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I can’t say I was surprised when Evie pushed away from me like I’d slapped her. If there was one thing I’d learned about Evie so far, it was that nothing with her would be easy. She was stubborn and independent and while I admired both of those things about her, it didn’t make things easy for me.
“I don’t want a relationship,” she hissed. “You don’t have to date everyone you fuck, you know.”
“What’s the problem Evie? We’re both single, and I bet we have a lot in common.”
“No, we don’t,” she snapped. “But even if we did, I told you, I don’t do relationships. And I don’t date cops. Ever.”
I resisted the urge to push, to demand she tell me what her issue was with cops, or better yet, to throw her over my shoulder and take her home and handcuff her to my bed until she realized that despite our differences, we were perfect for each other. I resisted because I didn’t want to push her away, and I was sure that Evie’s feelings about what happened between us were just as jumbled as mine were. What had happened between us was life-changing and as sure as I was about her, I was still the tiniest bit freaked out about it. So, I couldn’t blame Evie for feeling the same way. Not really.
“Okay, let me walk you to your car and I’ll get out of here. We can talk later.”
“I’m sleeping here.” She pointed to the loft area where she had a little café. “I brought a sleeping bag.”
“And your paintball rifle.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”
“Okay well, if you’re sleeping over here, so am I.”
I started towards the stairs, and she ran past me, turning to block my way.
“You’re not welcome here, Jake.”
I resisted pointing out that I was welcome enough when I fucked her. There was no way I wanted to get shot again. Those paintball shots hurt more than I thought they would.
“Look, it’s highly unlikely your vandal is coming back tonight, not after there’s been all this ruckus. I’ll ask Johnston to come by every hour just in case, and you can relax in a bed instead of sleeping on the hard floor.”
Just when I thought I was going to have to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of here after all, she relented.
“Fine. I just need to get my bag.”
I waited downstairs while she went to get her stuff. She returned a few minutes later with a tote bag over her shoulder and a sleeping bag in her hand. We walked through the store together, turning off lights and checking that both doors were locked, not that it mattered. I was pretty sure Evie was right. Someone had a master key. It was the only explanation for why changing the locks hadn’t kept them out.
After walking Evie to her car two blocks away, I headed home, suddenly exhausted. It was almost two a.m. and I needed to be on duty at nine. I set my alarm and collapsed on the bed, fully clothed. My last thought before I fell asleep was of Evie.
***
“We’ve got a big problem.”
The next morning, Assistant Chief of Police Elaine Potter came into my office before I even took a sip of my coffee. She was a good officer who shared my philosophy on policing, and we worked together well.
“What is it, Potter?”
“I doubled checked Johnston’s work this morning to confirm it, but you were right, we seem to be missing a master key from the station.”
“How could that happen?” I asked.
We made officers check those keys in and out with the same procedures we used to give them squad car keys, service revolvers, and badges.
“A number of years ago we had a dirty cop. Name of Brian Peterson. We busted him extorting money from the local business owners, supposedly for extra police protection.” She made air quotes for that last part.
I shook my head in disgust. I hated cops who abused their power like that. Potter’s face showed the same disgust as mine.
“We confiscated his weapon and badge when we arrested him, but according to the report, he said he’d lost the master key that had been assigned to him. Looks like it was never followed up on since he went to prison, I don’t know why. It’s the only key unaccounted for.”
“Let me guess, Peterson is out now.”
Potter nodded. “Released about a month ago, currently on parole. But there’s more, Chief.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“His parents were the former owners of the bookstore. I gave them a call at their home in Florida this morning to ask about his whereabouts, but they weren’t sure where he ended up. They said the last time they talked to him in prison a couple years ago, they had a big fight. The guy was angry that his parents sold the bookstore, claimed he wanted to continue their legacy or something. Of course they didn’t buy it, because he never expressed interest in the store before. Told him it was too late anyway, because they’d already sold the business to Ms. Fontenot. He cussed them out and made a bunch of threats, and they told him not to contact them again. The Petersons were a nice couple, but they ended up with a jerk for a son.”
Potter took a deep breath and continued her report.
“A few weeks ago, they got an email from him out of the blue, saying he was on parole and was going to go straight and run his own business. They never responded to him. I’m guessing Evie’s is the business he wants to run. Although it doesn’t look like he has any assets from what I can see, so I’m not sure how he thinks he can take over the store.”
“Well, that explains why there are messages telling her to leave, but no major damage to the store,” I said. “Although vandalism and vague threats to leave aren’t exactly the work of a criminal mastermind.
Potter nodded. “Yeah, that guy was never the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. Even still, I think we should keep an eye on Evie until we can bring Peterson in. He might get bolder now that he’s not been successful in getting her to give up the business with vandalism and vague threats.”
“Agreed. And we need to get everything re-keyed right away.”
I grimaced, thinking that rekeying all the businesses was going to be a big hit on the police department’s very small budget.
“Already on it, Chief. We got the locksmith on hold, waiting for your go-ahead.”
“Do it.”
I stood up from my desk, unconsciously rubbing the bruise on my chest. Potter smirked.
“Heard Ms. Fontenot tagged you right over the heart with a paint gun last night, thinking you were an intruder.”
“You heard right,” I admitted, feeling a flush of embarrassment climb my face. “I let her get the drop on me like an amateur. I’m going to go over to her place and let her know what we found out, and work on a safety plan.”
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Potter remarked. “Sweet too. I also heard you two were a bit cozy last night. Johnston said there was a vibe, and your handprint was on her shoulder.”
“I’m surprised at you, Potter. I didn’t think that you were one to gossip.”
My assistant chief looked embarrassed.
“I was raised here, Chief. Gossip is in my DNA, but I usually try to rein it in.”
“Good plan. See you later.”
I drove over to Evie’s house in my cruiser, wondering if I’d find her at home. I wondered why she worked six days a week. From what I’d heard, she was doing really well at the bookstore. She could probably hire an assistant manager or something so she could work less. I should suggest that to her. But maybe not when her paintball gun was around.
Evie wasn’t home so I pulled up her phone number and sent her a text.
Jake: This is Jake. Where are you?
Evie: Jake who?
Jake: Haha. Seriously I need to talk to you.
Evie: How did you get my number?
Jake: Police database. What are you doing right now?
Evie: I’m busy doing things that are none of your business.
Jake: It’s about the case. We have a suspect identified.
Evie: No way. Color me shocked. Where are you? I’ll come now.
Jake: I’ll meet you at your house.
Ten minutes later Evie pulled into her driveway. She was loaded down with shopping bags full of groceries.
“Let me help.”
“I’m fine,” she said stubbornly.
I ignored her, taking the bulk of the bags from her trunk, and following her into her house. It was a cute little cottage style house, about six blocks from the beach. The yard was neat, the grass freshly cut. Inside she’d decorated in mostly whites and dark blue colors, with the occasional pop of red. It was comfortable and cozy and a little quirky, just like Evie herself.
I remembered Marci saying that the only thing Evie got out of the divorce was the house and wondered if she’d lived here with her husband. I couldn’t resist asking as I trailed her to the kitchen.
“When did you buy this house?”
She frowned over her shoulder. “Five years ago, after my divorce. Why?”
“Just curious.”
We entered the kitchen, which was small but bright, decorated in shades of yellow and dark green. I set the groceries down on the kitchen counter, glancing at a picture on the refrigerator. A younger Evie sat on the beach, a little girl standing between her legs as they both smiled for the camera. They were both wearing swimsuits and sunglasses.
“Your daughter?” I guessed. I wasn’t a cop for nothing.
“Yeah, that’s Nicole. I think she’s about five there.”
“It’s a great picture. How old is she now?”
“Twenty-seven. She lives in Charleston. She’s a social worker.”
I could tell by Evie’s face that she was proud of her daughter.
“What about you?” she asked curiously. “Do you have kids?”
I shook my head even as my heart warmed at her asking me a personal question.
“No, I was never married.”
“You don’t have to be married to have kids.”
“Oh, I know. But I was in the military for twenty years, and I saw how hard that was on marriages, so I stayed single and always kept everything wrapped up. I was religious about contraception my entire life.”
“Until last night,” she reminded me.
Just the thought of it had me half-hard. I wanted nothing more than to push Evie down over the counter and fuck her from behind, but I was on duty. I had a job to do, so I moved farther away from her and put the kitchen island between us.
“You said you had news for me?” she asked.
“Yeah. Do you know of a former cop named Brian Peterson?”
She wrinkled her forehead, no doubt trying to interpret my question.
“Of course. He was the Peterson’s kid. Those were the people who owned the bookstore before me,” she clarified.
“He was always a shithead. Getting into trouble, scamming people. We were all shocked when he went to the police academy and got a job in town here. Everyone hoped that meant he’d grown up, was going to do something useful with his life, especially his poor parents. Then he got busted for running some kind of scam, asking business owners for money for enhanced police protection. To my complete shock, your guys actually arrested him and sent him away.”
“Why were you shocked?” I asked curiously. “He broke the law. That’s kind of a big part of our job – arresting people who break the law.”
“You know how you all are, always protecting your brothers in blue no matter what they do or what laws they break.”
She had a look on her face I couldn’t interpret. It was a mixture of bitterness and resignation.
“That’s the second time you’ve implied that all cops are dirty.”
She raised her eyebrows at me.
“Aren’t they?”
“No, they’re not,” I growled. “In fact—.”
“Why did you ask about Brian?” she interrupted before I could say more.
“We followed up on your idea that there was a missing master key. Turns out Brian Peterson never turned his into the station when he was arrested. Claimed he lost it. Coincidentally, he was paroled about a week before your first break-in.”
“Why would Brian mess with my store?” she asked in confusion.
“We talked to the Petersons. When he heard his parents were retiring, he asked them to cancel the sale and hold the store until he was paroled, but they refused. Apparently he was furious that they sold his legacy.”
She laughed. It was the first time I’d heard her laugh and the sound was sweet.
“His legacy? That kid never worked at the store unless his parents forced him. Mrs. Peterson caught him stealing from the till several times and finally they just gave up on him ever taking over for them. He was always getting into trouble. It was so bad they kicked him out of the house the minute he turned eighteen. He was a total jackass, and the Petersons were such a sweet couple, it totally broke their heart.”
“Well, he’s a jackass on the loose, with a key to your store and every other business in town. I’m increasing patrols at the store and around your house, but until we catch him, you’re going to need to be careful and watch your six. We have no idea what he might do as he gets increasingly frustrated.”
“Okay. I’ll keep my eyes out.”
“And no more playing vigilante in your store.”
Evie stalked over to me and poked me in the chest with her pointer finger. I don’t think she did it on purpose, but she managed to poke me right where I had the bruise from the paintball shot. I bit my lip to keep from grimacing. I had a manly reputation to protect.
“You listen here Jake Wilson. You are not the boss of me. I’m a grown woman, and I’ll do what I want, when I want. You don’t get to come over here and stand in my own damn house and tell me what to do.”
I grabbed her hand and used the leverage to pull her between my legs, my other hand coming to the back of her neck.
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong.”