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The elevator doors slid open to reveal the elderly couple still bickering about where they were headed.

Fleur tugged on Clark’s sleeve, and with an apologetic glance at Andy, Clark followed her into the elevator.

“Keep us posted,” Clark said.

“Will do,” Andy replied.

It was a relief when the elevator doors glided silently shut.

Chapter Two

“The prodigal returns!” Chief Millard greeted Andy. “Pull up a chair, son. You look like you could use a cup of coffee.”

Ray Millard was a large and rawboned sixtysomething. He’d developed a potbelly since the last time Andy had seen him, but he still wore his gray hair in a no-nonsense military buzz cut. The sharp blue of his eyes had faded to a softer grayish hue, but remained shrewd and alert. He’d been Safehaven’s chief of police for the last twenty-five years. As Uncle C. put it,If it ain’t broke, why fix it?And that certainly seemed to be the view of the town council.

Andy shook hands, said no thanks to coffee, and sat down in the well-worn chair in front of the chief’s desk. “I just left the hospital.”

Millard studied his face, sighed heavily, and said, “No news, I guess?”

Andy shook his head. “It’s too soon for the doctors to know whether he’ll come out of it or not.”

“Half the time doctors are wrong anyway.”

Was that supposed to be encouraging or a reality check? Andy could only remember visiting Safehaven’s police station once before—and his thoughts shied from that painful recollection. Mostly he knew the chief as one of Uncle C.’s Wednesday night poker buddies. He’d never formed an opinion of Millard’s law-enforcement skills. He’d always thought of Safehaven as exactly that. A safe and peaceful haven, where neighbors watched out for each other and the small police presence was mostly just a formality.

Certainly, Chief Millard, resettling comfortably behind his tidy desk and shoving a half-empty box of doughnuts Andy’s way, did not appear to be hot on the trail of Uncle C.’s assailants.

“Not much of a homecoming for you.” Millard flipped open the pink doughnut box, selected a glaze twist, and took a bite. He must have finally got a good look at Andy’s face because he made a choking sound and said thickly, “What’s the other guy look like?”

Short answer? An asshole.

“I walked into a door.”

“If that’s the case, I hope you kept walking.”

Andy smiled because smiling was his default. “Chief, do you have any idea—any leads—as to who broke into the shop and attacked my uncle?”

“Not so far,” Millard admitted. “Our working theory is local kids.”

“Kids?”

“Most likely.”

“But…”

“Kids are different these days. It’s all those video games. Violence is just special effects to them. They’ve got no respect for other people’s property.” Millard added with grim finality, “Sometimes not even other peoples’ lives.”

Andy was silent, absorbing this. Would local teens really batter a kindly old eccentric like Uncle C. almost to death? For less than a hundred dollars in petty cash? Such a senseless crime. But you only had to open the newspaper or watch the nightly news to know teenagers did commit senseless crimes. It was naive to imagine such things could only happen in big cities.

From outside the chief’s office, he could hear the muted and efficient buzz of official activity: phones, voices, staticky radio transmissions…a copier jamming—and the subsequent request for help.Officer needs assistance!A jammed photocopier was about as serious as it got for Safehaven PD.

“Did you have any particular kid or kids in mind?” Andy asked.

Millard said evasively, “One or two usual suspects.” He dunked the remainder of his doughnut in his coffee.

Andy had to wonder at his instinctive rejection of the chief’s theory because really, it made sense, given that professional thieves would have to know it was unlikely there was anything of real value in the shop.

Not much to attract kids either, Andy would have thought, but he’d be the first to admit he didn’t know much about teenagers or what might interest them. When he’d been a teenager—which felt like a million years ago—he’d found the trinkets and treasures of Time in a Bottle fascinating. So…?