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“Oh, right, text you?”
“Yes, please.”
“Sure thig, sugar. Bye, now!”
When I hung up and spun around this time, Hope’s smile was brighter. “Gotta love Charlotte Oaks.”
“I do,” I replied, meaning it.
This community had been nothing but welcoming to me from the minute I’d arrived with Laney all those years ago—well, until I got bored and started “meddlin’.” But still, I could’ve moved on when she’d decided to settle down, I was grateful for all the reasons I’d been able to stay once I started working with Riley.
And now, with this job, it was like I was an actual member of the community, thanks to my contributions to it. Not simply based on who I worked for, but what my role in the town was. I loved that feeling, and I couldn’t wait for my brother to get a fresh start here.
If he ever showed up, anyway.
I glanced at my resource computer.
Don’t do it, Pais.
Using the national crime database to dig into my brother was just as much of a felony as reporting vehicle info to a tow truck driver, but man, it was tempting.
“My turn to askyouwhat’s wrong,” Hope said with a smile in her voice.
I started to argue because she still hadn’t let me try to help her, and my problems could wait. But, of course, I didn’t get a word out before my line rang again, and this time, someone really was having a heart attack.
If that wasn’t a heavy dose of perspective, I didn’t know what was.
10/
adam
“This is false advertising!” the shrill scream had me wincing as I closed the door to my cruiser. “I’ll sue you, and your mom, and your sister?—”
“Whoa, hey, now,” the local pain in everyone’s butt, Reggie, said with his hands outstretched. “No need to bring my momma into this. And if I had a sister, I’d be mad about that, too.”
I coughed out a laugh, covering my mouth with my fist. “Reg. Ma’am,” I greeted them. “What seems to be the problem?”
“He’s a liar, a cheat, and a thief,” the woman replied, stabbing the air between them with her finger to punctuate each accusation.
“Mighty strong words for a woman with no proof,” Reg shot back.
The woman lunged for him, and I stuck out my arm to stop her. She bounced off it, thankfully catching herself before she crashed to the ground.
“Okay, folks, we’re at a ten,” I said evenly, holding my hand out just above my forehead before bringing it down to chest-level, “and I’m gonna need us to come down to a six. Ya hear?”
The woman straightened her blouse and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. When she did, I caught sight of a bored-looking man leaning against the wall of the rickety old house, apparently not caring in the slightest if his woman’s verbal fight with a stranger turned physical.
At least, it didn’t much look like he cared. There sure wasn’t anything he could do about it from all the way over there.
The man nodded at me when I met his gaze, and I nodded back.
Strange. According to dispatch, these two were newlyweds in town for their honeymoon. Maybe that mythical honeymoon phase had already worn off?
“Can one of you calmly explain what’s goin’ on here, please?” I asked, crossing my arms.
The woman huffed. “My name is Chantelle Dubois, and I rented the most adorable cabin I’ve ever seen in my life for our honeymoon. The aesthetic was perfect, the vibe was on point, and all of the appliances and furniture were brand new.”
I flicked a glance at the dilapidated shack. “Did ya take a wrong turn on the way there?”
