Officer on Duty (Lock and Key Book 4) (2 page)

Still, looking away was a chore. He wanted to stare, to watch her hair shimmer with subtle highlights as she stepped into a ray of sunlight.

But her beauty was just a distraction – one he couldn’t afford. Something awful had touched this town, polluting its quiet, flowering streets and gentle breezes. Again.

Just like the house across from his had been empty one day and occupied the next, Riley County and the town of Cypress had changed. A switch had been flipped, and sometimes he got the heavy, suffocating feeling that nothing would ever be the same.

* * * * *

Lucia stood spellbound as water dripped from the spout of her watering can, beading on the porch boards. The air was heavy with the scent of summer blooms, and the smell contrasted with the masculine vision that’d just been stamped across her mind’s eye. Her new neighbor’s hotness sizzled there like a mark left by a branding iron.

She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. She’d seen the police cruiser pull into the garage the night before, and thanks to the welcome she’d received from Meredith Connor and her granddaughter, she knew a sheriff’s deputy lived across the street.

Meredith’s son. Paige’s dad.

Paige’s
single
dad, presumably. Meredith had said it was just her son and his daughter living in the white house with the blue front door.

Lucia hadn’t expected him to be so handsome.

He was tall – at least a head taller than her – and lean, with broad shoulders. A perfect poster boy for the man in uniform fetish.

A little shiver zipped down her spine and settled in her belly, filling her with curiosity.

She stared as he retreated to his garage, pulling out in a Riley County Sheriff’s Department cruiser a minute later. The car gleamed white and black in the sunlight, its sirens lightless and silent as he pulled out into the street.

Not wanting to be caught staring like an idiot, she raised her watering can and dumped the last drops into one of her hanging baskets. By the time she lowered it, he was gone.

She glanced in the direction he’d driven, another pang of curiosity sailing through her. She’d already met his mother and daughter. Would she get to meet him sometime soon?

Cypress had small town charm by the megaton, and the warm welcome she’d received from Meredith had her looking forward to meeting the rest of her neighbors.

Especially the sheriff’s deputy. How could a woman look at a man who cut a figure like that and not wonder what color his eyes were?

She flipped her long, thick hair over one shoulder and touched the back of her neck. Sweat was already beading there – she should’ve put her hair up.

Retreating back inside, she hummed to herself, setting the watering can by the door. Her kitchen smelled like her favorite coffee beans: bold and earthy. Eyeing the pot, she decided to have a second cup.

It’d go great with the lemon bars Meredith had given her as a welcome-to-the-neighborhood present.

She lifted a plate straight out of a moving box and used it to carry one of the treats to her kitchen table.

The first bite of the dessert was sweet, tangy heaven: lemon and cream layered on a crumbly graham crust.

“Mmmm.” She eyed the tray as she savored the dessert. There had to be a dozen bars there, but there was no way they’d last long. It’d been ages since she’d tasted baking so good.

She’d have to thank Meredith and Paige.

The thought turned her cheeks warm with a delayed sense of shame.

The sheriff’s deputy’s broad shoulders and fit figure were still vivid in her mind’s eye. She’d just met his daughter, who couldn’t be any older than twelve, and here she was lusting after him like he was a piece of eye candy wrapped in a sharp black uniform.

A sharp black uniform with a gun on one hip, and cuffs on the other.

Another rebellious ripple of sensation crept down her spine. Whether or not he was someone’s father, he was gorgeous. It couldn’t hurt to look.

She glanced at the kitchen window, which afforded a perfect view of his garage. Maybe she’d glimpse him later, when he returned from his shift. Maybe she’d even have a chance to say hello.

They were neighbors, after all – they’d have to meet eventually.

The thought made the last bite of her dessert taste extra sweet. Wrapping her hands around the warm sides of her coffee cup, she blew away a wisp of steam and carried it across the kitchen, to her living room.

A box of books sat on the floor in front of her empty bookshelf, but the sofa and TV were where she meant to keep them. Settling down, she flipped the TV on, ready to enjoy a lazy Saturday morning in her new home.

There was no telling when she’d get another chance to take it easy on a Saturday. She’d taken Friday and Saturday off work in order to handle her move and had every intention of unpacking, but not until she was done with her coffee.

Without cable set up yet, there were only a few channels to choose from. She settled on the local news.

A blonde anchor in a pencil skirt and silk shell top was reporting live from a park in Cypress. Lucia had driven by it multiple times before, mentally noting the cute walking trail lined with flowering bushes and old oaks draped with Spanish moss.

It’d looked like a nice place to go for a walk, or eat lunch. There’d been parents there, relaxing on benches as their kids enjoyed the playground equipment. It certainly hadn’t looked like a place where someone might be murdered.

Apparently, appearances could be deceiving.

A twenty year old woman had been found dead under a hydrangea bush in Walters Park that morning. The fact festered in the back of Jeremy’s mind as his cruiser’s MDT chimed.

He hit dispatch, and info appeared on the screen. A domestic disturbance call on the outskirts of the county. He hit en route and turned the car around.

Officer Richardson rode beside him.

He was field training the twenty-three year old recruit, who’d completed the academy just weeks ago.

Instead of the call they were currently heading to, they talked about the girl who’d been murdered.

“No robbery, no sexual assault,” Richardson said. “You think it was personal?”

The young woman had been found face-down, her purse beneath her, the strap tangled around one arm. Her wallet had been inside, ID and credit cards intact. She’d been bludgeoned and strangled, but not violated sexually.

Jeremy wasn’t a detective. Still, there were only two obvious possibilities: a personal attack, or a random crime. “Probably. Probably a relationship gone bad.”

It was either that, or someone had killed her for a thrill, to fuel some sick obsession. It was far less likely than her falling awry of an old boyfriend, and not a possibility he particularly wanted to dwell on.

Riley County had seen enough violence over the past year – the last thing it needed was a serial killer.

God knew that after last summer, people were probably already jumping to that possibility.

“Probably,” Richardson agreed. “You see a picture of her?”

“No.”

“She was pretty. I’d bet a paycheck it was a jealous boyfriend.”

“I’m sure that’s exactly who they’ll start the investigation with.”

He didn’t relish talking about the dead woman. Twenty was too close to girlhood, and he had a little girl of his own. He knew the world could be an ugly place, but he didn’t want to think about that ugliness touching Paige. Ever.

The thought of her dating made him break into a sweat. She was twelve – how many years did he have left before he had to confront that horrifying reality?

The radio crackled as they approached an aging clapboard house, the drive lined with mismatched shrubs and a lone pine.

He was conscious of the weight of his Glock on his hip, a weight that was always with him, reminding him that the worst-case scenario was always possible.

The call was over an argument. Supposedly it hadn’t turned violent yet.

But it might.

Things could always get worse. It was his job to realize that, to anticipate it. To see the worst in everyone, and protect them – from others and themselves – anyway.

* * * * *

Lucia piled a deconstructed moving box on top of a stack already a dozen high. She’d gotten her bedroom, the bathroom and kitchen completely situated and was halfway done filling the living room bookcase with dozens of novels: mostly mysteries, with a few romances here and there. Not bad for a weekend’s work.

Her new house was starting to look like a home. It was a modest two-bedroom Cape Cod, but it was much roomier than her apartment in Wilmington had been. She could already tell she’d be comfortable here.

Not to mention closer to work. The move had been a good decision all around. And of course, there was the neighborhood.

She’d never had such friendly neighbors. Thinking of Meredith and Paige, she smiled. Unable to resist, she’d eaten half the lemon bars over the past two days. Now, it was Sunday evening and she’d placed the rest in the fridge, layered in one of her freshly-unpacked plastic containers.

Meredith’s tray was freshly washed and dried, lying on the counter, ready to be returned.

Lucia glanced out the window. Dusk had barely begun to darken the sky, and the worst of the day’s heat had faded. It was beautiful outside – her favorite time of day. She might as well take a short walk across the street to Meredith’s house and return the plate.

Outside, the air was warm and sultry. She crossed the street with the tray tucked under her arm, reaching the opposite sidewalk just as a blue sedan passed with a rush of humid air. When the vehicle was gone, the only sounds were a lone cricket’s singing and a dog barking somewhere down the block.

Meredith’s house was nearly cattycorner from Lucia’s, across the street and a couple lots down. With its pale yellow siding, white-columned front porch and overflowing flower boxes, it was adorable.

She climbed the short flight of stairs, crossed the porch and knocked on a wreathed front door.

No answer, although the kitchen light glowed softly behind white curtains.

She glanced toward the garage. The door was closed.

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she waited, listening for the sound of footsteps as seconds ticked by.

All was quiet, save for the cricket and dog.

Turning, she descended the stairs. She’d just have to return the plate later. Either that, or drop it off at Meredith’s son’s house.

Sandals slapping against the sidewalk, she glanced at the little white house as she approached. The yard and home were neatly maintained, but there were no flower boxes overflowing with riotous blooms, no wreath on the door. The home was simply neat – practical. Unadorned. The house of a single man.

The windows glowed faintly against the early evening, and a slim shadow passed by one of the windows. Paige?

Someone was obviously home. Maybe Meredith was even there, visiting her son and granddaughter.

Sucking in a quick breath of humid air, Lucia turned for the house and climbed the stairs, rapping on the door when she reached it.

Someone was home, all right, and not just Paige. Her father answered, filling up most of the doorway with his tall, broad frame of lean muscle.

She sucked in another breath and resisted the urge to fan herself with the plate tucked under her arm. He wore jeans and a plain white t-shirt instead of his uniform, but he was still strikingly handsome – even more so up close than she’d realized from across the street.

His eyes were the clear blue of a Carolina summer sky, and they stood out bold against golden-tan skin. His dark, cropped hair made them stand out even more.

“Hi,” she said, allowing a genuine smile to cross her lips. “I’m Lucia Ramirez, your new neighbor.”

She tipped her head toward her house, doing her best to ignore the way her pulse had quickened for no reason.

No reason at all, besides the fact that she was standing just two feet from a man who looked like he belonged splashed across the cover of the Sexiest Man Alive edition of
People Magazine
.

When he spoke, though, his pure Carolina accent banished thoughts of Hollywood.

“Nice to meet you, Lucia,” he said with a nod. “Paige told me she met you yesterday.”

A ghost of a smile curled his lips, and she zeroed in on the change, unable to focus on anything else. God, the world’s hottest five o’clock shadow surrounded that mouth.

She had to force herself to nod. “She and Meredith brought me the most amazing lemon bars. I’m seriously jealous of you getting to claim her as your mother.”

The hot cop’s smile widened. “Having her as a neighbor is the next best thing. Those won’t be the last desserts she brings over, I can promise you that.”

“Oh.” Lucia gripped the edge of the tray hard as the urge to fan herself with it became overwhelming. “Fantastic.”

“I’m Jeremy Connor,” he said, extending a hand.

She raised her free hand, desperately hoping he’d mistake the sweat on her palm for mere humidity.

“It’s great to meet you.” Great, and totally disarming. She stood there like an idiot, noticing the faint callouses on his hand … and the lack of a ring.

How the hell was this guy single? Between his looks, his adorable daughter and his baking angel of a mother, he seemed like the sort of guy women would fight gladiator-style over.

“You too,” he said, nodding toward her home. “The last person who lived in that house was a sixty year old man with a penchant for mowing his lawn in a pair of seventies-style track shorts and nothing else. I’d be lying if I said that view hadn’t gotten old.”

She laughed, barely holding back one of the snorts she was prone to.

“You mean you can’t arrest people for fashion crimes?”

“Afraid not. Worst part was the way he used to talk to my mother. If I had a dime for every time he tried to wrangle her into a date, I’d be living in a beachfront mansion.”

“He sounds like a real … character.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

She finally managed to tear her gaze away from Jeremy’s eyes – a feat that resulted in her suddenly remembering the purpose of her little visit.

“I came to return this.” She held up the plate. “It’s your mom’s. I tried her house first, but she wasn’t home.”

“I’ll get it to her.”

The corded muscles in his forearms shifted beneath his tanned skin, mesmerizing her as he took the platter.

“Thanks a lot.”

It was at that moment that she finally managed to look past Jeremy and see Paige.

She sat at the kitchen table, a half-eaten cookie ignored in favor of a book. Her long brown hair cascaded over her slim shoulders in loose curls that were strikingly pretty, even in mild disarray.

Had she inherited her curls from her dad?

His hair was cut too short to tell.

“Not a problem,” he said.

The sound of his voice brought her gaze back to him. She could’ve happily stood there on his front porch and stared at him until it got dark. However, being a cop, he probably had a highly-developed ability to detect craziness, so she clasped her hands together and drew a quick breath, preparing to make her exit.

“Well, it was nice to meet you. I—”

The purr of a motor cut her short. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a silver sedan pulling into the driveway.

At first, she thought it was turning around. But it came to a stop in front of the garage, and the driver cut the engine off.

She thought she heard Jeremy breathe a faint sigh, and then his mother stepped out of the car.

She was all smiles as she hurried toward the porch, a striped shopping bag dangling from one arm.

“Nice to see you again so soon.” She flashed Lucia a grin.

Lucia smiled back. “I came to return your plate. The lemon bars were heavenly, by the way.”

Her expression brightened. “I’ve been using that recipe for forty years. It was my mother’s – I’d be happy to share it with you, if you’re interested.”

“That would be fantastic.” Her mouth watered at the thought of whipping up something so decadent in her own kitchen. The fact that her hips didn’t need that kind of temptation was a mere afterthought, and by the time she’d considered that fact, Meredith had already promised to write down the recipe for her.

“I appreciate it. And I hope I’m not infringing on a family secret.”