Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (11 page)

I watched helplessly as he did, and nearly choked to find Bates standing close enough to hear him. The ugly smile on Bates’ face sent my blood boiling. He was thinking it was about time someone found me out, and he wouldn’t let me or anyone else in the department forget it.

I stepped back into the room and shut the door. Damn! I hated that man! I might just have to take Uncle Joey up on his offer...or never help the police again. And now I knew something I wished I didn’t. With a name like Bellini, I should have suspected something, but what the freak! Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm down and get back to business. I still had one more cop to call, and I’d better do it now before I lost my nerve.

This guy answered cheerfully and quickly agreed to meet with me. He told me to call him Pete and was so friendly that I didn’t think it could possibly be him. He was downstairs in the evidence room and said he’d come right up.

I opened the door and peeked out, relieved to find Bates away from his desk. I stepped outside the door to wait and prayed Pete would get there before Bates came back. Less than a minute later, Pete entered the floor and made his way toward me.

“Nice to meet you, Shelby,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good, I hope,” I said, shaking his hand. “Come on in.”

“So is this your office now?” he asked, thinking I must have the chief wrapped around my little finger if he was letting me use this.

“Oh no. It wasn’t his...I mean...I wish!” Crap! What was I doing? How could I be so stupid? I swallowed and let out a little laugh. “I mean, don’t tell the chief...if he knew he’d probably kick me out.”

Pete smiled and nodded, but his eyes held that look of incredulity, and he thought I was a little ‘off,’ or maybe I was just plain crazy. “So what can I help you with?”

“It’s about the missing girl, Chloe Peterson. I was hoping you might know something about the case that could help.”

“Um...really? Like what?” His mind flooded with suspicion. This was the second time today. First was with Bates, and now me. What was going on?

“I don’t know for sure. You know I’ve helped out around here, right? I just had a feeling you might know something.”

“Oh...you mean because of your premonitions?” He could hardly believe that the chief would go along with this, but he also knew I was working for the family, so maybe that had something to do with it. But why was I was talking to him? “I really don’t know any more than what I’ve heard around here. Why would you think I did? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know...it doesn’t always make sense to me either. I just had a feeling I needed to talk to you.”

“Hmm...Bates talked to me this morning too, but I don’t think he has premonitions.” He smiled at his joke but was wondering what I was up to. Both of us talking to him was not a coincidence. “Something’s happened with the case. You must think there’s someone else involved. Did you find her?”

“No...I wouldn’t be talking to you if we had.” Wow...he was fast. I’d better come up with something quick. “If you must know, we’ve sort of hit a dead-end, so we’re following up on everything we can think of that might be related.”

His brows scrunched together as he connected the dots. “You think a cop is involved.” He stood and started pacing. How had I come to that conclusion? “What made you think that?”

“Only my premonitions,” I said. “Why? Am I right? Do you know who it might be?”

He stopped pacing and sat back down, thinking he’d like to find out what was going on, and what information we had to come to that conclusion. “How would a cop be involved? What do you think he did? Take the girl?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not. He’d probably just kill her.”

His gaze flew to mine. “Why?”

“Maybe she saw something she wasn’t supposed to.”

Now he thought it made sense, but why was I talking to him? Why would I think he was involved? Did I know where the girl was? Had I talked to her? He nodded, thinking that must be it since he didn’t believe in premonitions. The girl must have told me she’d seen a cop.

“So, I’m on the list,” he said. “That explains why Bates was asking me about it. Is there anyone else?”

“Yes, a few others. I only wish we could find her, then we’d know who it was for sure.”

“What I don’t understand is why you would think I was involved.”

I shrugged. “My premonitions. You probably don’t believe it, but that’s all we have to go on, so...” I took a deep breath. “I guess it’s another dead end.”

He nodded solemnly, but his lips turned into a frown. “To be honest, I’m not happy you thought I had something to do with it.”

“Oh...yeah, please don’t worry about it. Like I said, it’s just a premonition...sometimes they don’t always pan out. I’m sorry I bothered you with this.”

“No...it’s okay. There’s a girl missing...you have to cover all your bases.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

He rubbed his chin. “Maybe you should check out the two drug dealers. That’s where I’d start.” He walked to the door, then sent a parting glance over his shoulder. “If you need anything else from me, let me know, I’m happy to help.”

“Thanks.”

The door closed behind him and I slumped back in my chair. That was intense. He was good, too. I didn’t know if it was him or not. He was certainly upset about the cop part, but then wouldn’t any cop be upset? There was no way I could tell if it was him, and that worried me. Because now he knew we suspected him, and he also had a pretty good idea I’d talked to Chloe.

Chapter 6

Discouraged and exhausted, I opened the door and peeked out, then ducked back in and quickly shut it. The chief was halfway across the room and walking toward his office. Right now, I didn’t want to talk to him, or anyone else for that matter. I waited until I heard his door close and slipped out, making a beeline for the exit.

“Nichols!” Bates shouted. “Wait up.”

I almost didn’t turn around, especially since he’d called me Nichols, but he’d shouted so loud it would make me look bad if I didn’t. I plastered a smile on my face and stopped so he could catch up with me.

“Make any progress?” he asked.

“Uh...yeah...some.”

His brows rose in surprise. “Really? What?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not Bellini.”

“That’s it?”

“I think that’s progress,” I said, knowing I had to be vague about how my premonitions worked.

“Oh...yeah, right. I heard Bellini saying that your premonitions were wrong about him.” I didn’t answer, but he knew he’d hit a nerve. “What about the other one.”

“Pete? Well...I didn’t really get anything concrete off of him. So, at this point, I can’t say for sure that he’s the one.”

Bates snorted, thinking I wasn’t so high and mighty as I thought. “All right. I’ll go have a chat with the parents tonight and see what they want to do.”

“Have you checked out the drug dealers that were killed?” I asked. “Looked into their background? Maybe there’s a clue there.”

“Yeah. I have their rap sheets. Do you want to take a look?”

“Did anything stand out to you?” I asked, not wanting to take a look at all. Why couldn’t he just tell me and get it over with so I could leave this place and go home?

“Actually it did. Come over to my desk and I’ll show you.”

I followed him back, and he shoved an open file into my hands. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but since he wasn’t in a talking mood, I scanned over them just the same. After a minute, I broke down. “So? What is it?”

He smirked and turned the page, pointing at a few lines in the center. “Right here it says they were both brought in on charges of aggravated assault and possession, but all the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.”

“Hmm.” When I didn’t say anything else, he pursed his lips in annoyance.

“See who the arresting officer was? Right there.”

He stabbed his finger on the tiny print at the bottom of the page and the name jumped out at me. “Detective Pete Royce?”

“Quite a coincidence, don’t you think?” Bates asked.

“Yeah.” A surge of frustration roared over me, and I turned to face Bates. “When were you going to share this with me?”

“I just did.”

“It sure would have been nice to know a few minutes ago when I talked to him,” I said, trying not to raise my voice. “So what’s next?”

“I’ll tell Harris when he comes in, and we’ll go from there. In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye on Pete.”

“Okay. Let me know if you find out anything else.”

“Sure,” he said, thinking he’d already talked to Pete about his role as the arresting officer, since that was the reason he gave for talking to him this morning. Everything Pete said about the drug dealers made sense, and since he’d been working narcotics, arresting them probably wasn’t a coincidence.

But of the two officers, Pete seemed the more likely candidate. Still, it made him wonder about Chloe, and if she’d made a mistake. Too bad I didn’t pick up anything from Pete. It certainly would have helped, and he really thought I might, but now he knew I didn’t always have the answers.

It was time to do some real police work, and let everyone in the department know I wasn’t all I was cracked up to be. Maybe this was a good thing and, once everyone knew I didn’t have all the answers, the whole department, including the chief, wouldn’t rely on me so much. Even better, I wouldn’t be sticking my nose into their business and getting paid for it too.

What the freak! How could he do that to me?

I headed toward the exit and shoved the door open. I couldn’t get into my car fast enough. I managed to buckle my seat belt before the tears came, and I dropped my forehead onto the steering wheel for a good cry. That man would be the death of me. I didn’t know if I could ever go back in there. Maybe I should stop helping the police. If this was what happened, it wasn’t worth it.

A knock on my window startled me and I jerked up to find Dimples staring at me in concern. “Shelby? What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

I sniffed and wiped my nose before nodding. “Yeah...I’m okay.”

He frowned. “No you’re not. Why don’t you come in and tell me what happened?”

“No!”

His eyes widened. “Okay. I’ll come sit by you.”

I opened my mouth to tell him not to, but he’d already started walking around my car. I grabbed my purse and pulled out a tissue to wipe my face and nose. I didn’t want him to see me crying like this, but I couldn’t seem to stop the tears from running down my face. The fact that he was worried about me made my tears flow even harder.

“I’m sorry,” I said, after he closed the car door. “I shouldn’t be so upset, but it’s just been kind of a hard day.”

“That’s okay,” Dimples assured me. “I don’t mind. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s Bates,” I blurted. “He doesn’t believe me, and he’s set me up to fail in front of everyone.”

I told Dimples how Bates talked to the cops without me, and then how he had to hear Chloe’s version of what happened from her because from me it was second-hand and not good enough.

“He acted like I’d left something out...on purpose!” I wiped my nose again before explaining how Bates kept Pete’s involvement with the two drug dealers from me, and how that information could have helped me when I talked to Pete.

“He wants me to fail. I had to tell Bellini I’d made a mistake with my premonitions, since that was the only excuse I could come up with, and Bates found out. He was so happy I admitted to a mistake. It was humiliating! And he was thinking the worst things...like now I would be exposed for the fake I am and maybe it was all for the best. And worse...he’d make sure the chief and the whole department knows about it! He’s trying to ruin me! I can’t stand him, and I don’t know if I can ever go back in there again!”

Dimples murmured consoling words, shocked by the intensity of my feelings. A growing desire to punch Bates in the face rose in him as well. He was thinking Bates was an idiot and didn’t have an ounce of respect for me and all I did for them. Someone needed to set him straight, and he wasn’t going to let it go until Bates apologized to me. How could he say those hurtful things to me? It made his blood boil.

Then it hit him that I’d said “thinking the worst things” not “saying the worst things.” He glanced at me, and his eyes widened. My eyes widened too, and that made his eyes get even bigger. I glanced away and busily wiped my cheeks and nose.

“Shelby?” Dimples said. “What’s going on?”

I sniffed, but still couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Holy hell!” he shouted. “You...you just answered me. How did you do that?”

I jerked to catch his gaze, and my stomach clenched with dread. “Do what? What do you mean?”

“I said your name in my mind, and you heard me! You answered me!”

“I don’t think so...you know that’s not possible, right?”

His eyes narrowed, but he wasn’t going to back down. “No it’s not, but you can do it. You just did.”

I let out my breath and closed my eyes. There was no way I could undo this, but I hated telling him the truth. “Um...there’s a reasonable explanation.”

“Like what?”

“It’s complicated.”

“No it’s not. Just tell me the truth,” he said. “I’m your friend. We’ve been through a lot together. I’m not going to tell anyone. I just need to know.”

“But...I can’t tell you. It will change things, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” It freaked me out to have one more person know my secret, even if it was Dimples.

“Okay...fine. Don’t tell me. But you know I know, right? Even if you won’t say the words.”

“Can’t you just let it go?” I begged. “Pretend that what I have are premonitions...like you’ve always believed?”

He pursed his lips, not sure why it was so hard for me to admit. It was pretty damn awesome, and he wasn’t going to act like he didn’t know. He couldn’t. “Sure...whatever you say...but now that I know, it all makes sense. I guess it does sound a little crazy, but now I finally get the whole premonitions thing. You’ve been reading minds. It’s...really quite remarkable. When did it happen? Have you always been able to do it?”

He wasn’t going to let it go, so I huffed out a breath and answered. “No. It started the day of the bank robbery in the grocery store. I got shot in the head, remember?”

“Oh...yeah...sure I remember.”

“Right. Well, after the doctor finished stitching me up, I started to hear what people around me were thinking, but I didn’t know that’s what it was at first. I thought maybe I was imagining things. When you and Detective Williams came to the house the next morning, I heard everything you were thinking, and that’s when I knew for sure. It was quite a shock.”

“Yeah...I’ll bet.” Dimples began to think about all the times I’d helped him after that and, suddenly, it all fell into place. “Now it makes total sense. I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out before. There were a few times I thought about it...but I always brushed it off.”

“That’s easy to explain,” I said. “Because reading minds isn’t possible.”

He nodded, a dazed look in his eyes. “Wow...this is incredible.”

“Um...now that you know...there’s something I have to ask you.”

His gaze caught mine, and his eyes cleared. “You need me to keep this a secret.”

I let out my breath and nodded. “No one can know. Not the police, not Billie, not anyone.”

“What about Chris? Does he...”

“Yeah...he knows. It’s not something I could keep from him. Believe me, it’s been hard on our marriage, but we’ve managed.”

“Yeah...I’ll bet,” Dimples said, thinking about how hard it would be to know your wife could read your every thought. “Wow. Un-freakin-believable.”

“I hope this doesn’t mean things will get awkward between us,” I said. “Really...just keep thinking about it like I have premonitions, and it won’t be too much different, right?”

“Okay...I’ll try doing that.”

“Good, that’s great. It should work out fine. And be sure not to tell anyone. Okay?”

He glanced at me in awe and shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of it. They probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.” He thought about that for a minute then took a breath. “Well, I’d better get going. I was just stopping by to check on the investigation. So...you think Pete’s the cop?”

“I don’t know. Now that I know he knew the drug dealers, I’ll have to take another shot at him. Maybe I’ll hear something more useful next time.”

“That makes sense. Okay...I’ll let you know what we decide to do next.”

“Okay. Oh...how’s Billie doing?”

“Better. Her parents are here, so that’s good. Her mom’s a lot like her.”

I snickered. “Pretty bossy huh?”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. He opened the door, then glanced back at me, marveling all over again. “Uh...see ya.”

He shut the door, and I watched him walk into the station. I sat for a few more minutes in a worried daze. Dimples knew. I didn’t know if it was good or bad. It might change things between us, more than I liked to admit, but he was my friend. I trusted him. He’d been there from the beginning of this whole mess. It should be fine. At least, I sure hoped so.

The drive home passed in a blur with me worrying about the whole debacle at the police department, and Dimples knowing my secret. The pull to get home, where I was safe and sound, ached in my chest. As I pulled into my driveway, relief poured over me. Maybe now I could relax.

I checked the time and found it was almost three-thirty. Dang! My kids would be walking in any minute now. I hurried into the bathroom to freshen up my face and gasped at the damage: streaks of mascara and red swollen eyes. I couldn’t fix this. I’d just have to wash my face and start over.

The cool water felt amazing on my hot cheeks and lessened the swelling around my eyes. Inhaling the fresh scent of my moisturizer soothed me, and I decided to forget putting on more make-up. The day was nearly over anyway, and I wasn’t going anywhere else tonight.

Downstairs, the door opened, and voices filled the house. From the noise, it sounded like lots more people than just Josh and Savannah. I frowned and hurried to the kitchen where they were congregating. Two of Josh’s friends sat at the kitchen table while Josh got out the milk.

“Oh, hey mom,” he said. “I thought we’d have a snack before we played some basketball.” He glanced at me, and his brows drew together. I looked washed out and pale, like I was really tired or something. I usually looked lots better than this. Was something wrong?

“I got something in my eye, so I had to wash my face,” I said.