Page 7

SEVEN

W est glanced at Gracie Fitzpatrick when Peanut alerted in the storage room of the pizzeria. It was no surprise, as he’d witnessed the crates being removed from the storage area and placed in the van.

“Should we check these boxes?” Gracie asked with a frown. Her Belgian Malinois, Bane, was sitting at her side, his nose sniffing the air. West knew Bane would take off after a perp with speed and agility and wished he’d had Bane with him when he’d chased the kidnapper.

The first box held paper supplies. The next contained various spices. The third held cans of parmesan cheese.

“I don’t understand,” Henry Anderson said from the doorway. The middle-aged owner of the pizzeria appeared distressed. “I would never condone having guns in here.”

“Mr. Anderson, do all of your employees have access to this room?” West asked, as he continued checking boxes. The rest of the pizzeria had been clean. No alerts from Peanut or Bane. Although Bane’s specialty was in finding people more than items.

“Yes, of course. I mean, sometimes we run out of things like napkins and cheese. You know, items that the customers might need.”

“Would you be willing to give us a list of all your employees, including those who have left in the past year?” West asked. His phone rang, but he let it go to voicemail. “Is this room always kept locked?”

“I’ll give you a list of employees past and present,” Henry agreed without hesitation. “No, I generally don’t keep this room locked. It’s not like there’s anything of value in here.”

West tried not to sigh. If that was the case, anyone who’d bothered to case the joint could have been using the room as a hiding spot without the owners being any wiser. Still, he hoped Petey’s accomplice had been an employee. At this point, both Henry and his wife, Martha, needed to stay on the suspect list, too.

“We appreciate your cooperation,” Gracie said.

West’s phone rang again. He pulled it from his pocket, his heart squeezing in his chest when he saw Trish’s name on the screen. “Hey, Trish, what’s going on?”

“The masked intruder tried to get into the house through the back door. He took off running and I couldn’t leave Gabriel to follow him. Just before that, I noticed a black Ford sedan driving by. I had dispatch run the plates, they verified it was reported stolen. We’re fine, I have PCPD officers on scene, but I need a different place to stay.”

“I’ll be right there. Don’t leave without me.” West caught Gracie’s concerned look. She knew that Trisha and her baby were staying with him temporarily. “Someone tried to get into my home and we have a lead on a stolen car,” he explained, then turned to Henry. “Please get us two copies of your list of employees.”

“Yeah, sure.” Henry left and he could hear the owner calling out to Martha.

“I heard about the abduction attempt on Officer McCord’s son,” Gracie said, her brow furrowed with concern. “You think the kidnapper stole a car and found out where you live?”

“That’s the only logical explanation.” He didn’t really understand how Trisha and Gabriel had been found at his place. Had they been followed? He’d kept an eye on the rearview mirror and hadn’t noticed a tail.

The fact that the perp tried to get inside, only made the situation worse. There had been a fair amount of traffic in the middle of the day. Maybe he should have done a better job of taking a convoluted route back home from the gas station.

He was itching to get out of there, even though he knew Trisha was with fellow officers. When Henry returned with two copies of the list, he took his gratefully.

“I have to go. I’ll check in with Dan Slater and Captain Ross, later. Come, Peanut.” He smiled when Peanut dropped her ducky and came to sit beside him. He picked up the toy, then led her outside.

Seconds later, he and Peanut were in the SUV heading back to the downtown area of the city. His house happened to be on the opposite side from where the pizzeria was located. He’d thought the location of the pizza parlor, being in a more deserted section of the city, was one of the reasons it had been used as a storage facility.

There were two Plains City squads parked on the road outside his place. He pulled into the driveway and parked. No point in going into the garage since they would not be staying for long. He folded the list of employees and tucked it between his seat and the center console.

“Hey, Detective,” Officer Thornton greeted him when he slid out from behind the wheel. “Everything has been quiet. No sign of the stolen vehicle since we arrived. We’ve issued a BOLO for the car and have spread out to canvass the area for the perp, but so far we have nothing to show for our efforts.”

“Thanks for the quick response.” West couldn’t help feeling guilty over the fact that he never should have left Trisha and Gabriel alone. The near miss made his blood run cold. He glanced at Peanut in the back crate, deciding she should wait there for a few minutes.

“We’re fine,” Trisha added from the front doorway. She held Gabriel on her hip, the boy looking sleepy as he rested his head on her shoulder. “There was no reason to rush back.”

Yeah, there was. He held Trish’s gaze for a moment, wishing he had the right to haul her into his arms to comfort her. She stepped back giving him room to enter. “How did this guy try to get in?”

“Picked the lock, just like at my place.” She moved toward the back door to show him. He scowled at the scratch marks around the keyhole. Thank goodness Trisha was smart enough to have figured out what was happening before this guy got all the way inside. He forced himself to remain calm as he turned toward her “Did you pack all of yours and Gabriel’s things?”

“Yes.” A flash of regret darkened her eyes. “I feel terrible about this. You can drop us off at a hotel. No reason for you to leave your home.”

“We’re in this together, remember?” No way was he leaving her and Gabriel at some hotel alone. Especially not after this. “I only need a minute to grab some stuff for me and Peanut.”

She looked as if she might argue, then nodded. He tossed a change of clothes in a duffel, then packed extra food for Peanut. Most of what she needed was already in the back of the SUV.

It took him a few extra minutes to get all of Gabriel’s things into the SUV. The portable crib, car seat, box of food supplies and diaper bag, along with Trish’s small suitcase. Obviously traveling lightly was impossible with a baby and a dog.

Mostly the baby, he thought wryly.

As Trisha buckled Gabriel in, he gestured to Officer Thornton. “Do you have the name and address of the Ford sedan’s owner?”

“Right here. Renee Mills.” Thornton thumbed his phone. “I’ll send it to you if you’d like.”

“Please.” The name wasn’t familiar, but he wanted to speak with her directly. “Thanks again. I appreciate you having my back. And Officer McCord’s back, too.”

“Always.” Thornton’s expression turned serious. “I don’t like the way crime in our city has been on the rise. The sooner we toss these bad guys behind bars, the better.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He noticed the address for Renee Mills was on the northern end of town. “Take care.”

“You, too.” Thornton turned away.

He climbed into the SUV, glancing at Trish. “You’re really okay?”

“Of course.” She managed a smile, then added, “I will admit to being on edge while waiting for the officers to arrive.”

“That was good work on noticing the vehicle in the first place,” he said softly.

“I ran the plates the first time it went past because it was moving so slow. I thought I was overreacting, then I heard someone outside the door.” She sighed. “When I called in, I learned the car was reported stolen.”

“Yeah, I was thinking we should have a little chat with the owner, Renee Mills.” He frowned. “But I don’t think we should take Gabriel with us.”

“To be honest, I would rather keep him close. You don’t think Renee is a suspect, do you? She reported her car as being stolen. I highly doubt she’s the one driving it.”

“That’s true.” Like most cops, he operated under the mindset of guilty until proven innocent. Backward from how the courts viewed things, but that was the approach most investigators took. Once he could rule someone out as a suspect, he moved on to the next.

“Please, West. This probably won’t take long. And I feel like we should talk to her as soon as possible.” Trisha tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. “I can stay in the car, if that’s easier.”

Against his better judgment, he nodded. “Yeah, okay. In the meantime, we need to think about where we should stay.”

“Someplace with a kitchenette would be nice.” She picked up her phone. “I’ll start searching for possibilities.”

“Try to find a place that isn’t too far from the police station.” He knew the work of the task force needed to continue, and he didn’t want to be too far away from the flow of information.

At least he had a list of the pizzeria employees. He planned to cross-reference them with the list of gym members. That may be a way to narrow their focus on a particular suspect.

“Did you find anything at the pizzeria?”

“Nothing new, but Peanut alerted to the weapons that were kept in the storage room.” He shrugged. “According to Henry Anderson, they don’t keep the storage room locked.”

“That figures,” she muttered.

Renee Mills lived in a side-by-side townhouse. There was no garage, and no car in the driveway, either, which backed up her claim of the car being stolen. He pulled in and shifted into Park. “Wait here, okay?”

She wrinkled her nose and nodded. “Yes. But take Peanut. She could be armed.”

That wasn’t a bad thought, so he used the key fob to open the hatch, then got out to join Peanut. He clipped on her collar, then walked up to the front door. It opened before he had a chance to knock.

“Who are you?” a woman he assumed was Renee Mills asked. Her bleached blond hair had an inch of outgrowth on her roots. She sported several tattoos and piercings, and he assessed her as roughly his age of thirty-one. Yet her features were pinched as if she didn’t get enough sleep.

He flashed his gold shield. “I’m Detective Cole. I understand you reported your car as stolen?”

“Yeah, I did.” She didn’t invite him in. “Did you find it?”

“Not yet. I’d like to know when you noticed it missing.” He glanced at Peanut, who sniffed the air with interest but didn’t alert.

“About an hour ago.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “I was heading out to the grocery store, when I noticed it was gone.”

He turned to scan the driveway. “I don’t see any broken glass. Do you know how the thief took your car? Did you hear anything suspicious?”

She flushed and shrugged. “I didn’t hear anything. I don’t always lock the car. Stuff like this doesn’t happen around here.”

Clearly it did, but he refrained from pointing it out. He eyed Renee Mills thoughtfully. She was cooperating, but also seemed to be holding back. The crossed arms over her chest indicated she was feeling defensive. “Ms. Mills, if you know something about this, it’s imperative you tell us.”

“I didn’t steal my own car!” Her outburst seemed a bit over the top. “Come back when you’ve found it.” With that, she stepped back and slammed the door shut.

Interesting. In his humble opinion, the woman protested a bit too much.

It chafed at Trisha to wait in the car while West did the detective work. She was a well-trained cop and should have been out there questioning Renee Mills alongside him. Gauging the woman for herself. Reading her nonverbal cues.

She’d lowered the window and had caught the gist of the conversation. It was surprising that Mills hadn’t acted like most victims. There was no outrage, no worry about insurance claims. Instead, she’d displayed a rather strange acceptance that her car had been taken.

As soon as West had put Peanut in the back and slid behind the wheel, her suspicions were confirmed. “There’s something off about that woman,” he said darkly.

“I agree.” Trisha scowled. “I think she knows who took her car.”

West eyed her in surprise. “What makes you say that?”

“She admitted it wasn’t locked, and appeared resigned, as if the theft wasn’t that much of a surprise. We need to dig into her background.”

“That’s the plan.” West grinned. “It’s nice to know you got the same vibe from her that I did. She tried to come across as cooperative but seemed far more defensive than I expected.”

She wasn’t a detective with a gold shield, but his comment was sweet. Maybe he was just trying to be nice to her, but she liked feeling as if they were working together as a team.

Too bad they were only a team when it came to police work. She knew West checked in on Kenyon’s twins, but he hadn’t seemed very interested in getting close to Gabriel.

Maybe she was making an assumption, but what did it matter? She had no interest in getting married again. One mistake was more than enough. Gabriel needed stability in his life—he’d already lost his biological father. She wasn’t interested in risking her heart again.

Nope. Not. Happening.

“Did you find a hotel?” West’s voice broke into her thoughts.

“Oh, yeah. There’s a place called The Scenic Suites, overlooking the Black Hills. They have two-bedroom suites and a small kitchen for a reasonable price. They are also pet friendly, which I knew was important for Peanut’s sake. I’ll gladly pay for the room,” she added quickly, not wanting him to think she was being extravagant. She’d thought the suite would be better for West so he wouldn’t have to put up with Gabriel’s crying. “We’re going there because of the danger to my son.”

“I’ll foot the bill, since it seems we must have been followed to my place from the gas station.” His brow furrowed. “I don’t like thinking the perp waited for me to leave, then decided to make his move.”

“It’s possible.”

“I don’t like it,” West muttered with a scowl. “I feel like I failed you and Gabriel.”

“You didn’t.” She reached over to rest her hand on his arm. “I don’t blame you. I just wish I understood what this was all about.”

West surprised her by covering her hand with his. “We need to keep thinking through potential options for this mystery key. The gym key was a good thought. Maybe we should check the local post office. A safety deposit box. Or the bus station.”

His hand radiated warmth to the point it was distracting. What had he said? “I—uh, yes. You’re right. That’s a great idea. I think the bus station is the most likely option.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he was actually enjoying their time together as much as she was. But that couldn’t be the case.

As if on cue, Gabriel started to fuss.

“He’s teething.” She moved her hand from his, praying Gabriel wouldn’t break into a full-scale wail. “I have some teething rings for him in the diaper bag.”

“He’s handling it well,” West said. “We’ll be at the Scenic Suites shortly.”

“I know.” She leaned back to snag the diaper bag from the floor of the back seat. After finding the teething ring, she stretched as far as she could to give it to Gabriel.

West pulled into the Scenic Suites and chose the closest available parking space. “I’ll move the vehicle around back after hauling everything inside.”

She understood his concern. If the driver of the stolen vehicle was looking for his SUV, it wouldn’t be good to have it parked out front in plain view.

Fifteen minutes later, they were settled in. Gabriel was in full fussy mode, quieting down only when she gave him a bottle.

Letting out a long breath, she caught West watching them. “I usually feed him dinner around six. I hope there’s a place nearby we can get something to eat, too.”

“I’ll check it out when I move the SUV. Speaking of food,” he said, unfolding several pieces of paper. “This is a list of past and present employees for the pizzeria. I’d like to cross-reference this with the gym membership list.”

He used the term we again, which made her smile. “Sounds good.”

After West returned from moving the SUV, they ordered food. Gabriel finished his bottle. After his usual burp, she sat him on a blanket on the floor, then gave him his chew ring. He instantly stuck it in his mouth.

She straightened, bumping into West in the process. “Oh, sorry.” Her cheeks burned as she wondered how a two-bedroom suite could feel so small and cramped.

His arms came up to steady her elbows. They were so close, an enticing wave of his aftershave washed over her. “How’s your knee holding up?”

His voice was low, and surprisingly intimate. His gaze locked on hers, and it was as if time stood still. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth. She found herself leaning toward him, when Gabriel let out a cry.

She moved back so fast, she nearly fell. Then she turned to pick up her son. “There, there, you’re okay,” she murmured, trying to steady herself as much as reassuring her son.

The moment was broken, but awareness still shimmered through her system at their near embrace.

Something that, if she was smart, would not happen again.