Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

Saturday morning, when he rang the doorbell at seven, he hoped she was up and enjoying her first cup of coffee. If not, there was going to be hell to pay. He took a step back from the door and glanced down at his sidekick who was standing beside him.

“Spencer, hey, what are you doing here? It’s early. I haven’t even had time to break anything that would call for a Mr. Fix-it type. Oh, and I see you brought a friend.”

“Alex and I are going fishing this morning and were wondering if you’d like to tag along?”

“I don’t really know how to fish.”

“It ain’t hard. Uncle Spencer taught me and now I’m better than he is. Come on, let’s go.” It was hard to say no to Alex. He was giving her his eager pleading stare as only a kid could.

“I guess I could give it a try.”

“Great, we’ll wait while you change.”

A little unsure about what she had just agreed to, Sam ran upstairs and grabbed a pair of jeans, a tee-shirt and a flannel shirt to help ward off the briskness of the morning. She pulled her hair through the back of a baseball cap and eyed her reflection in the mirror.
Fishing
.

The truck bounced along the dirt road with Alex chattering in the seat between them.

“Remember last time we went fishing, Uncle Spencer? I got that great big ole’ bass.” Not waiting for a reply, he turned to Sam. “I did. I got the biggest bass you ever seen. He pulled and pulled, but I pulled harder. He nearly broke my fishing pole. That’s why Uncle Spencer got me a new pole for my birthday. He said that if I was going to catch a fish that big again, I needed a bigger pole. Ain’t that right, Uncle Spencer?”

“Yep.” Spencer looked over and smiled at Sam.

They turned off the dirt road into the middle of a pasture. The ride got even bumpier and she saw their destination. There was a pond at the bottom of a hill surrounded by oak trees. A little green rowboat floated among the aquatic plants at the edge of the water.

Spencer pulled the truck to a stop and they all got out. The boys grabbed the fishing gear out of the back of the truck and Sam joined them as they headed down to the edge of the murky water.

“Let me get Alex set up and I’ll be right back to give you your first fishing lesson.”

“Sounds good.” Sam sat down in the grass and took it all in. The pond was still except for the occasional ripple caused by a bug touching the surface. The birds were singing their morning song and just down from her, Alex laughed as Spencer tousled his hair. There was beauty in the simplicity of the morning. Something nearby splashed into the water causing her to jump and her heart to leap into her throat.

“Just a frog,” Spencer said as he approached. “They’re all along the water’s edge.” He set his tackle box on the ground at his feet and extended a fishing rod to her. “You ready to give this a try?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Grasp it in your left hand at the bottom and hold down the button there. Okay, now pull your arm back a little and give it flick with your wrist.”

Sam’s hook didn’t make it very far, but by the third try she had it under control. “Now, if you feel a tug, slowly turn the reel on the right side.”

“I can do that, but I may never get the hang of baiting my own hook.” She stuck her tongue out and scrunched her face at the memory of Spencer shoving the hook through the live cricket that was now dangling off the end of her line.

“City girl. What am I going to do with you?”

Sam’s face heated a little at his words and she began concentrating very hard on her line.

The morning passed in comfortable silence for the most part. Every now and again, Spencer wandered over and checked on Alex’s progress, but the fish seemed to be sleeping in until Alex squealed with delight.

“Uncle Spencer! I got one!” Alex reeled it in and Spencer took it off the hook.

Sam clapped and cheered for Alex as they put the fish in a cooler for safe keeping.

“Maybe I should’ve had Alex teach you to fish.”

Alex grinned and they all had a laugh.

Lunch was quickly approaching, so Spencer began to load up the gear. Sam was sitting in the grass lost in thought when Alex shuffled over and dropped down beside her.

“You look sad.”

“Do I?” Sam asked. “I don’t mean to look sad. I had a lot of fun today. I’ve never been fishing before.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “That’s awful. Didn’t your daddy ever take you?”

“No, but we did other things together.”

“Well, he should’ve taken you fishing or maybe if you had an uncle like my Uncle Spencer, he could’ve taken you.”

“That would’ve been nice.” They looked out over the water in silence a few minutes.

“Are you sure you’re not sad,” Alex asked again.

“No, not really. My very best friend went away last week and I miss her a lot.”

“Is she going to come back?” Alex picked at a blade of grass and squinted at her.

Sam shook her head. “No.”

“Well, I can’t be your best friend because you’re a girl, but maybe my mom can. I’ll ask her for you.”

Sam couldn’t help but smile.

“You two ready to go?” Spencer called.

“Coming!” They shouted in unison.

On the ride home, Sam felt better than she had all week. How was it he’d known exactly what she needed?

Chapter 16

“Detective Martin?” Stephens asked from the office door.

“What’cha got?” Martin swiveled in his chair and gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk.

“Not much.” Stephens flipped open his notepad and scanned his notes. “I’ve spoken to all the bank employees and the victim’s neighbors. No one had anything negative to say about the deceased. She was a hard worker. She socialized and went out, but not excessively. She didn’t have a boyfriend. No one from her office knew of any recent altercations with any disgruntled customers, out of the ordinary.”

“There must be something. Random killings take place, but someone was gunning for her. They took their time. They mutilated her body. You wouldn’t risk going into a building like hers with security and witnesses, just for the thrill of a kill. And since there haven’t been any other murders like this lately, it doesn’t seem as though we’re talking about a serial killer.” Detective Martin was talking more to himself than Stephens, but it was his way of working out the facts.

“We’re missing something,” Martin continued as he twisted his wedding band. “We need to look further back. I know she doesn’t have a record, but let’s see if there’s anything else of significance. Banks have a high turnover rate. Stephens, I want you to go back over there and meet with someone in the human resources department. We’re going to need a list of all the employees in the last, let’s say, five years. We’ll start there and see what we can get. Don’t ask for the specific employee files. We can’t do that without a warrant. Just see if the bank’s human resources department can spare someone to go over the names of anyone who’s quit in the last few years. Then we’ll worry about the warrant.”

“I’ll go right away, sir.” Stephens flipped his notepad closed and retreated to the door.

“Remember, time is of the essence. We don’t want this happening again and turning into some sort of twisted mind game. There’s enough crazy assholes out there as it is.”

Stephens nodded and left his superior alone. Roger Martin had been a police officer for a long time. He swiveled in his chair and grabbed his mug full of stale coffee from the desk. The view from his office wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was nice having a window looking out into the city he did his best to protect. He’d grown up there and he loved it. He couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

He ran his hand through what was left of his wiry salt and pepper hair. What were they missing? Whoever had visited the woman in her apartment had been clean. They had been careful not to leave any footprints or fingerprints. The forensics team had squat as far as DNA went. They needed to catch a break and he knew it.

The following week brought about a transformation in Warm Springs. All the shops along Main Street decorated for the fall season with hay bales and dried leaves. The air was cooler in the morning and at night than before and the leaves on the trees were slowly beginning to change. It was beautiful. Sam was working on a new window display in the shop when Jenny popped in to say hello.

“Hi, Sam, how’s it going?” Jenny checked her long blond hair in an iron mirror hanging on the wall.

“It’s going,” she replied as she reached for another vase. “What are you up to this morning?”

“Nothing much, just trying to drum up some business. Having your face on benches around town only gets you so far.” She turned her dazzling smile towards Sam and dropped into a Victorian chair. “I heard the big antique show is here this year.”

“Yeah, it’s all Mary’s been thinking about. She said we’re going to have our hands full.”

“On the bright side, some cute guys might flow into town with the masses.”

Sam laughed. “Oh yes, I’m sure antiques are just the thing to bring in some cute guys. There’s nothing they like better.”

“Well, you never know. Some perfect grandson could come with his grandparents to help them carry all the stuff they’re going to buy from you.” She stared off into space with a wistful expression.

“I’m beginning to like the way you think.” Sam grinned.

Jenny rose out of her chair and floated around the store picking up this and that and placing it back where she found it. “Hey, Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you guys need any extra hands that week?”

“That’s not a bad idea. Mary doesn’t need to do a lot of lifting, so maybe you could help us out some. I’ll run it by her and see what she thinks.”

“That would be great, thanks.” Jenny was smiling just a little too brightly. “So I heard you went fishing the other day.”

Sam’s face flamed. “Yeah, Spencer and Alex took me.” She turned back to the window and rearranged more leaves with heavy concentration.

“Alex told me. He said you weren’t that bad, for a girl.” They both laughed. “So you and Spencer have been spending a lot of time together.”

“Um, hmm, here and there. He’s a nice guy.”

“Not to mention he’s hot.” Jenny cocked her head to the side and launched into the question Sam guessed she’d ventured into the store to ask, “Are you guys dating?”

“What?”

“You know, dating? Where a guy and a girl like each other and they go places . . .”

Sam rolled her eyes at Jenny. “I know what dating is and no we are not dating.”

“Why not? No one fills out a pair of Wrangler’s quite like Spencer.”

“Maybe you should date Spencer.”

“Gross. That would be like dating my cousin.” Jenny screwed up her face. “Do you like Spencer? Are you attracted to him? Give me something.”

“I like him as a friend. He’s been really great to me. And I agree with you about the jeans, but that’s as far as it goes.”

“Whatever you say, Sam.” There was no ignoring the sarcasm in Jenny’s tone, but Sam did her best.

“So, do you still want to help out with the antique show or was that just a cover for the real question?” Sam asked smiling.

“Yes, I want to help,” Jenny replied looking wounded, “but I must say, you and Spencer are news. This is a small town, which means gossip is a way of life. I better get back to work. Call me after you talk to Mary.”

“I will, see you later.”

Jenny’s words danced around in Sam’s mind. She guessed from the outside looking in she could understand what everyone must be thinking. But it wasn’t as if they actually were dating. Plus, she was doing better lately. Maybe it was time she told Spencer he didn’t have to check up on her every day. He really should go back to his life. The life he had before she’d blown into town surrounded by drama. His friends and family were probably missing him.

As she flipped channels later that night, her mind wandered to Spencer again. She had to admit, she and Spencer did see each other a lot for two people who weren’t romantically involved. She knew what needed to be done, but she didn’t want to do it. She liked spending time with him. She liked it too much, which was going to make it even harder to stay away. With what had happened to Denise, she just hadn’t been cut out for all of the alone time allowing her too much time to think. She would’ve gone mad being alone in the house.

A knock sounded on her door and she jumped. She got off the couch and padded across to the front door in her sock covered feet.

Spencer propped his hand on the doorframe and waited for Sam to come to the door. A light flipped on above him and her shadow appeared behind the glass.

“Spencer, what’re you doing here?”

“It’s nice to see you, too.”

“I wasn’t expecting you is all.”

“I was in the neighborhood.” He rocked back on his heels with his hands tucked in his back pockets.

“Sure you were. Well, come on in.” She turned and retreated into the house and Spencer couldn’t help but stare at the nape of her neck as he followed her inside. All of Sam’s curls were swept up in a ponytail leaving her skin exposed and his mouth dry.

“So, what’s up?” She plopped down on the couch and waited for him to take a seat beside her.

“Nothing really, I was just stopping by to see how your day was.”

“It was fine. I saw Jenny.”

“That’s good. How’s she doing?”

“Good, same ole Jenny. Working and talking about a hundred miles a minute.”

He really wanted to ask her out, but nothing was coming out. Instead, he just stared at her while he grappled for something to say.
Anything
. Man, he felt like an idiot. “Well, how’s the shop and Mary?” Oh good Lord it was getting embarrassing. He had never been like this. Well maybe in the ninth grade when Jennifer Pickett had sat next to him, but he liked to think he’d come a long way since then. After all, he’d been on hundreds of dates. He could sweet talk the best of them. So what in the hell was his problem?

“They’re fine. Just decorating for fall and getting ready for the festival.”

“Sounds good.”

There was an awkward pause and then Sam studied him, expectantly. “Spencer, is something wrong?”