over to the diner and Oscar’s ninja coffee skills and the close proximity to the newspaper editor and Andi was starting to feel a bit steamed and a whole lot jittery. She needed air-conditioning, a gallon of water and some distance. It was no wonder her fingers were tingling like that. It probably had nothing to do with Mark Taylor.
Taking a deep breath, Andi yanked open the door and managed not to take two steps back from the heat blast. Leather seats were such a bad idea.
Still, she was satisfied that she’d managed to stand her ground with Mark Taylor even if she hadn’t actually gained any. Andi dropped down in the driver’s seat with a wince at the heat baking through her uniform pants, started the car and pulled away from the curb. As she reached down to crank up the air conditioner, she looked in the rearview mirror. Mark Taylor was standing at the edge of the curb watching her drive away with that smirk on his face. Andi was suddenly less sure whether she was holding her ground or losing the battle and she just didn’t know it yet.
CHAPTER THREE
THE SHORT TRIP back to the office was lengthened by multiple stops for nervous tourists who were darting into the streets outside the designated crosswalks. If the pavement hadn’t been hotter than the sun, Andi might have pulled over and issued some stern warnings. Jaywalking was illegal—it was a safety issue. Scaring people straight was part of the sheriff’s job, but the mayor didn’t appreciate that.
When she finally pulled into her designated parking spot, Andi turned off the ignition. She might have rested for a bit except she was afraid of baking her brain. She slid out quickly and slammed the door. Her palms still had a slight tingle going on, the effect of a massive amount of caffeine. Obviously.
“Morning, Sheriff.” Lori had taken Nettie’s spot at the dispatch desk. Nettie worked early mornings, when things were a bit slower and she didn’t have to deal with as many citizens. Andi envied her the right to choose.
Lori and Andi had gone to school together, but Lori stayed in Tall Pines to marry, divorce and remarry. Every greeting she issued might come with a smile, but there was also the edge of sharp teeth and the hint of a grimace. She’d worked for the old sheriff and might resent Andi taking his spot. He was her father, after all. Still, a job was a job and in Tall Pines, no one quit a good job on the principle of the thing. They were just too hard to come by. So Lori performed right on the edge, well enough to keep coming in every day but not so well that it could be misconstrued as approval or anything other than a deep-seated wish to inflict nonfelonious harm.
Lori and Andi had a history anyway. Lori had been homecoming queen and head cheerleader. Andi had been president of the math club, a desperate overachiever intent on winning a college scholarship. She’d snatched valedictorian out of Lori’s pom-pom-waving paws at the last minute and still congratulated herself on that now and then. Lori probably didn’t think about it much. She had two beautiful little boys to show off. Pictures lined the wall beside the dispatch desk. The towheaded twins had to be about eight years old. Their names were Alexander and Andrew and they were perfectly identical. When they came in, Andi had no idea which was which and settled for a jovial and nonspecific “boys” whenever she had to address them directly.
Andi’s small pangs of jealousy hadn’t driven her to put up pictures of her cat, Mojo, on the same wall. Not yet.
“Morning, Lori. Is there anything urgent?”
“Nope. Dan’s headed out to check on the one call we’ve got. Mrs. Haley thinks there’s been someone prowling around her garage at night.”
Andi nodded. This prowler would probably be just like the last, a deer knocking over the chairs on Mrs. Haley’s porch, but the woman had a shotgun and an active imagination. It would be a good thing to check out.
Andi waved at Dan as he stood up from one of the four desks crammed into the large room. It was time for the patrols to change over, so both Dan Jones and Jimmy Monroe were there. Jimmy was writing a report, and Dan had just finished checking any notes left from the previous shift. It was a small office. There were six full-time deputies for the entire county and reserves who helped out as needed.
Jimmy looked up. “Anything we need to know about the incident over at Jackie’s?”
Andi scratched her forehead as she tried to figure out how to answer. “Well, his trophies and the money and everything else in his safe were stolen. He’d corralled Oscar, his busboy, Wanda Blankenship and Mark Taylor when I got there. I couldn’t see any signs of a break-in, and Jackie swears the door was locked when he got there.”
Dan crossed his arms over his chest and Jimmy leaned back in his chair. Andi could smell Lori hovering behind her. She had a thing for strawberry bubble gum.
“So it’s somebody with a key,” Dan said. “Should be easy enough to figure out.”
Andi agreed. Mostly. “Unless it’s a random thief who’s good with locks and safes.”
They both shook their heads. “Doesn’t seem likely.”
“Except...I can’t rule it out, either,” Andi said.
Dan held up three fingers. “C’mon, boss. Motive. Means. Opportunity.”
“It’s hard to come up with a reason for stealing trophies, but money’s always a motivator.”
Lori popped a bubble dangerously close to Andi’s ponytail. She couldn’t help but think it would be even more difficult to prove criminal intent for gum in her hair.
Dan picked up his radio and walked around the desk. “Sounds personal, boss. You should definitely find out if Jackie has any enemies.”
All three of them were quiet for a minute before Andi snorted. “Right. This is Jackie we’re talking about. If he wasn’t the best chili cook in this part of the state, he probably would’ve been chased out of town after his second lawsuit.”
Both Dan and Jimmy nodded. They had strict instructions to stay away from Jackie. One of the deputies in the former administration had gotten too close for comfort, and Jackie had taken him all the way to court for harassment. He hadn’t won, but the court of public opinion was harder to argue with than the men in black robes.
Jimmy slapped Andi on the shoulder. “Well, there’s always the traffic camera.” Another heavy silence filled the room before all four of them burst out into guffaws. The traffic camera was suggested at least once a season, most often by a tourist who’d seen years of police dramas and wanted to find out whether something had been taken from his car or hotel room.
Tall Pines had a single stoplight on the two-lane highway that ran through town. And there was no camera on it. Everywhere else, traffic was controlled by well-placed stop signs and law-abiding citizens. Most of the time everyone was happy to live in a place where the only security they might need was the lock their car or house was already equipped with.
“I will certainly get right on that, Deputy. That is a fabulous suggestion.”
Dan waved as he walked out into the bright sunshine. Lori wiped the smudged mascara from underneath her eyes and wandered back to the dispatch desk. Jimmy shuffled the paperwork on his desk into a folder and handed it to Andi. “Let me know if I can give you any help with that investigation, boss.”
She nodded and slid the folder under her arm as she headed for her office. “Sure thing. You guys might want to avoid the Country Kitchen for a bit. Jackie will make any visit miserable until I can get some information for him.”
“Got it,” Jimmy said. “See you tomorrow.”
Andi made a detour to the small kitchenette for a glass of ice-cold water. As she perched on the edge of her chair and did her best to ignore the squawk it made as she leaned back, Andi set the glass down and pulled out her notebook.
She opened a new incident report and transcribed the few details she’d managed to pick up from her interrogation of the “suspects.” She also tried to brush aside the memory of Mark Taylor’s hand wrapped around hers.