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She didn’t say anything, but when her eyes met mine, I knew what had happened earlier had her rattled.
“Bailey, if you can’t remember exactly what he looked like, it’s okay. Anything that may help identify him would be helpful.”
“Ummm…he had a snake tattoo. Wrapped around his forearm and letters.” She closed her eyes and brought her fingers up to her temples, rubbing them. “GREE, were on his fingers.”
“Okay. Thanks, miss, that will be all for now. If we have any more questions, we will be in touch.” Greg said, pocketing his notebook.
I hadn’t taken my eyes off her until I felt Greg pull me by the arm. I lifted my hand to wave goodbye to Bailey and followed him outside. As soon as the cool, fresh air finally hit me in the face, it was like I woke up.
“What the hell happened to you in there?” Greg asked as we stopped just beside my car.
“What do you mean?” I questioned, swallowing hard.
“Come on Jackson, you obviously know her. Some sort of history between you?”
Greg was new to Sunset Cove and did not know about the history between Bailey and me. However, Dave knew, and once he found out that I hadn’t kept my head about me, he’d pull me off this case faster than I could blink.
“Let’s not talk about it! It’s in the past, all right.”
“Didn’t seem that way.” He shrugged. “It seemed like it had just happened and there were a lot of things left unsaid between the two of you.”
Ignoring his comment, I walked around to the driver’s side door and ripped it open. Climbing in, I pulled the door shut, shoved the key in the ignition, and started the car.
“Are you planning on walking back to the station?” I yelled as I rolled down the passenger’s side window.
“No.”
“Then get in,” I barked as Greg pulled the door open and climbed in. The door had barely closed when I pulled away from the curb, taking off toward the station and in the opposite direction of Bailey Scott.
Bailey
I’d gotten home later than I’d planned from my first night at work. I’d never been so thankful that Mom wasn’t sitting in the living room chair waiting up for me like she used to do.
I hadn’t been able to forget about him after seeing him tonight. My entire way home, all I wanted to do was to revisit old memories. When I got home, I cracked a bottle of wine and sat cross-legged on the floor of my bedroom. I held my picture album in my lap, flipping through years of memories with tears in my eyes. Pictures of us when we were younger, prom pictures, pictures of the camping trips that Jackson, Connor, and I had gone on during the summers. I revisited the swearing-in ceremony all the police officers go through. Both Connor and Jackson looked so handsome in their uniforms as they took their oaths.
A couple hours passed and the bottle of wine I’d opened was gone. I flipped the next few pages and now I was looking at some sort of alternate universe—the year after my brother had died. Tears ran down my face as I looked at the picture of Jackson and I. Then, finally, I flipped to the very last picture we’d ever taken together, and that was when I lost it. I sobbed as the tears streamed down my face. I closed the book and climbed into bed and cried myself to sleep just like I had done for the first two years after I’d moved away.
A heavy feeling surrounded me this morning. I’d barely gotten three hours’ sleep after my trip down memory lane, and I was paying for it this morning. My head ached. I approached The Blessed Bean, took a deep breath, and pulled the door open. The familiar surroundings of my favorite coffee shop put a smile on my face. It was the first time I had been there since I had returned to Sunset Cove.
I glanced around the room and saw Cara sitting in a corner booth waving frantically at me. I lifted my hand in a wave and began approaching the table when she jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around me.
“Been in town almost four days and you haven’t even come to see me yet. It’s about time you got here,” she said as she squeezed me tightly to her.
“Sorry, it’s been…an adjustment. Just don’t tell my mom you didn’t see me until today. I told her we had dinner the other night. Now sorry I’m late, I had to stop at the pharmacy and pick up Mom’s prescription. There was a line,” I said, shrugging.
“Your secret is safe with me and forget about it. You’re here now. I ordered our coffees, but I didn’t order any food because I didn’t know what you would want. They have fresh pumpkin spice muffins, apple cookies, and cinnamon sugar scones.”
“Ooh, those scones sound like something to die for, but then I haven’t had one of those muffins since I left. Let’s get those,” I said, laughing and grabbing my wallet.
“No way, put that wallet away. You moved all the way back here for me. The least I can do is buy you a muffin and coffee,” Cara said, nodding to my wallet. She grabbed hers instead and headed to the counter. Seconds later, she returned with two pumpkin spice muffins.
I took a bite and closed my eyes, savoring the flavor.
“Good, huh?” Cara asked, taking a bite of hers.
“So good!” I murmured, taking another bite.
“So, I heard about what happened last night at The Crooked Judge. Are you okay?”
