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Tonight, she’d been alone, but she was driving what looked like a sports car. Must be nice, he thought, and wished he’d taken time to ask her about that soft drink the jailer had given Whatley. On the other hand, might be a better idea not to spread information around, even to another law enforcement officer.
He thought back to the sports car she’d been driving. But it didn’t mean much. He’d noticed that some other law enforcement departments didn’t approve of lawmen taking their squad cars home with them. Cody thought it a good idea for his deputies, especially in bad weather, when they might be called out at any hour. Police cars, and sheriff’s cars, were built to different specifications than regular ones. They had wider wheel bases and several other minor adjustments that allowed them to outrun anything less than a Jaguar or a Lamborghini.
He’d finished his reports after the pretty blonde trooper left, just after the jailer had given Whatley the soft drink. He’d gone to check on Mr. Whatley one last time before he went by Abby’s to explain about missing supper. It was a lucky thing that he had. The little man, in the middle of a sentence, went into a seizure. Lassiter had been on his phone taking care of business until then Cody had called for an ambulance and rushed Mr. Whatley to the hospital. They’d saved his life, but the doctor remarked that Cody’s quick action had done that. A few minutes more for the poison to work, and no power on earth would have saved him.
CODYSTOPPEDBYAbby’s house, just to see how they all were.
Abby knew that there was something on his mind. Cody was preoccupied, and it showed.
“Is there something I can help with?” she asked gently.
He just smiled. “Afraid not.” He grimaced as he drank the sugared and creamed coffee she’d placed before him. “It’s our Mr. Whatley. They took him to the hospital a few nights ago with a seizure of some sort.”
“Is he epileptic?” she asked, surprised.
“No. And that’s the problem.”
She was watching him closely. She pursed her lips. “I see. Something bad and top secret that you can’t talk about.”
“Exactly,” he said, and bent to kiss the tip of her nose. “I’m glad you know me so well already!”
She laughed softly. “Not that well.”
“Better than most,” he corrected. “I’m not an easy man to know,” he confessed. “I’m a loner. I like my own company. I’m not used to having anyone around to talk to except...”
His dog. She pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over his forehead. “You can talk to me,” she told him. “I’m a clam. I’m not allowed to talk about anything I do at work. You might say that I’ve had advanced training in secret-keeping.”
He chuckled. “That almost qualifies you for police work,” he teased.
Her eyes went to his belt. “You have your handcuffs back,” she noticed. They were different from the handcuffs most of the deputies carried. She remembered the cute little blonde trooper and her eyes narrowed. “Has your trooper friend been back?” she asked, and her eyes were like chips of ice.
He chuckled. “Yes, two nights ago,” he said, failing to add that the blonde trooper had been by the office today to see him. No use messing things up worse than they were.
“You’re laughing,” she pointed out. “Why are you laughing?”
“You’re jealous,” he mused, watching the color come into her cheeks.
“Of course I’m not jealous,” she muttered. “I mean, I’m so gorgeous that men stand in line to get dates with me...!”
She stopped midsentence because he had her close and he was kissing her hungrily. “You will never—” he kissed her again “—have any reason to be jealous of—” he kissed her yet again “—any other woman. I swear.”
It took her a minute to catch her breath. She was very flushed. “Well...”
“Sheriff Banks!”
Lucy came running and threw herself into his waiting arms. He swung her around, laughing.
“What a welcome!” he exclaimed. “Your aunt just gave me a very nice one, also,” he added with a wicked look in Abby’s direction, which caused her to blush.
Snow was pawing at his boots.
He put Lucy down and picked up the little dog, laughing as she licked his cheek.
“Snow loves you,” Lucy said.
“I noticed.” He cuddled the little dog close for a minute. It brought back hard memories of Anyu. Work had kept them at bay for a while, but now they were back. So were memories of Debby, even harder ones.
He was distracted. Abby noticed, but she assumed it was about work. He went home earlier than he had on past visits, promising to come back soon. He was just tired, he told them.
