Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (18 page)

BOOK: Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story)
11.18Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

“Have faith in her—she’ll work it out
.”
He t
apped
his fingers
on his knee
.

“Buddy,
y
ou didn’t see the hurt
in
her
eyes
.”

We
pulled
into the lot of Arnold’s
shop
wher
e Sam’s SUV
had been towed
.
Alec
rep
laced me in the driver’s seat
and
maneuver
ed
back onto the road.
I followed in Sam’s vehicle
.

Dri
ving Sam’s
SUV
felt like I’d been
ca
ptured and tortured
. T
he
smell
of her
perfume,
the
lipstick outline of her lips
o
n a coffee cup, Goldie’s leash.
The sound of the CD she
play
ed
—she couldn’t hear the musi
c
—she tu
r
ned it on
for Goldie.
Father
,
h
ow can I
help her
?

In
Maggie’s driveway
,
I set the pa
rking brake
,
r
elieved
to get back into my own ride
as
Alec
jogged around to the passenger side.


I’ll ta
ke the night shift.”
Driving around would
give me time to
analyze the situation. T
here had
to be a way to reach
John
.

On the way to the station, w
e ro
de without unnecessary
chatter
. I pulled into the lot, parking in my assigned space
. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime, boss.”
He opened the door to the side entrance
of the building.
I
n the
locker room, I uniformed up
, grabbed
the keys from my office and
traded my truck for a
cruis
er. My hunger pangs were bordering on
ferocious
,
so I drove through In-N-Out for a
Double-double A
ni
mal style, which would mean extra time at the gym.
I wolfed it down as I
made my
routine trek, including a pass-
by of Mi
ck’s
B
ar. A glance at the dash told me it was a
few
minutes past ten
. Time to visit
Main Street.

When I
parked across from the bookshop
, r
ed paint lit up lik
e a neon sign
on the glass. L
ight
s
glared from
inside.
I hit the code for
Maggie’s number
. “Hey
,
s
is,
Sam
with you?”

“S
he’s right here
. Why?”

“The window
painter’s returned.
Make s
ure she stays with you
.”

I
alerted
Alec
, and he
arrived
in record time
. “Strange how this guy keeps painting on the same windows and no one notices
him
.”
Alec s
tood with his hands planted on his hips
.

I nodded toward the well-lit shop. “
Sam only leaves one small lamp lit
.

I felt inside my
pocke
t for the single key
.

Let’s
see what we’ve got.”

W
e
looked
ar
ound and made our
way
to the
supply
room
. I jerked the
door
open
. “Nothing.” I shook my head.

We went
back
into the main part of the shop.

Most of the
books
are
pulled off the shelves.”
Alec
pointed to the heaps
on the floor.


What’s this guy looking for?
Let’s check
the apartment.”
We double-timed it up the stairs.

Alec
rattled the doorknob. “L
ocked.”


B
ust it down.”

“Hold on
,
boss.”
Alec
pulled
out
a
miniature
tool kit
and popped the lock
.
He grimaced and closed one eye.
“Don’t ask.”

I threw my palms up. “D
idn’t see a thing.”

Gaining entry, the
apartment was
untouched—until we got to her bedroom.
W
e found c
lothing
ripped off the hange
rs a
nd
the
contents of the dresser drawers
dumped on the floor.
We both tugged
on latex gloves. Using the eraser tip of a pencil
,
I
open
ed
the cover of a book on the floor
—a
personal
journal with
several
pages ripped out
.


Sam
seems
to be the target of this attack
.”

Alec
pee
led
the protective layer off his hands
. “Unless they
expected to
find
Anne
’s belongings
.

“Possible. But they only tossed Sam’s
bedroom, and
the mutilated
journal
is hers
.
Let’s try for fingerprints. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time.

Alec
looked over his shoulder
as he jogged down the stairs
. “You want them here
tonight?”

“Morning’s good
. Tell Hank
first on the list.
We’ll secure the building and tape
the entrances
. Get a crew out here to
remove the paint
,
immediately
.
All
the locks need to be rekeyed
.
The sooner the better.”


I’m on it.


Now
wou
ld be a good time to review
the video foota
ge we have from the crime scenes.
I
’ll meet you at the station later
.” I climbed
into the patrol car
an
d looked across at the bookshop. W
e we
re missing
something
.
Were
we
dealing with a ghost from
Anne’s past or wa
s Sam the sole focus of a sordid
vendetta?

 

Chapter
Twelve

C
oming to
Serenity
Cove
,
I’d envisioned a s
mall town without much to offer
.
Without warning
, I
unintentionally
fell
victim to its captivating charm
.
The town. The people. The lifestyle
.
It

s a
chicken or egg type
conundrum
.
Was it the
town or
Logan
that
first
claim
ed
my heart?
~
Journal entry

 

Maggie spread
her straw mat under the noon
rays.
“Nothing
rival
s
soaking in nature’s
soothing
balm
.


It’s a gorgeous day
.”
I unrolled a
mat near
hers, and
Goldie claimed a
spot.
“May I ask you
a personal question
?”

Her wide grin made me smile.
“Go for it.
” S
he
sat
,
hugging
her knees against her chest.

I
faced
her
, mirroring her position
. “You have it all—b
eauty
, personality, intelligence. You’re
a
successful businesswoman. Why are you still single?


Aw, you’re sweet
.
I dated a guy
in college. W
e became serious to the point of discussing a future. H
e decided to drop out o
f school
and join
the Marines. I couldn’t deal
with it. I
broke
it off.” She
toyed with one of her
coppery curl
s.

“It ended, just like that
?”

“He wrote me
—I never responded. I had
a few sessions with Dr. Ellie
not
long ago. It confirmed what I already knew.
Death stole everyone important in my life—my father, my mother,
and eventually my grandparents. E
veryone except
Logan
.” She stretched her legs out and leaned
back on her palms
. “W
e’re
usually
unaware of the magnitude of our strength until
bein
g strong is the only choice
we have.”

“Except this minute
,
I seem
fr
esh out of choices
.


God
never leaves us without options.
You’ve had so much
thrown
your way
, like
a juggler,
jug
gling
for the first time—he ends up chasing after the balls.

She pulled her bag closer and searched through it, finally pulling a card out and handing
it to me
.
“Dr. Ellie has an appointment available Saturday.”

I tucked the card
into Goldie’s vest.
“I’ll think about it.”

“Dr. Ellie
help
ed me
sort
out my
fe
elings. I learned two really important facts of life. People aren’t perfect—including me. A
nd life do
esn’t
have any fairness rules.
Now I’ll stumble
off my soapbox.

She aimed
that smile of hers
at me, the one
that beamed hope.

“I prefer to not discuss
your brother.
I—

“Talk
to
her
for your peace of mind—nothing to
do with Logan
.”

I merely
nodded
. We waded
a
long the shore, the coolness of the water lapping on our feet
,
and then dragged our mats under a Willow oak, and lounged in the shade
.
T
he afternoon whirled by,
and
a
salty light wind
kicked up.
Sandpipers scurried
to the water’s edge and back again with each receding wave
.

Other books

Death Dance by Evans, Geraldine
Letters to Alice by Fay Weldon
South Phoenix Rules by Jon Talton
Articles of War by Nick Arvin
Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu
On Being Wicked by St. Clare, Tielle
The Crystal Mirror by Paula Harrison
Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ghost Town Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner