Page 74 of By the Book

“Next time I have to see you, I’m not leaving until you need an ambulance.”

Chapter 29

Tripp

If the suspect is one of my fellow candidates for sheriff, it can only be one. And while he’s not my favorite deputy, I’m having a hard time believing he’s behind everything. For starters, I see his vehicle daily. And there is no damage to his truck after ramming into the Lobster Shack. His truck that Mrs. Taylor borrowed just last week to help Ivy put her shop back together. Neighbor, friend, deputy. Chuck.

As soon as I narrowed down who was in attendance at the roast to only him, I pulled up vehicle registrations and checked if he had more than one listed. In fact, he does. A car that I’ve never seen him drive, ever. And the more I thought about it, in the last few weeks, he has grown more condescending than supportive with his “kid sheriff” comments.

Also, he had referred to Ivy as my girlfriend recently. No one has known about our budding relationship, so it sticks in my mind that he and the vandal made the same assumption. Maybe it’s not conclusive enough. But even still, I’ve been digging into things and looking for him for hours now to test this theory.

He wasn’t scheduled to be on duty today, so my first stop was to check his house, right across from the Taylor’s home. When there was no answer, I poked around his yard and looked in hiswindows. No movement inside. I sat there for a good portion of the day, watching for any signs of his return.

When that left me with nothing, I went to the harbor, thinking maybe he got around the whole missing key situation. Checking with Barney at the office, I got his dock number. And I already had his boat license number jotted down and in my pocket from my research. Walking down the direction Barney sent me, I had found his boat right where it should have been. And when he didn’t seem to be there, I welcomed myself aboard. At this point, warrant be damned. I had probable cause and if this is Chuck doing this—as a man with a badge, my illegal search will be the least of anyone’s worries.

Searching the boat led me to another dead end though, and now I sit in the parking lot, putting out an APB on his truck. I crack my knuckles and roll my shoulders that are tight with tension. The voice in the back of my mind tells me it is indeed Chuck, and I have to find him. The voice that’s always there—my instinct, the key to my abilities as sheriff. I know I’m right this time.

Heat builds within me as I recall his anger at being left out of the investigation. Of course, he would have wanted to insert himself in the case, to stay in front of things. My own anger continues to heighten as I piece together everything that’s been in front of my face. All because he couldn’t handle losing toa kidin the election.

The only thing keeping me from completely losing my mind is the fact that I know Ivy is with her girls. I can get to Chuck before he can hurt her again.

I take a deep breath and try desperately to lower my blood pressure. He wins if I lose my cool and break focus.

Reaching over to my passenger seat, I pull out the shift schedules I grabbed on my way out of my office earlier. The night of the Lobster Shack’s vandalism, Chuck was off duty.When Oak + Harbor was hit, Chuck was off duty. The night Ivy’s store was broken into I don’t need to look up, I know he was off duty. And finally, the night her apartment was tossed, Chuck was off duty.

The word seething does not do my current state justice. I’m seeing red as I try to think of where else he could be at this moment. I could pull Millie off patrol and put her at the bookstore while I go to Ivy’s apartment, in case he tries to double back to either site. Then I can wait for the APB to render results while making sure Ivy is safe.

Reaching for my phone, my finger freezes over the screen as I notice the security camera notifications. The alerts started coming in a few minutes ago, but she’s been at Poppy’s for hours. I have them set to go to both my and Ivy’s phones outside of her store hours. Has she seen these? Why haven’t I heard from her yet?

I open the oldest notification to find a man in a plain brown coat and dark baseball cap at the door. It looks like Chuck, as much as it can look like anyone from this angle. Clenching my fists, I watch him check the handle, the door swinging open with ease. Could she have left it unlocked? I watch him step inside and despite the dark, I can see now that he is, in fact, Chuck.

It’s been fifteen minutes since the notification came in, there’s a good chance I’ll catch him if I leave now. I drag my finger across the screen, speeding up the camera’s recording. And I nearly scroll all the way through the end. But then there’s movement at the door once again, in a much more petite form.

“No, no, no, honey,” I wail at my phone. It’s Ivy, and despite the door being open, she’s walking right in. Why didn’t she call me? What is she doing there? I throw it in drive and peel out of the parking lot.

Ivy

“What now, Chuck?” I ask gently.

This is the man that cut our lawn when my dad was hurt in a pickup basketball game. The man who bought girl scout cookies from me religiously. A family friend, a law enforcement officer. I trusted him, we all trusted him. It never crossed my mind that it could be our friendly neighbor Chuck.

“I need to think,” he snaps at me. “Come on, move away from the door.” He points around the stacks, motioning to my sitting area in the back corner of the store. I take a step, trying to reach out for my phone and slide it into my hand on the way, but he catches the motion. “Don’t even think about it. The phone stays there. And take your purse off and leave it there too.”

Shit, I was really counting on being able to sneak a text to Tripp. My heart skitters erratically as I scramble to come up with a new plan. Crossing the room, I sink down into one of my armchairs and pull my knees up to my chest. Tripp will come, even without my text. He’ll find me, save me.

“What’s the plan?” I ask quietly, watching Chuck pace before me.

“I don’t know, I need to think. You were never supposed to be a part of this. What are you doing with Tripp anyway?”

“Are you about to give me relationship advice?” I scoff, immediately regretting my words. It’s probably not a good idea to mock the man pointing a gun at me. I shrink back in the chair, hoping he didn’t catch my tone.

“I only went for your store after I saw you two leave Wes’s party together. I’d never seen him with anyone, there was no easy target to scare him with before. Then you got in his passenger seat, and I couldn’t pass it up. But why did it have to be you?”

Gaping at him, I wonder if it would help me to correct him. Maybe if he knew I wasn’t with Tripp at that point… I just need to distract him until Tripp gets here. I know with unwavering certainty that he will come for me. And reminding myself of that helps get my heart rate settled a bit.

I need to keep Chuck talking, to buy time. With a deep breath, I do exactly that and tell him he was wrong. “Actually, it was your attack that brought us together. The night of the party I had too much champagne. The only reason he was driving me home was as a favor to my brother.”

Chuck stills. “What?”

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