Читать книгу Mistletoe & Mayhem: Mistletoe & Mayhem / Santa's Sexy Secret - Lori Wilde, Cara Summers - Страница 10

THE DOOR WITH Sheriff Dillon’s name on it stood open. Jodie paused, noting that the desk in the outer office was empty. That meant that his deputy, Mike Buckley, was either at lunch or working on a case.

“C’mon in. I’m here.” The voice came from the adjacent room and Jodie headed toward it. Mark Dillon, who’d been sheriff for as long as she could remember, was indeed in—deep in a book, as far as she could tell. His back was to her, his feet propped on a nearby window ledge. The moment she entered the room, he dog-eared his paperback with a grunt, swung his feet down and swiveled to face her. A smile spread slowly across his face as he waved her into a chair.

Sheriff Dillon hadn’t changed much from the first time she’d met him, except that his waist was a little thicker and his hair had started to thin. His smile was certainly the same, as was the shrewdness in his eyes. The kids at the college often underestimated him when they had the misfortune to cross his path, but he had a reputation for fairness among the students.

“I was going to stop by the library to talk to you.” His gaze dropped to his watch, then met hers. “Shouldn’t you be there right now?”

Good old predictable Jodie. The thought had her lifting her chin. “I’m going to be late. I doubt that the world will end.”

“No, I guess it won’t. I hear you had a prowler last night.”

It occurred to her that she hadn’t thought about the prowler once on her walk over. All she’d been thinking about was Shane Sullivan.

“And instead of reporting it,” Sheriff Dillon continued as he flipped his notebook open, “you decided to ask Hank Jefferson to sell you a gun.”

“Yes, I did.”

Mark Dillon sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Buying a gun? That doesn’t sound like you, Jodie.”

“Well, maybe I’m tired of being like me! Do you have any idea what it was like to wake up and know that someone was in the house, walking around in the attic? I tried to call you and the phone wouldn’t work. Irene left the extension in the kitchen off the hook. She swears not, but—”

“What time did this happen?” Dillon asked, pulling his notebook closer.

“Shortly after midnight. I hadn’t been asleep for long.”

“And you heard something that woke you up?”

Jodie frowned. “No. Sophie said she heard a muffled crash. But I must have slept through that.”

Dillon nodded. “And then what?”

“I waited and listened. Then I heard floorboards creak in the attic. I was tracking the steps across the floor when Sophie and Irene opened my door. They were armed with fireplace pokers, and Sophie insisted we go up there. I couldn’t talk her out of it. I shouted up the stairs that we were armed, and luckily, by the time we got up there, he was out the window and halfway down that old elm tree.”

“Did you get a good look at him or her?” Dillon asked.

Jodie thought for a minute. “I’d say it was a him. He was tall and slender. We could see him run off toward the road.”

“Was he carrying anything?”

Jodie shook her head. “He had to use both hands getting down that tree.”

Dillon set his pencil down. “Don’t you have a dog out there? What was he doing during all this?”

“Lazarus?” The dog was a stray she’d found nearly dead by the side of the road. “I don’t know if he was ever much of a watchdog, but since Doc Cheney brought him back from the dead, nothing interrupts his beauty sleep—which is why I need a gun.”

Dillon closed his notebook. “A gun isn’t the answer. You don’t know how to use one, so the chances are pretty good that a prowler could overpower you, take the gun away, and after that…” He met her eyes directly as he let the sentence trail off. “On the other hand, I can’t do much besides send young Buckley out there to drive by every so often. Are any of those rooms in good enough shape yet to rent to a boarder?”

Jodie looked at him. “Funny you should suggest that. We’ve got a boarder, and that’s what I came to talk to you about. I want to know all about Shane Sullivan.”

“Shane? You’ve met him already?”

“Yes. Irene and Sophie introduced him to me after they’d already hired him on as a handyman and rented him the apartment over the garage. What do you know about him?”

“He’s a distant cousin of Kathy’s. He gave us a call a few days ago, said he was in the area. Seems he’s quit his corporate job, and he’s looking for a place to settle down. Kathy’s convinced him to give upstate New York a try.”

“So he came here at Christmas? Doesn’t he have a home or a family to spend the holidays with?”

“No,” Dillon said. “Evidently his job has been keeping him on the move. He’s never had a chance to settle down.”

“What kind of job?” Jodie asked.

“Some sort of consulting business. Took him all over the place.”

“Including California. He’s got Nadine Carter dreaming of beaches and movie stars and a new way to get out of Castleton.”

“I’m sure Shane can take care of himself,” Dillon said.

“I’m more worried about Nadine. And I’m curious as to why Mr. Sullivan has all of a sudden discovered this deep-rooted desire to become a handyman.”

“Kathy thinks it’s some kind of midlife crisis. You know, come to think of it, this arrangement could be the answer to your problems. Ours, too. We don’t really have room for him at the house with Kelly and David both home for the holidays. Shane must have realized that. And with a man living out there at Rutherford House, a prowler would have to think twice.”

Jodie met Dillon’s eyes squarely. “Pardon me, but the Rutherford sisters had a man living in their house six months ago, and thanks to him they lost their life savings!”

“I can vouch for the fact that Shane won’t be conning them out of any more of their money.”

“I’m not worried about their money. They don’t have any left. The problem is that they’re…he’s…” Pausing, Jodie searched for the right words. “It’s just that they seem to be every bit as charmed by him as they were by Billy, and I don’t want them taken in and…hurt again.”

“I see.” Dillon studied her for a moment. “As far as I know, there’s precious little anyone can do to protect people from being hurt. But if you want, I’ll speak to Shane, tell him to keep his distance.”

Jodie sat still, thinking. What had she expected him to do? From his point of view, having Shane move into the apartment over the garage must seem like the perfect solution. But it wasn’t. She was sure of it, as sure as…

“Has Billy tried to contact you?”

Jodie stared at the sheriff, surprised at the abrupt change of topic.

“Billy? No, I haven’t heard from him since he…since they took him back to New York for the arraignment.”

Dillon’s eyes shifted over her head to the doorway. “Shane, come on in. We were just talking about you.”

“I don’t want to interrupt.”

Jodie turned to see Shane filling the doorway to the office. He seemed larger than he had in the restaurant. Or perhaps it was just that the room seemed smaller because he was in it.

“Sit down. You might as well hear this since you’ll be moving into the Rutherford House.” Dillon paused until Shane had lowered himself into a chair. “Their nephew, who’s been charged with embezzlement, may pay them a visit. I got a call this morning from the NYPD. It seems that Billy has jumped bail. They wanted us to know in case he shows up here.”

Jodie concentrated very hard on keeping her expression neutral as thoughts swirled through her mind. Billy had jumped bail? Would he really come back to Castleton?

“When did this happen?” Shane asked.

“The private security firm hired by one of the banks claims they lost him sometime yesterday afternoon. They’re not sure where he’s headed. Seems he used a credit card to buy a plane ticket to Florida and a train ticket to Chicago. They’re still not sure which he took.”

“The Chicago train would bring him this way,” Jodie said.

Dillon nodded. “My deputy is checking at the Syracuse station.”

“Why would he come back here?” she asked.

“It’s almost Christmas, and Irene and Sophie are the only two relatives he has,” Dillon said. “And you and he were engaged.”

Jodie felt her hands tighten into fists. “Not anymore.”

Dillon cleared his throat. “There’s a third reason why Billy may show up here. The five million dollars he embezzled has never shown up. They traced it to a series of banks, and it was all withdrawn in cash before they were able to arrest him. There’s a chance, a slim one, that he hid it while he was here last summer.”

“Why would he do that?” Jodie asked.

“He’s familiar with the area, and he had over a month to consider the possibilities. What I’m thinking is that he might need some help getting to it, and you or Sophie or Irene might feel sorry for him. I don’t want you to do anything foolish like aid or abet a criminal. If Billy does try to contact you, I want you to let me know.”

Jodie looked from Dillon to Shane. “And in the meantime, Mr. Sullivan is supposed to spy on us and report back to you if we do anything suspicious?”

“Now, Jodie, that’s not what I—” The shrill ringing of the phone interrupted Dillon. Reaching for it, he punched a button. “Yes, Mindy Lou…. Calm down, I can’t hear you…. What? No, no, I don’t think you should call the fire department.”

“There’s a fire at the library?” Jodie asked. Mindy Lou had been her student assistant ever since Nadine had left.

Dillon shook his head. “No, Mindy Lou, you’ve called the right person. The fire department is made up of volunteers. I get paid to handle emergencies just like this one. And Jodie’s perfectly all right. She’s sitting in front of me right now. No, she doesn’t look depressed to me at all.” Pausing, he turned to Jodie. “Is that a rope you’ve got in your package?”

As Jodie nodded, she felt two bright spots of color stain her cheek. “For hauling a Christmas tree,” she explained.

Dillon’s eyes narrowed. “I drove past the house the other day, and I’m sure I saw one all lit up in the window.”

“We’re putting another one up in the dining room,” she said. If she told the lie often enough, she was going to start believing it herself.

As Dillon nodded and continued trying to calm Mindy Lou down, Jodie turned to meet Shane’s eyes. They were filled with laughter, as she’d known they would be. But it wasn’t the cold kind that you saw when someone was laughing at you. Instead, it was warm, just as it had been in Hank Jefferson’s store, and it made her feel that he was inviting her to share in a private joke. For a moment, the two of them could have been alone in the room, and she was suddenly aware of how close they were sitting, close enough that she could reach out and touch him if she wanted to. And she did want to. More than that, she wanted him to touch her. The realization started a churning heat deep in her center.

Quickly she broke off eye contact with Shane, turning her attention back to the sheriff and forcing herself to listen to what he was saying.

“No, I’m sure she’s not going to hang herself.”

When Sheriff Dillon winked at her, she managed a smile. Every muscle in her face felt stiff.

“I can guarantee that she’ll be fine,” Dillon said. “She’ll be there shortly…. I don’t have any idea how a rumor like that got started.”

Jodie heard Shane swallow a chuckle, but she didn’t look at him. Instead, she rose the moment that Dillon hung up the phone. “I’d better get back. I’m never late.”

“You’ll remember what I said,” Dillon said as she reached the door.

“Right. If Billy shows his face, you’ll be the first to know.” Jodie wanted in the worst way to run as she left the office. Only the thought that Shane Sullivan might look out the door and see her allowed her to keep her pace steady. And it wasn’t the first time he’d made her want to run away. Why? Frowning, she stepped out onto the sidewalk and started up the street. She certainly wasn’t afraid of him. But every time she was with him, he…stirred her up. In her whole life, she’d never before looked at a man and imagined him touching her. Nor had she ever before felt that kind of bubbling heat spreading outward, downward. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she glanced sideways and caught her reflection in a store window.

She didn’t look any different than she had that morning. She was wearing her hair the same way. Running her hand through it, she watched it settle right back into place. Since she’d cut it off, it had developed a mind of its own. The winter coat was the same one she’d worn for the past five winters. So why did she feel so—

A warning bell sounded in the back of her mind. Billy Rutherford had made her feel different, too.

Billy had been all smoothness and polish. When she’d been with him, she’d felt special, noticed. Like Cinderella must have felt at the ball when Prince Charming had chosen her out of all the other women. Tightening her hands into fists, she jammed them in her pockets. She wasn’t going to be that foolish again.

Not that Shane Sullivan was anything like Billy. Oh, he had a certain kind of charm all right—a surprising glint of humor in his eyes that hinted at…shared secrets?

Jodie’s frown deepened as she turned and hurried toward the corner, quickening her pace even more once she rounded it. Whatever it was about Shane Sullivan, she had a hunch he’d never make a woman feel like she was Cinderella. No, he’d make a woman feel like…

Suddenly an image filled her mind. She and Shane, wrapped around each other, with very few clothes on…and…and they weren’t even in a bed! Jodie felt an arrow of heat move through her, melting her insides. For a moment, she couldn’t feel her legs or her feet. She wasn’t sure she could take another step.

“Jodie! Jodie, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mindy Lou.” Saying the words helped, but her voice sounded funny. Breathless. She cleared her throat. “Really, I’m fine.”

“You look funny. Maybe you should take the afternoon off,” Mindy Lou said as she raced down the library stairs.

“No,” Jodie said.

“I’ll fix you some tea….” Mindy Lou began.

“No,” Jodie said again as she managed the first few steps. “I’m having a cappuccino.”

“But…you never drink coffee,” Mindy Lou said.

“I’m changing.”

“AREN’T YOU GOING to say I told you so?” Dillon asked as Shane rose to close the door behind Jodie. “Rutherford bolted, just as you thought he would. And now he seems to be back in Castleton.”

“You think he was the prowler at Rutherford House last night?” Shane asked.

“His aunts have a prowler the same night that their nephew jumps bail. He’s my top suspect.”

“The question is, did he get what he came for?”

Quickly, Dillon filled Shane in on everything Jodie had told him. “She says the man wasn’t carrying anything. He needed both hands to climb down the tree.”

“So they ran him off with fireplace pokers,” Shane said with a grin. “He’s lucky she didn’t have a gun.”

“Well, let’s hope his luck has run out. I’d still like to know how you figured he’d show up here.”

“When you’ve been hunting men for as long as I have, you get to know how they think. Castleton’s a summer place he used to visit as a child. After a twenty-year absence, he suddenly pays a month-long visit to his aunts just before the sky falls on his head. It’s a pretty big clue.”

“This sure puts a hole in your theory that Jodie Freemont is helping him out.”

“How do you figure that?”

“He wouldn’t have to break in if she was.”

“Maybe not.” Shane glanced out the window just as Jodie came into view. When he found himself wanting to smile, he quickly stifled the urge. The truth was he hadn’t quite made up his mind about Jodie Freemont. She was…different than he’d expected. She had imagination and an unexpected sense of humor. And then there was that passion that simmered just beneath the surface. He’d caught glimpses of it twice now in her eyes.

He watched her pause to look in a store window, then suddenly turn and hurry to the corner. Perhaps it was all that cool reserve laced with the promise of heat. It was the kind of contrast that would draw a man. The thought of it tempting a piece of scum like Billy Rutherford made him frown.

“You’re wrong about Jodie helping him hide the money,” Dillon said.

Shane turned his attention back to the sheriff. “I’m not so sure. She’s smart enough to be putting on an act.”

Dillon smiled. “Oh, she’s smart all right, smart enough to come here to check you out. She doesn’t buy your cover. She’s curious as to why you’re wandering around without a home to go to for Christmas. And she wants to know why a corporate executive would want to try his hand at carpentry. I told her it’s a midlife crisis. Is it?”

“That’s what we agreed you’d say.”

“I’m asking for myself, now. You own a big investigative firm, and Billy Rutherford is small potatoes compared to some of the men you’ve hunted. Why not send one of your operatives?”

Shane studied the sheriff for a minute. Beneath the laid-back attitude there was a persistence and a shrewdness he admired. He decided to go with the truth. “I’ve been out of the field for a while, and I was feeling restless.” Empty was the word he’d come up with in the wee hours of the morning to describe the mix of emotions he’d been experiencing lately. But it was much less disturbing to define them as simple restlessness. “Don’t you ever miss it? Being in the field, I mean?”

Dillon shrugged. “In a town like this there’s not much to miss. Anything exciting happens, I’m right in the thick of it.”

The phone rang, and Dillon grinned. “And when my deputy is out, I get to double as my own receptionist during lunch hour. Never a dull moment.”

While Dillon handled the call, Shane glanced out the window again, but Jodie had disappeared. Whether she was cooperating with Rutherford or not, he had a gut feeling that Ms. Freemont was the key to finding both the money and the man. His plan was to get close to her, and his job was going to be a lot more interesting and pleasurable than he’d first thought.

“One more thing,” Dillon said as he hung up his phone. “I’ve known Jodie Freemont since she was a little girl. I promised her I’d tell you to keep your distance.”

Shane’s brows rose. “Does she think I have designs on her?”

“She’s more concerned about Sophie and Irene—being taken in by a smooth-talking charmer was the way she put it. But I don’t want her hurt again, especially by someone who’ll be leaving town once he gets his man. Am I making myself clear?”

“As crystal,” Shane said as he rose and walked to the door.

AT FIVE O’CLOCK on the dot, Jodie started her car. Two things were driving her as she shot it out of the parking lot: escaping from Mindy Lou’s overbearing concern and building her snare trap in the attic. Clyde Heffner, the student who had downloaded the diagram, was going to drop by and help her string it up around eight-thirty, not a minute too soon.

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon, when her boss Angus Campbell had been droning on about the contributors who would be attending the Mistletoe Ball, that she’d realized the significance of what Sheriff Dillon had told her. If Billy had come back to town, he could have been the prowler in the attic last night. And if he came back tonight, she wanted to have the trap all set! Catching Billy and turning him over to the sheriff would change her image in Castleton once and for all.

When she had to stop for the light at the corner, she turned the jazz music station she favored up full blast. Her car, a five-year-old red hatchback, was her one luxury. True, it wasn’t the convertible she’d always dreamed of owning, but…

She lost her train of thought the moment she spotted Alicia Finnerty stepping off the curb with a group of women. Wasn’t that just her luck? It would be too much to hope that the woman wouldn’t recognize her car. Way too much, she thought, as Alicia glanced at her significantly, then turned to chatter to her companions.

One by one, the other women looked her way with varying expressions of concern and curiosity. Jodie was tempted to roll down her window, grab the rope lying on her passenger seat and wave it at them. Instead, she forced herself to smile as the light changed and she eased her car around the corner. Her impulsiveness had already gotten her into enough hot water today. And it hadn’t helped her one bit. It had only contributed to everyone’s notion that she was exactly like her mother, a woman who would never recover from the loss of a man.

No, if she wanted to change her image in the town, she was going to have to do something that destroyed the idea once and for all that she was the type of woman who would spend her whole life pining over a man who couldn’t be tied down.

The moment she reached the village limits, she floored the gas pedal and watched the speedometer climb to fifty-five. When she automatically eased the pressure, she suddenly frowned. Why in the world did she always follow all of the rules?

Go For It! The moment the motto popped into her mind, she watched as the needle climbed to five, then six, finally seven miles over the speed limit. Not enough to get a ticket. Maybe she’d go for that tomorrow.

Tonight, she had bigger plans: catching Billy Rutherford. What had yesterday’s motto been? Visualize Your Goal. Even as she smiled at the thought, she decided to give it a whirl. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

In her mind, she pictured herself on the front page of the Castleton Bulletin, delivering Billy Rutherford to Sheriff Dillon.

Yes! She nodded her head in satisfaction. That one photo would truly be worth a thousand words. It would change her image in one fell swoop. With a jazz rendition of “Jingle Bells” pouring out of the radio, Jodie kept the picture clear in her mind until Rutherford House came into view.

The moment she turned into the driveway, she stopped thinking about anything but the car that was parked in front of the garage.

It was in her space, but that’s not why she skidded to a stop behind Sophie’s station wagon and jumped out of her car. It was a red convertible, the kind she dreamed of owning one day. Circling to the driver’s side, she peered inside. A two-seater with leather seats. Exactly what she wanted. Quickly she backed up to get a better view. Without any difficulty at all, she pictured herself behind the wheel, driving down the main street of town, her hair ruffled by the wind.

Perfect.

SHANE WATCHED Jodie from the shade at the side of the garage. She hadn’t seen him yet, hadn’t even glanced his way. It was the car that had held her attention since she’d arrived. He couldn’t prevent a smile as he watched her circle it. He’d reacted much the same way the first time he’d seen it.

It suddenly occurred to him that the feeling he’d had more than once since he’d met her was one of…He searched for a word. Kinship? Recognition?

He found the thought both surprising and a little alarming. He had nothing in common with a smalltown librarian. And he didn’t want to have anything in common with her. A woman like that had home and hearth written all over her. She wasn’t his type at all. He’d long ago decided that he wasn’t the type of man who’d ever settle down.

Plus, she was his key to finding Rutherford and the money. Even if she wasn’t Billy’s accomplice, and he was beginning to believe that Dillon was right about that, she might still be the one person Billy might feel he could trust and turn to.

He’d seen evidence of her fierce loyalty to the Rutherford sisters, and it might very well extend to their nephew. He couldn’t fault that. In fact he admired it. Loyalty was rare these days. And it would draw a man back.

He watched her as she ran her hands over the hood of his car, slowly, hesitantly. Her fingers were short but slender, the nails tapered and unpolished. Her palms would be soft, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she would have that same hesitancy the first time she touched a man. And how that might change when she was aroused, when that latent passion broke free…

With a frown, Shane reined in his thoughts. Clearly, Jodie Freemont was a distraction. But he didn’t intend to let her interfere with his job.

If she was Billy’s accomplice, she’d know where the money was. If not, she could be his key to finding it. In both instances, he had to get close to her, win her trust.

So you’ll use her just as Billy did?

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth he quietly stepped out of the shade.

“I think you’re breaking one of the commandments,” he said with a smile when he reached her.

Startled, Jodie snatched her hand from the hood of the car and whirled to find Shane at her side. “What? I wasn’t going to steal it. I was just touching it.”

“I was talking about the tenth commandment. ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”’

“I wasn’t…I was…” Pausing, she sighed. “I definitely was. You know, I’ve never understood that commandment. What’s wrong with coveting as long as that’s where it ends?”

“But usually it doesn’t end that way. Coveting is a lot like lust. It doesn’t go away. It just builds and builds until the temptation to reach out and take becomes so strong, you just can’t resist anymore. Go ahead.”

Jodie found that while she’d been looking into his eyes, listening to his words, her throat had gone dry as dust. He was talking in theory, not about anything, and certainly not anyone, specific. But his eyes had grown so dark that the image of herself that she could see in them suddenly seemed swallowed up. And his tone of voice had been so intimate, so inviting that she wanted in the worst way to reach out and touch him the same way she’d felt compelled to touch the car moments ago. Was this the way a moth was lured into a flame?

“Go ahead and touch,” Shane said.

Jodie blinked. Could he read her mind? No. No, he was talking about the car. Reaching out, she ran her hand over the shiny surface of the hood again. It felt hard and satiny smooth, but different somehow. Was she imagining that it felt warmer, as if it had been heated by the thin, wintery sun? Suddenly, the image filled her mind of what it would be like to touch Shane. Visualize Your Goal. The motto moved through her thoughts, mocking her as the heat moved up her arm like little spools of ribbon unwinding slowly. Her fingers felt singed when she finally found the strength to snatch them back.

“You want to give it a try?”

Jodie moistened her lips. “What?”

“You want to take it out for a spin?”

“Me?”

“Sure.” Reaching into his pocket, he dangled the keys in front of her.

“I can’t,” she said backing a step away. “I don’t know how to drive a shift. That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

“I could give you a lesson,” Shane offered.

Immediately, she pictured the two of them riding in the car, and the image was much more potent than the one she’d pictured earlier. This time he was touching her, sitting close, his hand over hers on the gear shift.

She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. She needed some distance until she figured out how to handle the way she was feeling. There was something she had to do…if she could just think of what it was….

“Come on,” Shane said.

“I can’t. I have some work to do before dinner.” Hurrying to her car, she lifted out the package of rope. When she turned, he was right beside her. She took a quick step backward. “And I…have to get the mail. I always stop at the mailbox when I turn in the driveway, but I got distracted.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

Jodie took a deep breath as she started down the driveway. If he even brushed accidently against her…No. It wasn’t going to happen. She concentrated on putting one foot carefully in front of the other on the hard-packed snow. By the time she reached the mailbox and emptied it, her breathing and her thought patterns were very nearly back to normal. Still, she avoided looking at him by sorting through the pile of Christmas cards, advertisements, bills…The moment she saw the handwriting, the letter slipped through her fingers. Shane was quicker than she was, and he grabbed it just before it hit the snow.

“It’s addressed to you, and there’s no stamp,” he said. “It must have been hand delivered.”

“It’s probably from a student. They never have any money.” Taking it from his outstretched hand, she tucked it quickly in her pocket and started back up the driveway. “Have a nice evening.”

Shane waited until she disappeared into the house before he headed back to his car. She was as easy to read as a first-grade primer. That letter wasn’t from a student. She hadn’t even been able to look him in the eye when she said it. He was willing to bet his car that Billy Rutherford had contacted his ex-fiancée.

What he wasn’t so sure of was whether she’d call Dillon or decide to help out her former lover.