Fourteen

Sarah hummed to herself as she finished wiping up a table after a group of truckers. She was tired, but it was a good tired. Since their talk about not seeing one another in public, she’d already seen Matt twice. In private, of course.

He’d taken her to the Bible study meeting on Wednesday, which she had thoroughly enjoyed. He tended not to say much, but what he did say helped her to understand the lesson more clearly. Even though the time was short, she had enjoyed her time with him. The meeting had been held at the home of Gwen’s twin brother, Garrett, and his wife Robbie. Sarah had known Garrett slightly when she was a teenager but lost touch when they all graduated. It was nice to see him again after all these years, as well as meet his wife and thereby expand her circle of friends. When she asked about why Gwen didn’t go to her own brother’s group, she discovered that Gwen and Lionel hosted their own home group on the same night.

Sarah had immediately liked Robbie, who was very friendly. Robbie had noticed the locket and asked to see the picture, just like Kristie had. When Sarah told her that she needed a picture of Matt to put in it, the whole group ganged up on him. Everyone chided Matt for giving a locket to a lady without a picture of himself in it. Sarah struggled not to laugh, knowing the real reason he’d given her the locket had nothing to do with a picture, and she watched him try to talk his way out of it, which was impossible.

To right an alleged wrong, Robbie brought out her digital camera and started snapping. One picture in particular of herself and Matt with their heads together hamming it up for the camera turned out very good. The best part was that when they reduced the picture to be small enough to fit into the locket, it was so small that their faces were virtually unrecognizable. Sarah now had a picture taped on top of the transmitter, so if anyone asked, she could now open the locket to show off her new “boyfriend,” yet not have him be recognized.

The next time she’d seen Matt had been on Thursday afternoon. She’d stopped by Matt’s townhouse to return his Bible, after finally getting the chance to go buy one of her own. This time she’d been inside his home, and, for the first time since she’d known him, she saw how he lived. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed a man lived there. He hadn’t been expecting her, yet his townhouse was perfectly clean; nothing was out of place, and everything was meticulously organized. While it did show a new side of his personality, it didn’t surprise her. In or out of uniform, he was always perfectly dressed, with not a thread or a hair out of place. His car was also spotless inside, unlike hers, without a single paper, or napkin, spare book, or empty pop can rattling around in the back.

Now, due to his schedule, she probably wouldn’t see him again until Monday.

As she made her rounds through the near-empty restaurant, Sarah carried the tray of cups and plates she was accumulating to the next table that needed cleaning. She had just started wiping when three surly men entered the building.

She thought the Ronsky clan looked like a rough bunch, but these men were older and had gang practically flashing in neon letters above their heads.

Instead of walking to the counter where Kristie was standing, they made a beeline straight to Sarah.

Sarah immediately grasped the locket and poised her finger on the release for the clasp. At this point in time, Matt was in bed sleeping, but he had told her to push the button any time, day or night, if she needed to. From the appearance of the men approaching her, Sarah feared this would be the time.

The tallest one, a shaved-bald man wearing a dirty denim jacket with torn-off sleeves over a T-shirt with a cigarette package tucked in the sleeve, stepped forward from the other two to address her.

“We need to see Donnie.”

Sarah turned so fast her elbow knocked the tray. A few cups and plates crashed to the floor.

She forced herself to straighten to her full height. “I’ll see if he’s free. Can I have your names?”

The man gave her a horrid sneer. “Tell him Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe are here to see him.”

A sick sensation rolled through Sarah’s stomach. She didn’t dare to challenge these men that those weren’t their real names.

“Wait right here,” she choked out and hurried to Donnie’s office door, which was closed. She knocked. “Donnie?”

“Come in,” he called out.

The door opened freely, indicating he hadn’t locked it. Donnie sat behind his desk with a ledger book in front of him, his pencil in one hand, his other hand poised over the calculator.

“Three men are here to see you. They say their names are Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe.”

Donnie’s face paled. He cleared his throat. “Send them in. And leave the door open.”

Sarah had barely taken one step out of Donnie’s office when the three men barged past her, roughly shutting the door behind them.

Sarah glanced at the mess on the floor, then at Kristie, who was staring at Donnie’s closed door with her mouth gaping open.

Sarah walked as quickly as she could without running to the opening between the restaurant and the kitchen. “I had better clean up that mess.”

“You do that,” Kristie mumbled, barely audible. “I’m going to stay right here.”

As soon as she was out of Kristie’s sight, Sarah ran for the closet. She slipped inside and closed the door, hoping Kristie really would stay where she was. Sarah dropped to her hands and knees and crawled to the corner of the closet, lowered her head to the level of the bottom shelf, and looked up through the vent.

Donnie was standing, his back to the wall, and the tall man with the shaved head stood mere inches from him.

Sarah grabbed the locket and opened it, her finger poised and ready to push the button, when she froze. Matt wouldn’t come; it would be someone else, but that wasn’t the point. The point of calling Matt, or any other police officer, was to bust the drug ring Blair Kincaid was involved in. If she pushed the button now, by the time the police arrived, she had no doubt that the three men would be long gone. The only thing to be accomplished would be to show Donnie that he was being watched, and that would defeat the purpose.

The man wasn’t hurting Donnie, although he could have if he wanted to. Sarah suspected that his purpose was not to hurt, but to threaten. For that, she didn’t need to call in the police.

Donnie’s voice came out in a near squeak. “But I didn’t go to him. He came to me.”

“He’s ours. Everything he gets is from us. Understand?”

Donnie’s voice lowered. “What do you want me to do, ask for references first? He came to me. He had cash. So I gave it to him.”

The tall man turned to the two others. After a few seconds of staring into each other’s faces, the two men nodded.

“If he comes to you again, we get a cut. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I understand.”

All three men turned at the same time. They all stepped to Donnie’s desk. The hoodlum with the tattoo on his wrist knocked Donnie’s calculator to the floor. Donnie remained with his back to the wall and said nothing.

Sarah didn’t need to see any more. Their message was clear.

In two seconds, she’d backed up, grabbed the broom, and was out of the closet. She ran all the way to the point where Kristie could see her, then slowed her pace to a fast walk. She had just reached the broken glass when the door banged open and the three men walked out. The tall one pointedly turned in her direction, flashed the most evil smirk Sarah had ever seen, and walked straight out the door.

Sarah didn’t know whether or not going in to Donnie’s office to check on him would show she knew what happened, so she didn’t. He was probably unhurt, but she didn’t want to think of the condition of his office. Mentally, she tried to calculate how much damage could have been done between the time she grabbed the broom and when she arrived at the table.

Donnie appeared out of his office, quickly closing the door behind him. “If they ever come back, tell them I’m not here.” He wiggled the doorknob and then joined Kristie behind the counter. “Kristie, I think it’s time for you to start getting ready for the rush. I’ll take over for you while Sarah cleans up.”

Kristie obviously could take the hint because she disappeared in record time. Sarah lowered her head and began sweeping, afraid to look in Donnie’s direction. She swept everything into the dustpan and carried it into the kitchen to dump in the garbage can.

With only a couple of people in the restaurant area, the building seemed unusually quiet. Sarah tried to shake off her apprehension, telling herself that since the three men were gone, everything would be fine. She stepped on the pedal to open the garbage can lid and was about to dump the broken glass when she heard the cash register drawer close.

Sarah froze. She hadn’t heard any voices ordering anything, nor had she heard the shuffle of paper from donuts being selected, or the clink of the coffee pot, or the whirring of the latté machine.

She gritted her teeth. Knowing what she knew, she suspected that Donnie had just either taken money out of the till, or put money in, although it was ridiculous because he was the owner and handled all the cash anyway.

She dumped the broken glass and let the lid thump closed.

This time, when she opened the closet door, she turned the light on, banged around while she clipped the broom onto the hook, and closed the door loudly enough for Donnie to hear.

When she returned, he was standing at the donut rack. “Good, you’re here. Take over. I’m going back into my office, and I don’t want to be disturbed.”

She suspected Donnie was cleaning up the mess and didn’t want anyone to see what had happened.

By the time the morning rush had started, Donnie seemed back to normal, but Sarah couldn’t relax. All through the busy morning, she kept one eye on the time. When she was done, she hurried out deliberately avoiding Kristie.

She had to leave a message for Matt, but for the first time, she was scared.

The creepy men had seen her up close, face-to-face. She knew she would recognize any one of them if she ever saw them again. Likewise, Sarah had no doubt they would recognize her too.

Because they knew she had witnessed them going into Donnie’s office, she wondered if they might be watching her, in case she went to the police. They would have been right. Sarah had to report what she’d seen to Matt.

Just in case she was being followed, Sarah didn’t drive to the police station to leave a message, as she’d done before. This time, she followed her usual route so no one could think anything was strange. Once on campus, she located the nearest phone booth and left a quick message at the police station for Matt to phone her. From the phone booth, she ran all the way to her first class, where she knew she would be safe.

❧

Matt stopped outside the parking area to the university and waited. As soon as he saw the little blue car, he began pursuit. He pushed the button for the siren to alert the car to stop, which it did.

“16Bravo4,” he said to the radio.

“16Bravo4 copy,” the dispatcher echoed.

“I’m out of service. I have a car pulled over, possible taillight infraction. Will advise.”

“16Bravo4 copy.”

Matt left his red and blue lights flashing and approached the driver’s door of the little blue car.

“But officer, I wasn’t speeding, I. . .Matt?”

“Hi, Sarah. I got your message. What’s up?”

“What are you doing stopping me like this? I was on my way home. Where you were supposed to phone me.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to answer a question with a question?”

“Didn’t your commanding officer or whatever you call him tell you not to scare people and not to pull them over for no reason?”

Matt grinned. Truthfully, he had been waiting for her to leave the parking lot. If she didn’t notice him, he had planned to pull her over. When she turned out of the parking lot, he noticed she was missing a light, making this a legitimate stop. “Your driver’s side taillight is out. I’m going to have to write you a warning to get it fixed.”

She turned around and looked toward the rear of the car, which Matt thought ridiculous. Sitting behind the wheel, she couldn’t see her taillights.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m serious. It’s not a big deal. I have a package of bulbs at home I think will fit. What’s up?”

“Something happened at Donnie’s today. Three goons came to see him.”

Matt stiffened. “Goons?”

She nodded so fast her hair bounced. “They were really sleazy looking characters. The one guy said their names were Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe.” Her voice lowered. “But Curly Joe didn’t have any hair. I don’t know why he got that nickname.”

A shiver of dread coursed through Matt. He knew exactly who they were. And no one messed with Curly Joe, shaved head or not.

Sarah grabbed her steering wheel with both hands. “They talked quite possessively about someone they knew going to Donnie, and it sounded like whoever it was bought some drugs from him. They said if it ever happened again, they wanted a cut. And then they started knocking things around Donnie’s office.” Her voice lowered. “They broke his calculator. On purpose.”

Matt gritted his teeth and counted to ten. He forced himself to keep his voice low and even. “Those guys are bad news, and anyone can tell they’re bad news just by looking at them. Why didn’t you push the panic switch? How could you wait and only leave a message at the station? I told you to use it, any time, day or night.”

“You told me that it was only to be used in an emergency, or when Kincaid was there with enough evidence to convict him. This was none of the above.”

“If you couldn’t tell, it sounds like they think Donnie is encroaching on their drug-selling territory, which could be true if Donnie is the new kid on the block. This isn’t a game.”

She rolled the window all the way down and stuck her head a little out the opening. “Maybe that’s why I haven’t seen Kincaid coming around until recently.”

Matt shuffled closer to her. He rested his palms on the roof of her car and lowered his head in an effort to keep what they were saying private. People were starting to stare.

“While this new development is very interesting and proves that Donnie hasn’t been at it very long, it doesn’t negate the fact that you’re in the middle of a very dangerous situation.” He stopped talking and stared down at Sarah as she sat behind the wheel of her car. He replayed her words over in his head, trying to fit everything into place. Suddenly, he stiffened. An icy chill swept through him. “Just exactly how did you find out this information?”

She hunched her shoulders. “I heard them say it,” she said softly.

“And how did you know they broke Donnie’s calculator?”

“I. . .” Her voice trailed off. Matt’s stomach clenched at the absence of a reply, which told him an answer he didn’t want to hear.

Matt sucked in a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. “You were in the closet again!”

“You’re shouting.”

Matt backed up two steps. “That does it. Out of the car.”

“Pardon me?”

Matt braced his feet apart, crossed his arms, and lowered his voice to a deep, even pitch. “You heard me. Get out of the car.”

“What are you going to do, frisk me?”

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

Sarah’s eyes opened wider than he’d ever seen them, and she looked back up at him. Very slowly, her door opened, and she inched out. As soon as both feet touched the ground and she stood upright, Matt unceremoniously escorted Sarah to the squad car.

“I can’t believe this. What are you doing? It looks like you’re arresting me!”

“I just might. You’re not being a very cooperative criminal.”

She stiffened, glanced down at his gun, then back to his face before she slid into the back seat of the squad car. Matt closed the door, then went around to the other side so he could get in as well. It really wasn’t what he wanted to do, but he needed somewhere more private than the busy street where he could speak privately and not be under the watchful eye of every passerby.

“What were you doing in the closet?” he growled.

“You’re still shouting at me. You may not be loud, but you’re still shouting.”

A few choice words raced through his head, but he held himself back. “I have every good reason to shout! I thought you agreed with me that it was too dangerous for you to be spying on Donnie when he’s in his office! Do you have any idea of the risks you’re taking?”

“Calm down. No one saw me or knew I was there. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay! All it takes is one slipup, and they could decide to make you a target to keep you silent. For good!”

“You’re still shouting.”

Matt lifted his hat off his head, swiped his fingers through his hair, and replaced the hat. “I’m sorry. But you’re scaring me. You don’t seem to realize the danger involved when you do stuff like that.”

“I know the risks I’m taking. But I want to stop what’s going on, and I can’t if I don’t know what Donnie is doing.”

All he could do was stare at her. From the way she spoke, he did believe she really knew the risk she was taking, although perhaps not to the fullest degree. Then again, as a law enforcement officer, Matt had seen the worst cases played out in real life. He knew he’d been hardened to some degree by all he’d seen, but that didn’t alter the facts. Worst-case scenarios did happen and nothing could assure him that this case wouldn’t be one of them.

He didn’t know what he would do if Sarah got hurt or worse. He didn’t want to think about the danger she was putting herself in, but realistically, he had to. Her bravery only endeared her more to him. He had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss her, right in the back seat of his squad car. But he couldn’t. He was in uniform, on duty, and out in public. It wouldn’t have mattered if Sarah were his wife—people were always looking for any slipup any police officer made, in order to cause trouble or throw the department into disrepute.

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He couldn’t entertain the possibility of Sarah being his wife. He had already told himself that he would never marry a non-Christian, and he wasn’t about to change his own rules. As a law enforcement officer, he knew it would be hard enough to maintain a happy, balanced marriage without adding more problems.

He wouldn’t marry her, but nothing would stop him from caring about what happened to her. “Please promise me that you’ll be more careful, and you won’t go in the closet to spy on Donnie’s office.”

“I thought you wanted to catch Kincaid?”

“More than you’ll ever know. But catching him isn’t worth risking you.”

“Since this whole thing began, I’ve had the feeling that this is very personal to you. Why do you want to catch this guy so badly?”

Matt turned and stared out the window, but his eyes didn’t focus on anything in particular. “Kincaid was involved in a power game with a rival a few years ago. Kincaid has no respect for human life, and he only sees kids as easy marks or in the way. The end result was that one of my neighbor’s kids found some of Kincaid’s wares, didn’t know what it was, and died from an unintentional overdose. Kincaid got off on a technicality and walked away laughing. I want to do everything I can to keep Kincaid off the streets, forever.”

“I’m so sorry. Did you know the child well?”

Matt had to clear his throat in order to speak. “Yes. Her name was Jenni. She was only ten years old.”

“That’s so sad. . .”

He turned back to Sarah. Her concern was his final undoing. He couldn’t kiss her on her warm, soft mouth, so he did the next best thing. He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. She gasped, but she didn’t pull away. “I’m going to send you back to your car now. Please wait there while I write you up. All you have to do is come over to my place, and I’ll give you a new lightbulb. I’ll put in the report that I did the follow-up, and the file will be closed.”

“This is silly.”

“I know. But if anyone is watching, then there’s something on file. I’ll need your driver’s license and registration.”

Matt opened his door, walked around the vehicle, and opened the door for Sarah to get out. He followed her back to her car and waited for her to provide the documentation, then returned to the squad car and processed the warning.

He felt like an idiot, but if nothing else, it assured him that he would see her again in the next few days, before the warning expired, and he had to chase her down. Although doing a follow-up right now wasn’t entirely a bad idea.

When everything was done, he returned to Sarah’s window. He handed her the paperwork to sign, then tore off her copy and handed it to her.

She let go a loud sigh as she read the terms of the warning. “You’re working tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s going to be a strange day. The RCMP has a booth in the mall this weekend for Bicycle Safety Week. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but I was assigned to do the booth. I’m stuck there from 10:00 a.m. until 6 p.m.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s usually pretty boring, so it’s bad. Give me a call when you want to change that lightbulb. And remember, Sarah. Please stay safe. No more trips to the closet.”