“To what end?”
“We don’t know yet. That’s why I’m lookin’ into this.” Simon gestured toward the wall of information. “We’ve got a long way to go, but honestly, I think this goes much deeper than it appears.”
Travis had a feeling he was going to say that.
Chapter Eighteen
Friday, September 16, 2022
Violet smiled into the darkness.
She’d been texting with Simon for the past hour, fighting the urge to invite him over. She wanted him there more than anything but was trying to play it cool. The wedding was tomorrow, so she would see him then. Plus, she’d already asked him to stay over after the wedding, which would have to be enough for her. Anything more and she risked getting too attached to the man who would be leaving town soon.
“Like I’m not already,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “Oh, man,” she sighed. “I’ve got it bad, guys.”
Harry and Hermione, sleeping at the foot of her bed, shifted. It was their way of telling her she was bothering them. She wasn’t too worried about disturbing them. Neither of them liked to sleep in her room, much less in her bed—they were far tooindependent for that—but they would chill for a bit before they sauntered off. She figured they sensed her sadness and were simply trying to provide comfort.
Not that she had any reason to be sad. Despite slowing things down, things were good between her and Simon. Better than good, really.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
Expecting a text, she was surprised when she saw it was a call coming from…
“Hello?” she answered, anxiety pitching her stomach in various directions.
“Violet, this is Sheriff Endsley.”
“What happened?” she asked, praying her mother and sisters were okay. God, please let them be—
“I need you to come down to the store,” he said.
She threw the blanket off and dropped her legs to the floor. “The store?”
“There’s been a break-in.”
Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. “I … I … uh … Okay.”
“Would you like me to send a car to pick you up?”
“What?” She shook her head, although he obviously couldn’t see her. “No. I’ll … I just need a couple of minutes.”
“All right.”
The call disconnected as she hopped out of bed and grabbed the jeans she’d been wearing earlier. Clumsily, she managed to get dressed as she clutched her phone in one hand, wonderingwhat she should tell Simon. She didn’t want him to think she was ignoring him, but if he texted her back…
That was when she realized he hadn’t texted her back yet. Maybe he wouldn’t, and she could run down to the store, see what happened, and get back before he did.
God, she was nervous. And maybe a little freaked out. Her store was broken into? What could they possibly have wanted? It was a bookstore, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t like she sold vintage or special edition copies.
Sighing, she shoved the thoughts out of her mind. Pretending she had no idea what someone would’ve wanted wouldn’t make this any easier.
“This isn’t your first rodeo,” she told herself as she pulled her hair up in a messy ponytail.
It wasn’t the first time someone had broken into the store. Two years ago, a bunch of kids had broken into all three businesses in her building. They’d stolen a few things from the hardware store but nothing of real value. They’d done more damage than anything, but that was what Violet had insurance for.
She slipped her feet into her shoes and grabbed her car key. She clutched it in her trembling hand and willed her nerves to quiet. She could handle this. As long as the building was still standing, it didn’t matter. Whatever they took could be replaced.
So why was her heart racing like she’d just lost everything?
