Someone to Trust. Ginny Aiken
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Название: Someone to Trust
Автор: Ginny Aiken
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon Love Inspired
isbn: 9781408966389
isbn:
“Not yet, but soon. Zoe Donovan gave me a ride to the van when she finished her shift. I…uhm…stopped to look at the theater, and found something strange near the side exit. Thought you might want to see it before people start walking around later this morning. Do you think it might be important?”
In a tight voice, ripe with disapproval, he asked her to describe her discovery. When she finished, he didn’t answer right away.
“Can’t tell you much about it right now,” he finally said. “But no matter whether it’s important or not, it’s something for us to look at, not you. Last I remember, there was yellow tape around the theater. As the fire chief’s daughter, you know that means stay away. Don’t touch the plastic thing, and stay put till I get there. I’m on my way.”
Great. Yet another chance to come face-to-face with Rand’s disapproval.
But she’d deal with Rand’s attitude some other time. Right then, the only thing that mattered was finding the creep who’d built the meth lab in the basement of the Loganton Theater.
The one who’d almost killed Wilma and her dad.
Rand tried to contain his irritation as he stared at Cate. “And you just decided to duck under the tape and walk around an arson fire investigation for…what? The fun of it?”
She didn’t like his comment. Fire blazed from her dark eyes. “Not for the fun of it. That’s ridiculous.”
“Then tell me again why you were on the premises.”
“I wasn’t on the premises. Not exactly.” She blew a wavy strand of tawny hair from her forehead. “I came to get the van, and walked up to the theater. It’s so sad how, after all these years, it’s ruined now. I started to remember all the shows I watched here.”
The way she clamped down her lips told him how much he’d irritated her, but that was too bad. He wasn’t sure he believed her story. He didn’t know if she’d told him everything she knew. “Ahem!”
His less-than-subtle nudge got her going again. “Then I walked down the side street. That’s when I saw the…that blob. Even I could tell it had been burnt, so I went to see what it might be. I didn’t touch it, but while I was looking, someone came up from behind, and knocked me to the ground. Do you think they were trying to scare me away?”
“Someone? Knocked you to the ground?” What was she trying to pull? An early morning attacker?
She rubbed the middle of her forehead, and now that he looked, he could see a red bump, maybe a scrape, right where she’d placed her fingers. He waited for her answer.
She shrugged. “Someone knocked me over. I don’t know why. I just know I didn’t touch the plastic, and I didn’t trip myself. No one else came by.”
Her expression, her tone of voice, her body language were all consistent, still…“Coincidences don’t happen in my line of work.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she clamped her lips tight. She wasn’t happy with his response, certainly not his skepticism. Too bad. It was part of who he was, the job he had to do. And part of dealing with her—the past, memories and all that baggage.
“The only thing I can do,” she said, her voice earnest and serious, “is tell you the truth. It’s up to you whether you believe me or not. I hope you do.”
As Cate stood before him, a flash of remembrance took him back eight years. He’d spotted her across the street from his cousin’s mangled vehicle, Lindsay in her arms, the twin boys on either side. But moments before he got to the scene, moments before the children’s mother and father had died, she’d been in the car that caused the wreck. A car driven by the boyfriend who’d had too much to drink.
Rand couldn’t say if there was any chance he’d ever believe her. So it was best to get on with the task before him. He jiggled a plastic baggie containing the melted lump. “This thing’s going out for testing. I’m sure once the lab gets a handle on what it might be, I’ll have more questions for you. I’ll see you then.”
He took off, then remembered the scrape on her forehead. He stopped, turned to face her again. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call the ambulance? That looks…sore.”
She glared and shook her head. “I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself. Just find out who did this.”
He nodded, spun and walked away, the touch of her angry stare as though it were a flame against his back.
Ten minutes after Rand Mason walked away outside the theater, Cate again tamped down her anger and guided the van up the long drive at the old Caldwell place. The white house with black shutters had once been the heart of a real farm. Cate’s great-grandparents had sold a hefty chunk of the land during the Great Depression, and then, over the years, her grandparents and finally Mom and Dad had sold off the rest of the fields. No one had been interested in raising chickens or growing crops.
The families who’d bought the land hadn’t purchased it for farming, either. Many had built minimansions, which by contrast made the Caldwell place and the handful of other vintage homes left on the road seem older than they really were. But the Caldwell place never looked shabby or neglected. Dad wouldn’t have let it, even if he’d had to slave over the property every minute he spent away from the station to get the work done.
Cate dragged herself up the porch steps and unlocked the door. The scent of home surrounded her. Furniture polish, fabric softener and a lingering hint of the cinnamon rolls she’d baked the day before mingled into a perfume that brought tears to her eyes with its familiarity.
Miss Tabitha Cranston, the sweet older woman who ran a boarding house in town and to whom she’d turned for help when Neal had called, hurried to hug her. “How is he?”
“Not good, but fighting.”
“That’s the Joe we all know and love.” She slipped her arms into her ivory colored cardigan, picked up her handbag and stepped onto the porch. “Oh, dear! Will you look at your forehead? What happened?”
Almost as if with a will of its own, her hand flew up to touch the sore spot. The whole episode still made her uneasy, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to worry Miss Tabitha any further.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. Don’t worry. I just didn’t watch where I was walking this morning, and I tripped on the sidewalk. I’ll be okay.”
Miss Tabitha tsk-tsked. “Make sure you put ice on it, okay?”
When Cate nodded, the older woman murmured more comforting words, then headed down the steps. “I’ll be praying. We all will.”
Robby’s early morning grumble startled Cate. “Where you been?”
“Where are the others?”
The ten-year-old gave her a one-sided shrug. “Dunno.”
The Caldwells weren’t known for their morning verve. “Have you seen them? Are they up yet?”
Lindsay wafted down the stairs. “Tommy’s in the bathroom. I can’t get him out and СКАЧАТЬ