Chapter 16

 

“It’s a lease with option to buy,” Sam told Beau when she stopped by his office after calling to see if he’d gone home yet. “I figure if Book It Travel renews the contract, which Mr. Bookman has already hinted at, I’m going to need this facility for awhile.”

Beau seemed subdued, she realized. “Rough day?”

“Yeah. On several levels. Started with a frustrating chase for leads in the armored car robbery—nothing new there—then this accident turned out to be really bad. Head-on collision, several fatalities, at least one of the drivers under the influence. Waiting for tests to come back but it looks like we’ll have vehicular homicide charges. Proving those cases means dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s.”

She put her lease papers away and stepped behind his chair to rub his shoulders.

“And then, wouldn’t you know it, a domestic disturbance turned ugly and I was nearest the scene so I got to spend part of the afternoon convincing this woman she really ought to get herself and her kids out of the house for their own safety. I understand her point—she’s the one caring for the three kids and wants to be in her home where all their stuff is. But this guy is a batterer and he refuses to leave.” He shuffled some paperwork aside. “Sorry, darlin’. You came in all excited about your new project and I did nothing but rain on your parade.”

“Beau, it’s fine. Your worries are life-and-death. Mine are chocolate, silly by comparison.”

“Tell you what,” he said. “How about we go out and you show me that new place?”

“Really? You want to?”

“I do. Let’s grab a bag of tacos and have dinner there.”

She laughed. His idea reminded her of the spontaneity of their first date.

“The power’s not on yet. You have any candles around here?”

He rummaged in a desk drawer and came up with two. “From the last power outage. They’re not the pretty, smell-good kind.”

“Let’s go. Can you get away now? If we get there before it’s pitch-dark outside at least you’ll get an idea of what it looks like.”

“Take a breath, Sam. We got this.” He grabbed his jacket from the coat rack in the corner and ushered her out the back door. “Let’s take your van. I gotta come back later anyway. Told Tim Beason I’d make it by the hospital to see how Tansy Montoya is doing.”

They pulled through the drive-up at Lotaburger and got a dozen tacos to go. Fifteen minutes later, Sam steered into the circular drive of her new property. The moon, even more full tonight, was rising when they started for the front door.

“Look at that moonlight. We may not need the candles.” Beau aimed his flashlight at the lock so Sam could use the key. He’d snagged a blanket from the back of his cruiser and it now became an impromptu picnic cloth.

Sam swiped a finger across the hardwood floor. “Darryl and his guys have their work cut out for them. There must be an inch of dust on everything. At least I’ll have the electricity turned on for them tomorrow.”

“Let’s eat while these are warm, then I want the whole tour,” Beau said.

As it turned out, the meal went down quickly and the conversation turned romantic, the first time in days they’d shared more than a quick kiss. The blanket was soft and the candles cast a beautiful glow that brought out the relief carving on the fireplace mantle and somehow diminished the shabby wallpaper. Beau had unfastened the third button on her shirt when lights flashed at the uncovered windows.

“Uh-oh,” he said, sitting upright. “Expecting anyone?”

“No. Not unless the friends who know about the place happened to come by and spot my van.” She quickly buttoned up while Beau moved to the edge of the window.

“Hm, not here,” he said, staring into the darkness. “A vehicle is slowing down, pulling in at the house next door.”

‘Next door’ being used loosely out here, Sam thought, since the closest neighbor was about a hundred yards away. The house over there was plain by comparison to its Victorian neighbor, a tan stucco, one story, with a red metal pitched roof. No one seemed to be at home during Sam’s previous visits, not surprising since she’d now spent a grand total of two hours here.

“The real estate lady said we had the one neighbor, but no one would mind my running a business here.” She joined him at the window. “Funny, the car stopped there, but no lights are coming on in the house.”

She supposed it would be polite of her to walk over and say hello before full-fledged candy production began, although she couldn’t imagine who on earth would object to living next to a small-scale chocolate factory.

A couple of figures moved back and forth in the moonlight, then a motor started and the vehicle backed out.

“Short visit,” Sam said as she and Beau stepped out of sight when the car passed.

“Looked like about a ’93, ’94 sedan. Two occupants. Too dark to see the plates.”

Sam chuckled. “Lawmen. Do all of you focus on details like that?” She walked back to the blanket and picked up the wrappings from their dinner.

“I suppose we do. Ah, it’s just this robbery case. I’m on the lookout for black pickup trucks all over the place, but I have nothing in the way of probable cause to use as an excuse for pulling someone over. If I stopped every black truck in this town, I’d get nothing else done all day.”

And there went the romantic moment, Sam thought.

“Let’s get you back to the office. You can make your hospital visit and still get home at a reasonable hour.”

He folded the blanket and blew out the candles while she reached into her pack for her keys. Her fingers felt the lumpy surface of the carved wooden box. It immediately warmed and her fingertips picked up the heat.

“Hey, would you like me to come along with you?” She touched the back of his hand and watched the tension ease from his expression.

“Sure. That would be nice.”

She locked up and started the van while he tossed the blanket and cold candles into the back. She saw him stare back at the neighboring house, and took the opportunity to warm her hands more thoroughly against the wooden box.

“Still don’t see any lights on over there,” Beau commented as he took the passenger seat.

“Maybe they have heavy curtains.”

He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Um, warm … maybe we should have stayed on that blanket a little longer.”

Sam sent him a winsome smile. She would see to it he made good on that promise once they were home in the comfort of their own bed.

Hospital visiting hours were nearly over when they arrived and it took a little talking on Beau’s part to get the night nurse to let them go to Tansy’s bedside.

“Sheriff, her condition hasn’t changed at all since the last time Beth said you visited.”

“Is it true patients in a coma can hear voices when someone speaks to them?” he asked, not slowing his pace.

“Some people think so,” said the young nurse with the nametag B. Monroe.

“Let my deputy and me give it a try,” he said gently.

A monitor in another patient’s room went off and Miss Monroe hurried off.

Sam had already reached Tansy’s bedside. She took the woman’s right hand, closing her eyes and willing the warmth from the box to flow toward the patient. The monitors blipped steadily. Sam ran her hands the length of Tansy’s arm. Still no change.

She looked up at Beau, who was speaking Tansy’s name quietly.

“Is the nurse watching us?” Sam asked.

He looked toward the deserted station. “No. No one’s there right now.”

Sam pressed her hands together then cupped Tansy’s poor, injured face. Three quarters of it was bandaged but the unhurt part, the woman’s lower jaw on the right, seemed to warm to Sam’s touch.

Please get well. Your kids need you. Your family is worried.

The monitors blipped, the moving lines wiggled momentarily then settled back into their same pattern.

“Sam? We’d better go,” Beau said.

“But—”

“Maybe it’s going to take more time.”

Sam closed her eyes and sent out one more silent prayer.