Cole in My Stocking (27 page)

Stacey frowned. “Look, I’m pretty far removed from the gossip. But I know a lot of people celebrated the outcome of your trial, cops on Newburgh PD included. Maybe some of the cops hold a grudge because of Tooley getting fired, but that’s not on you. That’s on me. You were just one of several catalysts. I think the person most obsessed with your reputation is you. I mean, who cares if you and Cole are living together? If you two become the sensation of Newburgh, it’ll only be because Cole has been single so long.”

“Or that I’m so much younger than him.”

She shrugged. “Whatever. You’re both adults. It’s no one else’s business. Don’t let other people’s opinions rush you out of town. I’m speaking as Cole’s friend here. And yours. You two are really good together. I’ve never seen Cole as happy as he is having you in his house. Never. Just, try not to be in such a hurry to go back to Philly.”

“I have to go back. My life is in Philly.”

“Is it?”

I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car to escape her penetrating gaze. “Thanks for the shopping trip,” I said, as I scooped my shopping bags out of the back seat. I probably should have invited her in to be polite, but I didn’t. “Have a great New Year’s.” I hurried into the house, feeling Stacey’s eyes on me all the way.

Chapter 19

I leaned back in my chair, stuffed to the gills with fettuccini Alfredo and sautéed asparagus. When I’d come in after shopping with Stacey, Cole had been adding parmesan to the sauce and humming along to an acoustic Pearl Jam album. He was a pretty good singer and an even better cook.

He’d set a place for himself at the head of the enormous oak table in his dining room and a place for me close beside him. He’d lit tapered candles and had the chandelier on low to create the perfect intimate setting. While we ate the creamiest, richest, most perfectly seasoned pasta I’d ever tasted and sipped a dark, fruity red wine, we’d talked about our respective days.

Conversation was never stilted with Cole. There were never any awkward pauses. We didn’t run out of things to say. Getting to know him was a novel excitement, and I sensed it was the same for him. Philadelphia felt a world away.

I rested a hand on my stomach, glad I’d changed into a pretty new sweater and a pair of high-waisted, stretchy jeggings that had allowed plenty of room for expansion. “That was incredible,” I said as I toyed with the dangling charms on my bracelet. “That’s like award-winning fettuccini Alfredo. The chefs at Olive Garden should take lessons from you. Is there anything you’re not good at?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Very little. I could probably count the things I’m not good at on one hand and have fingers left over.”

I snorted. “Show me.”

He ticked off fingers. “I can’t ice skate to save my life. I suck at keeping plants alive.” He paused to think. “That’s all I got. Two things. Think you can still tolerate me?”

“I suppose I can soldier on.”

We grinned at each other like lovesick idiots until Cole scooted back from the table and stacked our plates and silverware. I followed his lead and snagged the wine glasses, wine bottle, and wadded-up napkins.

While Cole loaded the dishwasher and I scoured the pans, he said, “You okay to talk about the investigation into the fire over at your dad’s place?”

“Yeah,” I said eagerly. All I knew was what Max had relayed to me by phone today. He’d told me Newburgh PD’s detective, Nolan Vance, was supposed to have gone to Dad’s with the fire chief to collect what evidence they could by daylight. “Max said Detective Vance would call me with updates as soon as he learned anything, but I didn’t hear from him today.”

“You won’t be hearing from Vance,” Cole said with a grin I didn’t understand. “Remember when you asked about what I do as a state trooper, and I told you it’s more than just patrolling and writing tickets?”

I nodded. “You said sometimes you guys support local police, or Stacey’s unit carries out investigations into major crimes.” I gasped. “Are you supporting the investigation into the fire?”

“And the theft. Yeah.” He took the wine glass I’d just washed and dried it with a dishtowel. I watched his powerful shoulder muscles work under his Henley as he reached up to put it in a cupboard. “Because it involves firearms, it’s appropriate for the staties to get involved. My lieutenant approved it this morning, so I opened an investigation and spent a good couple hours over there assisting with evidence collection. Found out some stuff I can share with you. Vance is still the lead, but he cleared me to be your contact person. You can call him any time to verify whatever you want or if you have any questions, but he’s trusting me to pass along the important stuff, long as that’s okay with you.” He made it a question as he took the second glass from me and dried it.

“Of course. I’d rather hear it from you than someone I’ve never met.” Plus, the less contact I had with Newburgh PD the better. It had only taken one time being on the receiving end of Tooley’s brand of justice to sour me against the department as a whole.

With the kitchen clean, Cole took my hand and led me toward the stairs. “Let’s go sprawl out in the den. I’ll tell you all about it while dinner settles.”

Following him up to his second floor, I shivered with anticipation at the thought of “sprawling out” together. I could definitely use a Cole cuddlefest, especially since I hadn’t enjoyed a good cuddle with my guy since last night at bedtime. Being in his arms didn’t seem to upset my sensitive sexuality radar. Nor did his sweet, chaste kisses. If a relationship could be sustained on pecks and cuddling alone, we’d be golden.

At the top of the stairs, we turned left. Cole led me to the large den at the opposite end of the upstairs from his master suite. Out of curiosity, I’d peeked in here earlier today but hadn’t gone in to explore. As he encouraged me to enter before him with a hand on my lower back, I soaked in the details of the comfortable, manly space.

A well-worn,
L
-shaped sectional couch nestled into one corner. In another corner was a newer leather recliner that looked like it belonged with the living room set downstairs. One wall was dominated by a huge flat-screen TV and racks of DVDs and video games. On another wall hung a triad of unlit beer-themed neon signs. The paint was burgundy, the curtains navy suede. The ceiling panels were dark tan with recessed lighting that Cole turned on and dimmed until there was just enough light to watch a movie by.

This was Cole’s inner sanctum, his retreat, his place to recharge. Did he invite his friends up here to hang out? Had Dad been up here before? How often had Cole brought women here? Scratch that. I didn’t want to know that particular answer.

Tugging me down to sit beside him on the sectional, Cole propped his feet on the coffee table, which bore the circular marks of many sweating glasses. He curled an arm around my shoulders and let out a contented sigh.

I knew how he felt. Good food in my belly, good company, a comfortable couch, a quiet winter night complete with fat, fluffy snowflakes drifting past the window and beginning to accumulate on the sill—perfection. Stocking feet curled under, I snuggled against his side, in no hurry to talk about the fire at Dad’s place.

Neither was Cole, it seemed. He rested his cheek on the top of my head while we listened to the snow fall.

“This is nice,” I said after a while. Understatement of the year.

“Yeah,” he agreed, rubbing his fingers lazily up and down my arm. After each down stroke, he would cup my elbow and rub a gentle circle with the pads of his fingers. The soft pressure made tingles race all over my skin. “Have I mentioned how much I like this new outfit?” He plucked at the sleeve of my lightweight sweater. It had wide horizontal stripes in coral and tan and a boat neck that showed the straps of the tank top I wore underneath.

“Only three times now.”

“Are the others all this cute?”

“Yeah.”

He groaned.

I smiled. Cheek nestled in the hollow between his cannonball shoulder and the mound of his pectoral, I gazed up at him, knowing I was a complete goner for this man. I never wanted to leave this warm, safe place.

Unfortunately, I would have to. In about a week.

“Hate to ruin the quiet with talk of arson and theft,” Cole said.

Discussing the investigation sounded better than second-guessing what Cole and I had together and how long it could possibly last. “That’s okay. Do you have any idea who might have done it?”

“Not yet, but daylight revealed some stuff they missed last night. Like two sets of footprints. Coming from the woods. There were matching prints and fresh tire tracks on the dump access road. Looks like the perps came from that direction rather than risk being spotted in the driveway.”

I shivered, remembering my run through those very woods and along the access road on Christmas Eve.

Cole gave me a fortifying squeeze. “You had the combination to that safe. I had it. Did anyone else that you know of?”

I thought about it. “Remember when we searched Dad’s shop for the will?” I waited for Cole’s nod. “It surprised me when Tooley strolled right over and opened up the business safe. Dad wouldn’t have shared that combination with him lightly. He was so careful with his combos and passwords, he never even wrote them down. He would memorize them and destroy any paper copies. He told me he’d skin me alive if I ever wrote down the one to the house safe or told it to anyone. I guess it’s possible he could have told it to Tooley. I think it’s a stretch, but seeing as he knew how to get into the shop safe…” I shrugged.

“I’m not ruling him out,” Cole said, “but he’s got an alibi for last night. Was home with his wife and sons and their families. All night. Still had visitors at ten p.m. If he was involved, he wasn’t on site. Tell you the truth, honey, this doesn’t seem like him.”

“It is hard to imagine a former chief of police orchestrating a fire and theft at his best friend’s place,” I conceded. Tooley wasn’t my biggest fan, but I remembered what Cole told me about him losing his teenage son. He’d been so hard on me that night because he’d hoped to scare me straight. Even though he was upset with me lately over this will business, I couldn’t see him endangering me by burning down the place where I was staying or spray painting that nasty message. “But if he knew about the money, I suppose it’s conceivable.” Money could motivate people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.

“I don’t think he knew about it. I don’t think your dad told anyone about that money.”

“Except you.”

“Yeah. Except me.”

“Alright, for the sake of argument, let’s say it wasn’t Tooley. Who else could it have been?”

“Good question. So far, we’ve pieced together a timeline and figured out how they got past your dad’s security system. In the rubble, we found a panel of siding that was fire-damaged, but burned clean around the edges too, like someone had taken a blowtorch to it. There were also some traces of unsinged insulation in the grass. And some sawdust around the perimeter. It looks like the perps torched and sawed their way through the wall in the room where the safe was. By bypassing the windows and doors and not triggering the motion detector in the living room, they managed to gain access to the safe without setting off the alarm.

“As long as they stuck to that room, they would have been able to take their time cracking and emptying the safe. Their tracks show they made a few trips back to their vehicle with the haul. Once the safe was empty, they set the fire. By the time the motion detectors were triggered by the fire, the place was too far gone to save, and the perps were long gone. Newburgh PD arrived on the scene at nine forty-five, which means the perps probably got started around eight or eight thirty.”

“That’s pretty ballsy,” I said, turning to face him. “I mean, what if I’d come home while they were emptying the safe?”

“Another good question.” Cole scooped my legs onto his lap so I could recline against the cushy couch arm behind me. Keeping one arm along the back of the couch, he settled his other hand on my knees.

The weight of his touch made me feel ridiculously secure. I couldn’t remember feeling anything remotely like security with a boyfriend before. Attraction, yes. Companionship, yes. A thirst for acceptance, yes. But never this kind of unshakable assurance that I was utterly and completely safe.

“Don’t know the answer,” he went on. “Maybe they had a lookout on Grizzly. Maybe they were just lucky.”

I frowned. “Strange that they would take the time to spray paint that message on the garage. Wouldn’t that increase the risk of getting caught?”

Cole shifted, facing me while keeping my legs draped over his thighs. “Been thinking about that. Here’s what we think so far. The perps break in, crack and empty the safe. One of them spreads the accelerant and sets the fire while the other leaves the message. They hope the arson will disguise the theft, at least for a little while, and the message will lead law enforcement to treat the incident as a property crime. No need to look for anything missing if it’s a personal attack against you.”

His hand tightened on my knees. Energy poured off him. I could tell working through all the what-ifs excited him. His excitement was contagious. I found myself edging forward, hanging on his words and imagining the scenario he described.

“I mean, who would have thought you’d know the combination to that safe?” he said. “Most daughters wouldn’t have that information, and with the house burned down, chances are any piece of paper with the combination written on it would have burned too. You and I know Grip didn’t keep it in writing, but the perps might not have known that. I’m betting they thought the safe would have to be drilled. Without any reason to suspect a theft, that might not have happened for days. That would give them time to unload those guns or hide the cash if they’d found it. In other words, thanks to you, we’ve got a jump on them.”

“Thanks to my dad, you mean, since he’s the one who made me practice opening the safe until I could do it in my sleep.” I blew out a breath. “So they were hoping it would look like a different kind of crime than it really was to buy time and increase their odds of getting away with it.”