The night’s events were a bit of a blur, to put it mildly. One minute I was trying to process the fact that I was on a date with a drug dealer, and the next I was being interrogated by police officers. My first thought was Thank God the girls are with Mike, and my second was I’m going to remove Linc’s testicles with my garden shears. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this situation. I was an elementary school teacher who’d never gotten so much as a speeding ticket before tonight.

As soon as the back door of the bar had banged shut behind me, Linc’s startled gaze swung my way. Then the guy shrugged—shrugged! As if to say, “Oops, my bad. Didn’t think you’d mind me squeezing in a little felony on our date night.” And that was when the blue lights illuminated the darkness and the siren wailed. Linc and his pimple-faced client didn’t miss a beat. The two of them were gone before I even had a chance to say a word. What an asshole!

The doors to a cop car swung open at the other end of the lot. One officer chased after Linc and his buddy while the other told me to stay where I was.

“I swear, I was just coming out to make a phone call. I had nothing at all to do with that!”

He put a hand out. “Okay, calm down.”

It was then I realized I was holding my purse in front of me in a death grip, and my voice was pitched at a level that would have neighborhood dogs barking in response at any moment. I took a breath to try and calm myself.

“Let’s go inside and have a seat, and you can tell me what you saw.” The cop advanced a bit closer, apparently feeling slightly better about my state of sanity.

“You believe me?” I squeaked. Now, why in the hell did I have to say that?

He drew back again for a moment. “Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”

I shook my head vigorously and let him open the door for me. I walked ahead of him into the main room of the bar. There were two more police officers talking to patrons, and the lights had been turned to full brightness. One glance around and I was suddenly thankful the lighting had been dimmed before.

The crowd had thinned out considerably and I figured most of them had fled when Linc and his young client made a run for it. Call me crazy, but if you don’t have anything to hide, why would you run from the cops? I immediately realized how embarrassingly naïve that question was. I’d been hanging out all night with a bunch of freaking criminals! Wow. Good call, Jenna. I mean, I’d wanted a change from my life with Mike, but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

The officer took off his dark hat and pulled his chair out, motioning for me to sit across from him. Short grey hair crowned his head and a series of lines etched his face, serving as evidence of years spent on the force. Or perhaps a houseful of bratty children—what did I know? I pulled my own chair out and sank down with a long exhale.

“So, start from the beginning.” He pulled out a small notepad from his pocket and clicked a pen against the grimy tabletop.

“Well,” I began and then paused. What would happen when he found out Linc was my date? Did I need a lawyer? “Do I need a lawyer?”

He cocked his head at that. “I thought you said you were just making a phone call.”

“I was!” I put both hands out, not unlike a magician demonstrating there were absolutely no tricks up my sleeve. Nothing to see here, Officer. Oh, for Christ’s sake. “It’s just that …” I trailed off.

But Officer What’s-his-guts wasn’t paying attention to me. The sound of heavy footsteps approached. When I turned in my chair, I saw another officer, and by the redness of his cheeks and his labored breath, I surmised he was the one who’d given chase minutes earlier. This one was younger—tall with dark hair and broad shoulders.

“Couldn’t catch ‘em.” A scowl marked his sweat-dampened face and it took me a moment to realize I’d seen him before. “Dammit!”

Without thinking, I blurted, “I know who the older one is. His bike’s right outside and I have his name and phone number.”

I felt both sets of eyes swing to me, and then the newcomer’s eyes bored into mine. “I know you.”

I bit my lip and squinted my eyes, realizing I may have just screwed myself bigtime.

* * *

“Let me get this straight. You got on a bike with a guy you don’t know from Adam; let him bring you to this shithole—where he proceeded to drink too much to drive you home; and then witnessed him dealing drugs to a minor. Do I have that right?”

Well, when he said it like that it sounded awfully pathetic.

I put a finger up. “My sister knew where I was the entire time, and, as you know, I sent her a picture of his license plate.” I squared my shoulders and barely held back a harrumph.

“Swell! I feel so much better now!” His palms slammed down on the table.

“You can dial down the sarcasm a bit. I’ve not had the best night, you know.”

He had the good grace to look a bit chagrinned at that.

It was an hour since Linc had bailed, and the place was empty apart from the lingering officers, the owner, and me. Officer Sam Martinez faced me from across the same god-awful table I’d occupied with his partner, whose last name I learned was Shapiro. When I’d first seen Officer Martinez, it took me a moment to place him. As soon as I did, my brain went on vacation and I word-vomited everything I knew about Linc. I was distracted by the lingering embarrassment from my last encounter with the man in blue—my one and only foray into jogging in this decade.

I remembered his dark hair and good-ole-boy manner from a few days before, but the smartass smile was missing—which was why I hadn’t recognized him right away. It only occurred to me later that perhaps I should be offended that he was able to place me so easily given the state I’d been in on our first meeting compared to the glammed-up Jenna I was trying to present tonight. Damn motorcycle helmet! Damn douchebag date! On our previous meeting, he had been wearing those reflective aviators—quite a shame since I could only describe his deep brown eyes as arresting (ha!). His irises overtook most of the visible portion of his eyes, enabling him to woo women with just a look. Or so I assumed.

“Look, I’m just trying to keep your safety in mind. You need to be more careful about who you date.”

“You think?” Now it was my turn for sarcasm.

Before he could respond, Officer Shapiro was back. “Okay, ma’am. You can call your sister now.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Shapiro,” Martinez warned.

We both looked at him quizzically. I was calling Jill if I had to walk ten miles to get a signal.

Sam tipped his head pointedly. “She prefers to be called Miss.” And there he was, Officer Smartass in the flesh.

After calling Jill, I decided to wait outside, figuring my chances of contracting typhoid would be somewhat lower out there. The air was still humid, but I suddenly needed the warmth against my skin. I couldn’t believe how irresponsible I’d been, regardless of the precautions I’d taken. I could very well have gotten hurt or in serious trouble with the law. My eyes welled up, but I willed the tears not to fall.

“You sure you don’t want me to give you a ride home? It’s no trouble.” Officer Martinez leaned against the building next to me, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Thanks, but no.” I tried to offer him a small smile, but it may have come out as more of a grimace.

He turned his body so it faced me fully, and I was reminded how tall and broad he was. “Hey, it’s not so bad. Everything turned out all right in the end. We’ll track down Mr. Wonderful, and he won’t bug you again.”

I shot him a withering glance and he grinned. If I hadn’t been so distracted, I might have enjoyed it a bit more.

“But, seriously, it was smart of you to let him know you were sending all his info to your sister. That was a good move.” He nodded and I shrugged in return. “And if all else failed, I’m sure your training would have kicked in and you could have outrun him.”

My jaw dropped and I turned my body to face him. “Says the guy who couldn’t catch up with him an hour ago!”

“Ouch.” He put both hands over his heart. “You really know how to hit a fellow where it hurts.”

I twisted my lips to the side. “That’ll teach you to make fun of innocent bystanders.”

“Yeah. Well, maybe we should go running together sometime. Looks like we could both use some endurance training.”

Was he seriously asking me out? At a crime scene? “Speak for yourself,” I heard myself say.

His head tipped back and he barked out a laugh. “I like your spunk, Jenna Watson.” He liked my spunk? Seriously?

Laugh lines creased the skin around his dark eyes, and the night’s warmth suddenly seeped inside me, eradicating the chill I’d felt minutes before. His gaze held mine and, though I told myself to look away, my eyes wouldn’t obey.

The moment was finally broken by the crunch of gravel under tires and the sound of my sister’s concerned voice calling my name.

I spent the next ten minutes sitting on a bench with Jill, reassuring her that I was fine and letting her hug me a gazillion times. The exhaustion was setting in when Officer Shapiro came over to give me his card. I’d lost sight of Sam Martinez, but didn’t have the energy to decide how I felt about that.