Page 3 of Artful Deceit

Briefly, he closed his eyes. “A what?” He let out a small laugh. “Yeah. I thought that’s what you said. I’m not at home. You can pick me up from Lily’s, but we’ll need to stop at my place if you want me in uniform.” There was a pause while the sergeant spoke. “See you in a minute.”

“What’s going on?” Lily asked, sitting up to watch Flynn hastily pull his jeans on.

“I have to go,” he said, snatching his T-shirt and pulling it over his head.

“I guessed that. How come?”

“Burglary.” He shoved his arms into his T-shirt. Not bothering with his socks, he moved into the hallway to push his feet into his trainers.

“A burglary?” Lily asked.

“That’s what the sergeant said.” With a hand cupping her jaw, he kissed her. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said as he moved away.

In the doorway, he glanced back, his gaze roaming over her before he released a frustrated groan and made a dash for it.

“Flynn!” she shouted when he was halfway down the stairs.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Yeah, but you––” She gave up, since he clearly wasn’t stopping to listen.

The living room pulsed with blue light as she walked through to peer out of the window. From there, she watched Flynn step into the police Land Rover before they sped along the promenade.

A small smile pulled at her lips as she thought of Sergeant Proctor telling Flynn his T-shirt was on backwards.

Chapter Two

Sliding into the passenger seat,Flynn caught the amused twitch of Sergeant Proctor’s eyebrows, but there really wasn’t time to have a conversation about his love life. Plus, for all the sergeant knew, he and Lily were just hanging out as friends. It wasn’t as though it was the middle of the night or anything. They could have had dinner and watched TV.

“A burglary?” he asked, pulling his seatbelt around him. “Are you serious?”

“That’s what dispatch said.”

“It was a 999 call?”

The sergeant didn’t slow at the junction. “We get them now and again.”

“You’ve said that before, but I’ve been here for six months and I don’t recall any others. It’s definitely the first burglary. I’d almost forgotten that was a thing.”

The sergeant put his foot down on the long stretch of road bordered by fields and hedges. “It’s not usually a thing around here. Thefts of any kind are rare since it’s so difficult to get away with. It’s hard to get stolen goods off the island.”

Flynn braced against the dashboard as the sergeant took a corner at speed.

“According to the woman who called, she disturbed them and they ran. She thought they left on foot, so there’s a chance they didn’t get far. Especially running in the dark.”

“It feels weird without my uniform,” Flynn said.

“There was no time to stop.” The sergeant kept his focus on the road. “Do me a favour, though, and at least put your T-shirt on the right way before we get there.”

Flynn grimaced as his gaze flicked to his chest, but he waited until they arrived at the house before pulling it off and turning it the right way.

“Your kit is on the back seat,” the sarge said, stepping out of the car. “Do a sweep of the outside while I speak to the owner.”

“On it,” Flynn said, grabbing his radio and his belt. He switched on his torch and swept the beam over the surrounding area before striding around the side of the lone cottage to search the garden.

Only a minute passed before the sergeant came on the radio, relaying the information from the homeowner that the thief had taken off on the road heading north. Flynn told him he’d drive in that direction to look, but he wasn’t optimistic about catching them given the cover of darkness and the fact that they had a head start.