Buch lesen: «The Soldier's Valentine»

CHAPTER ONE

THE ONLY THING Officer Leann Bailey hated more than domestic disturbance calls were domestic disturbance calls that involved her family.

She pulled into the familiar parking lot of Meteor Park, located a mere block away from where she’d grown up.

Evening on a school night meant plenty of empty spaces. She pulled into one and turned off the engine.

Leann had chosen to return to the small town of Sarasota Falls and raise her boys. She had not chosen to return to the neighborhood of her childhood, a house that wasn’t a home and siblings as damaged as she was.

Thanks to her spoiled, slightly neurotic younger sister, she didn’t always have a choice.

“I can deal with this,” Leann muttered to herself, yet she didn’t move from behind the wheel. Every time, every single time, she was called to this side of town, to deal with Gail’s issues, it was a step back in time: a time she didn’t want to remember yet alone police.

Her badge grew heavier on her chest as the toxic bubble of childhood memories appeared. Her parents, Ted and Allison Crabtree, served on various boards, gave to charity, threw great parties and were respected by everyone in town—except their own children.

“Silver-spooned kids, didn’t none of them live up to their parents’ expectations,” Leann had overheard her doctor’s receptionist say somewhat sadly.

It was true, the silver spoon part.

Clark, her older brother, had moved to Los Angeles, gotten a degree from a small college and now was a private accountant. He’d not returned ever, even at Christmas. His silver spoon was tarnished.

Leann, instead of becoming a doctor, lawyer or at least marrying well and staying married, had become a cop. Her silver spoon had been pawned to help pay the bills when her oldest boy was a baby.

Still, she’d done better than her sister Gail who was on husband number three and lived in their parents’ guesthouse. Gail lived under the misguided belief that she deserved more than one silver spoon.

“Move,” Leann told herself, trying to shake away the invisible restraints keeping her from exiting her vehicle. Unless she missed her guess, she was due a front-row seat as Gail’s husband number three was promoted—or would that be demoted?—to ex-husband number three.

As the crisp New Mexico air permeated, battling the smell of oil, sweat and metal, she took yet another precious moment to organize her thoughts, assess the situation.

The moon was full in the sky, casting gray shadows on the skateboarders who sailed across the concrete area designated for their use. Only the older kids remained, those who were out of school or who didn’t care about school. Leann rolled down her window and listened to their muted laughter. A small late-night birthday party was winding down as parents packed up gifts and food. A limp piñata hung from a tree about to lose its tentative connection to a low-hanging branch, and a young child’s tired whine provided background music.

A young couple sat very close together on a bench. They paid no attention to the family, skateboarders or argument happening in the distance. Leann envied them. They were so into each other that their love drowned out reality.

Leann wasn’t so lucky; she could hear her sister’s voice, could even make out the words.

“You absolute jerk! You quit your job without reason and now want me to lend you money so you can make a car payment?”

Leann knew exactly where her sister was: to the left of the birthday party, straight behind the lovebird couple and on the playground. It had been a favorite getaway for her and Gail during their youth.

Leann’s ex-husband, Ryan, had proposed to her there—she’d been sitting on the swing; he’d been kneeling before her in the sand—on a moonlit night just like this one, a week before high school graduation.

She’d been newly turned eighteen, pregnant and willing to dream. He’d been six months into eighteen, pressured by his parents to do the right thing and about to get to boot camp.

Gail’s voice grew even louder. “Loser!”

This shrill exclamation interrupted the young couple, who stood, gave Leann a what are you waiting for? stare and walked slowly away.

“I can’t believe I married you!”

The birthday party parents started moving faster, perhaps inspired by the rising tone of Gail’s voice, and gathered their kids, ice chest and limp piñata before hurrying down the sidewalk toward the small man-made lake. Ever a cop, Leann scanned the parking lot to see if a minivan was waiting for them. No, so they must live nearby. Besides her squad car, there was a dark blue Ford truck, New Mexico plates, with a good-sized dent in the left side. Hmm, not a vehicle she recognized. Could be one of the skateboarders had finally gotten a job and some transportation. She hoped so, because otherwise it might be a recent acquire of her brother-in-law’s and the vehicle payment he needed to make.

Leann checked the computer for anything new and then radioed in her time of arrival: nine fifteen. She’d get a few smirks when she got back to the station. Gail and Ray’s feuding was legendary in Sarasota Falls.

No sense delaying. She opened the door and almost got one leg out when she saw a dark mass heading in her direction, moving fast across the grass, not making a sound. Her mind reached for possibilities even as she returned her leg to the vehicle and reached out to close the door.

She didn’t have a chance.

The dog nudged the door the rest of the way open, his head butting its way in, and then stopped—butt outside but head inside. “Woof!”

“What the—?”

“Wilma, come!” A man’s voice, louder than her sister’s even, came sharp and clear, commanding.

Wilma? This dog’s name was Wilma? Based on its size, it should be Brute or Thor, Cujo or Genghis Khan. Not Wilma. Wilma was the nice Flintstone.

“Off,” she ordered.

The dog didn’t budge, just grinned at her, openmouthed, tongue out, drool dripping, weighing at least sixty pounds she guessed. It was big, brown and reminded Leann of a dog she’d had years ago. Without thinking, she said, “Varaus,” meaning “Off” in German. At the same time, she pushed and the dog retreated maybe two steps where it remained, head tilted to the side as if expecting more.

“Wilma, come!” The voice, louder this time, was deep and rich, without temper. If her dog, Peaches, acted so wild and wooly, she’d be adding a little sass and showing her who was boss.

“Gey,” she said, and surprisingly, the dog fully backed away from the vehicle, so she could extract herself just in time for the owner to finally jog into view. He was almost six foot, dark, possibly Hispanic, and had straight black hair. “The harness broke,” he explained.

“What you should be saying,” Leann suggested, the foul mood caused by her sister making her use a tone she normally wouldn’t have used, “is, thank you, Officer. I needed the help.”

He looked at her, eyes penetrating. A wave of emotion—long suppressed—reached the part of her that still believed in Prince Charming. Wow. Her hormones hadn’t taken notice like this since she’d turned fifteen and realized kissing wouldn’t be so weird.

He attached the leash to the harness circling the dog’s upper body before saying, “Thank you, Officer.”

She was about to cajole him into adding “I needed the help,” but she heard Ray finally hit his breaking point with Gail by shouting, “You weak-kneed princess. I know—”

Leann quickly jogged up a small embankment, hurried down the grassy knoll and, not even out of breath, announced, “You know nothing.” Hmm, she’d left the door to the squad car open. If the dog hopped in, good. When she got back, she’d assist Mr. I-Don’t-Need-Help with manouevering the dog out again. That would be way more fun than stepping into the middle of this dispute.

She skidded to a stop next to her brother-in-law. “Ray, calm down. Gail, don’t you think there’s a better place for you to have this fight, er...discussion?”

“I didn’t want Mama to hear,” Gail said softly. Tears rolled down her face.

Leann wasn’t moved. Gail should have been a movie star. She cried at will, no effort or emotion necessary. Also, she was a master at being the center of attention.

“I didn’t quit my job, Le—, er, Officer Bailey,” Ray grumped. “I got laid off. There’s a difference. I’ll start looking for a new job come Monday.”

Leann made sure her face didn’t so much as twitch. She was a cop more than she was family just then. Good thing, too, because she suspected he hadn’t been laid off; he’d most likely been fired for lack of effort if experience counted for anything.

Gail had a right to be annoyed. Ray worked for a leasing agency doing landscaping and repairs on their real estate property and rentals. Leaves didn’t stop needing to be raked, and trash didn’t carry itself to the bin.

A snort sounded to Leann’s left. She looked, realizing the sound had come from Wilma the dog. She moved her gaze up the grassy knoll to Wilma’s owner, who sported a look of disdain. Great, even total strangers could look at her family and guess “dysfunctional” almost immediately.

Wilma strained at her leash and tried to pull the man toward Leann, who took a few steps closer to the swing set.

“Bleip,” she ordered the dog, telling it to stay. Turning to the man, she said, “Control your dog, sir. And if you have no business with these folks, could you please move along.” Then she turned back to face her sister, and said, “Gail, you head home, not the guesthouse, but the main house. I’ll call Clarissa and tell her you’re on the way. Ray, go to your brother’s house for the night.”

“No, I’m going to my own house,” Ray said.

Gail immediately protested, “It’s not your house. Tell him, Leann.”

“Or I can bring you both into the station and book the pair of you for disturbing the peace.” Leann shrugged.

Ray mouthed a word that Leann pretended not to hear. “Fine. I’m going.”

Gail marched away. In a matter of minutes, she was nearing the sidewalk by the softball field. She had only a block to go to arrive at their parents’ home.

“I got laid off,” Ray said to the man holding onto the dog. “It happens.”

The man didn’t so much as shrug.

Leann took out her cell phone and hit a button. Clarissa answered at the first ring, her voice—as always—upbeat and reassuring. Leann knew at least one person in the Crabtree home had her back.

“Gail’s coming to see you. Let her in the back door, give her some cookies and coffee, listen to her cry and please try to calm her down.”

The housekeeper laughed, like she always did with their overly dramatic episodes, and promised warm cookies for Leann, too, if she wanted them. She did; her thighs didn’t.

After ending the call, Leann studied the man and dog. Wilma promptly dropped to the ground, rolled onto her back and waved paws in the air. She either wanted her stomach rubbed or she was having a fit.

Leann admonished, “It’s not wise to follow a police offer to an incident.”

He nodded, his face somber, but one corner of his mouth twitched a bit. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure...” His words trailed off. “I’ve just never seen an incident handled quite like that. You able to boss the entire town? Is that why even Wilma listens to you?”

Leann didn’t answer. She was tired and it was none of his business. She assessed the situation. “Do you not have someplace you should be?”

Something changed in his eyes, a wariness that hadn’t been there before. Nevertheless, he chuckled. “I’m staying over at Bianca’s Bed-and-Breakfast. You can call her if you want.”

“I might do that.”

He fell in step beside her as she made her way back to the police cruiser.

The nearness of him, how the night shadows swayed, made her walk faster. She wasn’t scared of him; after all, she held the baton, she had a Glock and his dog listened to her more than it did to him.

No, with him beside her, she felt a little more worried about her reaction to him. It had been a long time since she’d been around a man who made her notice his nearness, made her aware of the heady scent of masculinity and how fun a walk in the park could be. So, she walked faster. When she got to her cruiser, he stayed on the sidewalk and watched as she opened the door.

He stopped her right before she got in the car with, “Was that German?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know to give Wilma orders in German? I’ve had her a week and it never occurred to me.”

She didn’t want to share her past, about living in Germany, the military life and leaving her ex-husband, so she merely quipped, “Guess I’m smarter than you.”

He chuckled again, and it reminded her of the way he’d spoken to the dog, not losing his temper, not getting excited, just calm and low-key.

She slid behind the steering wheel, started the the engine and backed out of the parking lot. Heading in the direction of the station, she first quickly glanced in the rearview mirror.

He was gone.

Maybe she wasn’t smarter than him. After all, he’d gotten her name thanks to Gail and Ray, but she—a cop!—had neglected to find out his.