Who had this guy been talking to? It had to be somebody. He held his gun out in front of him and crept inside. Quickly and thoroughly, he went through the entire house, but it was completely empty of people.
The guy must have been talking to himself, or maybe on the phone, which made sense, because while the house was empty ofpeople, there was plenty of evidence of drugs. The kind of evidence that certainly wasn’t as old as the rest of the abandoned items in and around the house.
Damn it all to hell.
Lia was desperatelytrying to think of anything else for Sammy to do, but it was well after three now and there was no sign of Gard. Why the hell had she gotten involved in this mess of a situation? Was she now going to be in charge of a teenager while Gard Fairhurst gallivanted around doing who knew what?
Not that Sammy was a problem. She’d been a little sloppy with measuring ingredients. She had not been atallthorough with cleaning, but she’d shown an interest in the actual food prep. Lia couldn’t let her jump on only the things she liked, but she figured if she could get the girl interested in learning how to make atleast one bakery item, Lia could hold it over her head like a bribe to get her to do the less fun parts.
Albennie had headed home for the day. Lia had even closed up the store. Should she call Gard? He’d left his cell phone number. Maybe a text. A casualHey, you remember you have a niece to pick up, right?
But it made her nervous. Because he’dseemedlike he was very dedicated to Sammy. And he definitely didn’t strike her as flighty—but maybe she’d been fooled by piercing blue eyes and an unfairly handsome face.
Wouldn’t that just figure?
Her bakery phone rang, causing her to jump. It was after hours, but she had a feeling she knew who the caller would be. “Hope Town Bakery.”
“Hey, Lia, it’s Gard. Um. I have another favor to ask of you.”
“You’re just full of them,” she muttered irritably, but he sounded…weird. Not that she had any great insight into what Gard Fairhurst sounded like over the phone. Just that there was something…nasally and muffled about him.
“I’m running late, so I was wondering… Look, it’s a lot to ask, but do you think you could meet me at my place and drop Sammy off for me? The bakery is closed, right?”
“Yeah, it’s closed. Look, Corporal—”
“I just had a little…accident. Had to get patched up at the hospital in Fairmont. No big deal, but—”
Hospital.That was serious. And almost made her feel bad for thinking the worst of him. “What kind of accident?”
He was silent for a moment. A hesitation. “Broke my nose is all. Nothing serious. Not the first time even.”
He’dbrokenhis nose—probably on duty. And was being all nonchalant about it. Maybe he’d deserved it. Lia wouldn’t have minded popping a few cops in the nose given a chance.
Lia slid a glance at Sammy, who was staring at her. What was she going to do—tell the guy in the hospitalnowhile his niece stared at her?
“Yeah, I’ll drive her.”
“Okay, I’m heading out now. If you guys leave now too, we should get there about the same time.”
“Sure. Yeah. See you in a bit.” She hung up the phone and stared at it. Now she was driving this problem child home? All because she couldn’t just accept the stolen money being repaid.Creating your own trouble, Lia.
“What was that?” Sammy demanded.
“Your uncle got…held up.” Lia didn’t know why she was lying for him, but she didn’t really want to be the one who broke it to the girl that her uncle was hurt. “I’m going to drive you to his place. You got an address?”
“Yeah, but…” Sammy trailed off, then shook her head. “Whatever.”
“We’re going to have to walk over to my house and get my car, so follow me.”
Sammy said nothing but followed Lia out of the back of the bakery. She waited, nose stuck to phone screen, while Lia locked the door and engaged the alarm. Even though Sammy never looked up from the phone screen, she unerringly followed Lia down the side street to her house.
Lia walked up to her car, unlocked it manually because her key fob had been broken for approximately three years.
“Hop on in,” she said to Sammy.
Sammy looked at the car in disgust. “Will this make ittoBent?”
“Sure.” Maybe it wasn’t anything to look at. Maybe it burned oil here and there. Maybe it was older than Sammy herself, but Lia had bought this car with her own money. So Lia loved it.
