Genesis: A Harte's Peak Prequel (2 page)

A few words indicating that he lived next door should send the kid running and that would be the end of it. He'd go inside, grab a soda, and stare at the empty walls, maybe watch the game until it was time for his next shift. The work was what he lived for nowadays. It kept him grounded, rooted. As long as he had work, he had a reason to stay alive.

He approached the house with slow, sure steps and watched the kid hang one leg over the windowsill, oblivious to his approach. Not exactly a professional. This might be the kid's first foray into stealing.

“Can I help you?” he asked the kid in his deepest and loudest tone.

The kid startled, and when she turned her face to him, he realized it was a teenaged girl. She squealed her surprise, lost her balance, and promptly fell inside through the window.

Super. Officially breaking and entering—or more like breaking and falling. He edged to the window, looked down at the display, and assessed that she wasn't hurt. He didn't see any bleeding or scratches, but she lay splayed across the floor in a heap, her dark brown hair forming a cloud around her head.

“Are you OK, kid?” He pushed down the panic in his voice.
Please
.
No more kids hurt on my watch.

“I'm fine! And I didn't do anything wrong.” She pushed hair out of her equally dark brown eyes. Raised her chin, defiant. Nice. So it was his fault he'd caught her in the act.

“Except breaking and entering.” He took a deep breath in and let it out.

“What did you say?” The kid seemed confused. Maybe she had a concussion.

“Get up. I'll take you to the station, and we can call your parents.” The last thing he wanted to do was be responsible for this kid, but she'd committed a crime right in front of his eyes, and he couldn't let her go now. Knowing Sheriff Calhoun and his bleeding heart ways, he'd probably just give the girl a stern lecture.

“My parents? Why? Are you nuts?”

“No, but maybe you are. Then again, you probably didn't realize a cop lives in this neighborhood. You picked the wrong house, kid.” His voice sounded strained in his ears. The breathing exercises weren't working. Again. He just wanted to get away from here and go back in his house where he could breathe. Why did this kid have to pick his neighborhood?

“I live here, you nerd.” She almost spat the words out, scrambling to her feet.

He was supposed to believe that. “The front door is a better place to come in if you live here. And you can come out the front door now. I'm guessing the owners aren't home.”

“You don't believe me. Gee, what a shock.”

“Why should I?” In his experience, best relegated to the deep recesses of his mind, kids rarely told the truth. He used to believe them as much as he believed anyone else, until he'd been burned.

“I can call my mother. She'll tell you.” Her defiance continued, unabated. This kid was a piece of work.

“You better do that.” He would have to talk to the kid's mother anyway. Might as well have her come to him, and then they could all three drive to the station. He'd let Calhoun decide what to do with the kid.

The girl reached inside her jeans pocket for a cell phone. He watched as she pushed buttons and sighed with exasperation.

“No luck?”

“She never remembers to turn her phone off silent.”

Jack shrugged. He'd bet this kid had a million excuses, and maybe there was no mother coming at all.

 

****

 

One year ago, Maggie Bradshaw could only operate her own coffeemaker, but now she churned out one drink after another. Espressos, lattés, and chai to plain drip, and she had the recipes memorized. Not that she poured coffee from a pot often, but when she had an order like that, she stopped for a moment and took a deep breath.

Her favorites were the iced drinks, and during afternoon lulls she experimented with flavors and mixes. Vera Carrington, her boss and the owner of The Bean, loved Maggie's creativity and even encouraged it. She even named one of the drinks that Maggie had concocted after her: Maggie's Marvelous Mysterious Mocha. It contained the secret ingredients—specialty chocolate mixed with just a hint of cherry.

“Taste this.” Maggie handed Vera a small sample of her newest blend, a mixture of coconut and hazelnut.

Vera stopped sweeping the floor. “Yum, you've done it again. Put that one on the menu, too.”

“It's not quite ready. There's something missing, but I'll figure it out. I just need to play around some more with the flavors.”

The doorbell dinged announcing a new customer had walked in.

“Well, not now. Lover Boy is here again and there's no way I'm dealing with him today.” Vera turned her back.

Ryan Colton was by far Harte's Peak most eligible bachelor, and one of Vera's biggest fans. On the other hand, also a big fan of every woman. And with his rugged good looks, it was no wonder most women were part of the I Want to Date Ryan Fan Club. Not Vera, though. A mystery Maggie could still not crack.

“The usual, Ryan?” Maggie made preparations for a double espresso.

“Please don't tell me I'm that predictable, or I'll have to change my order,” Ryan said as he fiddled with the straws and seemed to ignore Vera.

Vera did a good job of ignoring him as well, staying near the back. They'd nearly made ignoring each other a spectator sport.

Vera, whose dating life was practically a
Who's Who
in Harte's County, had somehow decided that Ryan was off limits to her. Go figure.

“Here you go, Ryan.” She slid him the espresso with a tentative smile. She didn't like playing this silly game. These two needed to realize they were crazy about each other and get over it.

“Are you girls obeying the speed limit like you promised you would?” Ryan asked with a boyish smile.

Maggie noticed that Vera threw him a look but didn't respond. They both knew he meant Vera, who accumulated a speeding ticket every other week.

“Obeying the speed limit is what I do.” Maggie put a hand to her chest. “And I'm good at it.”

“You make my day,” Ryan said.

The phone rang, and Vera rushed to get it. “Maggie, get over here,” she called out.

But the phone couldn't possibly be for her. Lexi always called the cellphone, and who else could it be? Strolling toward the back where the phone was located, Maggie smiled. “Finally ready to talk to him?”

“I'm serious. It's Lexi, and she sounds upset.” Vera handed her the phone. Maggie fished inside her apron for the cellphone she kept near for emergencies. There were three missed calls on it from Lexi. Maggie had forgotten to
take the phone off silent. Again.

“Mom, some stupid cop wants to arrest me.” Lexi's voice sounded small and tiny over the phone.

“What? Where are you?”

“I'm at home. Only he doesn't believe me.”

A number of questions popped in Maggie's head, like why Lexi hadn't walked to the café after school as she usually did, but there would be time for that later. “I'll be right there.”

Maggie hung up the phone, and grabbed her purse and keys. “Vera, I have to go. Lexi is—”

“Go! Tell me about it later.”

Maggie ran past Ryan, hopped in her vehicle, and prayed it would start on the first try this time. She had to get home immediately, because there obviously had to be some mistake. Of course, she would just straighten this out, and they would laugh about it later. For all the trouble she'd caused in the past year, Lexi had never become acquainted with law enforcement.

What could she have done at their own home to cause the police to come after her?

Please, God. I need You now. It's just You and me. Why is this happening?

Maybe she really wasn't cut out to be a mother because the evidence so far was that she had failed.

Since their move to Harte's Peak, Lexi's behavior had gone from bad to worse, with rolling eyes and loud sighs a new way of communication. Just last week her algebra teacher caught her cheating on a test. The two of them should be able to get through this difficult time. Lexi was hurting and acting out. Maggie knew that, but she had no idea how to help her.

Lexi had pulled away from ‘those church kids,' as she called them, as if she knew she didn't belong. It was a constant struggle every Sunday to get her out the door and to church on time, and any attempt at affection toward Lexi left Maggie feeling like she'd hugged a cactus.

If only Matt were here. He'd know what to do. But Matt was never coming home again, and they'd both have to get used to that.

 

 

 

 

2

 

According to his watch, Jack had waited five minutes, which his constricted chest made seem more like five hours, when a silver SUV peeled into the driveway and a petite woman emerged, panic etched on every angle of her porcelain-like face. Long, wild strawberry blonde hair fell in waves around her face, and her eyes were the color of the pine trees that covered the mountains of Harte's Peak. He'd heard the kid tell her mother to come without giving her any directions, so this appeared to be a huge misunderstanding.

“What happened?” The woman asked and jarred him out of his daydream.

“Is this your daughter?” He pointed to the kid, who now sat on the porch with anger blazing in her eyes.

“Yes, this is my daughter Lexi. I'm Maggie Bradshaw. What on earth happened?” She was out of breath.

Jack had scared her for no good reason. “Officer Jack Butler. There's been a mistake. I saw your daughter climbing through the front window, and I assumed she was breaking and entering.” He couldn't shake the feeling that he was almost as relieved as she was that it was all a big mistake.

“You know you're supposed to meet me at the cafe after school.” Maggie glanced at her daughter.

“I'm tired of being treated like a baby. I want to come home and do my homework, not sit at the cafe so you can keep your eye on me. If you would leave me a key, this wouldn't have happened.” The kid pouted.

“I'm so sorry, Officer. It won't happen again,” Maggie said.

“I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions but…” He felt like an idiot, but he was doing his job. He wasn't a mind reader, and he hadn't exactly been at the top of his game. No, not for some time.

“That's right!” Lexi interrupted.

“Lexi, he was just trying to help.” Maggie defended him, and his mind briefly flashed back to Virginia and the parent of another teen. If that parent had helped law enforcement, her kid would be fine today.
Stop it, Butler. It's your fault. Don't blame anyone else.

“Well, now will you leave me a key so I can stop looking like a criminal?” Lexi stood and put her hands on her hips.

“You and I will talk about that. Later.” Maggie shot her daughter a pleading look and then turned her attention back to him. “Thanks for watching over our neighborhood. You never know. It could have been a real burglar.”

Exactly.
“I live two doors down.” He hooked his thumb in the direction of his house.

He didn't know why he thought it was important that she realize that. He usually liked to keep a low profile and had managed to avoid his neighbors so far. Let someone know a cop lived next door and suddenly every minor neighborhood issue was a matter for law enforcement. But he also didn't want Maggie to think he randomly drove by neighborhoods mistakenly arresting people who were locked out of their homes.

“So you're the new neighbor. I've been meaning to come by and welcome you to the neighborhood. I've been busy.” Maggie smiled for the first time, the sweetness in her eyes mimicking the upward curve of her lips. He decided she should do that more often. Or maybe less, at least around him. The last thing he needed right now was to be distracted by a beautiful married woman. He'd surely rack up extra points in heaven for that one. Right.
Keep your eyes where they belong, Butler.

Of course, she would be busy with a kid like Lexi. Now he wondered about Mr. Bradshaw, not that it was any of his business. “I'm not home much. Work crazy shifts. But thanks.”

“Is it OK if I go inside my own house now?” Lexi's arms were crossed over her chest, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

For a second he thought smoke might come out of her nose.

Maggie nodded and the kid stomped inside but not before shooting another hateful glare in his direction.
Good job, Butler. Making friends again.

“I apologize for my daughter. She's thirteen going on thirty, and we've been butting heads lately.” She bit her lower lip.

He wasn't equipped to dispense advice on raising kids. “What does her dad say about it?”

Maggie blinked. “Oh, he—he's not around. But in answer to your question, he would probably not like this much at all.”

Jack would bet his life on it. “Again, I'm sorry if I upset you.”

“Please don't apologize. It's nice to know we have a deputy in the neighborhood.”

“I promise not to arrest either of you for locking yourselves out of the house.” It was an effort at lightheartedness that fell flat, though Maggie was too kind not to laugh.

“Believe me. It won't happen again.” Maggie nodded and put her hand on the door knob.

“Well if it does, you don't have to worry about me.” He would mind his own business from now on if it killed him, as long as no crimes were being committed. Trying to help a kid hadn't worked once before, and this sure wasn't working out too well now.

Although for once he wouldn't mind being a bit neighborly if Maggie were doing the asking.

As long as the requests had nothing to do with her daughter.

 

****

 

Maggie leaned against the front door and shut her eyes for a second, trying to get the image of her handsome neighbor out of her mind and pull it back to her wayward teen.