Chapter Five #2
Nava clapped a hand on his shoulder, and that was the end of it.
They continued into his office, where the chief sat down.
“Jackson will be here in a few minutes. I’m sending him to Lakeside again, because it’s a mess over there.
Reports of looting overnight, and family squabbles.
” He shook his head. “Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. We have volunteers coming in from the community like that young lady you brought, showing strong support. We have families who lost everything and are grateful for help. And then we have some bad eggs. Low-level criminals and domestic offenders. People who never had anything, don’t want help, and resent our presence. ”
Wade polished off his donut without comment.
“The focus is still on cleanup, but it may shift to community policing. Road crews and recovery teams are clearing debris.”
“Where do you want me?” Wade asked.
“I need you with the Red Cross team. They’re going door to door for wellness checks in damaged areas of Lost Lake. There are a lot of ranches out there, like your mother’s. Remote neighborhoods. Senior citizens, recluses, and gun owners. Stay alert.”
“I always do.”
“You have a service weapon?”
“It’s in a safe in my truck.”
“Carry it,” Nava ordered. Then he rifled around in a drawer and found a set of keys.
“There’s a black and white Suburban in the back lot.
You can use it as your work vehicle. The uniform package you ordered is on your desk, along with a radio and utility belt.
The Red Cross team is leaving at six thirty. ”
Wade checked his watch. He had twenty minutes to get ready.
“I have to lead a press conference,” Nava said. He eyed Wade speculatively. “I don’t suppose you have public speaking experience.”
“Very little, sir.”
“You’ve got a good TV face.”
Wade wasn’t prepared to represent the department in front of the media. “It’s my second day on the job.”
Nava waved him away, grumbling under his breath.
Wade had never met a cop who liked speaking to the press.
Nava might try to delegate the task again in the future.
Wade ducked into the office he’d inherited, which was in desperate need of tidying.
A brown package sat on top of a cluttered desk.
Inside, he found a set of three uniforms. Wade closed the door before he changed into the khaki shirt and dark green pants.
He strapped the utility belt around his waist and clipped on the radio.
The uniform fit like it should, and he felt comfortable in it.
He retrieved his weapon from his personal vehicle.
Then he found the Suburban and inspected the interior.
It was clean, if not new. Instead of driving the short distance, he walked across the street to the community center.
Several volunteers were unloading boxes from a cargo truck, Mary included.
While he watched, she lifted a crate of water bottles and carried it to a nearby table.
Her pale, slender arms flexed as she handled the heavy load. She was stronger than she looked.
Wade was stepping forward to offer his assistance when a woman in a red vest approached him. She had a bouncy blond ponytail and a thousand-watt smile. “Deputy Sheriff Hendricks? I’m Stacy Schwinn.”
Wade shook hands with her.
“You’re coming with us on wellness checks?” Stacy asked.
“I am,” he confirmed.
“Terrific!” she said and gave his hand a flirtatious squeeze.
Then she turned on her heel and lifted a silver whistle to her lips. She blew with enough force to make his ears bleed. One of the workers startled, spilling first aid supplies everywhere.
Stacy introduced Wade to the rest of the team, who came scurrying.
He listened with half an ear while she outlined the plan for the day.
Mary helped pick up the spilled supplies before joining them.
Tendrils of dark hair escaped from the edge of her baseball cap.
Wade felt the strange urge to remove the hat, to touch his lips to her forehead.
“Sheriff Hendricks,” Stacy gushed. “I have terrific news.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to couple up.”
This announcement got his attention. He moved his gaze to Stacy. She reminded him of Barbie, with her perfect teeth and golden hair. She was a ten, but his interest level was zero. “We’re going to do what now?”
“I’m free to do home visits, so I can couple with you. Isn’t that terrific?”
“Terrific,” he said.
Stacy gestured to the other workers, pairing them up in twos.
She pointed at Mary and the guy who’d spilled all of his supplies.
An expression of alarm crossed over Mary’s face.
It occurred to Wade that she was wary of all men, not just him.
She didn’t want to spend the day with a stranger.
Wade wasn’t eager to hang out with Stacy, either.
She’d said terrific at least a dozen times in the past two minutes.
“I’ll couple up with Mary,” he said. “We actually came here together.”
Stacy made a moue of disappointment. “Oh. I didn’t realize.”
He gestured for Stacy to give him the clipboard she was carrying. She handed it over.
“Terrific,” he said and escorted Mary across the street.
He led her to the Suburban and unlocked the passenger door.
“Are you sure you don’t want to couple with Stacy?” she asked.
He smirked at the question. “I’m sure.”
Mary smiled as she climbed into the truck.
She had an alluring smile, with one prominent incisor that an orthodontist might have considered an imperfection.
Wade found it appealing. Like her freckles, the feature added to her charm.
The overall effect was mesmerizing, perhaps because he’d caused it.
He’d made her lovely face light up. He lingered over the sight with one hand resting on the door frame.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“Saying we came together.”
“We did come together.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I was saving myself, not you,” he said with a wince. “Did you hear that whistle? She almost broke my eardrum.”
“I think she was trying to impress you.”
“Well, she blew it.”
She threw back her head and laughed, to his delight.
The combination of her pretty smile and husky laughter was a one-two punch.
She laughed like a woman who hadn’t indulged herself in a long time, which made the moment even more satisfying.
He laughed with her, watching her nose crinkle and eyes dance.
It felt good to share the joke, to find humor and lightness in each other.
Wade realized he was staring, so he tore his gaze from her, shut the door, and walked around to the driver’s side.
It wasn’t just her appearance that he found attractive.
Something about the simple pleasure of her laugh seemed to fill an empty space inside him.
It made him want to keep her laughing and pull her close.
Wade was startled by this revelation, because he wasn’t the type of man who caught feelings for a woman he’d just met.
He hardly knew her. He’d told her he wouldn’t touch her, and he meant it.
She worked for his mother, and she had trouble written all over her.
He wasn’t interested in risking his heart again, regardless.
The past few years had brought a series of losses and disappointments.
He pictured Natalie’s face at his brother’s funeral, her eyes shining with tears while his remained cold and dry.
Cursing fate, he took a deep breath and pushed the memory aside. Then he got behind the wheel and drove out of the parking lot in silence.