Page 12 of Hold Your Breath
Releasing a silent sigh, she restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Barely. “Can I get a lecture rain check? It’s really cold.”
He changed to her second-least-favorite expression—irritation—but gave a short nod. “Get home. Lock your doors.”
“Yes, Dad,” she said, grinning at him to soften the sarcasm. “Thanks. I really appreciate you helping me out tonight.”
He didn’t acknowledge her thanks but just said, “File a report with the sheriff about those tires.”
“Will do. First thing tomorrow.” She saluted and climbed into the cab, leaving her door open as she fired up the engine. Her faithful truck turned over immediately, as usual. She patted the dash.
“Did you justpetyour truck?”
She shrugged. “She’s a good truck.”
Shaking his head, Callum headed back to his own vehicle. Lou could hear him muttering under his breath until he shut his cab door—but before he’d turned away from her, she’d caught the smile on his gruffly handsome face.
* * *
In the shadows of a nearby shed, he watched the taillights of her pickup turn out of the fire station lot. That big guy in the baseball cap thought he was being helpful, but his interference was just delaying the inevitable. Turning away from the now-empty parking lot, he started the half-mile walk to where he’d parked his car. As he unlocked his tense fists, stretching his fingers wide, he felt the anger screaming for release.
He took a deep breath, then another. He just needed to be patient. Soon, this would all be over.
Chapter 3
Since she didn’t start work at the coffee shop until noon, she fulfilled her promise to Callum and pulled up to the sheriff’s office just after eight the next morning. She stopped by Donnie’s on the way, to pick up the first damaged tire and yet another intact spare.
As she pushed open the front entrance marked “Field County Sheriff Department,” she looked around with interest. Although she’d been living in the area for the past seven months, Lou hadn’t had the opportunity to visit the stout, blocky building on the north end of town until now. It was, she figured, probably a good thing not to be too familiar with law enforcement offices.
The friendly blond deputy from the day before greeted her. “Lou, right?”
She nodded, racking her brain. She was horrible at remembering names, but his had fortunately managed to stick in her memory. “Chris?”
“That’s me.” His smile widened. “What can I do for you?”
Making a face, she gestured in the direction of the parking lot, where her truck was sitting—hopefully still on four inflated tires. “I wanted to make a report. I’ve had a couple of slashed tires over the past week.”
His smile dropped. “Sorry to hear that. You’re sure it was deliberate? The roads around here can be tough on tires.”
“Yes, unfortunately. Donnie noticed the first one, and Callum and I both agreed the second one looked cut. They’re out in my truck if you want to take a look.”
“Sure thing. Hang on a second.” He ducked back into the office closest to the reception area. When he reemerged, he’d pulled on a jacket and was carrying a small notebook and a camera. The portable radio on his duty belt beeped as he turned it on. “I’d been doing some research on the computer. You learn to make sure to log off around here. If you stay signed in, one of the other cops is going to get on your email, and that’s never good. Everyone in the department gets invited to your place for steak and lobster, or somehow your resignation letter gets sent to Rob, or some other crazy thing.”
She blinked, absorbing this. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing to admit, but I’d probably fit in pretty well around here.”
With a laugh, he held open the door, allowing her to step out first into the parking lot.
“Were you working on the case of the dead body?” She winced a little. When she said it like that, it sounded like the title of a very uninventive British mystery.
“Yeah.” He eyed her carefully as they half walked, half slid over the snow-coated asphalt. “You doing okay? That’s a pretty traumatic thing to have happen.”
Her nod turned into a shrug halfway through. “Mostly. I had some crazy dreams last night. I’ll be fine, though. We all have to experience our first dead person sometime.”
He looked across the parking lot, expression distant. “True.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she moved to open her tailgate, revealing the tires. Chris frowned as he tugged the closer one toward him, leaning in to examine the gash. He took a couple of pictures and then pulled a small ruler out of his pocket. Holding it below the cut, he took a few more photos and then repeated the process on the second tire.
Turning off the digital camera and tucking it into one of his many BDU pockets, he flipped open his notebook and grabbed a pen. “Let me just write down your plate number, and we can go inside where it’s warm for the rest of this.” With one hand, he closed her tailgate.
“Do you agree that someone did this on purpose?” She huddled in her coat as he scribbled down the numbers. Just in the short time they’d been outside, the cold had crept through her layers. Tiny shivers were vibrating through her, making her voice shake.
