Smoking Hot (23 page)

As Raine looked at everyone in the room, she knew that whatever happened, she wasn't alone. She wasn't the only one to carry the burden. Except it could all be taken from her at any moment.

“He had to have help,” Tilly said. “We put our heads together and it has to be Leo. When we followed him—”

Raine sat forward. “You followed him?”

“We stayed back a ways,” Grandpa reassured her.

“No, you're not to follow anyone. This isn't a game. Guilty people get desperate when they're cornered. You could get hurt. Promise me you won't follow anyone else.” When Tilly and Grandpa would have protested, Raine crossed her arms in front of her and pursed her lips.

“Okay, no more tailing people,” Grandpa grumbled.

Lady came barreling into the room, going straight to Grandpa, but the dog stopped at his knees as if she sensed she couldn't plow into him. He laughed and rubbed her ears.

Raine studied the animal. The dog had fattened up and was no longer limping. Lady looked too much like a purebred to be a stray. She had a funny feeling about all this. “Where, again, did you find the dog?”

Grandpa and Tilly shared a look. Tilly suddenly became preoccupied with her hands. Grandpa cleared his throat. “East of town.”

There was definitely more to the story. But before she could question him further, Dillon spoke up.

“Did you find out anything when you trailed Leo?”

Grandpa immediately launched into what they discovered, and Raine forgot about the dog. Where Grandpa got the dog wasn't that important.

“Like I said, we followed Leo. Ethan and Leo met on the sly more times than I can count.”

“Five,” Tilly supplied.

Grandpa frowned. “I'm telling the story.”

“But we want to be accurate,” she lightly admonished.

“We saw them meet
five
times.” He cast a pointed look in Tilly's direction and she smiled. “They met at the car dealership four times and went out to the wrecking yard once.”

Raine looked between them, waiting for more. “That's it?”

“Of course not.” Tilly was frowning again when she looked at Grandpa. “You're waiting much too long before delivering the punch. You pause, count two seconds, then tell them the important stuff. That makes your pitch stronger. By the time you get around to saying what needs to be said, you've already lost your audience.”

Raine met Dillon's gaze. She silently asked if he knew what they were talking about, but he looked as confused as she felt. She returned her attention to Tilly again. “
Was
there more?”

“I told you they were as lost as Hogan's ghost,” she said, reaffirming her point.

“You're right,” Grandpa conceded. “There was more. Ethan kept glancing around, all nervous like.”

“But he didn't see you?” Dillon asked.

“If he did, then he wouldn't think nothin' about it. We were in disguises.”

“Disguises.” Raine repeated. She was living in a bad B-rated movie again.

“Yeah, nothing elaborate. We didn't want to stand out. I wore a big wide-brimmed hat low on my forehead and overalls, but that's not all. I kept a pipe in my mouth and leaned heavy-like on a cane.” His gaze moved to Tilly. “Tell them what you wore,” he urged.

“Oh, it wasn't that fancy.” She giggled like a schoolgirl.

What the hell? Didn't they realize this was serious? Apparently not, since they were playing dress up.

“I put on a baggy dress with great big flowers and a wide white belt,” she quickly launched into her description anyway. “And a long fake white pearl necklace. I dug out my grandmother's garden bonnet from a trunk upstairs. It's the kind that fits close to your face and ties in a big bow under the chin.

Grandpa slapped his leg and Lady looked up from where she had laid beside him, saw that he was all right, and laid her head back down. “We were a sight. Should've took a picture.”

“Tell them the rest,” Tilly urged.

“Oh, right.” He was thoughtful for a moment, as though he tried to remember what he'd been about to say.

“At the dealership,” she nudged.

“Someone else showed up.” He lowered his voice dramatically and looked around as though someone might overhear. “A woman.”

Tilly clapped her hands. “Much better delivery!”

“Did we miss something?” Dillon finally asked.

Grandpa's face turned a bright red. “We've started going to the nursing home every Tuesday. We tell stories or read from one of the books they've chosen. A lot of them are friends who can't get around like they used to. We try to make them feel as though they're still living, not dying. Sometimes we forget about the ones who can't do for themselves. They're still useful, just in other ways.” His gaze dropped.

Raine's heart swelled with pride. “You're right, we do sometimes forget.” Grandpa looked up and smiled. How long they took to get their story across stopped mattering.

“Can you tell us what the woman looked like?”

“That's where it gets a little tricky.” Tilly's words were hesitant, and for the first time since Dillon and Raine arrived, her forehead creased with worry. “She wore a dark skirt.”

“That's how we knew it was a woman,” Grandpa added.

“But our eyes aren't as good as they used to be. So we really didn't see her that well,” Tilly finished.

Raine leaned back and crossed her legs. “I never thought that it might be two men and a woman who robbed the bank.”

“You said their voices were muffled, right?” Dillon asked. “I never heard them speak, so I can't help there.”

“They were definitely muffled.” She rubbed the place where she'd hit her head when she fell after Dillon shoved her out of the way. “And everything is still a little foggy.”

“That's all we have,” Grandpa said. “Did we do okay?”

“I couldn't ask for two better detectives,” she told them.

“What's next?” Grandpa asked.

“We're breaking into the sheriff's office tonight to steal Ethan's personal file,” Dillon said.

Raine wanted to slap her hand over his mouth. Why in the world would he tell them about her plan?

“Can we come?” Tilly and Grandpa asked almost in unison.

“No,” she said emphatically, then reiterated, “Promise me you won't come to the sheriff's office tonight.”

“Promise,” Grandpa grumbled, then added, “Don't put me out to pasture yet.”

She went to him, kneeling in front of him. “I would never do that, Grandpa. I just don't want you to get hurt.”

His smile was gentle, the kind he used to give her when she did something wrong but he didn't want to scold her. “If you don't get hurt every once in a while, little girl, then you ain't living. You're only pretending.”

Was that what she was doing? Pretending?

***

That night couldn't come soon enough; then it came too fast. Raine knew if she got caught in Sheriff Barnes's office going through his files, he would have no choice except to lock her up. She didn't have a choice either.

Her hand shook when she tested the door. The knob turned. Some of the tension inside her eased. Darla was true to her word. The door was unlocked. She opened it and slipped inside. Bless her heart, Darla had gone one step farther and turned off the bright entry light.

“The coast is clear,” Dillon spoke beside her.

She slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. “You scared the hell out of me!” she whispered. Her pulse raced so fast she was almost afraid she might keel over dead any second.

“I was trying to help.”

“I don't need that kind of help.” She drew in a steady breath and waited a moment for her heart rate to return to normal. “Thank you anyway.”

“You're welcome.” His smile was slow and sexy. “You look good dressed all in black.”

Her body began to respond, but just as quickly, she tamped down the sexual thoughts that began to run through her head. “Really, Dillon?”

“Just letting you know what I think. Is that a crime?” He leaned against the wall.

“Your thoughts are,” she mumbled. “Will you please let me do what I came here to do?”

He swung his arm wide, motioning her to continue on her way. “Darla gave Justin a stack of papers to read. She told him there would be a test when he finished. Ethan is filling in for you tonight since you're on leave. He's patrolling the streets, and Leo's at the truck stop flirting with the new waitress.”

“I thought you weren't supposed to help?”

“Up to a point,” he said.

“It seems like you make up a lot of the rules as you go along.” He was causing her to lose track of why she was there. She frowned at him as she slipped past. He vanished in front of her eyes and she stumbled. She really hated when he did that. It was good to know she wouldn't run into someone when she rounded the corner, though.

She still didn't breathe easier until she was standing outside the sheriff's door. She tested the lock. This one was locked, but Darla wouldn't have the key anyway and Raine hadn't told her where she was going once she was inside. It didn't matter. She could pick a lock in under three minutes. Most of them, at least.

She reached in her back pocket and pulled out a flat bag of tools. She chose the one she would need and set the others on the floor. It took her under a minute to pick the lock, but then this was the door she'd always practiced on when her daddy was sheriff.

Once inside, she carefully closed the door behind her, then used her cell phone light to shine around the room. Dillon was leaning against the file cabinet. The man was seriously becoming a thorn in her side. “You couldn't open the door?”

“You didn't ask me to. Besides, it was sexy watching you pick the lock.”

She shook her head and moved to the file cabinet. It was locked, but she reached behind the cabinet, sliding her hand down the inside edge, then smiling when she felt the key. Her father always kept it there too.

She unlocked the cabinet, then grasped the handle, but at the last second indecision filled her. The idea that Ethan might have committed the crime, then let her take the fall, didn't sit well with her. If he was a dirty cop, then she would put him away, but it left a sour taste in her mouth. She tugged on the drawer, then quickly located Ethan's file. She brought it out and took it over to the desk. Her hands shook when she opened his file. She skimmed through all the unimportant stuff, skidding to a stop when her eyes landed on one word.

“What did you find?” Dillon asked.

“He couldn't have inherited the money from an uncle,” she said.

“Why not?”

She raised her eyes to meet his. “He's an orphan. It clearly states he grew up in an orphanage on this background check. He was never adopted.” Odd that she should have felt elated, but the only emotion running through her was sadness that Ethan hadn't known a real family. Her parents might have had problems but Grandpa had been there to help pick up the pieces.

Maybe that's why Ethan didn't share a lot of his past. It might be why he robbed the bank, too. And as much as she hated the idea that one of their own turned out to be a rotten apple, she was leaning more and more to that conclusion.

The doorknob rattled. She swung around, hitting the button on her phone that would shut off the light. She looked around for a place to hide, but before she could move, the door opened and Darla stuck her head inside.

“Raine, you in here?”

Raine slumped against the desk. They were both going to be the death of her! “Yes, I'm here.” Dillon looked at her as if to say she wasn't the only one.

“I was coming down the hall and I thought I heard voices. These halls echo.”

“It's a good thing it was you and not someone else,” Raine voiced her thoughts.

“Justin is going through a stack of papers two inches thick so he'll be busy for a while. No chance of you getting caught.” She held up a radio. “And I have my portable. I told the little twerp if he so much as touched the button on the mike I'd cut off his ears.” She chuckled, then quickly sobered. “I wouldn't cut off his ears. He's kind of cute. Kid brother cute,” she amended. “Not boyfriend cute.”

“I knew what you meant.”

“She's funny,” Dillon said.

“Be quiet,” Raine said.

“I promise no one will hear us talking,” Darla said again.

Raine couldn't explain she was talking to Dillon and not her. Darla would think she was shy a few brain cells.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Darla asked.

“We… I mean, yes, I did.”

“You don't look happy.”

“I'm relieved,” she said, and she was.

Darla's portable crackled.

“
Go
to
channel
two, Darla.”
Ethan's voice was brisk.

Darla frowned. “Something must have happened. Why else would he tell me to go to the scrambled channel?” She turned the dial until a red two lit up. “I'm here. Do you need something?”

“Just checking something out at the salvage yard. I thought I saw a light. I didn't want to broadcast my whereabouts in case it's not a false alarm,” Ethan said, sounding a little too casual in Raine's opinion.

Darla keyed the mike. “Should I send backup?”

There was a pause, then her radio crackled again.

“I'm here with him, Darla,” Leo said.

Her gut told her there was something going down. Why else would they be together? It was all too suspicious.

“I'd better get back to dispatch,” she said, looking at Raine. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I'll let myself out.”

They hurried down the hall then split at the end. As soon as Raine was out the door, she headed straight for Old Red.