Tiling my head back, I close my eyes and allow myself to enjoy this moment.
Then she stirs.
Ivy shifts, her head sliding from my chest and coming to rest on my lap instead. She settles into the couch, laying on her side with my leg as her pillow. It’s sweet torture, the intimate way her breath sends warmth through my jeans and into my thigh. I adjust the blanket that slipped off her from the movement and make sure she’s fully covered. Then I reach for my laptop resting on the coffee table and balance it on my other leg. Who says I can’t stay with her and get started on digging up dirt at the same time?
“She doesn’t leave your sight,” I instruct the Taylor family. They stare back at me in confusion, still wearing their sleepwear from the night before. The confusion is fair. The sun has hardly risen, and I’ve just showed up at their house with Ivy—the first thing worthy of raising a red flag. And then before they could question our presence, I explained that the vandal had escalated and gave them orders to essentially babysit the grown women at my side.
“So, what’s going on?” Wes asks, looking between us skeptically.
“My apartment has been broken into, and Tripp is under the assumption I need to be put under house arrest, so I don’t try to chase the culprit down myself.”
“Your… what?”
“Are you okay?”
“When did this happen?”
“It’s no big deal, I’m fine,” Ivy reasons with her family. She slides onto one of the barstools in their kitchen and leans forward over the pristine counter, her head propped up on her hand. “Can someone make coffee?”
“I don’t understand why he hit the same person twice. And why a residence?” her father wonders aloud.
I watch her sigh and duck her head. “That’s actually my fault,” she admits. “Tripp says my place looks like it was tossed. Like the guy was looking for something… Probably the something I took from the last break in—evidence he accidentally left behind at my store that night.”
“Ivy Taylor,” her father scolds, frustration peppering his strong tone. I stay standing across from them all, my hands in my pockets, waiting for the scolding to come my way. I haven’t kept her safe, I haven’t done my job.
“Stop, I know. Tripp already gave me an earful and took the evidence from me.”
“He should have busted you for such a stupid move,” her brother scoffs.
“Let’s just say, I’ve been warned.” She turns to me, guilt in her eyes. “And now he has to go clean up the mess I caused by doing it. But what I don’t understand is how the vandal knew I had it.”
“That’s not for you to figure out, dear,” Ruth says, crossing the room to give my arm a squeeze. “Thank you, Tripp. For all that you are doing. I’ll make that coffee; can you stay for a cup?”
“Wait, were you at home when they broke in? Why’d they do it in the morning?”
There is the question I was hoping to avoid. Because it will lead to the admission that Ivy slept at my house last night. I open my mouth to respond to my friend when she beats me to it.
“It was during the night. I was with Tripp, giving my statement and all of that.”
Her lie causes an invisible knife to twist in my gut. Not only am I deceiving the people that have always welcomed me with open arms, but I’m also forcing her to deceive them too.
“I’ll take a raincheck on the coffee,” I say hurriedly. Then turning to Ivy, I add, “Stay with your family. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I want to reach for her, kiss her goodbye. Tell her I’m only being this demanding because I care about her more than anything in this world. Instead, I offer a nod to the Taylor family and leave with my hands still safely tucked into my pockets.
It’s time to focus.
It’s time to find Reid.
I lean against the wall and cross my arms as Millie leads Reid through the station. He spots me, his eyes pinched with anger. “Really, Sheriff? I ask your girl to get a drink and you have your little deputy haul my ass from bed? You realize I’m a lawyer, right?”
Silent, I turn and step into the room behind me. I’ll be observing from behind the mirror. Millie can run with the questions until we have enough to actually arrest him. For now, he was simply asked to come in for a chat. She guides him into the interview room and motions towards a chair. “Have a seat, Mr. Delaney.”
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”
“I’m sure you heard about the break in at The Open Book a few weeks back, seeing as you work with a relative of the owner.”
“The Open Book? Oh, is that the name of Ivy’s shop?”
“It sure is. And, it strikes me as odd that the break-in occurred so closely after the owner turned you down. Then yesterday, she turned you down again and her apartment was broken into.”
My jaw is clenched so tight it might snap at this rate. I ball my hands into fists and pace on my side of the mirror.
“And it’s my understanding, those are the only two times you have had contact with Ms. Taylor,” Millie continues plainly. She’s perfectly even tempered, with the right amount of accusation in her tone.
“Weird coincidence,” Reid replies. But he’s more cautious in his own tone now. Maybe he’s worried about what I could have found on him, what’s coming next.
“I don’t believe in coincidences. And neither does my boss. He does believe in doing his research, though. And it seems that you have a history of reacting poorly when a woman says no to you.”
Reid shifts in his chair, his glare rising towards what he knows isn’t a true mirror. Towards where he knows I’m watching. “Tell your boss that I have no clue what you mean.”
“That’s okay, I have the cases right here,” she says, opening the folder before her. “Let me refresh your memory. When you were in college, you were accused of following a girl home from a party. According to this, you tried to bust down the door of her apartment when she locked you out.”
My blood is boiling, hearing her recount his history. I might have read this already, but it’s entirely different to hear it as the asshole sits in front me. How the fuck could Howard hire this guy?
“That was a misunderstanding, and nothing formal was ever filed. What, did that little scrap of paper come from campus security?” he scoffs.
“The second time though,” Millie continues, “occurred just one year prior. At your last place of employment, a fellow lawyer reported that you cornered her in her office and laid hands on her without consent. Now she’s a partner and you’re starting over in a new town. Pity.”
“Again, nothing formal was ever charged. Pure hearsay.” His words sound confident, but his voice falls flat. He can’t have his employer help him out of this one, because it involves that employer’s daughter.
“Do you have a dock at Foxport Harbor?” Millie asks.
“I’m sure you already know the answer to that,” Reid replies drily.
“Can you show me your key?”
“I don’t have it on me, it didn’t seem like something I should grab to come to a sheriff’s department. My bad.”
“You can go for now. I’ll have another deputy follow you home to get that key,” Millie says, rising from her chair. “Oh and Mr. Delaney? I’d advise you to stay away from Ivy Taylor.”
I remain in the observation room as Millie leads Reid through the lobby. I’m not worried since that other deputy is already outside waiting to tail him. Checking my watch, I contemplate sending Millie to get Jackson now or waiting till tomorrow. I spent most of my time last night digging for something on Reid, and it paid off. But if it is him, then this has no connection to the other instances of vandalism. And I’m starting to like Jackson for those.
Or all of them, I can’t rule that possibility out. And if we go after him without having something to scare him with, it could blow our chances. Stepping out of the observation room, I round the corner to my office next door and sink down into my chair.
“That guy is seriously the worst,” Millie opens with, stepping into my office. “I wish we could arrest him for being a prick.”
“You and me both,” I snort.
Crossing her arms, she leans in the doorway, a smirk forming on her lips. “And is it safe to assume that you took care of Ivy last night? She was on the top of your to-do list?”
“Don’t say it like that.”
She smiles wider, and taking a mockingly innocent tone, says “I just mean, I can cross getting her statement off of my to do list, right?”
“Yes, you can cross that off your list.”
“Good, I’m glad. In that case, what’s next? Jackson?”
A yawn halts my response. I never got around to sleeping last night. It took hours to uncover all the buried documents on Reid. And by the time I finished, dawn was creeping in. I spent the remaining time lounging back and enjoying the sight of Ivy asleep on me. She had looked peaceful, at ease. And at some point, one of her hands made its way up to curl around my thigh and tuck under her chin.
“Maybe the café before we jump back into things?”
“Coffee first,” I agree, rising from my seat and following her out the door. If I have any chance in hell of getting back to my girl at a decent time, I’ll need all the help I can get.