He made it work. Then there were the eyes. A piercing, startling blue. And he had that wholecopdistance thing down to an art, but there was a lot more going on in his eyes. Including a very clear concern over his niece.
He’d questioned her back when Albennie had been kidnapped. He’d been courteous and had a fairly good bedside manner for a cop, but still…Cops.She didn’t trust them.
“Ihateyou,” the girl seethed, then stalked out of the bakery.
Corporal Fairhurst scrubbed a palm over his jaw, let out a long sigh as his eyes followed the storming Sammy out of the bakery. But he didn’t immediately follow. Lia watched him try to get a handle on his temper, and a lot of other more complex emotions going on in there.
She didn’twantto feel a little soft around the edges, because he clearly didn’t know what to do about his teenage niece but wanted to. She wanted to think of him like every other cop she’d dealt with when she’d been Sammy’s age. Brutal and cruel.
Gard sighed. “I’m sorry about this. She’ll be here Saturday. I’ll make sure of it, but… She didn’t really steal enough baked goods to necessitate three weekends of work, did she?”
Lia hesitated. She didn’t owe him the truth, but he seemed to know it anyway. “No, she didn’t. But if you give me three weekends, I think I can give her some…direction.”
“And what do you care about a fifteen-year-old stranger’s direction?” he asked, those eyes right on her and doing very uncomfortable things to her equilibrium—something she prided herself on and had all her life.
She couldn’t say it was none of his business since he was clearly in charge of said niece in some capacity. “Let’s just say I was once a fifteen-year-old girl lacking direction myself.”
He studied her, like he could see all therunaway teenon her. She didn’t like that atall.
“Her mom, my sister, has…problems. Her dad was never in the picture. Things have actually been good the past three years. Stable. But my sister…lit out again. It’s a really delicate time. She’s not a bad kid,” he said, so earnestly it was hard not to believe him. “She’s…had it bad, and sometimes she acts out because of it.”
“I understand that,” Lia said. Lia didn’t like to think about her teenage years. What had landed her here in Hope Town. But she saw it all on Sammy, and shehadmade the job offer because she wanted to help. “We’ll take good care of her, Corporal.”
“Call me Gard.”
“I’d rather not.”
Something in him changed then. Lightened. Flipped.Something.Like he’d moved from trying to figure his niece out, to trying to figureherout. “You ever going to tell me why you don’t like me?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, looked up at him. She shrugged, uncomfortable with how obvious she was. “I don’t like cops.”
“You like Campbell just fine.”
“Royal is an exception only because he makes Franny happy, and Franny is my friend.”
“So all I have to do is make one of your friends happy for you to like me?” He flashed a grin. Charming. Damn, it was charming, but he must know it. “Give me a list.”
She wanted to smile. She fought it back. “Goodbye, Corporal.”
Chapter Three
Gard had caught up with Sammy halfway down Main Street. She didn’t argue with him when he told her to get in his patrol car, but that hadn’t made his choices any easier.
He’d had to think fast to figure out what to do with her when he had two hours left on his shift. Luckily, one of his former trainees was working the zone his house was in, so he’d asked if he could switch on account of a family emergency.
Gard drove Sammy back to his house, half listening to his radio for a call and half wondering what the hell he was going to do if he got one.
Once he’d arrived at his house, he’d told Sammy to go inside and stay put. He wouldn’t lecture her until he was technically off duty. She’d slammed out of his patrol car and into the house, while he’d stayed parked out front, praying he didn’t get any calls he had to respond to.
Luck was in his favor—at least in this teeny, tiny part of his life, and he was able to clock out and radio off without having to leave his post.
He approached the house, wincing at the sound of music thumping from inside. He couldn’t wait to hear the complaints from his neighbors. Especially since he worked with the detective who lived next door. Hart was a decent guy, and actually…
Gard looked over at the house. Maybe Hart could look into Dani’s disappearance. It wouldn’t be the first time Gard hadasked someone at Bent County for help, but he tended to ask the same person so he didn’t have to explain this to someone else.
So tomorrow, maybe he’d go talk to Laurel. She was the lead detective in Bent County these days, and she was familiar with Dani’s issues.
Gard knew better, but it was always apossibilityDani hadn’t caused her own trouble.
