Chapter 14
As they started down the sidewalk, back toward the apartments where Chase Hamilton had parked, Cal took Jules’s hand, lacing their fingers as if they were lovers. She, of course, tried to snatch her hand back and frowned at him, but he only smiled. “Our pretext as we do a little espionage.”
She pulled a dubious face before relenting and falling into step beside him.
He cut a side glance to her scowling countenance and chuckled. “We’d be more believable as a happy couple if you didn’t look so pissed off.”
Her steps faltered, and she gave him an even darker look before conjuring a cheesy grin. “Better?”
“Geez Louise, Jules. Someone needs to teach you how to relax and have a good time.”
“I suppose you’re volunteering?”
“Would that be such a terrible thing?” He cast a quick glance at her, noting how the sunlight found gold strands in her brown hair and highlighted the sharp lines of her too-thin face.
Even with the obvious signs of stress and poor sleep that shadowed her eyes, his heart thudded erratically as he drank in her beauty.
As much as he found their barbed repartee amusing, he’d much rather see her smile.
Jules Bailey had clearly suffered more than her share of grief and worry in her life.
From his core, Cal wanted to be the one to give her the kind of joy that shone in her expression, the inner peace that eased the crinkles framing her eyes.
“I don’t have room in my life for anything besides work and Abby. My time is completely full earning enough to pay my way and taking care of my sister.”
He blinked, mentally backtracking to the last question he’d asked her to make sense of her comment. Oh, right. His offer to show her a good time.
“The gift shop closes at night. Surely you can take some time to sit back with some friends and enjoy some food and music?” When she turned a withering glance his way, he elaborated.
“My family is having a cookout at my dad’s place on Saturday.
Come as my guest. No need to bring anything.
The Colton siblings will have more than enough food and drink there. ”
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“And cornhole and volleyball and a bonfire in the evening for roasting marshmallows.” He tugged her hand, guiding her around a pothole in the sidewalk. The apartment building was in sight now, and he narrowed his gaze on the front seat of the white truck. Empty. Where had Hamilton gone?
“No, Cal. I’m not crashing your family party.”
He lifted her hand so that he could kiss her knuckles, then grinned at her stunned expression. “You’re not crashing. You’re my guest. My brothers have bought fireworks, and my sister is making a batch of strawberry cupcakes that will make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven.”
She arched an eyebrow.
“Yes,” he said, answering her unspoken question, “they really are that good.”
She sighed. “Fine. I’ll come. But only if I can bring something. Is anyone bringing a watermelon?”
“I hear you are,” he quipped as they reached the redheaded teenager’s house.
Jules craned her head and scanned the yard, peering back at the white truck and angling a glance at the upstairs windows.
He squeezed her hand. “Cool it, Sherlock. You’re being too obvious.”
“I—” Color filled her cheeks, and she met his eyes, obviously abashed.
To cover her goof and lend credence to their pretense, he bent to drop a quick kiss on her cheek. When he raised his head, her wide-eyed surprise tugged a chuckle from him.
She arched an eyebrow and appeared ready to scold him when she tensed and her gaze darted to the lawn they were passing. Her steps slowed. “He’s in the side yard, behind that family’s trash can.”
“Keep walking,” he said, tugging her forward.
“Can’t you arrest him for trespassing or something?” she whispered.
“I could, but I think the smarter move is to wait and get him on something that carries more heft, bigger consequences. I’m sure you don’t want to spook him and waste the chance to get him off the streets for good. A petty charge will likely only cost him a fine and tip his hand to us.”
Her shoulders slumped, and he released her hand in order to put his arm around her shoulders. “I know you’re frustrated, but to do this right will require some patience.”
“My patience ran out a couple years ago. My sister has been hounded for too long.”
They continued walking, and he noticed she not only didn’t shrug away from his arm, but she also actually leaned into him a bit.
She felt good in his embrace. She fit perfectly under his arm, and he reveled in the sensation of her body nestled close to his as they strolled down the sidewalk.
She smelled fresh, like lemons and flowers.
“Do you think she knows about him? The girl who lives in that house?” He could hear the concern that trembled in her voice.
“Don’t know.”
“Did he meet her in town somehow or just camp out across from the school, watching the kids leave until he found someone who looked the most like Abby?”
“Don’t know.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze, wanting to comfort her. Now, she did shove away and, stopping, she faced him with a scowl.
“What do you know? Where’s the help you promised? I can follow Hamilton around and stew about him by myself.”
Without answering her directly but holding her gaze, Cal slid his cell phone from the clip at his hip.
When the sheriff’s department dispatch answered, he identified himself and said, “Send a patrol car out to Oakmont Street. Have them cruise the street real slow a couple times. Make it a regular patrol, several times a day until further notice. Yeah, thanks.”
“Does that mean you changed your mind about picking him up for trespassing?” she asked.
“It means I want him to be real uncomfortable with hanging around watching her. As far as her knowing about him, I do think it is wise to alert her and her parents. We can get her softball schedule and have a plainclothes deputy at her games to keep an eye on things.”
She exhaled. “Good. So now what?” She glanced to the end of the block and then back in the direction they’d come. “Are we going to find a place to watch him?”
He shook his head. “We are going to get ice cream.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“If we linger around here, he’ll see us and get suspicious. We can follow him again when he returns to his car…which, as I recall, is parked at apartments across the street from Dairy Queen.” He offered her his crooked arm as if to escort her. “Shall we?”
The next afternoon, Jules left Bonnie in charge of the gift shop in order to follow Chase again…
without Cal tagging along. This was her mission, and she didn’t need the distraction of him and his square-cut jawline.
She’d reached the parking lot across from Chase’s employer and was intently watching the workers leave the building when someone knocked on her passenger-side window.
She yelped her surprise and clapped a hand over her racing heart. When Cal waved at her and popped the door open, she glared at him. “Way to give me a heart attack, Colton. Don’t you know better than to sneak up on a woman?”
“I was hardly sneaking. When you’re on a stakeout, it’s not good to get so laser-focused on one thing that you ignore your periphery.”
Turning her attention back to the employee exit across the street, she grumbled, “Why are you here?”
“Why are you here without me? We had a deal.”
“I—” A niggle of chastisement pulsed in her chest before she shoved it down. “I only wanted to see if he followed that same girl again today.”
“Zoey Rogers.”
“What?”
“Her name is Zoey Rogers. She’s seventeen.
I did a little work overnight. First, I stopped by the girl’s house after I dropped you off and talked to her and her parents.
I advised them we were actively working to bring Hamilton in, and that we’d monitor her situation.
They promised not to confront Hamilton or do anything to blow the investigation. ”
A mix of feelings pummeled Jules. Relief that the girl had been warned. Irritation that Cal had acted without her. Hope that they were a step closer to stopping Chase Hamilton. Disappointment that she’d missed the opportunity to spend more time with Cal.
She shook her head. No. She couldn’t get used to being around Cal Colton. She stared at him silently, unsure what to say besides… “Good.”
He flashed his incredible smile before his gaze darted to something outside and he directed her attention across the street. “Our man is on the move.”
Sure enough, Chase Hamilton was climbing into his white truck. Jules quickly started her engine, and Callum laid a hand on her wrist. “Easy. Don’t get too close.”
Her nerves jangled as Chase drove away before she pulled out and turned in the same direction their target had gone. He drove toward the high school again, pulled off the road in a different spot to watch the teenagers leaving the school grounds.
Jules spotted the redhead at the same time Cal said, “There’s Zoey.”
Plastic wrap crinkling, he casually popped a peppermint candy in his mouth. She sent him a scowl as if the crinkle were loud enough to scare off their target.
“Want one?” he said, patting his pocket.
She scoffed and turned her attention across the road again. “No thanks, grandpa.”
Her comment earned a chuckle from Cal.
Zoey stopped and searched the parking lot, her expression nervous, as she was clearly looking for the perv who’d been tracking her. A police car cruised through the parking lot then and slowed to talk to Zoey.
Jules cut her gaze back to Chase’s truck in time to see him speed out of his hiding place and drive away. She exhaled her relief. “The cop spooked him.”
“Good. Let’s see where he goes.”
But Jules had to wait on traffic to pull onto the road, and Chase was gone. “Damn. Should I drive by the Rogers’ house? See if he’s there?”
“You can,” he said, sounding skeptical.
“What’s wrong?”