“Thanks for coming up.” Dad leaned his forearms on his desk. “Ready when you are.”
Matt, in the chair at my side, dove into his update for Dad on the liquor store murder case.
“We’ve gone through the video footage and narrowed our search down to six vehicles in the shopping complex at the time of the murder. All were driven out of the complex by women fitting our rough description. We weren’t able to get all of the plates from the security camera footage, so we crosschecked the ones missing plate numbers with stoplight cameras. Before we came up here, I sent a request to the DMV to get registrations. Hopefully by Monday we’ll have names and I’ll start bringing people in for questioning.”
Dad nodded. “Good. I hope you two are onto something.”
“Me too,” Matt and I both said in unison.
It had taken nearly two months—two long months—of digging through the camera footage to get this far. Ever since the night in the garage when I’d shown Poppy my gun, Matt and I had looked at the case from a new angle. This time around, we’d searched the footage for a woman.
It hadn’t been easy. Between balancing my work on the drug task force, my normal caseload and everything else that was happening in my personal life, the last thing I wanted to do most mornings was lock myself in the conference room and scour camera footage for a couple hours before a full day’s work.
But if this paid off—if we actually found Jamie Maysen’s murderer—it would all be worth it. It would be worth every minute if we could give Poppy some peace.
It had been a month since we’d officially gotten together up at Glacier. A month and we hadn’t spent a night apart. She’d get up early and go to the restaurant. I’d get up early and come to the station. We’d text throughout the day, and if I had free time, I’d stop by for lunch. And in the evenings, I’d spend a couple of hours working on that old truck while I waited for her to finish up at the restaurant.
Basically, we’d both work our asses off until we could quit for the day and meet up at my house. Then we’d spend the rest of the night unwinding in my bed.
Our bed.
One thing I’d learned this past month was that Poppy belonged in my house. With her there, it felt like home.
“Where’s Nazboo?” Dad asked.
“I dropped her off with Mom after lunch.”
Dad grinned. “She loves that puppy.”
“Yeah.” I grinned back. Nazboo was a keeper, even if she did have a dumbass name.
A dog like her should have a name like Sadie or Bailey. Instead, she was named after some weird pet dragon from one of Kali’s cartoons. But I seemed to be the only one who thought Nazboo was a ridiculous fucking name. Everyone else loved it, especially Poppy. So I hadn’t put up much of a fight and started calling her Naz, which was easier to swallow.
“I think she might be the best puppy I’ve ever seen,” Matt said. “I told my wife I’d consider getting one too if I could guarantee she acted like Naz.”
“We lucked out, that’s for sure.” Naz rarely had an accident, she didn’t nip at fingers, and she’d only chewed one of Poppy’s shoes. After that, we’d made sure to always have a rawhide nearby, and from then on out, Naz had never chewed on anything else. But it was her personality we all loved the most. She was mellow—for a puppy—and as sweet as sugar cane.
Naz had become my sidekick during the day, hanging out with me at the station or riding around in my truck if we were doing fieldwork. Bozeman was a dog-friendly town, and a couple of years ago, the station had started allowing senior officers to bring their dogs to work. Naz was now one of three dogs in the bull pen on a regular basis, and the times that I couldn’t bring her with me, she stayed with Mom.
“All right.” Dad checked his watch. “I’ve got another meeting in five. Keep me posted on how your interviews go.”
Matt nodded. “Will do.”
We all stood and Dad shook Matt’s hand. “Nice work, Matt.”
“Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “This guy has been doing most of the work.”
I scoffed. “I don’t know about that.”
I’d been the one to watch the majority of the camera footage, but Matt hadn’t been sitting idle. He took his role as lead seriously and he’d done a lot of fieldwork while I sat behind the scenes. He’d interviewed all of the original witnesses again. He’d spent hours at the shopping complex, learning all of the ins and outs of the area so we could zero in on potential blind spots the suspect could have hidden in. Matt had even spent hours going over the case with Simmons.
Surprisingly, Simmons had memorized a lot from the case. He might have delegated things too far down the chain and his documentation skills were shit, but what he hadn’t written down, he’d kept in his head. I was still pissed at Simmons for being lazy these last few years, but he wasn’t the one to blame for letting Jamie Maysen’s killer walk free. He’d just looked at the investigation like the rest of us had.
For a man.
Female killers were rare, and even though we’d been trained to keep our eyes open to any possibility, I couldn’t blame Simmons for spending his time focusing on a male suspect. The camera footage from the liquor store was deceiving. The killer looked like a man.
But maybe we were finally getting somewhere.
“It’s been a team effort,” Matt said. “I’d better get back to it. Bye, Chief.”
“Bye, Dad.” I turned to follow Matt out the door but Dad stopped me.
“Cole, stick around for a sec.”
I sighed, jealous that Matt had made his escape. Lucky bastard. “What’s up?”
Dad pointed to the chair, so I resumed my seat. “I’ve decided on something and wanted to tell you before the announcement is made next week.”
The muscles in my shoulders tensed at his tone. “Okay.”
“I’ve set my retirement date. Two more years, and I’m done.”
“Wow.” I’d expected Dad to work for at least another five. Maybe ten. He loved his job. “That’s . . . soon.”
“It is, but your mom and I have been talking a lot about how we want to spend the remainder of our years. Both of us are in good health. We’ve been careful with our money. So rather than waste these next ten years in the office, we want to have some time together. Maybe travel. And we want to be close with our grandkids.”
Grandkids. That was the reason behind the sudden short timeline. My sister had stopped by the station two weeks ago and told me she was pregnant. I was fucking ecstatic for Evie and her husband, Zack. They’d been trying to get pregnant for years until they’d finally resorted to IVF. Now my sister was as happy as I’d ever seen her and the early ultrasounds showed they were expecting triplets. It made sense that Mom and Dad would want to be around to help with three grandbabies on the way.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He nodded. “But that means we need to get serious about making transition plans. Two years is going to fly by and we’ve got to start prepping you to take over as chief. We should get you involved in more committees. I’d like you to get more play in the politics and—”
“Hold up.” I raised my hands. “Dad, we talked about this. I don’t want to be the next chief of police.”
“Right. I know you’re still considering things.” He nodded but he wasn’t hearing me. “We’ve got time, but what’s the harm in learning more about what I do? Just in case.”
Just in case.
Three words I was really fucking sick of hearing.
“Look, Dad—” My phone rang in my pocket before I could put my foot down. “Sorry,” I muttered, digging it out.
“You go ahead. I’ve got another meeting coming in.”
“Okay. We’ll talk later?”
“You got it.”
I waved good-bye as I pressed the phone to my ear, walking down the hallway toward the staircase. “Hello.”
“Hey, Cole, it’s Finn.”
“Hey. What’s going on? Up for a beer tonight?”
I’d met Poppy’s brother for beers twice since the fair. He was a stand-up guy and easy to hang out with, but what I liked best about Finn was how he adored his little sister. The first time we’d met up, he’d told me point-blank that if I ever hurt her, he’d gladly serve life in prison for my murder.
“That’s not exactly the reason for my call.”
My feet froze as my heart rate spiked. “Is it Poppy?”
“Yeah. She’s fine, but she’s in some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” What the fuck was going on that she couldn’t call me herself?
“She just called me to bail her and Jimmy out of jail.”
“Motherfucker.” The word came out of my clenched teeth. “It was that fucking fire alarm, wasn’t it?”
“Yep.” He popped the p just like Poppy did. “I guess she decided not to listen to either of us on that one.”
“Goddamn it.” I jogged toward the stairs. “I’ll take care of it.”
Finn chuckled. “I figured you would. She’s going to be pissed at me when she finds out I called you on the sly instead of coming down to bail her out.”
I huffed. “She’s got bigger problems to worry about right now.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks for calling.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket and hustled downstairs to the bull pen. “I need to head out,” I told Matt. He was standing by his desk, talking to a couple of the other guys. “Something personal came up.”
“Personal, as in your girlfriend and some old guy getting hauled in for pulling a fire alarm at an old warehouse?”
“Fuck.” I swiped my keys off my desk. “Does everybody know?”
The huddle immediately started laughing.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Fucking gossips. This place was worse than a high school locker room. I ignored my coworkers and turned to leave, but one of the guys stopped me.
“Hey, Cole.”
“Yeah?” I looked over my shoulder just in time to catch the handcuffs he threw my way.
“You might need these.” He snickered along with the other assholes laughing at me.
I glared at him, about to toss them back, but stopped myself. Maybe a night spent naked in handcuffs would teach Poppy to listen. So without a word, I shoved them into my back pocket and stormed out of the bull pen.
Short-term lockup was on the other side of the law enforcement complex, so when I exploded through the door, I turned in the opposite direction of the parking lot. The short walk down the long sidewalk did nothing to cool my temper, and by the time I reached lockup, I was fuming.
How could she be this stupid? Didn’t she know that this was a serious crime? It was a misdemeanor at least, but if she’d caused any property damage or an injury, she could be facing a felony. Something I’d told her more than once.
For the first time, I wanted to take a match to that goddamn birthday list.
“Hi, Detective Goodman.” The officer sitting behind the plexiglass window smiled but it fell as he read my angry face.
“I’m here to cover the bail for Poppy Maysen and Jimmy Alcott.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, um . . . okay.” He shuffled some papers on his desk. “It’s set at five hundred each.”
My nostrils flared. A thousand dollars. I grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket and dug out a credit card.
“There’s an extra fee for cred—”
I held up a hand to shut him up. “I know. Just put it all on there.”
“Yes, sir.”
I pointed to the door in the corner. “Can I go back?”
“You’ll just need to sign some paperwork before they can be released.”
No shit.
He cowered under my glare and reached for the buzzer to let me through to the cellblock.
The first cell I passed was occupied by a drunk who had puked all over himself and the floor. The next had a guy covered in tattoos, most of which were gang symbols.
I didn’t want Poppy in this place. She didn’t belong in this hellhole. And she wouldn’t be here if she had just fucking listened.
My hands were fisted as I walked down the hall to her cell, where she was talking to Jimmy.
“I don’t like this idea.”
“Too bad,” he hissed. “I’m taking the blame. Like I told the cop, you were just trying to stop me.”
“But—”
“No buts. This is how it’s going to be. Let me do this.”
I cleared my throat as I came up to the bars.
Poppy’s wide eyes were waiting.
Jimmy’s darted to the floor.
I stepped up to the door, planting my hands on my hips, and glared down at them both sitting on the metal cot. “How about you both stop talking where anyone can overhear your conversation?”
“That’s what I tried to tell her.” Jimmy stood from the cot. “But she’s a bit on edge.”
“On edge!” Poppy shot up. “We’re in jail, Jimmy.” Her eyes came to me. “Cole, I can explain.”
“Not now.” I looked down the hallway to see the cop from the front desk coming down with a fistful of keys. “Both of you stay quiet until we get out of here. Then you’ll have your chance to explain.”
Poppy and Jimmy stayed quiet as the officer and I escorted them out of the cellblock. They didn’t mutter a word as I signed their bail papers and the credit card receipt. And they nodded in silence as the officer told them that they had to appear at the arraignment or I’d lose my bail money and they’d have warrants issued for their arrest.
“Where’s your car?” I asked Poppy as we stepped outside.
“At the warehouse.”
“Let’s go.”
I marched back across the complex with Jimmy and Poppy following behind me like children after being scolded by an angry parent.
We went straight to my truck and got inside, with Jimmy riding shotgun and Poppy in the back. When the doors were closed, I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. But not even the white-knuckle grip I had on the steering wheel eased the anger flowing through my veins, and the hold I’d kept on my temper fell to pieces.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I roared, twisting toward Poppy in the back. “Is checking some goddamn check box really worth a criminal record? Jesus Christ, Poppy. We’ve talked about this. You could get charged with a felony. A felony! That stays with you forever.”
“I know.” As Poppy’s frame crumpled, my anger fizzled.
“This is my fault.” Jimmy came to her rescue. “But we’ve got a plan.”
“A plan?”
Did Jimmy actually think he could beat the system? If we were lucky, these two would only end up with misdemeanors.
“I’m taking the blame for this whole thing,” Jimmy declared.
“Jimmy, no!” Poppy protested. “I pulled the alarm. It’s my responsibility. I won’t let—”
I held up a finger, silencing her rant, and kept my eyes on Jimmy. “Keep going.”
“I pulled the alarm. Poppy and I were at the warehouse. We went to coffee at the place next door, I’ve got the receipt to prove it, and then I told her I wanted to check out the warehouse. I wanted to see how it had changed over the years since I knew who used to own it. We snuck inside and I pulled the alarm. On accident.”
“An accident.” I deadpanned. “That’s your plan?”
He nodded. “Yep. I tripped, grabbed the wall and yanked the alarm.”
I sighed and looked back at Poppy. It killed me to see her beautiful cornflower blues filled with worry. “How about the truth this time?”
She nodded. “Jimmy found out that the sprinkler system had been turned off in the warehouse because they’re getting ready to do a renovation. We went for coffee—that part is true—and then walked across the street to the warehouse. We snuck in and I pulled the alarm.”
“The sprinklers were all shut off, but the alarms were still active.” Jimmy shook his head. “Bad intel on my part.”
Intel. Jimmy was acting like this was some fucking covert operation and he was a secret spy, not something that could ruin my girlfriend’s reputation as an upstanding citizen.
Poppy touched my arm. “We thought doing it this way would be no big deal. That I’d be able to pull a pointless alarm and finish the item for the list without actually committing a crime. Neither of us had any idea the alarm was still active. I swear, this was all an innocent mistake. We didn’t even run after the alarm went off. We just waited until the fire department arrived so we could tell them we’d pulled the alarm. They called the cops and . . . you know the rest.”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes and took a breath, then turned the truck key and backed us out of the parking lot. I used the drive to The Rainbow to think of how we were going to deal with this before the arraignment next week.
Parked in front of the retirement home, I looked at both Jimmy and Poppy, telling them with my scowl that I was in charge. “Here’s what we’re going to do. First, you’re going to tell the judge the truth. All of it. Starting with the list and why you pulled the alarm in the first place. Then you’re going to promise to never, ever break the law again and hope that the judge is a bit sentimental and gives you a fine instead of jail time.” My eyes snapped to Jimmy. “But we’re sticking with the truth here. Not some crazy story.”
Jimmy surprised me when he didn’t argue. He nodded at me and reached back to pat Poppy’s knee. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon.”
As he disappeared inside, Poppy climbed over the console and took his place in the passenger seat. “I’m sorry, Cole. I know you’re mad. I know you told me not to do it, but we honestly thought it would just be pulling a switch that didn’t work anymore.”
I took her hand. “I didn’t realize pulling a disabled alarm was an option. I thought you’d want it to be real. If you had just asked me, I could have talked to the fire department and gotten you a whole list of buildings where the alarms didn’t work.”
She hung her head. “I just . . . you’ve been doing so much for me. I can’t keep taking from you.”
Huh? “What are you talking about? And where is this coming from?”
She shrugged. “You’ve been so busy lately and it’s my fault. I can’t keep piling it on. With the truck and the hike and now you’ve got Nazboo all the time. I don’t want you to resent me by the time we get this all done. I’d rather have you than your help on this list.”
“Poppy, look at me.” When she did, I let her hand go to run my thumb up her cheek. “You have both. Me and my help. I want to fix up that truck. I want to be with Nazboo. I want to do whatever you need me to do. Okay?”
“I don’t want the list to come between us,” she whispered.
God, I love this woman. I loved her heart. Her dedication to see things through. I loved that she was trying to put me first. And even though it had backfired, I loved that she’d done this today because she was trying to lighten my load.
Those three little words almost slipped out of my mouth, but I swallowed them back. Maybe I’d muster the courage to say them when the list was over—when all of this was behind us. She wasn’t ready for them yet.
And I needed to know that when I said I love you, I’d hear it back.
Today wasn’t that day. We needed more time.
“I love that you’re dedicated to the list and I’m so damn proud that you’d do that for Jamie. But that list will never come between us.”
She relaxed, leaning further into my hand. She’d needed to hear those words just as much as I’d needed to say them.
Jamie’s list wasn’t going to come between us. I just had to make sure his memory—and my own insecurities—didn’t either.