Suspicion. Ginny Aiken

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СКАЧАТЬ someone had hurt her, he had to help. Two calls in two days to the pharmacy were unheard of. And two too many, period.

      He reached Scott’s in less than ten minutes. He didn’t want to think how many speed limits he’d obliterated to do so. But when he strolled in, he realized how foolish his rush had been. Wayne had everything under control, talking to Steph while Maggie inspected the store.

      Well, everything except for the two tiny lines between Steph’s eyebrows. Which prompted Hal to speak. “Anything I can do to help?”

      Steph and Wayne spun.

      “Oh, hello, Sheriff Benson,” she said.

      Wayne frowned. “Any problem, Benson?”

      Hal shook his head. “I was near—” the county wasn’t that big “—and I heard the call on the radio. Just thought I’d stop by and see if you needed a hand. After all, Steph was mugged yesterday, and the radio call just caught my attention.”

      Wayne jutted out his chin. “Don’t know that there’s much to see here. Just six messed-up boxes in four weeks. Maybe one of the seniors at The Pines was clumsy checking out the merchandise more’n Miss Scott would like when they come shopping. Maybe they thought trimming the damage they did might make it look like less.”

      When no one agreed, he shrugged and went on. “Doesn’t look like much to me, even if Miss Scott here thinks it might have something to do with the mugger. I say folks are careless. Sometimes they’re just plain crazy, too. Either this is someone’s idea of a prank, and it’s downright mean, if you ask me, or stuff fell and got shoved around in the store.”

      “That’s never been my experience,” Hal said. But at Wayne’s deepening frown, Hal hurried to add, “Still, it’s just like I said. I was close…but of course, I’m sure you have everything under control.”

      You’re the one who doesn’t have anything under control, his conscience taunted with right-on-the-money accuracy.

      On his way out, a thought occurred to him. “Did you get those security cameras yet?”

      Steph gave him a look of disbelief. “When would I have had the time?”

      “You might want to hurry things up. It might help you keep things under control.”

      Control. One little word, but, oh, how much it encompassed. The PD had things under control. He was suggesting ways for Steph to keep things under control in her store. He sighed. The only thing not under control was him.

      What was he doing here? No one needed him. He had a job to do.

      He glanced at Steph again. There was just something about her that inspired him to leap tall buildings, stop speeding bullets—all the clichés. With a quick salute, Hal stood to the side, letting the efficient cops do their job. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make himself leave.

      Irritated, he called himself the biggest fool in town.

      Yet another cliché: he was a fool in love. Still, how could it be love when he hadn’t shared much more than passing greetings with Steph?

      What kind of crazy am I?

      TWO

      “Before you go…” Maggie Lowe said as Steph stood to leave once the three law enforcement officers were done with their questions. “I suspect you’ll want to know what we just found inside the blood pressure cuff box.”

      Steph shoved her bangs off her forehead then rubbed her palms, one against the other, and laced her fingers together. “A blood pressure cuff, I hope.”

      The officer gave her a wry smile. “It was there. But you already knew that. It’s what we found behind the cuff that’s so interesting.”

      Sheriff Benson crossed his arms. “You found something in the box?”

      Officer Donnelly faced the other man. “Crazy as it sounds, there was a twenty-dollar bill shoved behind the cuff.”

      “Huh?” Great! First she came across as the weak little victim who got knocked down, and now she sounded dumb. “I mean, money? There was cash inside the box?”

      Maggie nodded. “It was an old bill, so when we check it for prints I’m sure we’ll find plenty of them—too many, actually. And then, when I called Dawn Stallman from The Pines, thinking one of the seniors might have…oh, I don’t know, felt guilty and stuck it in there to make up for the broken box, she says no one would fess up. She did ask all the seniors who came in today.”

      “That is strange,” Steph said.

      The sheriff uncrossed his arms. “I don’t think the twenty’s a case of conscience. The folks out at The Pines wouldn’t do that. They’d take the box they broke right up to the counter and face Steph—er…Miss Scott.”

      “It wasn’t broken,” Steph said. “Someone cut into that box with a very sharp blade. Deliberately.”

      Maggie nodded.

      Sheriff Benson turned to Steph. “Who else came into the store today?”

      She groaned. “I can’t begin to remember. Let’s see…Miss Tabitha picked up her prescription, and I remember Mr. Holcomb stopping in for his little girl’s insulin…” Steph frowned, concentrated and eventually came up with a list of about ten customers. Then she shook her head. “I’ll have to check my records to see who else picked up prescriptions. We can look at the checks and credit-card slips in the deposit bag, too. That’ll give us a better idea who was in the store.”

      “Sounds good to me,” the sheriff said. He turned to the two police officers. “How about I follow her home? I can look at that bag. She—” he faced Steph “—you can make the deposit in the morning, right?”

      As strange as it seemed, Steph felt relieved to know the sheriff, even though practically a stranger, would come home with her. She just didn’t relish walking into her little carriage house behind the Farmer’s Supply Store alone. The local farmer’s co-op had turned the town’s century-old livery stable, a lovely, historic building, into the wire-and-feed-and-more store, but by this time of night it was also dark and empty. For the first time she realized how isolated her home, the original livery owner’s home, was all the way out on the edge of town.

      “I’ll stop by the bank on my way to work tomorrow morning,” she said, heading for her car. “And if it’s okay with all of you, I’d like to close up shop now.”

      Damp from the rain and shivering from an excess of nerves, Steph couldn’t wait to be rid of the whites she wore to work. Fortunately for her, Loganton was small. It only took seven minutes to get home. In no time, she pulled her car into the garage, snagged her purse and deposit bag and locked up her gas-efficient compact car. She waited for the sheriff just inside the garage door, then, once he met her, used her garage-door remote to lock up behind them.

      “I’m sorry to keep you so long,” she said as she went up the steps to the inside door. “This whole thing is just unbelievable…very unusual. But you can go on home now. I’ll get the list of customers to you in the morning.”

      He gave her his brief but sincere СКАЧАТЬ