I was in the shower when Jenny’s friend left her message. My plan for the night had been to finally get the last of my stuff unpacked, but that lost its appeal as soon as I listened to Autumn’s invitation to dinner, giving me a chance to see Jenny.

Several times during the past two days, I’d picked up my phone to text or call her but had stopped myself. I had no idea how she felt about me. Sure, it was obvious she enjoyed my company, and I wasn’t even questioning that she thought the sex between us was good. Damn good.

There was actually another consideration that played into my resolve not to get too involved with Jenny. She was leaving soon, and she didn’t know when she’d be back. Who knew what men she’d meet on her world travels? What if she fell in love with a dark-eyed Italian who whispered sweet accented love words into her ear or some damn Scotsman in a kilt that she couldn’t resist finding out what he wore under it?

I wasn’t going to be the man left behind who’d eventually get a letter saying, Sorry, but… So I hadn’t called her. She was going to stay a woman I enjoyed hanging out with and, yes, having sex with. When she left, though, she wasn’t going to take my heart with her. But I couldn’t resist the lure of seeing her, so I dressed, then headed to Fusions.

I parked close to Jenny’s car, and feeling a little more excited than I wanted about seeing her, I walked inside.

“Chief, you haven’t been back for more doughnuts. Why not?”

Someone tugged on my shirttail, and I looked down to see Mary. “Because they’re so good I won’t be able to fit in my uniform if I come by every day. I’ll stop in tomorrow. Promise.”

The tiny, turquoise-eye-shadowed-today woman grinned up at me. “How many you want me to have ready for you?”

I had to laugh. “You’re quite the saleswoman, Mary. Three dozen. Assorted.” My cops were going to love me if for no other reason than I brought them the best doughnuts in the world.

“See you in the morning.” Her turquoise-colored hair bounced around her neck as she walked away with amazing grace on lime-green stilettos that should have toppled her onto her face. I watched her climb onto a bar stool in the lounge next to an elderly gentleman who seemed delighted to see her. I shook my head as I grinned. Crazy town.

“I’m meeting some people,” I said to the hostess, glancing past her. “There they are, in the booth by the window.”

She motioned for me to go in, then turned her attention to the couple waiting behind me. As I headed to where they were seated, I scanned my surroundings—the way any big-city cop would automatically do—noting who was sitting where and if anyone looked like trouble in the making. It was a habit I’d probably never be able to break.

My gaze landed on Jenny, sitting with her friends. Was she expecting me, or had Autumn called on the sly, hoping to play matchmaker? Jenny saw me coming toward her and smiled. Damn if my heart didn’t do a little dance at seeing her.

“Hello, Red,” I said, sliding into the booth next to her. “Autumn, Brian, good to see you again.”

Autumn grinned. “I was hoping you’d get my message.”

“It was a surprise, but a good one.”

“Well, Jenn wanted to call and invite you, but she has this weird idea that girls shouldn’t call boys.”

Jenny sputtered a laugh. “Autumn! I did not say that.”

“I’ve ceased being surprised by anything Autumn says or gets up to,” Brian said.

I glanced at Jenny and winked. “You have permission to call this boy anytime you want.”

She put her hand on my thigh. “Good to know.”

I liked the way her cheeks pinked in a cute little blush. I also liked the feeling of her hand on my leg, and when she removed it, I reached for her hand and put it back. She ducked her head, but I caught the pleased smile on her face.

“So, Dylan, when you going to come by and trade in that boy-toy car of yours for one of the best rides on the road? I can have you in a Lexus GS or LS in less than an hour.”

“When Jenny trades hers in, I will.”

Jenny shook her head. “So not happening.”

I gave Brian a shrug. “Guess that answers your question.”

“Speaking of cars, Stephanie’s Mercedes is at my dealership until the insurance adjuster comes to look at it. After that, it’ll go to the junkyard,” Brian said. “After seeing it, it’s hard to believe anyone survived.”

“Why your place? I would have thought it would go to the Mercedes dealership.”

“I’m the closest, and the car’s not salvageable, so it didn’t matter where it went.”

“Do me a favor and take some pictures of it from all sides. I took some at the scene, but I’d like some in full daylight.”

“Done.” Brian took out his phone. “Give me your e-mail, and I’ll send them over to you tomorrow.”

“You must think our little town is nuts considering what’s happened this past week,” Autumn said after I gave him my addy. “Usually the most exciting thing going on around here is when someone stumbles on another one of Hamburger Harry’s stills.”

“You’re forgetting that I came from Chicago, where there are over five million calls to 911 a year. Believe me, my first weeks on the job have seemed tame compared to what I was used to. I’m actually looking forward to seeing one of Harry’s infamous stills.”

The more time I spent with them, the more I liked them. Autumn was a riot, and Brian was a man I could hang with on a Sunday afternoon, drinking a beer and watching a ball game. And then there was Jenny.

All through our meal, amid the laughter and good-natured teasing, I’d been aware of her, from her cinnamon-and-vanilla scent to the heat of her body. I’d pressed my leg against hers, keeping it there. Touching her both calmed and excited me, if that made sense.

What struck me, sitting in this booth with people whose company I truly enjoyed, was that I hadn’t come here expecting to make friends right away. I especially hadn’t expected or planned to meet a woman who would catch my interest the way Jenny had.

All I’d really wanted was to get the hell out of Chicago, where I hadn’t been able to find peace of mind since Christine’s death. I was beginning to believe I’d found my little slice of heaven here in the valley.

As we were walking out, my phone pinged with a text. “Sean Lamar has been downgraded from critical to serious,” I said after reading it. I’d asked Tommy to keep me posted on Sean’s condition. Turned out Tommy and Sean had been high school buddies, and Tommy had spent today at the hospital, keeping vigil with Sean’s parents.

“That’s great news,” Jenny said.

Brian and Autumn headed to his car. I walked Jenny to hers. “Want to come over to my place?” Now that she was here in front of me, I didn’t want to let her go.

She slid her hands up past my shoulders, wrapping them around my neck. “Have you ever spent an entire day with Autumn?”

“Can’t say I have.” I put my hands on her hips, pulling her against me.

“She’s a force of nature. A whirlwind. An energy suck.”

“I take it you’re telling me you’re tired?” I tried not to let my disappointment show.

“Dead on my feet. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” I kissed her, loving how she melted into me. We finally came up for air, and I put my hands on her shoulders, turning toward her car. “Go home and get some sleep, Red. I’ll see you on Sunday, if not before.” What I really wanted to do was take her home with me, and even if all I could do was watch her sleep, I’d be happy.

When she was inside her car, I tapped on the window. “Remember, you have permission to call this boy anytime you want.”

Her eyes turned soft. “I just might do that.”

I watched her taillights until they disappeared. As I approached my car, a black dog crawled out from under it. I’d never had a dog, so I was wary of them, especially one as big as this creature. He or she was pitifully thin, and I hoped it wouldn’t come at me. The thing was blocking my car door, and I took a slow step back. The dog whined, then rolled over onto its back. Although I didn’t know much about dogs, I recognized the submissive gesture and saw that it was female.

“Ah, hell.” At the sound of my voice, the dog’s tail swept back and forth across the pavement. I crouched and held out my hand. She flipped back over and stretched her neck, sniffed my fingers, then licked them.

“Ah, hell,” I said again. No way I was going to be able to leave her here to starve or get run over. “Hey, girl.” She scooted closer. I wasn’t sure what breed she was, but she wasn’t someone’s lap dog. And she stank to high heaven.

I stood and opened my car door. She jumped in, parked herself on the passenger seat, and looked at me as if to say, Let’s go.

“You’re really not the girl I wanted to take home with me tonight,” I told her. “The one I had in mind smells a lot better than you, let me tell you.”

I would swear the dog’s mouth lifted in a smirk.

Turned out she was a purebred Labrador retriever, and according to the animal doctor I’d taken her to the next morning, she was a dog that was as loyal to her owner as they came. “She’s maybe a year old and has been on her own for at least a few months now, if not longer,” the vet had said. “She’s not wearing a chip, and I doubt you’ll find her owner, if she ever had one.”

When the veterinarian had offered to find her a home, I’d put a protective hand on her head. “Then I’ll keep her.” At hearing myself uttering those words, I decided that the mountain air had screwed with my brain. Back in Chicago, if I’d found a starving dog, I would have taken it straight to an animal shelter.

There in that sterile white room, the dog had grinned up at me as if I’d made her the happiest creature on the face of the earth with that statement. Apparently I was a sucker for mountain girls.

I’d left her at the vet’s for the day to get a flea bath and whatever shots she needed. When I’d stopped by that afternoon to pick her up, you would have thought she had won the lottery the way she barked with joy at seeing me. I was kind of happy to see her, too, especially since she no longer stunk like last week’s garbage.

I named the damn—always grinning—dog Daisy because daisies were cheerful flowers, so the name suited her. At home she’d stared morosely down at her empty bowl after chowing down, then lifted her black head and grinned hopefully at me. She could eat like there might not be a meal tomorrow, but I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t know how long she’d gone hungry, and I couldn’t resist pouring a second helping of the food the vet had told me to give her.

“New police dog,” I said the next day to each raised eyebrow I passed as Daisy trotted loyally next to me through the police department. The only person who had anything to say against her was Moody.

“The fuck a dog’s doing here?” he said.

“My office. Now,” I snapped.

When I sat at the chair behind my desk, Daisy parked herself with her back against the wall where she could see both Moody and me. Her chocolate-brown eyes were trained on him, and it was the first time since finding her that there wasn’t a grin on her face. Smart dog.

I pulled an envelope out of my drawer and wrote his name on it, then turned it to face him. “Captain, this is your last warning. The next time you utter a curse word while on duty, you’ll either put a hundred dollars in this envelope or face one day’s unpaid suspension. Your choice.”

He sneered. “What, you lining your pockets now at my expense?”

Ignoring him, I said, “The money will go to a local women’s shelter.” I leaned back in my chair, giving him a hard stare. “My patience only goes so far. You need to keep that in mind before you go spouting off your mouth again.”

Later that night Daisy and I did an Internet search for local dog trainers. If she was going to hang around the department during the day, I wanted to make sure she behaved. There was only one that I could find in this area, and I called him, only to learn that he was booked up for two months. He said Daisy and I both would get one-on-one training, and I liked that. I gave him my name and contact information, and asked him to put us on his schedule.

The next day my detective and I were going to rescue Beauregard, the prized bull. “You know where we can borrow a truck and horse trailer?” I asked Gene.

“Yeah, why?”

“So we can take Beauregard home.” I couldn’t stop my smirk when his eyes widened.

“You know where he is?”

“Pretty sure I do.”

It took him a few hours to return with the truck and trailer. “Where to, Chief?” he said after Daisy and I were loaded up, her in the back and me in the passenger seat.

“You know where Granny lives?” I thought Gene’s eyes were going to pop out of his head.

“Hamburger’s ma?”

“One and the same. Head for her place.” I hoped I was right or I was going to look like a fool. Granny lived twelve miles from the Scroggins’ farm, not too far a distance for a loose bull to roam. I didn’t think so, anyway.

“Okay, here’s the scoop,” I said. “On the same day Beauregard went missing, two people on the path to Granny’s called in a report of a bull in their yard, but by the time an officer arrived, there was no sign of any bull. Then the following day, Granny’s closest neighbor, Clyde Anderson, complained about a bull trying to get to one of his cows. Anderson ran it off with his shotgun, firing over the bull’s head.”

“How did no one know this?”

“Hard to believe, but Moody apparently never connected Scroggins’s Beauregard to the errant bull.” Errant was definitely a good word for Beauregard. “Moody got the call, but the bull was gone by the time he arrived. A week later Anderson reported that he’d seen the same bull following Granny around like a puppy.”

“And you know all this how?”

“Because I stumbled on Moody’s report from Anderson, which he was either too lazy or too stupid to connect to Beauregard.” I shouldn’t be slamming one of my cops to another, but whatever. It wasn’t like Gene didn’t already know and agree with me. “Moody did go talk to Granny. According to what she told him, she’d raised the bull, and he took her at her word.”

Gene snorted. “More like she promised him a lifetime supply of moonshine if he’d go away and forget what he saw.”

“That occurred to me.” Gene turned onto a rutted dirt road. Every tree in sight had a NO TRESPASSING sign on it. Underneath many of those signs were ones that said, TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT.

“Getting a little nervous here,” I said, wondering if I was about to get in a shoot-out with a crazy old bull-stealing lady.

Gene laughed. “She’ll have a shotgun pointed at us when we pull up, but she’s not stupid enough to shoot the police chief and his detective.” He eyed the dog poking her face between us. “New uniforms, raises, a police dog. Can’t wait to see what you give us next.”

My detective was trying to calm me down, so I decided to take him at his word that I didn’t need to draw my gun. “Going to be hard to top all that,” I said. “My bag of tricks might be empty.”

He snorted. “Somehow I doubt that.”

Since I was still working out the details, I decided not to mention the SWAT team I was considering creating. Even though we were a small town, there should be a team trained for hostage situations.

The lane we drove on was overgrown with weeds, some a good three feet tall. We went around a curve, passing bushes that probably hadn’t been trimmed in years, if ever, and the house—cabin was more like it—came into view. The place was run-down and looked as if it could fall in around the inhabitants at any minute. An old refrigerator lay on its side in the yard, and a nasty-looking fabric couch was on the sagging porch.

“People actually live here?”

Gene nodded. “There are places like this all in these mountains. People who don’t want to be bothered.”

I had no intention of bothering any of them as long as they didn’t break the law. Not a minute after we pulled up, Granny came around the side of the cabin, pointing an ancient shotgun at us, a big, black bull following her like a loyal puppy.

“That’s Beauregard,” Gene whispered reverently.

I prayed that Granny didn’t shoot me.