The Mighty Quinns: Devin. Kate Hoffmann

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СКАЧАТЬ town’s gossip, now that the mill was closed. If there was anything of interest going on in Winchester, Joanie heard about it and passed it along to Dev. Like a few other local businesspeople in town, she understood that if Winchester was going to flourish again, Dev needed to rid it of the petty crime that chipped away at its foundation.

      “Yeah, I had my eye on him. That boy needs a job. Sixteen and already in big trouble. Can’t you find a spot for him here at the restaurant?”

      Joanie shook her head. “I’m already overstaffed with dishwashers and bussers, thanks to you. Now, if he could wash windows, I might have work for him.”

      Dev looked over at the café’s huge plate-glass windows that faced the street. “I could probably help you out with that,” he said.

      He chatted with a few of the customers as he finished his breakfast, then grabbed another coffee to go before he waved goodbye to Joanie. “I’ll send someone by to get at those windows,” he called as he walked out the door.

      Dev stood outside the café and took in the street, his gaze drifting from one end to the other. Most of the buildings were empty, windows revealing one failure after another. But here and there, small entrepreneurs had found a way to make something new. Winchester had always depended upon the mill for its livelihood, and now the town needed something different. But what?

      Dev fixed his gaze on a white sedan he didn’t recognize at the far end of the block. He watched as it slowly drove by. Rental plates. He looked up at the driver and his breath caught in his throat. Their eyes locked for a moment and his pulse leaped. Elodie Winchester?

      She was there in front of him and then just as quickly disappearing down the road. He glanced down at the car’s license plate and quickly memorized the number. When he got to the cruiser, he grabbed the radio and called in to dispatch. “Sally, this is Dev. I need you to run a plate for me. It’s a rental car, probably out of Asheville.” Dev recited the numbers and then sat back and waited for Sally’s results, sipping his coffee as his mind spun with the possibilities.

      It didn’t make sense. The Winchester family had cleared out six years ago. And after the mess they’d left, most folks didn’t expect to see a real Winchester ever again—and didn’t want to.

      Hell, maybe he was just imagining the whole thing. Would he even recognize Elodie? They’d spent a single summer together. He’d been seventeen, she’d been sixteen, and they’d been madly in love.

      Her family never would have approved, so they’d sneaked around, meeting on the sly, stealing kisses whenever they could and pledging their love to each other in silly teenage sentiments. Of course, they’d been found out, but neither one of them could have predicted the devastating repercussions.

      Without warning, Elodie’s bags had been packed and she was sent away. She no longer attended the private girls’ school an hour away in Asheville. She wouldn’t be home every evening for dinner and wouldn’t be able to sneak out and meet him once the sun set. There would be no long lazy summers at the lake or cozy winters sitting by a campfire. It was over.

      There’d been a lot of women since Elodie. He’d forgotten most of them, but Elodie Winchester had stuck with him. Maybe it was because they’d never had any kind of closure. She’d never called, never written. When she’d come home for Christmas holidays, she’d been invisible.

      Dev hadn’t tried to contact her. Frederick Winchester had made it clear that if Dev tried to contact Elodie, Mary Cassidy would find herself without a job, without a home to live in, and without any prospects for finding work in Winchester in the future. So he’d let her go. At least, on the surface.

      “Dispatch to RC zero-one.” A blast of static followed and Dev reached for the radio.

      “This is Dev. What do you have for me, Sally?”

      “You were right. That rental came out of Acme Rentals in Asheville.”

      “Who rented the car?”

      “Elodie Winchester,” Sally said. “She’s got it for a week.”

      Dev let out a tightly held breath, sinking back into his seat. “Thanks, Sally. Keep this to yourself, all right?”

      “Sure, boss. What do you think she’s doing in town again?”

      “I don’t know.”

      “Will there be trouble?”

      “People haven’t forgotten what the Winchesters did to this place. But Elodie had no part in that. She shouldn’t be blamed.”

      “She’s a Winchester,” Sally said. “That puts a big target on her back.”

      “Yes, it does,” he murmured. “I’ll pay her a visit later, make sure everything’s okay. Call me if you hear anything else. Meantime, I’m going to head over to the high school. I need to have a conversation with Jimmy Joe Babcock.”

      “Ten-four, boss.”

      He started the cruiser and steered it toward the high school, his mind still mulling over the reality of seeing Elodie again.

      He’d always wondered what kind of woman she’d become. As a teenager, she’d been sweet and silly, far too naive and willing to love unconditionally. She’d softened his rough edges, made him believe that he could be something, do something with his life. She’d always seen the best in people and refused to believe the worst, even when the truth slapped her in the face.

      Dev had been the opposite. By the time he was seventeen, he’d amassed a rather sizable chip on his shoulder. He’d witnessed firsthand how the town and the Winchesters could wear a person down. He had just one plan, and that was to get as far away as fast as he could. And he’d done just that, leaving the day after his high school graduation.

      He’d worked odd jobs and put himself through school, getting a criminal justice degree in five years. He’d been all set to enter the police academy in Atlanta when his mother called. The Winchesters were bankrupt, she was about to lose her job and her home, and she had no idea what to do.

      Dev had returned to Winchester within the month and had been lucky enough to sign on with the local police department as a rookie patrolman. As the town economy worsened over the next five years, many of his fellow officers moved on to better jobs. And two years ago, he’d been the senior officer in the department and accepted the job of police chief—at a greatly reduced salary from the last police chief.

      But Dev liked his job. He knew what he was doing was important. If the town had any chance of bouncing back, it would happen only if he could keep crime at bay. A single meth lab, a car theft ring, even a clever burglar, could bring it all crashing down. Once the town had a reputation for trouble, no one would want to live there or visit and the town would never recover.

      His attention focused on a small group of smokers, huddled near the edge of the school parking lot. Dev threw the car into gear and slowly pulled up in front of them. “You boys really want to spend the rest of your life buying cigarettes? You get hooked now, it’s much harder to kick it later. It’s an expensive habit.” Dev turned and grinned at Jimmy Joe. “And where are you getting money for smokes, Babcock? After spending all that cash on those tires for your brother, I’d think you’d be broke right about now.”

      Dev got out of the car and stepped in front of Babcock. “The rest of you can check СКАЧАТЬ