One Chance: A Thrilling Christian Fiction Mystery Romance (10 page)

"Good thinking." Penelope put her hand on his wrist briefly then pulled out two chairs, one for him and one for Trevor. She sat down again behind her desk, her uniform and duty belt feeling less comforting now and more confining. It was beginning to feel like she'd been wearing them nonstop forever. "How long were you out of the house?"

"I couldn't have been gone for more than fifteen minutes."

"And you're sure that was all that was taken?"

He gave her a look. It spoke volumes about what he thought of that question.

She raised both hands in a defensive gesture. "Whoa," she said. "Remember me, Deputy Penelope? I'm just doing my job."

He pulled Trevor closer to him and the boy snuggled into his lap, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Penny," he said. "I guess I'm just angry that someone would go into my house while I'm gone. And with...you know. Everything else."

She reached across her desk to hold his hand. "Be happy it was when you were gone and not while you were there," she said in all sincerity. "But that's the part that bothers me too," Penelope said. "I know you keep your doors locked all the time, so how would this person get in?"

"I hadn't thought about that," he said. "I was just so upset thinking about someone being in my house. I mean, what if they were trying to find me home? Or, you know," he said with a nod of his head at Trevor, "someone else?"

Now there was something Penelope hadn't considered. Could the breakin at Jacob's house have something to do with what was going on with Doug? The photographs taken, the ones with Camille in them, and just those photographs taken, made her look at this differently.

Trevor's eyes fluttered closed and his head landed with a soft bounce against Jacobs's side. He stroked his hair. "He's out," he told Penelope.

Penelope took out the wanted poster and handed it to Jacob. "This is what we're dealing with now."

Jacob's eyebrows rose up his forehead. "Who's this guy?"

Penelope gave him the brief version of what they knew so far, about how Doug had admitted going to Camille's place, yelling and screaming and ready for a fight, and then found her already dead. And about how Doug was convinced Camille's boyfriend, the guy in the wanted poster, had done it.

"Camille gave this to Doug? It makes sense, I guess," Jacob said sadly. "Although I can't hardly say that killing a person because you're mad at them or afraid they'll tell on you ever makes sense."

"Jacob. Why don't you stay at my place for now?" she offered. "The locks on the doors are all wired to the security system. Anyone tries to get in, you'll know about it in time to call me or someone for help."

He smiled. "I don't know. What will the neighbors think, us two living together before we're married?"

She laughed with him. It felt good, to have someone to laugh with, with everything that was going on. Jacob was her salvation, in more ways than one. God had done her a good turn with this man.

"I'm sure the neighbors will forgive us this once. But we'll have to make it permanent soon, won't we?" she winked at him.

"So set the date already, Deputy Chance, and I'm yours." he seemed more relaxed now.

"So, here's my keys," she said, digging in her pocket for them and handing them over. "Go there for the night with Trevor. I'll have Deputy Saunders go look at your place. And I'll go with you tomorrow for some of your things. You remember the alarm code?"

"I do. Um. What's going to happen to Doug?"

Penelope shook her head. "He's going to be charged. With the assault on Pete, first of all, but then most likely with Camille's murder. I don't have a choice, Jacob," she added defensively when she saw the look on his face. "If I don't do it, someone else will."

He frowned. "I know. I just don't like it."

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

He picked Trevor up in his arms, and the boy wrapped himself sleepily around his neck. The kiss he gave her was tender and reassuring. "Just do you best," he told her. "And trust in God for the rest."

"By, Auntie Penny," Trevor mumbled on their way out. "God loves you."

Penelope took the time to thank God for that little message sent through one of His innocents before starting the paperwork to charge her friend with attempted murder.

CHAPTER 18

Jacob and Trevor slept in the guest room, while Penelope found what sleep she could in her bed. She finally gave up trying when she looked at the alarm clock and saw it was five in the morning. Monday morning. Her actual scheduled shift. So she showered and dressed without waking up Jacob and grabbed a quick cup of coffee before leaving for work. She scratched off a quick note to her fiance, telling him where she was and asking him to stay here with the locks engaged until he went to work.

The office looked just like it had last night when she had left it. Maybe she should just put a cot up in the corner, considering the way things were going.

Sheriff John Jackson had arrived back in town sometime overnight and was already in the building at six that morning when Penelope showed up. So Penelope was expecting it when Jackson called her into his office. Penelope had wanted to check on Doug first thing, but the Sheriff took precedence.

Penelope was surprised to see a young African American man in a Franklin Deputy Sheriff uniform smiling at her from where he stood behind Sheriff Jackson's desk. Penelope had never seen him before.

"Deputy Penelope Chance," Jackson said to her from his leather armchair, "this here is Officer Anthony Marks. He's from Tampa and will be joining our team for a while."

Confused, Penelope offered him her hand. "Good to meet you, Officer Marks. I hope you enjoy your time here with us. Are you, uh, staying long?"

He shook her hand firmly and said, "I'm pleased to meet you, Deputy. Sheriff Jackson here graciously agreed to let me do a ride-along for a week. I'd like to relocate to Franklin eventually, but I'm happy to be here now even if it is temporary."

"It will be nice to have another helping hand," Penelope said, "no matter how long you'll be with us."

He smiled broadly. She couldn't help noticing, he was a very good looking man.

"Did the Sheriff bring you up to speed, Anthony?" Penelope asked him. "This may not have been the best time for a visit to us."

He nodded, shifting his weigh to his other foot. "Y'all got a couple of cases going on, car thefts and what-not. Then you've got a guy in the holding cell who tried to run someone down and it looks like he might of killed his ex-wife."

The Sheriff cleared his throat noisily. Anthony looked down at him, knowing he had done something wrong but not able to figure out what.

"The guy in the cell is my friend," Penelope explained drily.

"Oh," he said, suddenly uncomfortable. "I, uh, didn't know."

"Don't worry about it. I've got some stuff to do on that whole thing, but there's something else that needs checking on now. Sheriff, did Jim tell you about the breakin at Jacob's house?"

The Sheriff nodded. "Got the report this morning. Any ideas?"

Anthony looked at Penelope and said, "If you need some help with this, I've got a clean plate right now. New guy, and all."

Penelope nodded. "Okay. I'll call Jacob in a bit and tell him to expect you. You have the address off the report?"

Anthony nodded. "Yup. Borrow a cruiser, Sheriff?"

The Sheriff quirked an eyebrow at Penelope. "See? he's a go-getter. That's why I want him on our team. Off you go, then. Keys are on the ring in the next room."

Anthony nodded to both of them. And winked at Penelope.

Penelope wasn't sure she had seen what she saw, and then Anthony was on his way out of the room, the equipment on his belt swinging in time to his hips.

"What do you think?" the Sheriff asked her.

"Honest opinion?" She waited for the Sheriff to nod before she said what was on her mind. "I don't know. I kind of get a feeling he could be trouble."

The Sheriff waved his hand in the air. "Bah. Trouble for women who aren't attached to a loving man like you are, maybe. But he comes highly recommended. Even got a few commendations under his belt. I think he'll make a good addition to our little force here."

God save us from good ideas
, Penelope thought to herself. To the Sheriff, she said, "Didn't know there was room in the budget for another officer." Penelope sat down in one of the chairs in front of the Sheriff's desk. It was going to be another long day. She could feel it already.

Sheriff John Jackson, man of few words, Sheriff in their little community for thirty-plus years, smiled a sad smile and shook his head. "There's room in the budget. If someone retires."

"Like who... Wait, you mean you? You're planning on retiring?" The idea of it was hard for Penelope to put her head around. For as long as she could remember, when she thought of the Sheriff's Office, she thought of John. She couldn't picture the place without him.

The Sheriff shrugged. "Been planning on it. Just didn't know when the time would be right. Seems right to me, now. After this mess with Doug gets cleared up. Where are you at with that?"

"I have some leg work to do today on it, Sheriff, but the paperwork is filed." The words tasted sour in her mouth.

The Sheriff leaned forward across his desk. "Look, Penelope. I know you only kept this case because I insisted. But I know, in my heart and in my soul, that you're the right one for it. You think your friend is innocent, go prove it. But if he's not, you do your job, got it?"

Penelope nodded, unable to answer.

"Good. Because when I'm gone, I'm going to need someone to take my place. And I want that someone to be you, Penelope."

Penelope sat without speaking, digesting what the Sheriff had just said, for a few heartbeats. "You want me to what?"

"You heard me. Ain't no one else suitable. Just you. Unless Doug's mess becomes your own. Do your job. Do it right. Hear me?"

Penelope nodded. "Sheriff, I always do."

CHAPTER 19

Penelope made a quick call to Jacob to let him know that a new officer was coming over to start the investigation on the breakin to his house. They talked for a little bit, but Penelope did not say anything about the Sheriff retiring or wanting Penelope to take over for him. It all still seemed too big. Plus, John wanting her to be Sheriff wouldn't make it so. The Town Council and the Mayor would have to sign off on it. So, best not to count those particular chickens until the eggs were even in the basket.

While Officer Anthony Marks was checking out her fiance's house, Penelope went out to begin talking to the townspeople so she could nail down a timeline of who saw what and when they saw it. She already knew the approximate times when Doug was at The Pizza Palace and Ricky's Pub, so she was looking for someone else to verify them. Someone who knew something more. That elusive bit of missing information that she knew was there but just couldn't see. If she was lucky, there would be a few folks from each location who could help her.

Before she had left, she'd filled the Sheriff in on the angle she had on Camille's boyfriend. The Sheriff said he'd call the police over in Gainesville and let them know about it, and coordinate a search for this guy. If he even existed. The Sheriff thought it might just be Doug blowing smoke. Penelope wasn't so sure. Doug had lied to her once already, and where she had been sure of their friendship before all this started, now she had to question it. Was Doug telling the truth about Findley? Well. This was how she was going to find out.

Penelope started at The Pizza Palace. By now it was nearing eleven o'clock and they opened their doors at ten, so the crowd was still light on a mid-morning Monday and the staff had the time to talk to her. She asked the waitress if anyone else was there at the same time as Doug last Friday evening. The waitress thought for a moment, then told her the names of three people who all lived within walking distance of the restaurant. Penelope wrote the names down. She knew each one, and knew they'd recognize Doug if they'd seen him. She just hoped their memories held out.

Then the waitress, Mandy Blonkin, a good woman who Penelope knew was holding down two jobs to support her family, told her something that made her pen slip. "There was a really creepy guy in here, too," she said. "He sat in the back booth and kept staring at Doug, but I don't think Doug saw him."

"Why do you say that?" Penelope asked.

"Doug was in one of the front booths on the other side and was facing away from Mister Creepy," she answered, shrugging. "The guy sure looked like he was mad about something."

"Can you describe him for me?" Penelope asked.

Mandy thought for a moment and said, "You're asking a lot at this point, Penelope. Um. I guess he was about six-foot, I don't know, maybe shorter. But he had greasy black hair and his nose was bent. You know, like it had been broken a couple of times? And he had the creepiest looking skull and crossbones tattoo I've ever seen. Right here on his right hand. The thing looked downright evil." She shuddered.

Michael Findley. She was describing the man from the wanted poster Doug had given her. The wanted poster of Camille's current boyfriend, supposedly. There's no way that could be a coincidence.

But if the man was in town, that was trouble. Especially if he'd been stalking Doug the night of the attack on Pete.

She thanked Mandy for the information with what she hoped was a poker face. She asked her if someone could come by later and take a statement from her about what she had just said, and then set out to speak with the three other people who had pizza for dinner on Friday night.

Hard to believe all of this had happened over one weekend.

The first was a retired widower, Mister Blane Morris. Penelope had grown up knowing Blane. The man had given her sticks of gum when she and Doug were both kids. Blane told Penelope yes, he remembered seeing Doug come in the restaurant at about six that evening, maybe a few minutes later. He had been getting ready to leave when Doug walked in. He added, "As I was leaving, a very rude young man nearly knocked me down on his way in. He seemed to be incensed, powerfully angry. You know how young people get these days."