Chapter 39 Avery
Avery
Within the hour, she was pushing through the door of Pine Springs police station with that “creepy fucking doll” under her arm and a fuming wall of vibrating muscle beside her.
“Hey, Maggie.” Avery summoned a smile for the woman at the reception desk. Another familiar face in town. “How’s things?”
“All good, thanks honey. And you?” Maggie peered over the top of her glasses and nodded a silent greeting at Tanner.
“Not so bad.” Her usual answer, even when she was sinking. “Is the chief in?”
“He is. Go on through, past the other desks. His office is in the back.”
There was a full show of law enforcement bodies in the open-plan office as they threaded between the desks.
Officers Kristina Forsberg and Liam Morgan, deep in conversation, were both reading something from the same monitor.
Dougie Taggart, talking into his phone, had a mug of coffee by his elbow and what looked like a bowl of oatmeal in his hand.
He gave them a friendly chin lift as they passed, waving them onward with his spoon.
Avery paused by a door that stood ajar and was about to knock when it opened.
“Oops, sorry.” Elenie Dax—no, Elenie Martinez now—apologized as they came nose to nose. Her gray eyes flashed from Avery to Tanner and back again, a quick smile on her lips.
Although she no longer worked there, Elenie had been a fixture at Diner 43 for years before she’d met and married the chief. Avery thought she must have had the patience of a saint to put up with Aunt Delia for that long. She certainly looked happier these days.
“Kickball was fun yesterday!” Elenie said. “We should make it a regular thing.”
Avery and Tanner made polite noises, both too preoccupied to chat freely, and Elenie quickly picked up on the vibe. She made a sideways step with a cheery “See you soon” and kept on walking.
This time Avery did tap on the door.
“Come in.”
Roman Martinez stood up behind his desk with the unhurried grace of a panther, shadow-dark from his boots to his graphite gray tactical pants and polo shirt.
“Twice in two days,” he said and his imperceptible smile drained none of the intensity from his eyes. “Is this a social call, or . . .” Martinez left the question hanging.
“This came in the mail for me today.” Avery held out the box.
His feet shifting on the worn linoleum floor, Tanner added, “She’s been getting nuisance deliveries recently, but this one is nasty.”
The chief’s gaze sharpened and he reached immediately to pluck a pair of latex gloves from a box on his desk, snapping them on before he took the package from her hands.
His expression flickered when he opened the torn flap of the cardboard box and Avery winced.
She hadn’t looked at the doll again; it seemed even more disturbing at second glance.
The print of her face—a copy of a photo from her website—gazed vacuously upward, the corset and fishnets mortifyingly sleazy on the undersized body. Martinez lifted it out, carefully turned it over, and examined the rest of the packaging. He tapped a finger on the note pinned to the doll’s chest.
“What does this mean?” he asked.
Clearing her throat, Avery perched on the edge of one of the chairs facing the chief’s desk, taking in the mess of paperwork rather than meeting his stare. “I think it’s referring to Tanner.”
In her peripheral vision, she saw Tanner’s hands clench into fists.
“You two are together now?” Pulling out his own chair, Martinez sat down again.
“Yes, we are,” Tanner said firmly while Avery stumbled over the blunt question. She found his eyes on her when she turned her head and a disconcerted tingle fizzed beneath her skin.
He made everything seem so simple.
“How was it delivered?” Martinez asked as he studied the address label and smeared date stamp.
“Courier service,” said Tanner. He gave the chief the details of the company. “To my house.”
Martinez plucked the printed card from the packaging and read: “‘Transform a loved one into a snuggly friend you can take anywhere.’” His eyebrows pinching in a “not on your life” kind of way, he examined both sides of the flyer intently. “Tell me about the other deliveries.”
“I’ve had abusive text messages as well and online trolling. A fake Facebook account,” Avery said once the chief had made a note of all the weird shit she’d received through the mail. “And my car was egged overnight before the kickball game, although that might not be related.”
Tanner began to pace the small office, flicking the catch on his watch with barely restrained agitation.
“Show me the messages.” When the chief held out his hand, she dragged her phone from her pocket. He flicked through the texts, his mouth tightening as he read them.
“There were more,” she said. “I deleted the first few.” As precisely as she could, Avery recited their content.
“You blocked the number?” Martinez asked.
She nodded. “They all seem to come from different numbers. I don’t recognize any of them.”
“Send me screenshots of these.” The chief reeled off his email address without breaking eye contact and Avery wished she had something more, anything more, she could tell him. Roman Martinez made a person want to spill all their secrets.
“Have you posted anything about your relationship online?”
“No,” they replied together.
“Yet the package was delivered to your house, Tanner? Not Avery’s.” The chief made it more of a statement than a question, but they both nodded anyway. Martinez tapped his fingers on the outside of the box. “Interesting.”
Taking a large, clear bag from one of his desk drawers, the chief pushed the package inside and tugged off the gloves.
He picked up a pen, the hint of a resolute smile transforming his serious face.
Both comforting and threatening, it said: I will help you deal with this and you’d better believe I’ll kick some ass while I do it.
A fraction of the tension eased from Avery’s belly.
Elenie was a lucky woman.
“We will speak with the courier company and the makers of this horror”—Martinez eyed the doll with distaste—“and try to trace who placed the order. But first, let’s start at the beginning and draw up a list of everyone who knows that the two of you are seeing each other and that you, Avery, are working from Tanner’s house. ”
When they left the station, she insisted that Tanner stick to his schedule, saying she could easily make her own way home. He took some persuading but eventually peeled off with obvious reluctance to head for his car. Avery almost called him back before he reached it.
The overwhelming urge to lean on him scared her.
Instead, firing off a quick message to Leo, Avery walked down Main Street and opened the door of Diner 43.
There was only one free booth; every other seat in the place was full.
Claiming it quickly, Avery threw a smile at Hazel and Otto sitting a few tables along and raised a hand to wave at Florence Martinez, who was having a late breakfast with her mother at the other end of the diner.
The scent of bacon and coffee in the air was both familiar and comforting.
She took out her phone to double-check for messages from her mom, surprised to see there was nothing for once, and it went a little way toward settling some of the anxiety in her chest. Avery sent her a text to ask if all was well after the storm, checked her email, and was just marveling over the fact that there seemed to be not one but two teenagers serving customers—how the hell had Aunt Delia managed that? —when Leo walked in with Gemma.
“Hey, Ave. Look who I found on the way,” he said, sliding into the booth opposite her.
Avery examined Gemma closely. “You OK, Gem? You look rough.”
“Allergies.” Gemma sniffled, rummaging in her purse for a Kleenex. “My eyes are itching like crazy. I’ve come out to pick up some drops.”
They placed their order with one of the young waitresses.
“What’s up, Ave?” Leo questioned with a shrewd glance. “You sounded weird on the phone.”
Playing with the charm on her necklace, Avery sighed. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been a lot so far. And it’s not even lunchtime.”
She told them about the doll and her visit to the police station. Both Gemma and Leo wore matching expressions of concern by the time she’d finished.
“That’s insane!” Gemma said. “Why would someone do that?”
“I have no idea,” Avery admitted.
“Who would want to warn you away from Tanner?” Leo frowned. “Has he got any suggestions?”
“He’s clueless, too,” she said. “And really pissed.”
“Is he worth it, Ave?” Leo asked, his elbows on the table and a frown narrowing his eyes. “I mean, I like the guy—don’t get me wrong—but my loyalty’s with you. Do you trust that he isn’t playing you?”
And that was the million-dollar question.
It’d been rolling around in Avery’s head all morning.
“I trust him,” she said finally, and the alien words shimmered with promise on her tongue. “I don’t think he would hurt me.”
“Wow.” Leo sat back in his seat, a broad grin sliding over his lips. “Never thought I’d hear that coming from you. Look how you’ve grown.”
“Shut up, Grandpa.” Avery threw a packet of sugar at him but couldn’t stop the answering smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth. “Or I’ll find another friend who isn’t such a smartass.”
Feigning hurt, Leo clutched his chest. “I’m not just any friend. I’m your oldest, dearest friend from school. You’ll never get rid of me. I’m irreplaceable.”
Gemma sniffled into her Kleenex, her eyes stormy. “Get you, Avery, with the devotion of not one but two men to choose from. Must be nice.”
“It’s not like that,” Leo said and his teasing ground to an awkward halt. Avery had to hold back another sigh.
Gemma was going to ruin their friendship if she didn’t tread carefully. He’d been careful with her feelings so far, but Avery could tell Leo’s patience was wearing thin. After the morning she’d had, her own was pretty nonexistent.