Page 48 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
And then a car came down the road toward her. As she watched in the rearview mirror, her heart started to pound. Was this the man she was supposed to meet?
She couldn’t see anything beyond the bright headlights. They were practically blinding. As the car drew closer, her heart beat faster.
And then they passed her by. They didn’t even slow down. Her hopes were dashed.
She focused on the time again. One minute to go. It was time to make her move. Her insides were quivering with nerves as she opened the car door. She reached over for the jewelry box. It was pretty big and a little heavy. With the old jewelry box clutched to her chest, she got out of the car.
In the distance, she could hear singing. She wondered if the carolers were still out there, bringing smiles to so many people. She wished she was still with them because if she was, it would mean Odie was safe at home, and this was all just a terrible nightmare she could wake up from.
On wooden legs that didn’t feel like her own, she started toward the waterfall. The snow had been cleared from the sidewalks. Putting one foot in front of the other, she kept repeating to herself:Let Odie be okay. Let Odie be okay.
There were a half dozen benches near the waterfall. She visually examined each one. All of them were snow-covered. It didn’t stop her from searching for anything that might lead her to Odie. Her sweet puppy was nowhere in sight. There wasn’t even so much as a disturbance in the smooth coating of snow on each seat.
She didn’t know which bench she was supposed to leave the jewelry box on. She picked the bench right in front of her. It was in the middle.
When she reached it, she wished she’d put on her snow gloves, but they were back in the car. Moving the jewelry box to her left arm, she used her right arm to brush the snow from the bench. All the while, she kept glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was approaching her. She didn’t see anyone.
What did she do next? Leave the jewelry box on the bench and walk away?No.She definitely wasn’t doing that. She wasn’t going to let this creep get away without giving her dog back.
Belle sat down on the bench. The coldness immediately seeped through her jeans. She didn’t care. She was going to sit there until the guy showed his face.
Chapter Sixteen
Hedidn’tlikethis.
Belle never should have gone off on her own.
Parker stood with a small group of carolers. Belle had never been truly alone. He’d called in help from the neighboring towns. He didn’t have enough staff to cover the entire park.
He’d talked his mother into continuing the caroling on the other side of the street from the park. He wanted a distraction—something for the dognapper to focus on instead of him noticing Parker’s people moving into position around the park.
As they walked down the sidewalk across from the park, he had his phone out. He was snapping photos of all the cars parked on the side of the street and those driving by. He would send them to the sheriff’s office where they’d check the license plates for someone who didn’t belong there. He was certain that whoever did this didn’t live in Kringle Falls. Add in the fact that the estate auction where Belle bought the jewelry box was a couple of towns over only upped his suspicion that the suspect wasn’t local.
Parker already had a couple of deputies situated in the park, out of sight. Everything within him wanted to run to Belle’s side. He couldn’t believe she’d taken off on her own. When he saw her again, he was going to hug her, and then he was going to have a big talk with her about safety. Then he was going to hug her again.
All she had to do was place the jewelry box on the bench and walk away. He could see her from where he stood across the road. At least she’d picked the bench under one of the lights. He wanted to be a lot closer, but he didn’t know how to do that without alerting the suspect.
So far, all of the cars he’d checked out were empty, and the plates checked out. These cars were all where they were supposed to be. It made him start to doubt his suspicions about the suspect. Was it possible it was a Kringle Falls resident?
And then movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned his head to see a dark figure walking a dog through the park. The breath stilled in his lungs. This was it.
He lifted his phone to his ear. “Everyone be ready to move. The subject is approaching Belle.”
While the carolers kept walking, he stopped on the sidewalk. He stared at the scene unfolding in front of him. The dog seemed large, nothing like the photos of Odie that Belle had displayed around the house.
When the subject reached the bench Belle was sitting on, he didn’t so much as pause. He kept going. It was a false alarm. Parker struggled to keep the frustration from his voice as he spoke into his phone. “False alarm.”
Knowing he couldn’t continue to stand there on the sidewalk all by himself, staring at Belle, he turned and took long, fast steps to catch up with the carolers. They were going to walk to the end of the next block and then retrace their steps. He was so appreciative to his mother for making this happen. He was going to have to figure out a special way to thank her.
He wanted to continue to stare at Belle, but if the subject was around, he couldn’t give himself away. He had to have faith in the people he had in the park who were watching over her. This whole event wasn’t going to be over soon enough for him.
When he rejoined the carolers, his mother leaned toward him. “Is everything all right?”
He nodded. Though everything inside him said that nothing was right—not with Belle being a sitting duck for this unpredictable suspect.
The longer she sat there, the colder she became.
At first glance, Belle had thought for certain the person walking their dog had been the suspect. But as they’d gotten closer, she realized the dog was too big to be Odie. Disappointment settled in her chest.
