How to Land Her Lawman (10 page)

Will nodded, then sipped his coffee. “Everything quiet at the campground out by the lake?”

During the summer there'd been a number of noise complaints. It was inevitable what with the campers living in close quarters. Usually too much alcohol was involved. But he'd instituted regular patrols because there was something sobering about a black-and-white sighting.

“Haven't had any calls, although it's still early,” Clarice said. “But I think the drive-throughs make people stop and think. So far this summer the number of complaints from out there are down.”

“Good.” He looked at Eddie. “So when you're finished at the Harris place you'll swing by the campground?”

“Sure thing.”

“Okay. Then I'll go catch up on paperwork—”

The ringing phone interrupted and Clarice answered. “Blackwater Lake Sheriff's Office, Clarice speaking. How can I help you?” She listened for several moments and the expression on her face changed from carefree to concerned. “How long since anyone has seen her? How old is she?” She jotted some notes then said, “I'll send someone right over.”

“What's wrong?” Will asked.

“That was Mimi from the front desk at Blackwater Lake Lodge. There's a kid missing. Six-year-old girl. Been about an hour and a half since her parents saw her.”

“Do you want me to go to the lodge first, Sheriff?” Eddie asked.

“No. I'll go.” He set his half-empty mug down on Clarice's desk. “By the time I get there she'll probably turn up.”

But when he got there, she still hadn't been found. Will interviewed the parents and each thought she'd been with the other. He believed them. Another thorough search of the property under his supervision was conducted without success.

Then he considered his options as a law-enforcement officer. This wasn't a custody dispute situation and after interviewing the staff there was no evidence of anyone or anything suspicious. That meant he couldn't make a case that the little girl was in imminent danger, which would meet the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert.

For now he would keep the search confined to the town of Blackwater Lake and the immediate area surrounding it. The parents had a recent picture of the little girl, Riley Shelton, and a description of the clothes she was wearing when last seen. Will assured them that everything possible would be done to locate their daughter. He didn't use the word promise because a long time ago he'd learned that too many things were out of his control and he wouldn't give them false hope.

When he returned to the office, Clarice took the picture and description to April so she could scan it and make up fliers to distribute around town. Will made phone calls and organized volunteers to search.

Fifteen minutes after that call his father walked into the office. “Hey, Will.”

“What are you doing here, Dad?”

“Cabot Dixon called me and said there's a little girl missing up at the lodge.”

“Yeah.” Things sure didn't move that fast in Chicago.

“I'm here because you need all hands on deck. I'm on medical leave, not an invalid.”

Will nodded. “Glad to have you on this.”

After that, men, women, teenagers, anyone who could showed up at the office. Will organized them into groups of two and three. He had maps of the surrounding area broken up into grids and assigned one to each group. Clarice made sure each one had a cell phone and water.

The office door opened and April came in with a stack of papers and put them on the dispatcher's desk. “Here are the fliers.”

Will picked one up and looked at the blue-eyed, blonde, freckle-faced little girl last seen wearing denim shorts and a lavender T-shirt with two characters from the movie
Frozen
on the front. “These are great.”

“I already put one up in the window of my shop. Is there anything else I can do?” she asked.

He looked around the room, which was now nearly filled with volunteers who were grabbing up the fliers. “I'm going to assign one of the volunteers to take some of these and distribute them to the business owners around town. Then I'll head out and keep looking. I think we've got it covered for now.”

“Those poor parents must be frantic with worry.”

“Yeah.” Will had seen that look too many times. Chicago or Blackwater Lake, it didn't matter. The fear was the same. But he would rather see that than grief and despair if they didn't locate this child.

Her eyes were full of concern. “I can't even imagine how they feel.”

“I know.”

“You'll find that little girl. I'm sure of it.” She put a hand on his arm.

The warmth of her fingers felt good, reassuring, but he wasn't so sure about the success of this operation. Where he worked, too many kids didn't get a break. It was hard not to think the worst.

“We'll do our best,” he said.

She nodded. “I'm thinking good thoughts.”

“Okay. Thanks.” He took a flier. “I have to brief the volunteers before they head out, then get to my search area.”

“Good luck.” She gave him a reassuring smile, then left the office.

Will stood by the dispatcher's desk and looked around the nearly filled-to-capacity room. “I need everyone's attention.”

Almost instantly chatter stopped and you could have heard a pin drop. “You all have your assignments. I need you to call in every hour whether you have news or not. Clarice will be here coordinating communication. Everyone stay together. We don't want anyone else lost out there.”

“What if we find her?” one of the teenage girls asked.

“Call into the office and let Clarice know your position. She'll dispatch emergency personnel to you.” He looked around again. “Any other questions?” When everyone shook their heads he said, “Thank you all for your help. Now, let's get out there and find Riley.”

Will headed back out to the lodge and one more time searched the grounds immediately around the building, then expanded his perimeter, driving slowly. She was so little, he thought, and could be almost anywhere. He was alert to any flash of color and fervently wished she'd put on something that morning the color of the vests that construction and road employees wore to be visible.

He parked the SUV at the lodge and followed the paths on the grounds, trying to guess which way a curious six-year-old would go. What would attract her attention?

Just beyond the lodge property trails there was a clearing in the dense trees and underbrush. From here you could see some of the tallest mountains in Montana, where the very top had snow all year round. Will remembered Riley's mom telling him what she was wearing that morning, nerves compelling her to add that the characters were sisters from her favorite movie. One of them froze everything and went to the snowy mountains in order not to hurt anyone.

What if...

After calling dispatch to check in with Clarice and give her his position, he started walking toward the mountain. The trees quickly closed in and a child could easily become disoriented. Will had hiked and camped in here with his dad and knew the area well.

Every ten minutes he stopped and called out. “Riley? I'm a police officer. Can you hear me?” Then he'd carefully listen for a response.

For about an hour he kept at it, then checked in with the office for an update. Clarice had no news and the bad feeling that he always carried around with him got a little bit worse. That drove him on.

“Riley?” He listened. “It's Sheriff Fletcher. Can you hear me?” He stopped talking and listened again. There was a noise off to his right that didn't belong in the woods. He moved slowly in that direction. “Riley? I'm here to help you.”

He heard the sound again. It was like whimpering, and exhilaration pumped his adrenaline. “Riley, honey, make some noise. Let me know where you are. I want to take you back to your mom and dad.”

“Over here.”

The words were faint and Will had trouble judging the direction. “Louder, honey. Shake the bushes so I can see where you are.”

He heard her and moved steadily toward the sound. Finally he saw a flash of lavender and blond hair through the trees. Thank God. She was shaking a blackberry bush for all she was worth.

He moved beside her and went down on one knee. “Hey, Riley. My name is Will. Good job with that bush and helping me find you.”

“I'm scared.” Her mouth trembled.

“I bet you are. Don't worry. I'm here to help you.” He gave her a quick once-over. “Are you hurt?”

“A little.” She pointed to scratches on her shins. There were some on her face, too, along with streaks where tears had tracked through the dirt. “I want my mommy.”

“You got it, kiddo. But first, are you thirsty?”

“And hungry.”

“I don't have food, but you'll be back at the lodge pretty soon and we'll get you something to eat. Here's some water.” He took an unopened water bottle from the holder at his waist. When she'd had enough, she handed it back. He smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. “I like your shirt.”

She nodded and looked down at her front, pointing to the blonde character wearing a long sparkly turquoise dress. “That's Elsa. She made everything frozen and thought she hurt her sister, Anna, so she went to the mountains where she couldn't hurt anyone ever again.”

“Is that what you were doing when you wandered away? Trying to get to the snow on the mountain?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “I hurt my brother, then I felt bad. I didn't think it was far, but then I walked and walked. My legs are really tired.”

“Do you want to ride on my shoulders?” he asked.

She nodded. “I really want my mom.”

“Roger that.”

He called Clarice and instructed her to notify the parents that he was bringing Riley back to the lodge. Then he wanted her to notify fire department search and rescue and have them standing by to check her out, although she seemed to be in good condition. After that she should call the volunteers back in and cancel the missing child alert.

After finishing his orders and hanging up, he held out his arms. “Come on. I'll give you a lift.”

The walk back, even with the little girl on his shoulders, was completed in half the time. As he approached, he noticed a crowd gathered on the lodge's rear lawn. The group included the Sheltons, the hotel's general manager, some of the volunteers including his dad and a photographer from the
Blackwater Lake Gazette.

Will handed Riley into her mother's waiting arms and her father shook his hand. When that wasn't enough thanks for bringing his child back safely, the man bro-hugged him. Really, no words needed to be spoken; the expression in their eyes said how grateful they were to him for bringing their child back safe and sound.

It felt good, really good, to get a positive outcome. In Chicago detectives were called in when someone broke the law. At that point there was no prevention and all he could do was try and find justice. Nothing wrong with that, but today it didn't compare to what he was feeling. It had been a very long time since he'd experienced this kind of job satisfaction.

He didn't know what it meant and deliberately refused to analyze the feeling too closely, but all he could think about was talking to April. He wanted to tell her about his really good, totally awesome day, share the excitement with her.

The way he used to.

Chapter Ten

A
pril got home from work later than usual. It had been an exciting day, in the best possible way. Crisis averted and all was well in Blackwater Lake.

After changing out of her work jeans, putting on pink shorts and a white spaghetti-strapped top, she walked barefoot to the kitchen. “Now my biggest problem is what to have for dinner,” she said to herself.

She opened the refrigerator, hoping to find something for a meal, which would, in fact, be a miracle since she hadn't bought groceries in a while. Or maybe the food elves had provided provisions, but no such luck. There was some celery in the crisper along with nasty-looking lettuce, fuzzy tomatoes and a shriveled-up cucumber. That eliminated salad as a possibility. But she did have a half dozen eggs, some mushrooms and cheese that could be rescued.

The freezer wasn't very bountiful. Just vegetables that were more ice than anything else. A container of ice cream with about two tablespoons left and a bag of frozen peas she kept for muscle aches after a run.

She had two choices besides going to the grocery store, which wouldn't happen tonight. One—a trip to the Fletchers where she might throw herself on their mercy. Two—dry cereal because there was no milk. Will was probably at home, which was both good and bad news for the same reason.

She wanted to see him, but getting too attached was a bad idea. For her own good she was confined to quarters and needed to fend for herself.

“I guess it's dry cereal.” She sighed and went to the pantry, pulling out the box of Cheerios. “Mental note—tomorrow grocery shopping.”

She opened the top flaps of the box and unrolled the plastic inner bag, then grabbed a handful of toasted oats in the shape of an
O
. There was a knock on the kitchen's sliding glass door and she looked over. Will was standing there. The rush of pleasure she felt at the sight of him put a hitch in her breathing that nearly made her choke on the cereal. It was a really good idea to keep her distance, but she didn't have the willpower to send him away.

Spineless? She preferred to think of it as being neighborly.

Box in hand, she walked over to the door and unlocked it, then slid it open. He had a brown bag in his hands with the logo of the Harvest Café.

“Hi.” She smiled and knew that the joy of it came from deep inside. “This is getting to be a habit.”

Not necessarily a good one. It would be too easy to get used to seeing him every day.

“What is?”

“You coming to my back door with food to rescue me from starvation.”

“And not a moment too soon,” he said, eyeing the big yellow box in her hands.

“I love it for breakfast. And yeah, I know it's dinner time, but it's good now, too,” she said. “Come in. If you're up for it, one thing I do have is a bottle of wine.”

“Your survival instincts are something to behold,” he teased.

“It's about priorities.” She pulled two stemless wineglasses from the upper cupboard and an unopened bottle of Cabernet out of the pantry. “Wine comes from grapes, so you've got your fruit. It pairs with anything, including cereal.”

“It does if you're not particularly fussy,” he pointed out. “And apparently you're not.”

“Nope.” April grinned happily, already drunk on just the sight of Will Fletcher. It was really good to see him and she couldn't find the energy to remind herself why it was a bad idea to be this happy. “And think of it this way. If there's an alien invasion or some other sort of crisis, after a glass of Cabernet I really wouldn't care.”

“You'll get no argument from me.” He set the brown bag on the island and pulled out several cardboard to-go boxes.

“What have we got here?” She opened the containers and found meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, Caesar salad and chocolate cake. Her mouth started to water. Then she looked at the smile on his face and her heart melted. “This is hands down my favorite thing from the café. How did you know?”

“I walked in and asked for two meals to go. Lucy Bishop, one of the owners of the place, wanted to know who the second one was for. When I mentioned your name, she told me what your favorite meal is.”

“So she knows you're bringing me dinner. I guess you and I aren't a secret around town?”

“Good guess.” He opened the bottle of wine with her electric opener. “Clarice mentioned us being at Bar None with Kim and Luke. So, all evidence points to the word being out.”

People in this town tended to become invested in the current community romance. They were going to be bummed when April broke up with Will. But that was a problem for another day. They still had some summer left.

“I'll set the table while you supervise the wine breathing,” she said.

“Okay.”

Five minutes later they were sitting across from each other at her kitchen table with full plates and wine.

April took a bite of the meat loaf and sighed with enjoyment. “My taste buds are doing the dance of joy thanks to you. This is the second time today that you're a hero.”

“That seems a little overstated. All I did was walk in the diner, order and pay. It really was nothing.” He shrugged, a no-big-deal gesture.

“Modesty.” She sighed at the creamy taste of the mashed potatoes. “It's the hallmark of a hero.”

“That's the thing. I'm not a hero.”

“There you go again.” She pointed her fork at him. “What do you call finding that little girl, carrying her for miles out of the woods and back to her family?”

“My job.”

“Modesty,” she said again. “On the local news they're calling you the hometown hero. Must feel pretty awesome being the guy in the white hat.”

“All I did was act on a hunch.” He lifted one shoulder. “I got lucky.”

“I think it was more than that, and finding her unharmed must have felt great.”

He looked thoughtful for several moments. “You know what feels good?”

Memories of the two of them in her bed came to mind, but she knew that was not what he meant. “Tell me.”

“There was a positive outcome today.”

“Isn't that what I just said? You found that little girl and brought her home.” She sipped her wine.

“It's more than that.” There was an expression on his face that was boyish and carefree. “The community came together. People dropped what they were doing to assist in the effort to find a missing girl.”

Holding her wineglass in both hands, she watched him as different looks moved across his handsome features. “It's just how folks in Blackwater Lake roll.”

“I know, at least on some level. But it's been a while since I experienced that small-town spirit for myself. That sense of pulling together. In Chicago it so often feels like us against them.”

“Must be hard.”

“It is sometimes. I'm part of a team that investigates, builds a case of evidence that may or may not go to trial. That's up to the city attorney.”

“So it can happen that you put in hours of work without any charges being brought?”

“Yeah. The end result is taken out of our hands.” He looked at her for several moments, then continued eating.

“I bet that's frustrating.”

Her mind was racing as she dug into her food. She wanted so badly to ask whether or not he was happy where he was. Every job had its pros and cons, and she didn't want to hear him say that being a detective for CPD was everything he'd ever dreamed it would be.

She finished the last bite of meat loaf and put her fork down. “How about you just focus on the positive. Today you got the
W
.”

“A win.” He pushed his empty plate away. “The sheriff's office took the call, mobilized the community, handled the search. From beginning to end we ran the show and it felt good to see the operation through to a positive conclusion.”

April held out her glass. “To happy endings.”

“I'll drink to that.” There was a crystal, bell-like sound when he tapped the rim of his glass to hers. “Everyone who took part is a hero. You for doing the fliers with Riley's photo. Clarice for sitting in the office taking calls, coordinating information. My dad for leading his group. And everyone else who showed up to walk an assigned grid and look for her.”

“You left out yourself for finding Riley.”

“I wouldn't have been able to look where I did if everyone else wasn't searching somewhere else.”

“That's true.” She decided his look of satisfaction would have to be enough. “It's really something to celebrate.”

“It's more than that. I really wanted to share the good news with you. For old time's sake.”

April watched a smile turn up the corners of his mouth. She'd seen him do that more than once since he'd come back to town, but this time she saw genuine pleasure and it actually reached his eyes. He looked younger, as if the problems of the world had lifted from his shoulders. For the first time since he'd started his temporary duty in Blackwater Lake she saw the old Will. The man she'd fallen in love with.

“I'm glad you came over.” She was feeling so much more than that but didn't have the words to tell him. Instead she stood and walked around the table, then held out her hand to him. “How do you feel about taking this celebration into the bedroom?”

Just like that his eyes went smoky and hot. He took her fingers in his and slowly got to his feet. “That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day.”

Side by side they walked down the hall. She looked up at him. “Would you do me a favor?”

“If I can.”

“Would you wear your white hat?”

He grinned. “If I had one I'd be glad to.”

“Can we pretend?” she asked.

“Anything you want.”

Will took her in his arms and kissed her until she could hardly breathe. They
celebrated
more than once and this time he didn't get up and sneak back to his house.

He spent the night in her bed, like he had before everything fell apart between them. Just like old times, he'd said.

Unfortunately that was a shadow hanging over her. He was like the old Will and could crush her heart for the second time.

* * *

April felt something move against her and opened one eye.

Will.

He was spread out all over the bed, which meant he probably wasn't used to sleeping with someone. That pleased her. More than she wanted it to. Waking up beside him and watching him sleep was pretty awesome, too. He was so handsome, so unguarded that it made her ache inside. She honestly couldn't believe that he was here. If she couldn't see, touch and taste him, she'd chalk this up to imagination.

“Are you staring at me?” His voice was hoarse and scratchy from sleep.

“Your eyes are closed,” she said. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I can feel you looking.” One eye opened just a little. “What's wrong?”

“I look hideous. Now that I know you're awake I'm just waiting for you to jump up and run screaming from the room.”

“You'll be waiting a long time. You look beautiful.”

“That's a lie.” She smiled. “But I'll take it.”

“If you knew what was good for you, you'd be the one running away from me.” The guarded look was back. “I'm no hero and you shouldn't look at me like I am.”

“Yes, sir.” She saluted. “And speaking of a run, I was planning one this morning.”

“I know.”

“How?” She sat up in the bed and clutched the sheet to her chest.

He grinned. “That's such a girl thing to do since I saw every beautiful, naked inch of you last night.”

Yes he had and the words made her smile. “How did you know I was going to run today?”

“You do every other day.” He sighed at her look. “My bedroom faces the alley.”

“So you spy on me?”

“I keep an eye on your house,” he clarified.

“Are you a stalker?”

“Maybe. But it takes one to know one.” He lifted one eyebrow and the expression was decidedly accusatory.

She got his drift. “So, you know that morning I ‘accidentally' ran into you it was actually deliberate.”

“It's pretty hard to get anything past me.”

“Because you're a hotshot detective. Yada yada.” She made a face at him. “You know, smugness is not a very attractive quality in a person. Decidedly not heroic. And you only pieced that together in hindsight because I told you the truth.”

“Maybe.” There was a gleam in his eyes when he started pulling on the sheet. “Or maybe I suspected from the beginning because you were nicer to me than I had any reason to expect.”

“Kind of like now,” she said, holding tight to the five-hundred-thread-count material covering her breasts.

“When do you have to open the shop?”

The soft, sexy, seductive tone in his voice had tension and heat coiling in her belly, making her thighs quiver. “Noon. This is my late day.” And a good thing, too, because she had a feeling this was going somewhere she wanted to follow. “When do you have to go into the sheriff's office?”

“I've got time.”

She relaxed her grip and let him pull the sheet away. “Okay, then.”

His eyes went dark with desire as he pulled her into his arms. “Your run will just have to wait.”

“Schedules were made to be flexible.”

April loved being loved by him and couldn't seem to get enough. Afterward he went back to his dad's house for a shower while she took one at hers. Barely forty-five minutes later he was back and had extra clothes in his hands.

“Mind if I leave these here?” he asked. “I still need a sanctuary from wacky wedding stuff.”

“Kim's not really that bad, is she?”

“You saw the meltdown,” he reminded her. “She's normally levelheaded, but when a wedding is involved apparently a woman becomes schizophrenic.”