Kissing Trouble (21 page)

Reynolds’s words continued to play through the other million questions already plaguing her. Her hands trembled as she brought out mugs. Years of her mother’s training propelled her to draw out three extra mugs and set them on the island. She poured herself one while she waited for them to finish and tell her what to do, because she had no idea. She considered calling Maureen, telling her she quit and wanted to return home, but she forced herself to wait until the cops had given her information to pass on; Maureen wouldn’t justify a few bad happenings as a reason to leave.

Maureen wasn’t a bad parent. She loved her kids. But it was common knowledge that Maureen Vance was the sort of woman who believed having a beautiful home with a picket fence and two point five children was expected, but so was passing those kids off for lots of
mommy time
. Unless the person terrorizing them was standing over them with a bloody knife, Maureen would most likely find an excuse to keep them there while she
sorted things out
. And while Julie understood Maureen was under a great deal of stress with the divorce and all, she couldn’t help feeling frustrated and disgusted by the woman. But just as quickly as the feeling came, she pushed it away.

“Ms. Brewer?” Sheriff Reynolds approached the island. “Have you noticed anything odd the last twenty-four hours?”

She started to shake her head when she remembered. “Wendy thought she saw someone outside her window last night. She said...” she trailed off.

“Yes?”

Julie took a deep breath and started again. “She thought they were dragging a body across the yard.”

The sheriff crossed his arms and blinked at her. “You didn’t think to mention this earlier?”

Julie shook her head. “I checked. There was no one out there.”

“Where is the girl?”

Julie stiffened. “Is that necessary? I’m trying to keep the kids away from this.”

The sheriff didn’t seem the least bit sympathetic by her request. If anything, it only seemed to further irritate him. “Ms. Brewer, if you want us to do our job properly ... we need the girl.”

She knew from her studies what would happen next, what needed to happen. She knew in order to solve a crime, all witnesses needed to be interviewed and every piece of evidence was a potential clue to solving the case. But she really didn’t want the children involved.

“Okay,” she whispered at last.

She left the kitchen to find Wendy. The entire group was sitting in the living room, watching
The Goonies.
Mason looked up when she stepped over the threshold. His eyebrow arched in question.

It had been her idea to keep Mason out of the kitchen while the officer did their investigation. She thought maybe they would work harder in solving the handprint if Mason wasn’t pissing them off with his presence.

“Wendy?”

Snuggled between Mason and Rick, Wendy popped her head up. Julie waved her over. Mason started to rise, but Julie shook her head. 

“They want to ask her a few questions.”

That was probably the wrong thing to tell him, because he was up despite her protest and following.

Sheriff Reynolds was waiting at the island, a coffee mug in hand. He looked up when they entered.

“Do you have any cream?” he asked.

After ushering Wendy onto a stool, Julie yanked open the fridge and pulled out the creamer. She set it on the counter and watched as he poured a healthy amount into his cup. He stirred, rapped the spoon against the lip, and set it aside before turning the full force of his gaze on Wendy, who sat small and motionless in her seat. She seemed to shrink as the sheriff’s hard stare bore into her.

“Wendy Vance.” He took a sip of his coffee and smacked his lips. “I hear you had yourself an adventure last night.”

Wendy said nothing. Her gaze flitted over to Julie. Then back to the sheriff.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened.” It wasn’t a question, or a request.

When Wendy looked to Julie again, Julie nodded encouragingly.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked.

“No!” Julie said, only to be cut off by Sheriff Reynolds.

“That depends,” he said. “Are you going to lie to me?”

Wendy’s eyes widened. “No!”

“All right then.” Sheriff Reynolds put his mug down and pulled out his pen and pad. “Tell me the truth.”

Wendy recounted the story exactly as she had earlier that morning. Reynolds jotted every word down, making the appropriate humming noises cops made. When Wendy finished, he tapped his pen to the white coils across the top of the pad.

“Show me.”

They led the sheriff upstairs to Wendy’s room and watched him amble to the window and peer out. He stood surveying the backyard a solid ten minutes before he seemed to come to some inner conclusion and turned to them.

“I’m going to call a few more officers in,” he told them. “Get that yard checked.” He stole a peek at his watch. “You might want to put on a fresh pot. This may take a while.”

He stomped past them and disappeared back downstairs. Julie looked to Mason, who stood with one shoulder against the frame, and found him glowering after the sheriff.

“I have a feeling this is going to take a while,” she sighed, moving to stand next to him. “I should call Maureen. Let her know what’s going on.”

Mason nodded. “I’ll watch the kids. Maybe take them for ice cream or something.”

Julie blinked. “Do you think they’ll let you leave?”

He shrugged and pushed away from the frame. “Don’t care.”

“Hey, wait!” she called after him when he started towards the stairs. “I want ice cream.”

Mason smirked. “Sorry, babe. You get to answer questions.” At her pout, he walked back and tapped her lightly under the chin. “Maybe I’ll bring you something back.” His grin broadened. He nipped his bottom lip between his teeth and closed his long fingers in her hair. With a light tug, he tipped her face up to his and let his mouth hover dangerously over hers. “If you’re a good girl.”

It was as though he had caressed every inch of her with those words. She shivered and felt his grip tighten. She was pulled more securely against him and shoved back simultaneously until she was braced against the cold frame of the door. He followed her, molding all that taut, warm flesh against her, trapping her so completely. Almost instinctively, her hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt, right along his waistline.

“I want to kiss you,” he murmured. His gaze dropped to her mouth, already parted and waiting for him. “But I don’t trust myself, not when my bedroom is just across the hall.”

Julie moistened her lips, not to be enticing, but to chase away the dryness he was causing. The gesture seemed to draw a sharp breath from him.

“Maybe later?” she whispered. “When the police leave?”

He lifted his attention away from her mouth to fixate on her eyes. “You can count on it.”

With a last look, that cut the air in her chest, he pulled back and offered her his hand. She slipped her trembling fingers through his and let him guide her downstairs.

The officers made no protest when Mason packed the kids up and took them out for ice cream. Shaun went with them, but Luis stayed with Julie. He said it was because he didn’t like ice cream, but she didn’t believe him. Who didn’t like ice cream? She had a feeling it was because Mason asked him to stay with her. Whatever the reason, she was glad for his presence, especially when the entire place was swarmed by police officials and crime scene investigators. They were actually regular officer with field kits. But Julie stood on the back porch and watched them as they scored the yard, searching for signs of freshly turned earth, or anything else that might explain the handprint.

Sheriff Reynolds was right in the thick of things, walking the field and barking orders. There was no mistaking who the man in charge was.

The rain had stopped, which probably made everyone’s job easier. But the wind was still cold and wet. It blew through the trees and showered droplets of rain on the officers working around the outer edges of the yard. Julie wasn’t certain why a handprint was getting more attention than a series of butchered cats, but she wasn’t going to complain.

“How are you holding up?” Luis appeared at her elbow, two steaming mugs of coffee in hand. He passed one over to her.

She took it and wrapped her chilled fingers around the ceramic. “Honestly? Is it wrong that I want them to leave already?”

Luis shook his head. “No, but let’s hope they find something before they do.”

She couldn’t argue with that. But from the way the officers kept shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders, she had a feeling no one was finding anything. Her theory was proven correct when the sheriff ambled over to her.

“Well,” he began, “we’ve searched every inch of this yard and we haven’t found anything.”

“So what does this mean now?” Julie wondered.

The sheriff rolled his wide shoulders. “At this point, nothing. But we did get a print off the window. My team is going to run it through the database and see if we can’t find a match.”

Julie sighed. “That’s something.”

The sheriff nodded. “In the meantime, we would appreciate it if you submitted your prints.”

She blinked. “My prints?”

“Well, everyone in the house,” he said. “So we can eliminate you from our list.”

Julie exchanged glances with Luis. “We ... we’re on the list?”

“Everyone’s on the list,” he said. “That way, we work our way down it.” He narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you say you were studying to be in law enforcement?”

Julie shook her head. “Forensic investigator.”

“Then you know about the list.” It wasn’t a question, but he was right, she did know.

“Yes.”

He nodded like that settled that. “Officer Delanie here will take your prints.”

The officer he waved over was tall and lanky with a friendly enough face and a field kit in his hand. He smiled at them.

“Make sure you get Ryan and Brody as well,” Sheriff Reynolds told him.

Officer Delanie nodded before turning his attention on Julie. “Can we do this inside?”

Seeing no choice, Julie led the way back into the kitchen. Officer Delanie went straight to the table and set his kit down.

“Are the other two here?”

Julie shook her head. “They took the kids for ice cream,” she told him.

“Do you know when they’ll be back?”

Again, she rocked her head from side to side. “No.”

He painted Julie’s palm with black ink. First her right then her left and made her plant them flat on a piece of paper, finger by finger, then her heel and the side. He did Luis next. When he was finished, he stowed the prints away, closed his kit and went in search of the sheriff as Julie and Luis tried to scrub the ink off their hands in the sink.

“When do you expect your friends back, Ms. Brewer?” Sheriff Reynolds stalked into the room with Officer Delanie hot on his heels.

Wiping her hands on a dishrag, Julie shook her head. “I don’t know. They took the kids out for ice cream.”

“Could you please call them and let them know they need to return?” Like everything else, it was said as a question, but the tone behind it was definitely a command.

“I don’t have their numbers,” Julie said honestly.

“I do,” Luis supplied.

He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed and waited.

“Hey!” he said after a few seconds. “Yeah, everything’s okay. Yeah, she’s here.” He glanced at Julie. “No, they’re done. Yeah, they’re leaving, but they want you and Shaun to come back to the house. For printing.”

They exchanged a few more words that were mostly hums from Luis’s end. Finally, he hung up and returned the phone to his pocket.

“They’re on their way back.”

With a nod to him, Sheriff Reynolds placed a hand on Officer Delanie’s shoulder and the two moved away to talk while the other officers packed up and started out.

“Why do I feel like a criminal?” Julie dumped her exhausted frame onto a stool.

Luis placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about all this.”

She sighed. “I’m so tired and it’s not even suppertime.”

“I can make supper,” Luis offered. “I mean, I can only make like three things, but...”

Julie laughed. “You’re really sweet. But it’s okay. Thanks, Luis.”

He offered her a sheepish smile.

The house was mostly clear by the time Mason strode into the house, a full step behind the kids, who were high on sugar. Officer Delanie had waited for their return and already had his kit open when Mason walked into the room.

“Shaun’s not coming,” he said flat out before anyone could ask.

Julie frowned. “What do you mean he’s not coming?”

He walked around to where Delanie stood and offered his hand. “He says if you want his prints, you need to get a warrant.”

Julie would have facepalmed if it didn’t involve moving.

“Is he aware that his refusal to comply only makes him appear guilty?” Officer Delanie inquired as he coated Mason’s palm in ink.

Mason never batted an eye. “I don’t think he cares.”

“S
o there was no indication that the person was inside the house?”

Julie mashed the heel of one hand harder against the back of her eyelid while the other cradled the phone to her ear.

“No, the police don’t think anything else is out of the ordinary. They checked the whole property.”

“Then everything’s all right,”
Maureen decided simply.
“I’m glad to hear they’re taking all of this seriously.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone had been outside the house,” Julie tried to explain yet again. “This is the second incident in a week, Maureen.”

“But I told you to expect such things,”
Maureen said.
“So some kid thinks he’s braver than the rest and tried his luck a second time. Now that the police have gotten involved and have fingerprints, this will stop.”

Julie gritted her teeth as her anger threatened to claim her. “The handprint was blood, Maureen.”

“Oh I’m not worried about that,”
the other woman insisted.
“It was a scare tactic. I’m sure of it. Probably used animal blood, or paint.”