Chapter 27 Justin
JUSTIN
Redemption Ridge looked completely different in the darkness before dawn. The shops around the square were still dark, including The Cakery. Caroline and Skye wouldn’t arrive for another half hour.
Garrett popped a round slice of cucumber into his mouth. “What are we looking for?”
Justin turned from scanning the streets to his friend. The guy he was trusting to have his back if they got into tense or dangerous situations had a severe snacking problem. “Anything suspicious. There have been too many things happening at the bakery, and I’m not taking any more chances.”
“Right, but do we have a suspect description?”
“More than one. The evidence we have points to a group of women.”
Garrett tucked his chin and checked his body cam. “Power on.”
Justin rolled his eyes, then something moved in the shadows. “What’s that?”
Garrett sat forward and squinted. “Four people.”
“Nothing suspicious yet.”
“Other than walking the streets at three forty-seven a.m.,” Garrett added.
All four appeared to be women. It was tough to distinguish in the darkness, but they seemed young.
He thought of the young girls who’d smashed the cupcakes into the window and the hooded figures they’d caught on the security camera who spraypainted it.
Justin lowered his window. The group chuckled and shushed each other, but he couldn’t make out any words or distinct voices.
“Don’t do it,” Garrett whispered, then crunched another cucumber before Justin shushed him.
Justin and Garrett watched the women as they drew closer to the bakery. Justin was silently chanting the same prayer. There wasn’t a reason four women should be hanging around downtown at almost four in the morning.
In the blink of an eye, the calm of the morning changed to chaos. One of the figures pulled a hand from a coat pocket and threw something at the glass door of The Cakery, sending a shattering sound echoing through the square.
Justin and Garrett hopped out of the cruiser at the same time and jogged toward the group.
“Redemption Ridge Police. Put your hands in the air!” Justin shouted.
The women jerked around to face them before quickly running off in both directions in sets of two.
“I’ll go right,” Justin said, pointing to the ones heading toward Flapjacks.
“I’ll get the two heading west,” Garrett confirmed.
The charges were mounting. Now they were eluding a police officer. Hopefully, they wouldn’t resist arrest too. Paired with the vandalism, any of those things could result in jail time.
The two women Justin were chasing stopped and turned, lifting their hands above their heads. “Stop! We don’t want to run.”
Justin slowed his steps and showed his hands too. “Good decision. What are your names?”
“I’m Jessica, and this is Marcie.”
Jessica. That was one name Jordan had on his list after pouring through the evidence from the last few weeks. “What are your friends’ names?”
Jessica burst into tears, and her friend reached for her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay, Jess.”
“No, it’s not.” Justin stepped forward. “You’ve caused a lot of trouble, and there are going to be some major consequences. This could carry jail time at the worst and a hefty fine at the least.”
Jessica sucked in ragged breaths. “I’m sorry.”
Justin radioed in for backup and a report on the chase.
Garrett’s call numbers chirped back as he confirmed he’d apprehended the others.
“We… we…” Jessica stuttered. “We didn’t mean any harm.”
“You didn’t mean any harm? You could have ruined a prominent business. You worried the owner for weeks. You sent threats—”
“No, that was Destiny,” Jessica said.
“Walk ahead of me, please.” Shaking his head, Justin followed the women toward the cruiser. “You have the right to remain silent.”
Another cruiser pulled up, and the girls were escorted into the back seats. Two of them were crying, and the other two were spitting curses.
The quick steps of someone running pattered on the pavement, and Justin turned to see Caroline and Skye approaching. Their expressions were grave in the dim streetlights.
“What’s happening?” Caroline asked.
“Caught the vandals,” Garrett answered.
Caroline covered her mouth with her hands. “Are you serious? Can I talk to them?”
Garrett tilted his head. “You can, but don’t say anything that’ll get you in trouble.”
Caroline opened the back door of the cruiser and gasped. “Jessica Shubert!”
Jessica fell into another crying fit. “I’m sorry!”
“You know her?” Justin asked.
“She’s Destiny Maddox’s younger sister. They go to our church.” She ducked her head to see who else was in the back seat. “Haley Tucker!”
Caroline popped her head up. “Her cousin owns Donut Haven.”
“Uh-oh. That sounds like a motive,” Garrett said.
“We can’t make assumptions like that,” Justin reminded his friend.
Caroline glanced back toward the crying girls. “You’re right, but her cousin has never been kind to me and has refused to work at events with me in the past.” She ducked her head back into the vehicle. “Did you tamper with the cookies for the decorating contest at church?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jessica said, hiccupping through sobs.
“Destiny let us in!” Haley said.
“Destiny is a grown woman! I can’t believe she did this!” Caroline said. “Have you called their parents?”
“Garrett called them,” Justin said. “Since the girls confessed, they’re looking at quite a few misdemeanors in the eyes of the state of Colorado.”
“What’s going to happen to them?” Skye asked, bundling her coat around her neck.
“With everything Jordan and the police department have been compiling, we have enough evidence that these girls could get a pretty harsh sentence.”
“What about the messages you’ve been getting?” Caroline asked Justin. “Are they connected?”
Garrett flipped through his notebook. “Actually, they are. One of the girls said they thought they could pit the two of you against each other to break you up.” He hooked his thumb toward Justin. “One of them said her mom has a major crush on Heartbreaker.”
“That’s interesting, considering we haven’t actually defined our relationship yet. I can’t believe this,” Caroline whispered. “So they wanted to ruin my business because they’re connected to Donut Haven, and they were bothering me because they wanted to get to Justin.”
“And don’t forget the threats. That’s big too,” Justin added. “Trust me, they’ll be punished for this.”
Caroline rubbed her hands together. “They’re all so young. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them.”
Justin’s smile spread over his face. “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. After all they did to you, you’re still giving them a chance.”
She shrugged, tucking her chin. “I was thinking maybe they could help out at the bakery as part of their punishment. I could use the help, and they’d get a glimpse at what they were trying to destroy.”
He couldn’t take it anymore. He’d given her space because she needed to trust him again, but that didn’t mean he had to hide his feelings.
Justin cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up.
“Those girls don’t deserve the grace you want to offer them.
I’ve never met anyone who would treat their enemies like that until I met you.
” His hands slipped down her neck, over her shoulders, and grasped her hands. “I love you. I always have.”
Her lips parted in a small gasp, and her eyes widened. “I love you too.”
His mouth crashed against hers, and he slid his arms around her waist. Her hands moved up his chest and behind his neck. Kissing Caroline was everything he remembered and more. Nothing would separate them this time.
Garrett cleared his throat. “I guess Operation Christmas Romance is a success—mission accomplished.”
Justin pulled back, wishing for a brief moment he could kick his friend out of the square.
“Chief is here,” Garrett whispered.
Justin was on duty. Right. Police persona activated.
He took Caroline’s hand in his as he leaned down to explain, still a bit out of breath. “You and Skye can go inside. I’ll call Clint and ask him to replace the door as quickly as possible.”
Caroline jerked her attention to the bakery, noticing the shattered door for the first time. “Biscuits. I didn’t even see that.”
Justin rubbed a hand up and down her back. “I’ll let you know when you can clean it up. We’ll need to photograph the scene first.”
“Okay.” She pressed a light kiss against his cheek. “Justin, I’m glad I had you beside me for all this. I might have let it go on too long if you hadn’t been around to help and encourage me.”
“I’ll be by your side through everything. It’s you and me now, and I’ll do anything to protect you.”