Page 7 of Forged By Fire (Danger in Destiny #9)
Chapter Seven
L eslie waited at her kitchen table as officers dusted for fingerprints and did a thorough sweep of her house. Clint waited with her most of the time. Much to her relief, no cameras or listening devices were discovered.
Once the officers had finished gathering evidence and cleared the scene, Clint helped her board up the window until she could have it replaced the next day.
“Could you go and stay with your sister tonight?” Clint glanced at the watch on his wrist.
Leslie checked the time, too. It was well after ten o’clock. “No, I don’t want to bother her. My niece has been sick, plus my brother-in-law should’ve gotten home this evening after being out of town for the last six days. They don’t need my drama thrown into the mix.”
Besides, as much as she loved her sister, she was afraid they might kill each other if they were forced to stay in the same house for more than a few hours.
“I just hate the idea of you staying here by yourself after everything that’s happened.” There was no pity in his eyes, only worry and sincerity.
His concern sent tendrils of warmth straight to her heart. She wasn’t used to this. Usually, it was she who was worried about and taking care of everyone else. Or at least it seemed that way. To have someone worried about her and wanting to make sure she was taken care of meant a lot.
“I appreciate that, but this house is probably the safest place I could be now. You guys checked every nook and cranny. I’m not going to lie.
I even peeked under the beds while you were still here just to be sure.
” She chuckled at the silliness of it. Still, if she hadn’t, she might have worried later when it was just her in the house.
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to eat a slice of chocolate cream pie that I pilfered from the fire station, batten down the hatches, and try to get some rest. There’s no way they’re coming back to the same house.
Not so soon after an attempted robbery.” Or whatever this was.
She thought Clint might argue. Instead, he gave her an exaggerated look of confusion. “Chocolate cream pie? Oh, my grandmother had an amazing recipe for that. She passed away when I was a teen. I think my mom may still have the recipe somewhere.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother. That’s neat that she used to bake for you. Would you like a slice? I have two.”
“Please don’t feel obligated to share your stolen pie.”
Now on a mission, she laughed as she hopped up and retrieved the two slices from the fridge along with plates and forks. “I don’t mind. I almost felt bad taking two slices, so you’ll be alleviating my guilt, anyway.” She tossed an amused smile his way.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to deprive you of that.” He accepted a piece of pie with a nod of thanks and picked up his fork. He waited for her to sit down before taking a bite. “Okay, that’s amazing.”
“Right?” Leslie savored the way the mix of sweet and slightly tangy flavors melted on her tongue. Man, she’d needed this. “The guys at the station will tell you I’m obsessed with chocolate.” She got up again and took out a can from her fridge. “Especially when you add some whipped cream on top.”
When she’d finished adding some to the top of her pie, he reached for the bottle and did the same.
This time, when Leslie took her second bite, she groaned. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” She caught him watching her in amusement and felt her cheeks warm. “No making fun of me and my addiction.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Especially when you’ve been kind enough to share.” He was still chuckling when he took another generous bite. “I might have to take a pie the next time I have dinner with my parents. Where did this come from?”
“Kismet Confections. It’s just down the street from the station.
The owner occasionally brings baked goods in.
You should definitely check it out.” She claimed that the pies or cakes were leftovers from the day and that she didn’t want them to go to waste.
Leslie couldn’t imagine how an entire chocolate pie survived the day untouched.
“I’ll do that. Thank you.” He ate the last of his pie and leaned back in his chair with satisfaction. “So you’re addicted to chocolate. What’s one food or drink you can’t stand?”
“Mayonnaise. Anything with mayonnaise.” No contest there.
She was not a picky person and could eat almost anything put in front of her—unless it had mayonnaise in it.
“I know you don’t like coffee. What’s one food that you can’t get enough of?
” She used her fork to scrape the last remnants of pie off her plate.
“Lasagna. Or really, anything Italian.” He looked thoughtful. “There’s a great place on the other side of town. A little restaurant on Maple run by this couple that makes an incredible lasagna. Have you ever been there?”
“No, but I’ve heard good things about it.”
“I’ll have to introduce you to it once all of this is wrapped up.”
He hadn’t quite asked her out on a date, but it was close. Was that his intention? Or was he simply answering her question with an offer to pay her back for sharing the chocolate cream pie?
Feeling suddenly flustered and not sure what to do, she stood and gathered their plates. “You can’t go wrong with Italian. It’s always nice to find a new place to eat. Some of those smaller restaurants are better than the big chains. They have a personal flair to them.”
Leslie carried the plates to the sink. When she turned, Clint was pushing off the small kitchen table to stand. There was no indication that he was encouraged or discouraged by her reply.
“I should probably go and let you get some rest. Please don’t be surprised if you see a police car driving up and down the street or even parked outside. We’ll increase patrol here at least for tonight until you can get that window fixed and we have time to run fingerprints.”
She stood as well. “That sounds good. And it’ll make me feel better to know the police are out there, too.”
“If this were a run-of-the-mill robbery attempt, chances are they went somewhere else after they came up empty here. With any luck, we’ll still have an opportunity to catch them tonight.”
“Thanks again for coming. You were the first person I thought to call. You know, since you’d given me your card.” Ugh, that wasn’t awkward at all. But she was glad he’d given it to her, and she planned to put his contact information in her phone in case she ever needed to call him again.
She’d spent so much time with him the latter half of the day that she was rather sad to see him leave even though he was likely ready to get on with his night after everything.
“I’m glad you did. Please don’t hesitate to call me again. It doesn’t matter what time it is.” He ran his fingers through his close-cropped hair. “Would you mind if I checked in on you tomorrow? I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the case.”
“That would be great.” She walked him to the front door.
“Good night, Leslie.”
“Good night.”
As soon as he left, she closed and locked the door, including the deadbolt. Then she moved a kitchen chair and propped it up under the doorknob. She did the same with the back door.
It took a while to settle down enough to try to sleep.
Even then, she left the bedroom and bathroom lights on and curled up on the couch.
Between worrying about Danny, replaying the day’s events in her head, and then second-guessing Clint’s comment about dinner and her awkward response, it wasn’t until well after two in the morning that she finally drifted off to sleep.
Even then, she had nightmares of an unknown firefighter sneaking into her home in the middle of the night with a gun.