Page 6 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“When did you notice the food was missing?”
“This morning. I know Linda had some stuff stolen too.”
“Don’t you guys have locks on your storage units?” Dan asked.
“They forced the locks,” she said, giving him a look like he should have known that.
“I’ll check it out.”
He was off duty, but in this town, you never really were. If people had a problem and you were nearby, they told you about it, and if it needed to be dealt with, you dealt with it.
He walked through the waffle place, inhaling the delicious scents, nodding to people as he passed, then went out the back door to the storage unit. Taking out his flashlight, Dan shone light on the locks. Someone had taken a bolt cutter to them.
“It’s sad anyone would need to do that in our town,” Nancy said, making him jump because he’d thought she’d stayed inside.
“Aha,” he said, opening the door. “What’s missing?”
After the waffle place, he went to the Do-Si-Do Diner and took down Linda’s statement. Once that was done, he headed to Calloway’s to pick up what his mom needed.
He was nearly there when he heard the words.
“Hello, Deputy.”
Dan knew who had spoken before he turned.
“Sydney Jane.” He nodded. The woman was a man-eater, and while he knew she’d been raised similar to Leah, he also knew they hated each other. SJ would be one person that wouldn’t be happy she was back in town.
“I was wondering, why you and I haven’t spent time together, Deputy Dan?” She moved in closer until only inches separated them.
He couldn’t be sure, but thought her breasts had grown again, though as he really didn’t want to know, he kept that to himself.
“Libby said you’ve been helping her out with the chocolate making,” Dan said, taking a step back. “How’s that working out for you?”
She batted the words away. “I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about us.”
She’d recently dyed her hair fiery red, which his brother Brody said suited her personality just fine. Dan sometimes thought that without all the paint and suggestiveness, SJ could be pretty. But she was who she was and had every right to be. He just didn’t have to like it.
He’d always been polite to her because, like with Leah, Dan knew things about her past. But he’d never taken SJ up on the clear offer of a night in her bed. His excuses had ranged fromI’m workingtoGotta run, my mother needs me.After years, they were wearing thin.
“We’re both single. Why don’t you want to have some fun?” she said suggestively.
For the first time in years, he’d had enough. He could handle most things, but even he had a breaking point, and this was it—possibly because he was still off balance from seeing Leah, or maybe because he was tired of hiding in the nearest shop every time he saw SJ walking toward him.
“Look, SJ, I’m not interested. Not sure how much clearer I can make that for you, but I would have thought you’d have got it by now.”
The shock was clear in her eyes. His words surprised him, too, and made him realize he should have said them years ago.
“You don’t know what you’re giving up,” she snapped, then turned and walked away.
He doubted getting rid of her would be that easy, but it was a start. Shaking his head, he carried on to Calloway’s, hoping no one else in Lyntacky wanted to piss him off further tonight.
The scream was loud and sudden in the night air. Dan ran to his right and came out at the rear of the convenience store.
“Who’s yelling?” he asked when he saw Milly Lee, one of Calloway’s salesclerks.
“There’s a man in there, Deputy Dan. He has a knife!” Pale, shaking, she was pointing at the large refrigeration unit. “I locked him in.”
Dan had no weapon on him—he’d left it at the station before he clocked off—but he still approached the door.
