Chapter 11

11

After her first event at the senior center, Ryan drove Candace north to a recreation center in the little town of Sparta. When the chamber had first mentioned this invitation to her, Candace hadn't been sure she wanted to go. After all, it was on the other side of the county line. But when she learned that a couple of the local organizations who worked with at-risk kids had invited her to visit, she couldn't refuse it. The director had asked her to share her experiences in school and her goals, and, of course, encourage everyone to believe that their dreams were possible with prayer and hard work.

As always, Ryan accompanied her inside. Then, after making sure that she was settled and at ease, he spent some time chatting with the kids. He'd probably be surprised, but everyone really liked the new cop on the Marion police force. Not only was he handsome and had a great smile, but he was so different from the boys she'd known all her life. More mature. More reserved. Candace not only felt safe around him, she felt at ease.

After the director introduced Candace, Ryan joined a group of high school students on the bleachers. She really liked that about him. He had such an unassuming way that seemed to encourage even the shyest of kids to break out of their shell. He also was warm and friendly. Everyone seemed to want to talk to him—even if it was just to talk about his accent.

In the middle of her talk about her junior and senior years of high school, when she shared how many scholarships she'd applied for, she met his eyes. Ryan seemed to be listening to her intently and soaking in every word.

She probably imagined it, but when their eyes met, she was sure his gaze warmed with approval. It made her feel a little tingly and special. Oh, she knew there was no chance of him ever thinking of her in a romantic sense. He acted like she was just a kid. But she was still a romantic at heart. And who couldn't help but have a crush on a guy like him?

After she finished her talk, the director walked up to the microphone. "Everyone, let's give Candace Evans, the beautiful Miss Crittenden County, a big round of applause."

All the kids hooted and hollered as they clapped.

Candace smiled at them, but she took that excessive compliment with a grain of salt. She'd been told all her life that she was pretty, but she wasn't anywhere close to being beautiful. She also really wasn't anything special. It still seemed a little crazy for her to be offering advice to kids who were just a little bit younger than herself.

The director stepped closer. "Candace, would you be willing to stay another fifteen minutes and pose for pictures and autograph the flyers we passed out?"

"Yes, of course." Searching for Ryan, she added, "I don't think that will be a problem at all."

He gave her a thumbs-up sign from across the room.

She smiled back at him.

"All right, everyone. Stand in line if you'd like to get a signed flyer or have your picture taken with Candace."

Candace stood by the table they'd set up and picked up a black Sharpie marker. "Who's first?"

"I am," a little boy said. "I don't want a picture with you. Can you sign the flyer?"

Scrawling her name on it, she handed it to him. "How's that?"

"Good. It's for my mom."

"I want a picture with you," a little girl said next. "My mom's going to take it."

She knelt down, slipped her arm around the girl's slim shoulders, and smiled. "I'm ready."

"Can I touch your crown?"

"Of course. Do you want to try it on too?"

"I can?"

"Absolutely." Carefully removing it from her curls, she set it on the girl's head while her mother took a picture.

And on it continued. She discussed high school and her outfit, signed pictures, and posed with kids. Then she noticed that Ryan had moved to stand by her side.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I think you need to finish up soon."

She almost pointed out that she didn't have any plans except to go home and eat heated-up leftovers, but then remembered that he was probably more than ready to relax—or even go out with his friends or something. "Okay." Looking at the director, she held up five fingers.

The director nodded. "Five more minutes," she called out. "Miss Crittenden County needs to go home, and so do y'all."

When a couple of girls moaned, Candace said, "Maybe I can come another time. Don't forget, I'll be Miss Crittenden County for a full year."

The main door of the gym opened with a sharp click, and a man and two teenagers rushed toward her and Ryan.

"Hey, do you have that navy-blue Chevy Blazer out there?"

"Yeah, it's mine," Ryan replied.

The man stepped forward, his expression grim. "Something happened to the tires. We thought you'd need to know."

After glancing at Candace, obviously double-checking that she was okay, Ryan strode outside with the man.

"What happened?" she asked the boys.

"All four tires are flat."

She raised her eyebrows. "All four?" She'd never heard of such a thing.

"Yeah," the dark-haired boy answered. "Someone did a good job on them too. That truck isn't going anywhere."

That didn't make sense. "I wonder what happened," she said as she began packing up all her stuff.

"My dad thinks someone slashed them."

"Oh no." Grabbing her purse and the heavy duffle bag, she hurried outside.

There was a crowd around Ryan's navy Blazer. The kids hadn't exaggerated. The vehicle wasn't going anywhere except on a tow truck. Since Ryan wasn't in the middle of everything, she scanned the area, looking for his pristine white polo.

She found him standing a little off to the side, his expression serious while he talked on his cell phone. When he met her gaze, he motioned her over.

Even though she knew she had no real reason to feel guilty, she did. If Ryan hadn't come with her, his tires would probably still be intact. She had no idea how much it would cost to get a tow truck and pay for new tires, but it would surely be expensive.

She reached his side just as he finished the call. "Yeah. Thanks. No, I understand. Yes. I'll let you know. Thanks, Chief." After Ryan disconnected, he stashed his phone in his back pocket. "Sorry, Candace, but we obviously have a problem."

"What happened? The kids acted like someone did it on purpose."

"That's because they did." A muscle in his jaw clenched, as if he was trying to hold back his temper.

A chill ran down her spine. "Oh no."

Glaring at his vehicle, he said, "These tires are fairly new. They probably had about another twenty thousand miles before they started showing wear and tear. All four tires going flat means that someone took a knife to them."

"Who would do that?"

"I don't know—not definitively," he replied.

There was something new in his voice. Something that told her that he was more bothered by what happened than the inconvenience of it. "Do you think it was teenagers or something?" she asked.

"I'm not ruling anything out, but it doesn't feel right. Slashing a tire deep enough to cause it to go flat takes a lot of strength. Four would be a workout."

"Unless you had four people."

"Yeah, but even then my gut tells me that something else is going on. I mean, it's pretty easy to mess up someone's day by ruining one tire. To kill four of them on purpose? It's excessive."

He had a good point. "What's going to happen now?"

"I called the station to let them know. They're going to send out a truck and take it to a nearby shop after inspecting the tires." He sighed. "That's probably going to take a while. At least ninety minutes."

She thought more like two hours. "Wow. I'm really sorry."

"I am too. It puts a damper on the rest of your evening."

"These visits were my evening. I'm fine."

"They were mine too. I guess it's good we're both so boring." Concern filled his expression. "Why don't you go wait inside. I'm going to have everyone else go on home."

Because it seemed like he wanted a little space, she headed toward the gymnasium's door but didn't go inside. Now that the sun was low on the horizon, it was pleasant outside. It smelled better too. The gym smelled like every other gym she'd ever been in—like old sneakers and sweat. She stood by the building's front wall as the spectators dispersed. The man who'd told them about the flat tires talked to Ryan for a few minutes before he rounded up his boys and drove out of the parking lot.

Over the next half hour, everyone but the center's director and janitor left. The director had invited them to wait inside, but they'd refused. There was a bench outside, and a mom from one of the high school's booster clubs had already given them a couple of water bottles and a plate of homemade cookies.

After Ryan paced, talked on his phone for a while, and inspected the tires again, he sat down on the bench by her side.

"Here. Have something to drink."

"We've sure been taken care of, haven't we?" he said with a laugh. "Thanks." After gulping down half the bottle, he kicked his legs out. "So, here we are again."

"Not again," she corrected. "I've never been here before."

He grinned, obviously getting her weak attempt at humor. "No offense to the good people of Sparta, but I hope I don't have to return anytime soon."

"I feel the same way." She looked down at her phone again, wracking her brain for something to say. She was drawing a blank. Every topic sounded either too juvenile or too personal.

"What have you been doing?" he asked.

"Nothing. Looking at Instagram." She held up her phone.

"See anything good?"

"Nah, just same old, same old." She could feel his eyes glance at her screen, then sharpen.

"Hey, that's you."

"Yeah. It's a recent post."

Taking the phone from her hand, he said, "It has all of this evening's appearances."

Wondering why he didn't sound happy about that, she nodded. "There's a volunteer at the chamber of commerce. She made all the graphics for me to post."

"Do you have to share these?"

"Yes."

"What about keeping them on your feed? Can we take them off?"

"I guess so, but why would I want to do that?"

"There's a possibility someone could find you at one of these events."

She chuckled. "Officer Mulaney, that's kind of the point. There's no sense in me parading around the county in a tiara if no one is there to see me."

He frowned. "I guess you're right. But it's still not a good idea. And call me Ryan."

Frustrated with the way he was acting, she took her phone back, thumbed through a couple of apps, and then showed him the chamber of commerce Facebook page. "Do you see this?" She held her phone up for him to see. "It doesn't matter if I share the information on my Instagram feed or not. It's posted for everyone to see."

"So it's out of your control."

"It's what I signed on to do. What's the problem?"

"Nothing."

"Sorry, it doesn't sound like nothing."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I think someone targeted my vehicle on purpose. No one else's vehicles have been tampered with."

"What?" She noticed the plate on his vehicle. "Is it because you have out of state plates?"

"I doubt it. I don't think anyone around here feels that strongly about the state of Connecticut."

Her cheeks burned. She had sounded so stupid.

"I don't know why someone slashed your tires, then. It has to be just bad luck."

"Or someone thinks you're with me."

"You are..." She met his gaze. Feeling more self-conscious, Candace whispered, "I mean, you are, but not like that ."

"Of course not," he said in a rush. "However, a stranger wouldn't know that."

"No ... and maybe it's not a stranger. I hate to think like this but ... do you think it's the guy who's been following me?"

He didn't crack a smile. "It's a possibility."

"But ... why would he think we're together—like a couple?"

"You're twenty-two, right?"

She nodded. "I just had a birthday last month."

"I'm twenty-eight. Six years older."

"Yes."

He shrugged. "I'm not saying that we would ever want to be in a relationship, but someone might think we are."

"Yeah, right." No way was she ever going to admit that she thought he was hot. No way.

Or that she was pretty happy he was escorting her to all her events, because he was a lot more fun to be around than any of the guys her age. They still didn't have a clue, and half of them only wanted to sit around and watch basketball with a beer in their hands.

The approaching tow truck with flashing lights saved her from saying anything more. "Tow truck's here."

"It's about time." As it pulled in, Ryan held up a hand. "I'll be right back. Sit tight."

"Sure." She looked down at her phone screen again.

And noticed that she'd just received a message from an unfamiliar number. She clicked on it.

You looked pretty today, Candace. I' m glad you wore your hair down around your shoulders.

No. The evening had just gone from bad to worse.