CHAPTER 6

Cassie strolled intothe Whispering Pines Police Headquarters just before three o’clock, sipping her macchiato and looking around.

The Whispering Pines police force was small, with less than two dozen regular patrol officers. It was clearly shift change, and the room buzzed with activity. The smell of burnt coffee wafted from the small coffee stand at the back of the room, and a few officers chatted together in low voices, while others moved about with an air of urgency from one task to the next. Beyond the lobby area, where Cassie stood, several pairs of desks faced each other, running along opposing walls of the large main room. On the wall beside each pair of desks were corkboards filled with papers and photographs held in place by pushpins. There was a glass-walled office at the back of the room with horizontal blinds hanging on each of its window walls.

Cassie approached the small, half-circle reception desk where a uniformed officer with cropped blond hair sat, typing away at his computer. He looked up. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I’m looking for officers Garcia and Riley,” she said.

“Just saw them in the locker room,” came a voice from the back. “I’ll get ’em.”

Within moments, the two men were walking toward her. Somehow, Wade Riley seemed even bigger than she remembered. And better looking, she grudgingly admitted to herself. He towered over many of the other officers, and that disconcerting golden hawk’s gaze latched onto her once again.

“Ms. Sherwin,” he said.

Cassie pressed her lips together and stared up at him for a long moment. Then, lifting the straw of her drink to her lips, she made loud, slurping sips as she sucked up the end of her macchiato. Hugo Garcia looked amused, but Wade frowned.

“Look, Waaaade,” she said, dragging out his name, “are you trying to tick me off on purpose? I told you, it’s Cassie.”

She watched with interest as Wade’s face flushed in anger. Then she purposefully turned her attention toward Hugo. “I have some new information that may help the case,” she said.

“Great!” Hugo said, his expression brightening. “We’ll take you somewhere we can talk.”

Just then, a small, white head popped out of the open top of the backpack she had slung over one shoulder.

“Awwww, hey there!” Hugo said, reaching out to pat the furry, white head.

Wade’s jaw dropped open. “Ms. Sherwin, you can’t have that dog in here! It’s completely against the rules!”

A young, dark-haired woman in a floral-print dress was just walking past and spotted Angel. “Oh my gosh, what an adorable puppy!” She dropped the files she was carrying on the nearest desk and came over to join Hugo in petting Angel. “You are so sweet! What’s her name?” the woman asked, looking at Cassie.

“Angel,” Cassie said.

“Of course you are. You are a little Angel-poo aren’t you?” the woman cooed, red-lacquered fingernails scratching behind one ear in a way that made Angel lean her head heavily in that direction.

“Is that a puppy?” another police officer stopped to pet Angel as he passed by.

“So cute!”

“Did we get a new therapy dog?”

Within moments, a small crowd had gathered around Angel, who was now passed from person to person, licking faces with her tail wagging.

Until she was next to Wade, that is. Once again, she leaped down from the arms of the person holding her and locked her tiny teeth onto his pant leg, tugging hard at it and growling ferociously, making everyone laugh. “Ms. Sherwin!” he said above the din, “will you please take your dog outside!”

“Oh, relax, Wade,” Hugo said, picking up the dog, who became perfectly docile in his arms. “It’s not like we never have dogs in here. Besides, it’s too hot to leave a dog in the car at this time of year. You’d have to give Cassie a ticket for that.” Hugo winked at Cassie, and she fought to suppress an amused grin.

“Well, we need to start our shift,” Wade said through tight lips. “So, if you have something to share with us about the case, Ms. Sherwin, we need to hear it now.”

Hugo, still carrying Angel, led the way through the main room and then down a short hallway to a small conference room. He closed the door and let Angel down. Wade eyed her apprehensively while Hugo indicated that Cassie take a seat in one of the hard, wooden chairs across from the two of them.

The room was small and windowless, dominated by a large, rectangular table. The walls were a nondescript shade of beige, adorned with a large whiteboard on one side. Once they were all seated, Angel trotted around and curled up on Cassie’s feet beneath the table.

Wade pulled out his notebook and pen. “So, what’s this new information?” he asked.

Cassie leaned forward in her seat and steepled her slender fingers. Then she explained how she’d remembered the coffee shop cameras and had gone there to view the footage. She described the distinctive shoes that the thief wore, commenting on the fact that they were familiar to her somehow, but she wasn’t certain why. Then she pulled out her cell phone and read them the partial license plate number.

When she finished, she sat back in her chair and looked at the two officers with satisfaction. “So, what’s next?”

Nobody spoke. It was then that she noticed the two faces across from her were staring at her, and neither one looked happy. A serious expression had replaced Hugo’s easy smile, and he opened his mouth to speak.

But before he uttered a word, Wade exploded at her. “What do you think you’re doing investigating on your own like this? You should have come to us the instant you remembered that coffee shop camera.”

Cassie sat up straight in her chair, brows crashing together. “I thought you would appreciate the help,” she said in an icy tone.

“We do,” Hugo said. “It’s just that—”

Wade cut him off. “It’s just that solving this crime is our job, Ms. Sherwin, not yours.”

Cassie stared at him, her temper boiling over. Lousy, ungrateful, arrogant cop! Then she stood, making Angel jump up, too. “You know what? Like I said yesterday, it’s a free country. Olga is my client, the package was stolen out of my vehicle, and I’m not going to stop until I catch whoever did this. You don’t want my help? Fine!” She marched around the table, yanked open the conference room door, and stormed out with Angel trotting in her wake.

***

Back in the conferenceroom, Wade listened as Cassie stomped her way back up the hallway. He and Hugo turned to look at each other. Then Hugo burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“She really gets under your skin, doesn’t she?” Hugo said.

“Get serious, Hugo,” Wade said. “Tell me she wasn’t in the wrong.”

“Well... I get that you’re annoyed,” Hugo hedged. “And I was, too, at first. But now that I’ve thought about it, what she did wasn’t exactly illegal. And she’s actually helped us move the investigation forward. It’s really on us that we neglected to consider the potential for local business cameras.”

Wade stood and roughly pushed in his chair. “I can’t believe you’re defending her.”

“Look,” Hugo said in a placating tone, rising to his feet. “Why don’t we just go run that partial plate and see what comes up?”

“And she’s not under my skin,” Wade muttered as he trailed after Hugo.

But she was.

Something about her had stuck with him from that first interaction with her after the noise disturbance call on Lakeshore Drive. She’d had such an attitude toward them. Then there’d been the encounter with the dog on the beach. Even when they’d answered her 9-1-1 call the day before. They’d arrived on the scene to help her, yet she’d acted like she was the one in charge. She seemed to think she could do their job better than they could. And it was clear that she held no respect for their authority, which irked him to no end.

And yet...he couldn’t get the image of her beautiful face out of his head. The way she tossed her rich, copper-colored hair over her shoulder, her creamy skin flushed with anger. Or how her wide-set green eyes so often shot sparks of anger or mirth, aimed in his direction.

Despite all the negative interactions he’d experienced with her, for some ridiculous reason he felt drawn to her. Why he cared, he didn’t know. But somehow it was important that she didn’t see him as a bad person, nor bad at his job. He’d witnessed how much she cared for her little sister and how passionate she was to help her client, Olga. Clearly, her loyalties ran deep. And he admired that. But what was it that made it so difficult for her to trust him and Hugo to do their job?

“Can you look it up? I need to do something,” Hugo said, his cell phone in his hand. They were back at their desks, but Hugo was staring at his phone screen.

Wade sat down at the computer and began punching keys, setting up the search for the partial license plate number Cassie had given them. A few moments later, he said, “Hey, I think I’ve got something.”

Hugo didn’t respond, and Wade looked up to find that Hugo wasn’t at his desk. Instead, he was standing behind him, a few paces away, speaking quietly. “Can you see me now? ... How about now? Wait, where is it? Okay, okay, got it! How’s this...”

Wade turned around in his seat to see Hugo holding his cell phone level with his face. And he wore a wide grin.

“What are you doing?” Wade asked.

Hugo’s eyes snapped to his, then he looked sheepish. “Uh...video chatting on my cell phone.”

“I can see that. With whom?”

“Ani Bolivar. Remember, Cassie’s little sister?” he said.

“Since when are you video chatting with Ani Bolivar?” he said, then added, “Actually, since when are you video chatting ever?

Hugo was fifty-eight years old and one of the least tech-savvy officers on the squad.

“Since Ani just taught me how!” Hugo sounded thrilled.

He turned his cell phone screen to face Wade, and the small face of Ani waved back at him. “Hi, Officer Riley,” she said.

He found himself waving back at her. “Hi, Ms...er, Ani,” he said awkwardly.

“I called to check on her this morning, to see how her ankle was feeling,” Wade said. “But she didn’t answer, and I left a message. Now she’s called me back...on video!” Hugo sounded delighted, like a kid who had just received a prized new toy.

“Yeah,” Ani said. “Hugo’s phone skills are lacking in some important areas. So, I’m trying to educate him.”

Hugo turned the phone back to face himself. “I have to get to work now, Ani. We just got a break on your sister’s case.”

“Okay!” Ani said. “Maybe we can talk later. And I’ll teach you how to use the funny face effects next time.”

“Great,” Hugo said with a grin. And they disconnected.

Wade was staring at him.

“What?”

“Video chatting? Really?”

“Hey, I may be a lot older than you, but Ani says I can still be hip!”

Wade closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Then turned back to the computer. “As I was saying, it looks like we got something.” He pointed at the screen. “A black Ford F-150 with license plate GW3-45B is registered as a company vehicle for CRB Tool Die here in Whispering Pines.”

“Great!” Hugo said. “Let’s go!”