Authors: Amity Hope
He glanced up at her. She could see that he looked plenty pissed off. As he stalked back toward the truck, he ended the call. He rounded his vehicle, heading straight to the passenger door.
“There are shards of glass all over the floor,” he said as he handed the kitten to her. “She came trotting toward me and I didn’t want her to cut her feet.”
Sarah took the kitten from him.
“The place is trashed,” he said grimly. “A squad car is on the way. We need to stay outside until they get here.”
She nodded, feeling numb.
Cole paced angrily next to his truck while Sarah let Penelope’s rhythmic purring calm her.
Nearly an hour later, Sarah finally found herself seated on Cora’s sofa next to Cole. He had been right. The house was trashed. Cushions were tossed, drawers were dumped out, and mattresses were flipped over. The antique jewelry box that had belonged to Cora lay smashed on the floor of Sarah’s bedroom.
The officers on duty had searched the house before declaring it safe for Sarah and Cole to enter.
Sarah was asked to look around, to see if anything was missing. It was hard to tell amongst such a mess.
“I didn’t really have anything valuable in the house,” she admitted.
She glanced at the jewelry box she had brought back downstairs with her. It rested on the couch next to her. Her grandpa had made it for her grandma for their first anniversary. It wasn’t fancy but it mattered to her more than almost anything else in the house. The jewelry box
and
the rings it had held, mattered to her most. Now the rings were missing and the jewelry box was hopelessly broken. She tried not to think about it right then. She redirected her attention to the question that had been asked of her.
“I just moved in. I don’t even have a TV because I’d rather read. Whoever did this must be really disappointed,” she said with a bitter laugh. “Because I can’t imagine trashing my house was worth their time. The only things I had here that held any monetary value whatsoever were my rings.” Her eyes began to burn and her throat constricted.t c my “They’re both gone. One was my engagement ring. The other, it was my grandmother’s wedding ring. They were both in this jewelry box.”
Officer Duncan sat on a chair across the room from them. He was jotting down notes and Sarah’s mind kept wandering to Brynn. Just how badly did she want the ring back? Her heart twisted because while she hadn’t been looking forward to giving it back to her, she didn’t like to think that now, it was lost to all of them forever. Unless Brynn was the one that had taken it. She didn’t want to let her mind go there, but it was hard not to.
“Did anyone know you weren’t going to be home last night?”
“Um,” Sarah stammered. Officer Duncan was better known to her as Charlie Duncan. He’d graduated two years behind her. She was having a hard time thinking of him as an officer and not the quiet, gangly teen he’d been at one time. “No,” she finally said, “just my sister, Gretchen. Oh, and my friend Liz. But she doesn’t live around here. She lives in Crawford.” Had Liz mentioned it to Brynn? Had they had another confrontation?
Charlie’s eyes sliced over to Cole.
“I only mentioned it to my friend, Alex. But we were out last night. Were you in town?” Cole asked and Officer Duncan nodded. “Half the town seemed to be at the festival last night. Anyone could’ve seen Sarah out.”
“What time did you get home, Miss Heath?”
Sarah blinked at him, taken aback by the formality. She cleared her throat and felt her cheeks redden. “Not until this morning. When Cole called about the break-in.”
“She was with me until then,” Cole said.
“Are you sure there wasn’t anything else valuable in the house?” he asked. “The way this place was torn apart, it looks like someone was looking for something in particular.”
“Well,” she said as she thought it over, “my grandmother had a collection of valuable coins in the house. But there aren’t many people that knew about them.” She couldn’t bring herself to mention the random stashes of bills because she thought it sounded absurd. She decided the mention of the coins alone would suffice.
The officer raised his eyebrows at her. “Who knew about the coins?”
She glanced at Cole.
“I knew, but I haven’t told a soul.”
“I told my parents and my sister,” Sarah admitted.
“Would they have mentioned it to anyone?”
Would her Mom or Dad have mentioned it? Doubtful.
Gretchen?
She groaned.
Moments later at the prompting of Charlie, Sarah had Gretchen on the phone.
“Did you tell anyone about the coins?” Sarah asked after giving Gretchen a quick explanation of what had happened.
< align="juh="2em" align="justify">“I…um…I may have mentioned it.”
“Who did you tell?” Sarah demanded.
She hesitated and Sarah could feel her guilt emanating through the phone line.
“I told Naomi, while we were at the bar one night.”
“She brought it up at a
bar
?” Cole muttered. He’d heard Gretchen’s admission because he was sitting so close to Sarah. He shook his head. “Anyone could’ve heard her. All it takes is one person overhearing to start all sorts of talk.”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Gretchen rushed on. “I’d had a few drinks. I thought it was a cool story.”
“It’s fine,” Sarah said. It really wasn’t. She just wasn’t sure what else to say.
They cut off the phone call and Sarah glanced at Charlie.
No, Officer Duncan
, she reminded herself.
“I think I’ve got everything I need from you,” he said as he rose to his feet. “Call if you remember anything else.”
“So that’s it?” Cole asked. He stood as well.
“We’ll watch for the stolen rings. I can send someone out to patrol the area at night. I suggest Miss Heath get a security system installed.” With that advice, he rounded up his partner and they left.
“I can get a new door put in today,” Cole said. “A solid steel one. No window. But I’m sure there aren’t any security companies open today. I can line that up for you, first thing Monday morning.”
She sighed as she glanced around the room. They’d put the cushions back so they could sit, but the rest of the room—the whole house, really—was in complete disarray. She hadn’t stood yet and she ran a shaky hand through her hair.
Cole dropped down on the couch again. He settled an arm across her shoulders and pulled her into him. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. The last time Brynn broke in, the house was emptied out. This? This is a disaster. I don’t even know where to begin with the clean-up.”
“Wait,” Cole said. “You seriously think this was Brynn?”
She tossed the idea around.
Yes
?
No
? She wasn’t sure what to think.
“My ring is gone. The one from Aaron. You have no idea how badly she wanted that ring back. She and Liz had a confrontation the other night. Liz told things she shouldn’t have. She might have mentioned I took the ring off.”
“Sarah, anyone breaking in, looking for anything with some value would have taken that ring. And your grandmother’s too. And if Gretchen was gabbing at the bar about the coins, it’s impossibtr sle to say how many people heard. Or how many people that got back to. Hell, I could think of one person right now that wouldn’t flinch when it comes to breaking and entering.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“Toby.”
“He wouldn’t have. He’d have no reason,” Sarah said.
“A houseful of valuable coins is plenty enough reason. Revenge is plenty enough reason. You put the two of them together and I’d be more surprised if he
didn’t
break-in,” Cole said.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she lifted her phone to her ear again.
“Calling Liz.”
Several minutes later, she completed the call.
“She didn’t bring up the ring,” Sarah said with a frown. “But she had a point, if I’m seeing someone else, chances are pretty good I’ve taken it off.” Her tone was clearly exasperated.
“What is it with women being so gabby?” Cole demanded. “First, Gretchen in the bar. Then Liz antagonizing someone by yapping about your personal life.”
“So do you think I’m right? Do you think it could be Brynn?”
He shrugged. “Could be. I guess.” Something in his expression let Sarah know that he wasn’t all that sure.
“You still think it’s Toby?”
He nodded. “No matter how unstable Brynn is, I just can’t picture a suburban housewife coming out here, breaking in and trashing your house. If you even have a hunch it was her, why didn’t you tell that to Duncan?”
“I don’t know.”
Maybe because she wasn’t that sure after all. Brynn had let herself in before because she’d had a key. Breaking and entering was a little extreme. Would she be willing to risk something that illegal? Sarah wasn’t so sure. Brynn and orange jumpsuits just wouldn’t mesh. She really didn’t want to think it was Toby, either. If he was half as frightening as his brother, Sarah would rather face bitchy Brynn any day.
“I should get to work on this mess,” Sarah said glumly. “This is going to take all day.”
“I’m staying to help,” Cole said. “Then later, we’ll go pick up a new entry door. It’s a standard size so it shouldn’t be hard to find.”
“Okay,” she muttered as she absently ran a finger over the jewelry box. The corners had come loose from each other, one side panel was shattered, and the top was cracked in half.
“That was Cora’s?” Cole asked. When she nodded, he took it from her and placed it in the kitchen, on the table out of the way.
“I don’t even know’ed, he to where to get started with this,” she said with a grimace as she looked around. Penelope pranced across the kitchen floor, now that Cole had cleaned up the glass. She began to weave around Sarah’s ankles.
“I shouldn’t have gotten you that useless ball of fluff. I should’ve gotten you a Rottweiler,” Cole said.
Chapter Twenty-One
The past…
“Do you want this?” Cole asked.
Sarah lazily opened an eye to see what he was talking about. He held up an oatmeal cookie.
“No, you can have it,” she said with a smile.
It was April and the spring had been unseasonably warm. They had spread a blanket out near the pond’s edge. It was still too early to swim, the water was frigid. The day, however, was beautiful. ’edt sShe was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. The sun’s rays felt divine on her skin.
They had gone up to Cora’s house to visit before coming to the pond. She’d sent them on their way with a picnic lunch. They’d finished most of it off and then Sarah had sprawled out on the blanket. Her stomach was full and the balmy air was making her drowsy.
Her eyes fluttered shut again. She smiled when she felt Cole position himself beside her. He was on his side, propped up on an elbow but his other hand was free.
He brushed a thumb across her cheek and she turned into his touch. “Have I ever told you how pretty you are?”
“Maybe once or twice,” she said with a sleepy smile.
He ran a lock of her hair through his fingers. “Has anyone ever told you that your hair is the color of cinnamon?” She shook her head and he leaned in to kiss her neck. “And your eyes, they’re ringed in honey…You smell like vanilla. It makes me want to nibble on you all day. You’re even better than those damn cookies your grandma makes.”
She laughed because she knew he was being cheesy on purpose. It was a side of him that she never would’ve thought existed.
“And to think I was actually afraid of you the day you stopped to help me,” she murmured.
His head snapped back. “What?”
She shrugged as she looked up at him. “At first I thought you were Darren. But even after I realized it was you, I was kind of nervous.”
He looked surprised. Then he grinned. “I do give off a bad boy vibe don’t I?”
Now she was the one that laid on the cheesy tone. “Oh, honey, dating me has completely shattered any trace you ever had of a bad boy image.”
He pointed to his motorcycle. “Doesn’t that help some?”
“Some,” she agreed in a too-serious tone. She knew that the motorcycle had very little to do with trying to be cool and everything to do with not being able to afford a car. She was also pretty sure that he didn’t care all that much about his reputation.
He still got into his share of fights but at least none had been on school grounds, almost all were courtesy of Darren. But he’d stopped going to parties for the most part. And he stayed away from his brother’s crowd as much as possible. Sarah had worried that he’d resent her for the changes he’d made but he assured her that he didn’t miss the parties or the crowd at all. He’d been spending more time with Alex because they’d been working together more often. As far as Cole’s friends went, Sarah liked Alex the most.
It was too bad that Darren was his brother because that made it impossible for Cole to stay away from him. Not that Sarah ever would’ve asked him to. All of the changes he’d made, he’d made on his own.
He waizelp some?s quiet again and her eyes drifted shut once more. She could feel him watching her and her lips twitched with a smile. It was such a peaceful afternoon. Her favorite kind of day. Feeling the sun’s warmth. Cole by her side. A perfect lazy Saturday.
“I’m going to do it,” Cole said. His tone was heavy with determination.