Chapter 6
Why had she agreed to have dinner with Cal Colton?
Forget that pizza was her favorite food, and she hadn’t indulged in a good restaurant meal in months, since she was trying to pinch pennies.
And forget that he looked as good as homemade sin on a Saturday night, as her college roommate used to say.
He was a cop. Not just any cop. The county sheriff.
No part of this arrangement made sense, given her experiences, both with law enforcement and too-handsome men.
The former were unreliable and left vulnerable people helpless and prey to the wolves of society and the latter were just…
well, window dressing. Self-centered, self-serving and shallow. She’d not make that mistake again.
Yet here she was, devouring a deep-dish pepperoni and mushroom pie with a man who looked like he’d walked off the set of a Hollywood Western…and having a good time. The man really did have the most engaging smile and melodic laugh…
Stop! her brain shouted.
Must. Not. Let. Guard. Down. And especially don’t be sidetracked or fooled by anything as superficial as a handsome face and easy grin. Sheesh, Jules!
“How old is Pilot?” she asked as Cal took a bite of pizza. The dog in question was lying quietly at his master’s feet while they dined at the pet-friendly local pizza joint.
“Ten.”
While he chewed, she queried, “Did you train him or did someone at the sheriff’s department do that?
” The more questions she asked about his dog, the fewer he could ask about her.
And since learning more about Cal was off the table—no sense getting personal with anyone in law enforcement—she had to find safe, neutral topics to pass the time.
“The department found him through a search-and-rescue training facility. I’ve had him since he graduated the program, almost nine years ago.”
She raised her pizza for a bite, and he used the same ploy she had, hitting her with a question when her mouth was occupied. “Do I detect a hint of Canadian accent?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Oh? You’ve spent a lot of time in Canada then?”
She ignored the question for a couple of seconds, hoping he’d move on to another topic if she chewed long enough. When he didn’t, she finally nodded. “About four years.”
“Hmm. What took you to Canada?”
She rolled her eyes. He was acting like this was a blind date, asking all the trivial personal questions and making irritating small talk.
But the pizza was really good, so she supposed she could play along until they finished eating. She sighed and wiped her mouth. “I was there for graduate school. The University of Manitoba.”
His face brightened. “Oh, yeah? What specialty?”
She frowned, hesitating. “Chemistry.”
He pulled a face that said he was pleasantly surprised. “Wow. Impressive. So then what brought you to Red Grove? Why is someone with an advanced chemistry degree working at a tourist gift shop?”
He said it casually, but she detected more than an idle curiosity behind the question.
She plucked a slice of pepperoni off her pizza and popped it in her mouth, trying to think of a way to steer the conversation away from her past, her life choices.
“I have my reasons.” Before he could press her further, she asked, “You mentioned a brother earlier. The one leading the investigation about the dead guy from this morning? Is he your only sibling?”
“No. I have two sisters and three brothers. All younger. What sort of reasons?” he asked, without taking a breath to give her a chance to deflect. “Why not work in the chemistry field if you did all that work to earn an advanced degree?”
“Who says I earned the degree? All I said is that I was at the University of Manitoba for school, that I was specializing in chemistry.” She realized her mistake as soon as she spoke.
Rather than put him off with a sassy retort, she’d intrigued him all the more with her implication she’d not finished the degree program. Dang it!
“Why did you leave early?” he asked. Of course…
Jules gritted her back teeth, frustrated with herself as she decided whether to change the subject, tell him to buzz off or give him a surface understanding of the truth.
The pizza she’d been gobbling now sat like a rock in her belly.
She hated looking at the situation that had brought her to Red Grove too closely.
It broke her heart. And made her blood boil.
And kept her awake at night trying to find a way to correct the situation.
Which she couldn’t. Not by herself. Not without the cooperation of the legal system, which had so far been anything but cooperative.
She dusted crumbs from her hands and lifted her chin as she met eyes the color of copper sulfate. “Why?” Her tone was sharp and loud, and she didn’t care. “I’ll tell you why. Because I had to! Because my sister needed me. I have to protect her, because no one else will! That’s why.”
She knew she’d attracted the attention of the diners seated around them.
Even Pilot had lifted his head and given a small whine and head tilt.
But she only cared about the reaction of the man across the table from her.
Technically, he was one of them—a member of the profession that had so failed her and Abby for years and contributed to her sister’s fragility.
Cal put down his slice of pizza and leaned back in his chair, a cocktail of sympathy and curiosity brewing in his gut.
The scorn in her tone was plain enough, but there was an edge of something else.
Grief? Fear? Pain? Clearly, he’d picked a scab, and Jules was bleeding.
Compassion nudged him to staunch the flow of heartache, but knowing he’d uncovered something important about her, he couldn’t back off the line of questioning… yet.
“What are you protecting your sister from, Jules? What’s important enough to pause your degree work and move to the Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota?”
Her mouth tightened, and she didn’t answer immediately. When she finally did respond, she evaded his question. “Nowhere? That’s rather derogatory for the local sheriff, don’t you think? Would local voters be happy to know that’s what you think of Stark County?”
He wiped his greasy fingers on his napkin and shrugged casually. “There’s plenty to love about my hometown. And I do love it. But there’s no denying it’s isolated. Not the sort of place someone used to life in Winnipeg usually chooses.”
“Again, Sheriff,” she said pointedly, her mouth tight, “I have my reasons. And they’re none of your business.”
“Maybe. Until your reasons become part of my murder investigation.”
She stiffened, clearly shocked by his statement. “What?”
“Why were you arrested for contempt of court?”
Her eyes widened. “How do you know—” Rather than finish her question, she clamped her jaw tight and narrowed an angry glare on him. Cal marveled at how bright and deeply green her eyes became when she was mad. Finally, in a low tone she asked, “Is this an interrogation? Should I call a lawyer?”
He held her gaze for several long seconds, fascinated not only by the rich color of her eyes, but also by how fast his pulse ticked as they stared at each other. Did she sense the crackle and snap of attraction that he did?
Realizing that, like a wild animal, she might take his continued stare as hostility and a challenge, he dropped focus to his plate and rubbed a hand on his cheek.
“No and no. Not an interrogation. I guess your evasive answers just triggered my interrogative instincts. When criminal suspects won’t answer questions with a direct answer, they usually have something to hide. ”
“So we agree that you’re treating me like a criminal?” She haughtily arched an eyebrow.
“I—”
“Clearly, you’ve snooped into my past. That’s the only way you’d have known about the contempt of court charge.”
He raised a hand, conceding the point. “I did look into your public records. For good reason. You were the last person we know of to see John Harper alive.”
“Except his murderer,” she corrected. Then, as if she realized what he’d said, her eyes flared wide, and she added, “I didn’t kill him!”
“I’m not saying you did. But we have to dot all our i’s and cross all our t’s.
The fact that I’m asking you these questions here—” he gave a subtle nod to the pizza place’s dining room “—instead of at the sheriff’s department is proof I don’t consider you a suspect.
But when, in the course of an investigation, I learn that a key witness has had a brush with the courts, it does give me pause. ”
She folded her arms over her chest and turned to stare at the pinball machine in the corner of the room, her mouth pinched. When Pilot stood and moved to put his head in her lap, as if sensing she was upset and needed comfort, he covered his grin with his napkin and wiped his mouth.
Jules stroked Pilot’s head and rubbed his ears, moisture sparkling in her eyes. After taking a breath, she seemed calmer and muttered, “I lost my temper at a court proceeding that didn’t go the way I wanted, and I called the judge a…”
Now his cheek did curl up in a grin. “Yes? You called the judge what?”
She sighed. “A useless tool.”
He muffled a chuckle. “I’m guessing he deserved to be called much worse.”
“For the record, I’m not proud of my behavior, but sometimes my mouth shoots off before I think.”
He feigned shock. “No!”
For his teasing, she crooked an expressive eyebrow again and grunted. Fixing her attention on Pilot, she said, “That useless tool is only one reason I knew if I didn’t protect my sister, no one else would.”
Cal picked up his pizza again, and after taking a bite and swallowing, he asked, “So is it a safe assumption that your sister lives here in Red Grove?”
Jules dusted dog fur from her hands before lifting her own pizza slice. “In a manner of speaking.”
When he shot her a look for her equivocating answer, she held up a hand. “Look, Sheriff—”
“Cal.”
“Humph. When you stop acting like the sheriff and more like a regular Joe—”
“Cal. A regular Cal. Or Callum if you want to be formal.”
The expression she flashed was one of irritation…but he saw a glimpse of humor as well. Was he breaking through her icy facade at last? She looked down at Pilot, who thumped his tail on the floor when he saw her attention shift to him. “Tell me, Pilot. Is he always this annoying?”
Pilot woofed, and she rewarded him with a slice of pepperoni. “That’s what I thought.”
“Hey now!” He flashed a faux scowl. “No fair asking my loyal companion to break the implied dog-owner confidentiality agreement.”
Jules shrugged and took a bite of pizza.
While her mouth was full, he leaned forward, bracing his forearms against the table. “For what it’s worth, if there’s anything I can do to help protect your sister, I’m at your service.”
She blinked as if startled by his offer. A moment later, she lowered her brow as if skeptical, then continued eating. “I’ll only believe that when I see it.”