Suspicion. Ginny Aiken

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      The next day, when Hal walked into Granny Annie’s for lunch, he almost turned right around without even pausing for a drink. Just inside the door, he came face-to-face with Ed Townsend, the other contender for his job in the upcoming election.

      The freshly minted lawyer had been giving Hal headaches with his legalese-laced diatribes, and Hal preferred to avoid meeting the man in public places. Ed never missed a chance to attack Hal.

      “Well, hello there, Sheriff!” the red-haired lawyer cried in an overly hearty voice. “Had yourself a busy couple of days lately, I hear. I’m sure a law-and-order man like yourself has the culprits behind bars by now, right? Has Miss Scott’s mugger been assigned a public defender? How about the vandal? Our Constitution does provide him with the right to legal representation, and everyone does have the right to due process, you know.”

      Hal fought the urge to grind his teeth—or grind Ed’s teeth with five itching knuckles. “We’re taking care of the matter, Ed. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

      “Still taking care of the matter?” The lawyer’s reddish mustache wriggled with ill-concealed glee. “You mean we still have a mugger loose in town?”

      With a quick glance around the diner, Hal verified that every ear, if not eye, was glued to the conversation. “Sorry to deny you the pleasure,” he told Ed. “But you know I can’t discuss the particulars of an ongoing investigation. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to order some lunch.”

      Ed opened his arms wide and spun to glance at everyone in the diner. “There you have it, folks. Your sheriff at his best. Lunch at Granny Annie’s takes priority to investigating crime. You know who to vote for, who’ll keep you safe.” He winked at Hal. “See ya in the voting booth in November.”

      As Ed sauntered out and Hal’s cheeks sizzled, Granny Annie barged through the swinging doors to the kitchen. “What’s the matter with that Townsend boy? He gets hisself a fancy paper from that there Duke University Law School, and he thinks he can go around blabbin’ nonsense all day long.”

      Had there been any way to do so without ruining every last chance of winning reelection, Hal would have slunk right out of the diner. Public humiliation was not a meal a man swallowed easily.

      And he didn’t need five-foot-nothing Granny Annie to defend him. She might, however, make a spectacular campaign manager.

      Then Mr. Cooper, the postmaster, stood up, slapped a bill into Granny’s hand and shook his head. “That, folks, is why none of us is fool enough to vote for Ed.”

      Although it wasn’t unanimous, Hal counted more nods than not. There was no way he could leave his county to Ed’s questionable mercies. It was rumored the lawyer saw the sheriff’s spot as a rung up the political ladder and nothing more. What kind of commitment was that? What kind of service would Ed provide?

      Maybe he really should enlist Granny’s help. She was the county’s most efficient means of information proliferation, and he could stand all the positive talking-up he could get. In that regard, Granny might be an asset.

      Then again, maybe not. She was also a dyed-in-the-wool matchmaker who made no secret she wanted nothing more than to find a match for Hal.

      His cell phone rang. The LCD display showed his new deputy Patsy’s number. He flicked it open, fully aware that, as comforting as her staunch support was, he couldn’t let Granny’s antics distract him. He had real crime to deal with.

      He had Steph to protect.

      And his job to save.

      THREE

      On Thursday, Steph noticed a significant increase in browser traffic through the store. At first, it irritated her. Then it amused her—after all, how many neighbors were going to miss the chance to check out the notorious blood pressure cuff boxes? On the other hand, she did wonder if they were just curious or if they expected to find a twenty sticking out of another box.

      Darcy stopped by while on an errand for Miss Tabitha. “You’re the talk of the town, girl!” She punctuated her words with a bubble-gum pop.

      “Tell me about it.”

      “Don’t knock it,” Darcy said, chewing away. “Think of the increased cha-ching! Your bank account will love the craziness of it all.”

      “Give me normalcy—please.”

      With a laugh, Darcy left. The constant flow of looky-loos continued.

      Even Chad Adams hung around for an eternity after making his delivery—at least, he hung around long enough to locate the case of insulin syringes they had marked as missing from the delivery. Surprise, surprise! It turned up in his truck. At two o’clock Steph found him still wandering the aisles, a second bag of licorice in hand.

      Chad could always use an extra twenty. The postmaster’s younger brother-in-law had a streak of failed ventures under his belt and a list of worthless patents to his name. Mr. Cooper often complained about Chad’s mooching ways.

      At a quarter to four, Jimmy came up to the pharmacy counter to complain about the many times in the forty-five minutes since he’d come to work he’d had to mop the entry because of all the muddy footprints. Steph gave in to the inevitable. She laughed.

      “Let it go for a while,” she told the teen. “We’re today’s talk of the town. They’re going to keep coming, so you may as well wait until later to clean up the mess. Just be glad it’s no longer raining. The mud will dry up out there soon enough.”

      The boy shrugged. “If you say so. I just hope nobody trips and falls checking out those boxes.”

      “Tell you what,” she said. “I have a new mat in the back room. Why don’t you bring it out? At least we can offer a dry one to any customer who comes in between now and closing time.”

      Jimmy trudged off, muttering something about the waste of a perfectly good mat.

      Mat or no mat, Steph kept a close eye on everyone who wandered through the store. It took some work, but she refused to let down her guard. She would do whatever it took to protect the business for which she’d worked so hard. She wasn’t going to let some petty vandal or back-alley mugger damage her professional image. She would not let a criminal intimidate her.

      For the first time in the five years since she’d opened the store, Steph felt stressed. It usually didn’t matter how busy she was; what mattered was serving her customers. But with all the gawkers who’d streamed in that day, Steph just wanted the clock’s hands to move a little faster.

      And for the town of Loganton to find a new fixation.

      On Friday at a quarter to six, after another day of town curiosity, the bell on the door clanged yet again. When Steph glanced up from the prescription she’d been filling, her gaze snagged on Hal Benson’s warm brown eyes. He took his time walking through the store, strolling up and down the aisles, checking out the items on the shelves.

      “Need anything you can’t find?” she asked when he reached her counter.

      “Just getting acquainted with the areas I don’t frequent. СКАЧАТЬ