Just a Memory (4 page)

"I'll be going, too," he said, pulling on his trench coat. "One more thing, Carolyn..."

She liked the way
Carolyn
sounded when he said it. "Yes?"

He grinned. "My name. It's Mac. That's what people call me, I mean."

"Nice to meet you, Mac." She smiled even though her stomach wasn't behaving. It fluttered despite her hands flattening on it with an unspoken command to settle down. "I hope you'll like living in Lakehaven."

"Things are looking up," Mac responded with a grin. "But the rain will take some getting used to."

"Yes, I know what you mean. Just wait until winter settles in. We get a lot of lake-effect snow, too. Do you like to shovel?"

He rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically. She liked his sense of humor.

"Thanks for coming here this morning, Mac. It's nice to know we have a new Chief of Police who cares."

"Acting Chief," he corrected. "The Lakehaven Council still has to decide what to do to fill the position permanently. In the meantime, Hines–he's the officer who was here earlier–and I are sort of on loan to them."

Carolyn frowned. She wondered what he'd meant by 'on loan'. Didn't they usually give candidates an Acting Chief opportunity to try them out before offering the position of Chief of Police permanently? However, she knew very little about police department procedures.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you decide you want some help cleaning up," Mac volunteered.

"Call you?"

Totally surprised by his sincere sounding offer, Carolyn honestly couldn't figure out why the Chief of Police, Acting or not, would tell her to call him for help. She would never consider imposing on him, especially for something so mundane as cleaning.

"Thanks," she answered weakly, her face warm. She looked down, hoping to hide her reaction. That was when she noticed the old Christmas smock she still wore, and almost groaned out loud. She wondered what kind of woman he thought she was: fighting him like a lunatic, blushing like a teenager, and dressed for Christmas when it was weeks until Thanksgiving.

Figuring she would never talk with him other than in a professional capacity, she closed the door behind him without a word explaining her holiday smock. She'd never had any trouble before that required the police, and she couldn't imagine it ever happening again. Not twice in Lakehaven, surely.

As she continued putting the costumes back in order, Carolyn was amazed that the pad of paper she had ready to list stolen inventory remained blank. If nothing was stolen, then this had to be vandalism, pure and simple. Somehow that bothered her more than the thought of someone breaking in to steal from her.

By mid-afternoon Charlie had kept his word and hung the already painted new door. He transferred the back entrance sign, identifying the store, from the old door and even helped her replace the glass front in the showcase. He'd brought a large pane of glass with him rather than have Carolyn wait until the next morning for a glass company to come. Charlie was pushing seventy, but he was a ball of fire when it came to getting things done for her.

After he left, Carolyn decided to work right through the dinner hour to replace all the merchandise in the repaired showcase now that she'd finished vacuuming out the glass shards. First, though, she phoned to say hi to Terri who was happily playing with Christie. She spoke to Judy briefly, too, and explained what Hines and Mac had said about the break-in.

She didn't dare say anything about what Mac looked like. Judy would start hinting that she should ask Mac out or something equally as impossible just because he was tall, dark, and handsome. Judy needed no encouragement in that area.

After the call she turned up the classical music again to chase away the uneasiness she felt returning. For the first time, being in the shop alone after dark sent tiny shivers of fear up and down her spine. She inhaled deeply and reminded herself that in the winter months it was always dark by closing time. She had to put up with it, but she didn't like it.

As she bent over her task of restocking the showcase, visions of Mac skipped–unbidden, but not exactly unwelcome–around her brain. Somehow just thinking about him brought her comfort.

Interesting woman, Mac concluded, as he walked back to his car. Strong, a fighter, and smart. She was lovely, but she didn't seem very interested in having him around. She still wore her wedding ring, he'd noticed, so she probably wasn't ready yet to let go of the past. Mac frowned when he realized he didn't like that for some reason.

She probably didn't date cops, either. Maybe she didn't even like them. Not many people did, even when they needed one. He hit the steering wheel with his fist. Hell, he'd been away from women too long if Carolyn Blake could affect him like this when he'd only just met her.

Women and your job don't mix, so make up your mind,
he ordered himself as he had many times during his career.
A woman or your job. One or the other.

He'd always chosen the job. It was important to him. So all he should be thinking about now was the crime committed at that shop over the weekend. He was in no position to be imagining how soft Carolyn's hair might feel...

No way. No how.

Mac drove straight from The Costume Nook to the police station. Talking to Hines would be better than trying to figure out what was happening to him. His life had taken so many sudden turns lately.

After Lakehaven's former Chief of Police had a near-fatal heart attack, forcing his retirement, Mac's boss had asked if he would fill in temporarily. When Mac agreed, he'd also assigned Hines to Lakehaven duty for as long as Mac was there.

"The town council will eventually appoint a permanent chief. For now the job is just what you need to stay active," his boss had reasoned. "You can take it easy on that shoulder for a while longer so it heals properly."

Mac took the job because he would rather be Acting Chief in sleepy rural Lakehaven than sitting and staring at the walls of his old apartment in
Albany
, on medical leave with nothing to do. So he'd given up the apartment, put his furniture in storage, and come to Lakehaven.

So far the temporary job had been uneventful. Apparently not anymore. Carolyn said everyone knew everyone else by their first names here. Did they also know they had a burglar or a vandal in their midst?

Carolyn's image reappeared in his thoughts. Who could be angry enough at the pretty Widow Blake to hit her store? The idea that someone would hurt her made Mac angry and that wasn't good. He'd vowed he wouldn't let any woman affect him personally ever again.

One of the town's two cars with LAKEHAVEN POLICE painted on the side doors was in the department lot when Mac drove up. He walked past it to the station door and wondered if Hines was getting used to driving a cruiser instead of the beat-up nondescript vehicles they used on undercover stakeouts.

Through the station's glass doors, Mac saw Hines studying a map with Ellie. Mac had already noticed how she paid great attention to detail. He had the distinct feeling the former Chief had sorely underutilized her talents.
His loss,
Mac concluded easily.

Hines watched over her shoulder as Ellie pointed to something on the map covering her desk. The entrance door whooshed open announcing Mac's arrival and Ellie jumped up to stand at attention. She inadvertently rammed her chair back squarely into Hines's midsection. He doubled over, bringing his chin in line with her rising shoulder. The quick hard contact as she rose snapped his head back and momentarily knocked him off balance.

"Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry," Ellie said as she spun around to face Hines. "Are you okay?"

Hines recovered his stance easily enough, but rubbing his chin he glared at her. "You got it in for me or something?"

She looked from Hines to Mac and her olive cheeks appeared rosy. "I'm really sorry," she repeated nervously.

"Nice one-two, Ellie," Mac said, doing his best to repress a laugh.

"Damn lucky I haven't got a glass chin," Hines groused with a glance at Ellie who was wringing her hands and chewing her lower lip.

"As soon as you're finished injuring Ellie's shoulder, Hines, I'd like to see what's new on the costume shop break-in," Mac announced as he passed her desk. "And Ellie, you've got to stop snapping to attention every time I come in, even though the former Chief made you do it."

Ellie replied with a weak, "Yes, sir."

Hines stopped working his jaw from side to side long enough to say something to Ellie in low tones, and then he followed Mac into his office.

Mac hooked his wet coat on the rack and the two men relaxed in chairs on either side of the desk. Hines crossed his jeans-clad legs and rested an ankle on the opposite knee.

"I see you didn't waste any time getting out of your uniform," Mac said.

Hines shuddered with exaggerated motions. "Don't remind me of that thing. Maybe I can get the Health Department to declare it a health hazard."

Mac raised his chin and sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything. What did you do with it?"

"The storeroom. I figured even the smell of cleaning supplies on it must be better than the wet wool smell. What do you think?"

"Probably right," Mac agreed with a laugh. "You know, we could still order the new ones that won't smell."

"We're not gonna be here long enough. Waste of money." Hines pulled out his notebook. "We haven't found out much more about the break-in," he continued, getting down to business. He rose and stuck a pin in the large wall map of Lakehaven to mark the location. "If you ask me, there were other stores on the block that would have been easier to break into than the one the perp chose. Ones where he'd have a better take, too. Hell, what dummy would want costumes ten days
after
Halloween?"

Mac stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Whoever broke in was strong enough to smash in the door with one blow. There were no other marks."

"The door wasn't all that strong, but he didn't seem to mind making noise smashing it. Somebody should have heard it."

"Why'd he pick that particular store?" Mac felt uneasy that someone had targeted Carolyn's business. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"And why wasn't he spotted?" Hines added. "There are other store entrances in that alley, and several apartments above those stores. It's like he was invisible."

"Check out all the usual angles, like insurance, anyone fired recently, you know. Oh, and find out all you can about whoever owns the building. A Mr. White of White Properties."

"Got it. Could be White is going for the insurance to cover the repairs or improvements he doesn't want to pay for," Hines suggested.

"He sure wouldn't be the first. Maybe in a town this size, he thinks he'll be able to get away with it. If that's the case, we'll set him straight."

"Damn straight. We can't let that happen as long as we're on duty," Hines said, joking as he strode to the office door. He swung around and gave Mac an exaggerated salute. "Why, if I'd given out a jaywalking ticket today, we would have a crime spree!"

Mac laughed. "And we certainly can't have that." He leaned forward, his elbows on his desk pad. "Say, by the way, there's one thing you forgot this morning, buddy."

"Huh?" Hines released his grip on the doorknob and turned back to face Mac. "What did I forget, man?"

"Forget?" Mac rubbed his chin pensively. "Maybe
forget
is the wrong word," he said softly. He rose and walked around the desk, slipping his hands into his pants pockets. A foot from Hines, he leaned close and asked, "Why the
hell
didn't you tell me the shop owner just happened to be a beautiful widow?" Mac straightened and held his hand up palm out like a crossing guard before Hines could respond with more than a grin. "And don't tell me you didn't think it was important."