Page 30 of Shadowed Witness (The Secrets of Kincaid #2)

Eric followed several uniformed officers from Chief McHenry’s office and forced himself not to let the door slam behind him.

An hour absolutely wasted. Because of one officer’s carelessness during a routine callout, they’d all had to sit through an hour-long lecture about procedure.

He suspected the chief had included him as a reference rather than a target of the training, but he’d still lost an hour of valuable time.

He’d barely reached his desk when his phone vibrated. He quickly answered, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Thornton.”

Allye’s voice came over the line. “Hey, Eric. Are you busy?”

“Yes.” Was he ever not?

“Oh.” Her disappointment was clear.

He didn’t need to take out his frustration on her. Trying to soften his tone, he asked, “What do you need?”

“I was hoping you might have time to join me for a photo shoot at Kincaid Lake. I promised I’d try not to go off alone, but no one else is available, and I’m anticipating a fantastic sunset that could be a great last-minute addition to my booth.

” She paused the rush of words before adding, “But if you’re busy. ..”

“You’re going out there either way, aren’t you?” He felt the beginning of a tension headache coming on.

“Maaaybe.”

He rubbed his forehead, his eyes trailing over the notes that still needed to be entered into the system.

But after his realization this morning, he wasn’t sure doing so was a good idea.

If the mayor was getting info from his uncle, Eric didn’t want to make it available any sooner than he had to.

And Allye did not need to be out in the park alone.

He sighed. “You at home now?”

“Yes.”

“Stay put. I’ll pick you up in ten.”

“I’ll try to be ready.”

Less than thirty minutes later, Eric was pulling her equipment from the back of his car. On the way, they’d eaten sandwiches Allye had prepared beforehand. Good thing too. With her call coming right after the chief’s end-of-day lecture, he hadn’t had time to even think about dinner.

The sun hung low, but they still had plenty of time before color would begin to streak the sky. Allye held out her hands for the camera bag and tripod, but he shook his head.

“Nothing doing.” He slammed the trunk and gestured toward the lake. “Show me where to go.”

After a second’s hesitation, Allye took the lead.

He followed, scanning their surroundings as they went.

There were a few people around—a man walking a dog, kids on the playground with their mom nearby.

No one that appeared suspicious. No one that matched Allye’s description of her attacker. His shoulders relaxed slightly.

As they neared the lake’s edge, she paused and angled her head, shook it, then moved a few more yards. She repeated the evaluation until finally a smile broke across her face. “This is it.”

Eric glanced at the lake from this position. Looked about the same as the other places she’d tried, but he said nothing, just swung the tripod from his shoulder and offered it to her. More quickly than he’d have thought possible, she had it out of its carrying case and assembled.

“Impressive.”

“I know.” She grinned and reached for her camera bag. Chuckling, he released it to her. She set the bag on the ground and removed her camera. She inspected it—lens, battery, memory card—before attaching it to the tripod.

“Now what?” he asked when she finished her adjustments.

“Now we wait.” She lowered herself to the grass and sat cross-legged facing the water.

“Fair enough.” He turned his back to the lake and took a leisurely look around. Still no sign of trouble. Or of Dion. But that would be too much to expect. “So you really wanted to come out here just to catch the sunset?”

“Well, not just that. I’m sort of celebrating too.”

He swiveled back to her, his hopes rising. “Celebrating what?”

She pushed her hair out of her face but kept her gaze on the lake. “The doctor is pretty confident I don’t have MS.”

“Allye, that’s wonderful!”

“Yes, it is.” She finally looked up at him. A sheen of tears glimmered in her eyes, but she was smiling. “We still don’t know what I have, but I’m glad to take that win for now.”

He wanted to ask what was next, if the doctors had any idea what else might be going on, but he held his tongue.

He sensed she didn’t want to face the unknowns right now.

She was celebrating, but her victory was tenuous.

Instead of voicing his questions, he glanced around them once more before joining her on the ground.

“I love this place,” Allye murmured. “Even though we lived so close, sometimes we’d camp here on long weekends or just come for a day trip. Dad loved taking us kayaking on the lake.”

He absorbed her recollections, the wistfulness in her voice.

He hadn’t known Allye’s dad—the man had been killed in action before Eric came to Kincaid to live with his grandpa full-time—but he could hear her love for him.

His own father had never been interested in family outings.

Drugs, booze, anything to escape reality—those were the things his dad cared about.

Mom had been the same. Try as he might, Eric couldn’t dredge up a single instance they’d spent time together that hadn’t involved one or the other of them making a detour to meet their dealer, being at least half stoned already, or raging mad because they weren’t.

“You okay?”

Allye’s concerned voice pulled him from the black hole he’d begun to sink into. “Yes.” He loosened his clenched jaw and forced himself to relax. There was a reason he didn’t allow his thoughts to linger too long in that period of his past.

“You ever go camping as a kid?”

“Nah. My parents weren’t into that, and Gramps was past his prime by the time I moved in with him.” He hoped she’d leave it at that, but of course she didn’t.

“You never talk about them—your parents, I mean.”

He tried not to bristle. He really didn’t want to get off on that topic. “Not worth talking about.”

“Do they live around here?”

“No.”

From the corner of his eye, he could see her studying him, but she apparently got the hint. Instead of pushing further, she redirected the focus of conversation. “What keeps you here? Bryce commented the other day how he always expected you to return to the city after high school.”

“I can see where he got that idea. Fact is, I fully intended to move to a place with a bigger department—maybe one in Cincinnati—and work my way into the narcotics division.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Gramps had a massive heart attack right before I graduated from the academy. Needed someone in the area to keep an eye on him.”

“And when he passed?” She had known Gramps from church. Most of the congregation, including Allye, had attended his funeral several years ago. Eric had been touched by the show of support.

He shrugged. “By then, I’d hit my stride. Found I liked working in Kincaid.” He’d found home here. A bit of community, though he’d be the first to admit he still felt a bit like an outsider sometimes. But now that he thought about it, maybe he’d been the one holding back.

Oblivious to the turn his thoughts had taken, Allye focused on his last words. “And now you’re a detective. Do you like the change?”

Did he? He shifted to a more comfortable position as he considered her question. “It’s not what I thought,” he said finally. “But I wouldn’t give it up to return to patrol. I just wish it were possible to close these cases more quickly.”

“You mean it’s not like on TV—case closed in fifty minutes, tops?”

He chuckled. “Definitely not.”

Her expression sobered. “Has Dion been found?”

That was a whole other concern. He blew out a breath. “No. We reissued the alert, but he seems to have disappeared.”

Her hand settled on his knee, the touch featherlight. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep praying.”

He hadn’t stopped. The kid had him worried. Nearly as much as Allye’s situation did. At least, to their knowledge, Dion wasn’t a target. With his associates, that could change at any moment though. He was playing with fire. Sooner or later, he would get burned.

“Tell me something, Eric.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. Just something about you.” She still hadn’t removed her hand from his knee.

“Okay.” What kind of request was that? He thought for a moment. “I memorized one hundred digits of pi when I was a freshman in high school.”

“Seriously?” She sounded mildly interested. Or like she could fall asleep at any moment.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Remember any of it?”

“Three point one four.”

“Even I remember that much.”

He could practically hear the eye roll. His lips twitched.

“Eric!” She lightly swatted at him, but he caught her hand and recited the next five digits while tapping each of hers. She stilled.

Without letting go, he transferred his attention to her face. “I could go on, but you might miss the sunset.”

Her eyes shot to the sky, which was just beginning its brilliant transformation. She scrambled from the ground, then paused and blinked. She swayed slightly.

Eric was instantly on his feet. He gripped her arms to steady her. “Take it easy.”

She blinked a few more times and took a deep breath. “I’m okay. Just stood up too fast.” She extracted herself from his grasp and moved behind her camera. Though her face was half hidden, he didn’t miss the flush creeping up her neck.

He stood close, not so close she’d feel like he was hovering, but close enough to catch her if she started to fall. But she didn’t.

Instead, Allye’s tiredness seemed to melt away as she snapped picture after picture of the scene, sometimes pausing to readjust her tripod or swivel the camera to capture a different slice of the beauty before them. Confident she’d gained her footing, Eric stepped back, thumbs hooked in his belt.

The sunset was breathtaking tonight, but she was more so.

He found himself watching her more than the sky.

She didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t mind if she did.

And as she worked, she got chatty—asking him questions, throwing out fun facts about the park, reminiscing about other photo shoots.

He responded when appropriate, but mostly he just watched and listened, enjoying her obvious delight.

For a few moments, at least, she was her old self.

Sparkling and bubbly. And, oh, so beautiful—not that she’d ever ceased being that.

But her unbounded joy combined with the kiss of the setting sun on her fiery hair made him more aware of it than he’d ever been before.

He slipped his phone from his pocket and aimed it at her, clicking a few photos as she turned toward him, a radiant smile on her face.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” He grinned and slid the phone back into his pocket.

“Uh-huh.” Her lips twitched as she returned her attention to her camera.

When the last remnants of the sunset’s brilliance had faded to the somber blue of twilight, Allye turned to him, wistfulness in her expression. “I guess that’s that.”

“You took a lot of pictures.”

“Yeah, I always take more than I think I’ll need. Especially with the changing colors of a sunset, you never know which will be ‘the one.’” She shrugged and gave him a sly grin. “Of course, I’m not limited to just one.”

“How can you even choose?”

“It’s not easy sometimes,” she admitted. She turned her gaze back to the darkening sky. “Looks like it’ll be a clear night. Wonder if we’ll have a full moon. That would make for some excellent photos too—a bright shining moon reflecting off the water.”

“You aren’t scared of werewolves?” He tilted his head.

A mischievous smile lit her face. “Not with a big strong detective by my side.”

“You trust me to protect you? Against werewolves?”

“Of course.” She tapped her camera. “And I’d take lots of pictures. Think of what the newspapers would pay for those kind of photos.” She stepped toward him and mimed tracing a headline. “Man Defeats Werewolf in One-on-One Fight.”

“Oh, so you’re not even going to try to help me?”

Her eyes widened, and she blinked in mock surprise. “You’d need help?”

He threw his head back and laughed. Her giggle turned into a snort and made him laugh harder.

When his eyes fixed on hers again, only a hint of merriment remained there. She was staring at him with an intense longing and ... sadness?

He closed the remaining space between them. Tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. She placed a hand over the spot he’d touched, her eyes never leaving his.

“For you, I’d fight off an army of werewolves.” The words were ridiculous. But he meant them. And she didn’t laugh. Her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parting as she swayed toward him.

And then he was kissing her. She was kissing him.

It was sweet and beautiful and terrifying—all wrapped together.

When their lips parted, her wide-eyed gaze met his. Neither of them had been expecting that.

“I, uh—” He took a step back, hoping the distance would help him clear his head. “I should get you home. It’ll be dark soon.” Something flickered in those big green eyes, but she only nodded. She readjusted her glasses with trembling hands, then turned to collect her equipment.

A gunshot split the silence.

Eric dove for Allye as her camera exploded mere inches from her fingertips.