Page 1 of In Her Sights
Chapter 1
“I’m headed to the park,” Molly called as she let the screen door slam behind her. It slapped against the edge of the frame, too warped to close properly. She absently made a mental note to fix it later…along with the hundred other things that needed doing around the house.
“You want backup?” Charlie yelled back, and Molly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her sister would do anything to get out of paperwork, but Molly wasn’t about to enable her, even if it would be nice to have someone along to help relieve the boredom.
“Nope, this should be easy-peasy.”
“You’re taking Warrant though, right?” Cara, Charlie’s twin and the worrywart of the family, peered at Molly through the screen door.
Their enormous, hairy Great Pyrenees mix cocked his head when he heard his name. “Yes.” Leash in hand, Molly allowed Warrant to tow her down the porch steps as she gave Cara a wave over her shoulder, wanting to get out of earshot before her sisters thought of any more questions. If Molly was delayed long enough, Charlie would somehow finagle her way into coming along, and that meant Molly would be stuck sorting her sister’s expense reports. That prospect wouldn’t be so bad, except that Charlie was terrible about taking care of her receipts. They were always sticky or stained or wrapped around chewed gum. Nope. Charlie could do her own expense report. It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk to the park, and Molly was going to enjoy it.
Warrant trotted at her side as they passed their neighbor’s scarily perfect yard. Mr. Petra silently watched from his wide, immaculate porch, his narrow-eyed glare boring into her.
Baring her teeth in a wide smile, Molly waved. “Hey, Mr. P! Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
As he continued to glower, Molly felt her forced smile shift to a real grin. Being passive-aggressively friendly to her sourpuss of a neighbor was oddly satisfying. She felt his disapproving glare follow her until she reached the end of their street and turned the corner. Warrant happily bumbled along next to her, although his broad, pink tongue was already hanging out of his mouth.
“We’ve gone a block,” she said. “You can’t be getting tired already.”
Warrant just blinked his oblivious dark eyes at her, and she sighed.
“You’re the laziest dog in the world. It’s a good thing you’re cute, or we wouldn’t put up with your shenanigans.” That last part was a lie. Molly and her sisters would put up with Warrant even if all of his fur fell out and he sprouted leathery, bat-like wings. They’d probably even get specially made sweaters with appropriately placed holes for his new appendages. She smiled at the mental image as she ran a hand over his silky-soft head.
The sun beamed down warmly on them as they walked, light filtering through the trees that lined the residential street. Langston was close enough to Denver—just an hour’s drive from downtown to downtown if traffic was light—that commuters were snapping up new cookie-cutter homes on the northern edge of the small city as fast as they could be built. Set tucked against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the new suburbs had wide stretches of fresh sod and spindly saplings that cast barely any shade, but Molly’s house was in the older, richer, southern part of town. That meant neighbors eyed her family’s worn and comfortably raggedy property from their own perfectly restored Victorians with lush, Mr. P-approved lawns, but it also meant that the trees were old enough to spread their sheltering branches over the yards and quiet streets, protecting Molly and Warrant from the strong Colorado sun.
Although it was mid-September, it still looked—and felt—like summer. The only hint that fall had begun was the absence of kids running around at two thirty on a Tuesday afternoon. Despite Warrant’s slowing pace, the mile-long walk went quickly, the peace of the quiet, warm day soothing Molly’s too-busy brain.
After much coaxing and a minimal amount of dragging her increasingly lazy dog, Molly made it to the park. Only a handful of people were there, mostly parents watching their preschool-age kids play. Warrant perked up once the dog park came into view, but Molly towed him in the opposite direction toward an empty bench next to the swings, doing her best to pretend she couldn’t see his sad look. She failed miserably.
“I know, Warrant.” She sat and tried to ignore the guilt swamping her. “We need to make some money, though. You eat a lot, and it’s not the cheap stuff, either. Your food is the equivalent of dog caviar, so I don’t think it’s too much to ask for you to help out occasionally.”
With a soul-deep sigh, he lay down next to the bench and rested his chin on his front paws. Molly turned her attention away from the dog and eyed the shops across the street. Her spot on the bench was the perfect vantage point.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and pretended that she wasn’t watching the door next to the cute ice cream parlor. The apartment above the shop was leased by Maryann Cooper, who seemed to be a law-abiding, responsible citizen. The same couldn’t be said about her younger brother, Donnie. He had a habit of taking things that didn’t belong to him—like wallets and cell phones and the occasional car—and he hadn’t shown up for his most recent court date.
Molly had a strong suspicion that Maryann knew where Donnie was hiding, and she would leave for her shift at the turkey-processing plant in an hour or so. Since Maryann had been dodging all of her calls and refusing to answer the door, Molly would have to take a more direct approach. She started playing a game on her phone to pass the time while keeping one eye on the apartment across the street, just in case Maryann decided to leave early. Warrant stretched out on his side and dozed, snoring softly.
After a peaceful half hour drifted by, Molly stood and stretched, knowing it was time to move closer to the ice cream shop. Warrant provided an excuse to hang out at the park without looking like a lurker—and he’d also proven to be an excellent conversation starter with people who wouldn’t have given her the time of day if she’d tried approaching them alone—but having the dog along did require some additional planning. Warrant’s top speed was a slow amble, so she had to allow enough time to get him through the park and across the street.
Before she could make her move, an all-too-familiar voice made her groan and plop back down in her seat.
“Molly Pax. Just the person I wanted to see.” John Carmondy started rounding the bench but paused to rub Warrant behind the ears. The dog—traitor that he was—thumped his heavy tail against the ground and rolled over in a plea for belly scratches. To Warrant’s obvious delight, John complied.
“John Carmondy. Just the person I didn’t want to see.” If she’d known that he was going to be at the park, she would’ve stopped and talked to Mr. P, or even helped Charlie with those sticky receipts. Molly sent a quick text and then slid her phone into her pocket. “Why are you here?”
Still crouched to pet Warrant, John grinned up at her. Her dog’s back foot pedaled in the air as John found just the right spot. Molly wasn’t surprised. She was well aware that the man knew exactly how to hit everyone’s buttons. Too bad he seemed to take as much pleasure in pestering her as he did in playing with her dog. “Why am I at the park?” he asked. “Why does anyone go to the park on such a beautiful day?”
Across the street, Maryann slipped out of the door next to the ice cream shop and hurried toward her ancient Honda parked on the street. She was leaving early today. Molly watched her go, holding back a growl when she saw Maryann get in her car and pull away from the curb. There went her chance to talk to the bail-jumper’s sister.
“You’re such a happy dog, aren’t you?” John cooed. “Not all crabby like your owner.”
Molly rolled her eyes hard enough that she was surprised they didn’t spin right out of her skull. “I’m not crabby.” She hesitated, honesty pushing her to add, “Well, not to most people.”
With a snort, John gave Warrant a final belly scratch before straightening to his full—and significant—height. Crossing over, he took the spot next to her on the bench, and Molly fought the urge to shift to give him more room. He was just so darn huge, with biceps as big as her head and thighs like muscled tree trunks. His ridiculously enormous body took up almost the entire bench. “I’m special, then?”
“Special’s one word for it,” she muttered. Aggravating was another. So were flirty, distracting, and confusing, although she wasn’t about to admit to any of the last three. Forcing her brain back to the job at hand, she snuck another quick glance across the street. Even though Maryann had left, Molly kept a furtive eye on the shops as she pretended to watch the kids playing on the jungle gym. She hoped that her unwelcome companion would wander away if she ignored him.
“So…how’ve you been?”
