“My patience ran out a couple years ago. My sister has been hounded for too long.”
They continued walking, and he noticed she not only didn’t shrug away from his arm, but she also actually leaned into him a bit. She felt good in his embrace. She fit perfectly under his arm, and he reveled in the sensation of her body nestled close to his as they strolled down the sidewalk. She smelled fresh, like lemons and flowers.
“Do you think she knows about him? The girl who lives in that house?” He could hear the concern that trembled in her voice.
“Don’t know.”
“Did he meet her in town somehow or just camp out across from the school, watching the kids leave until he found someone who looked the most like Abby?”
“Don’t know.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze, wanting to comfort her. Now, she did shove away and, stopping, she faced him with a scowl.
“Whatdoyou know? Where’s the help you promised? I can follow Hamilton around and stew about him by myself.”
Without answering her directly but holding her gaze, Cal slid his cell phone from the clip at his hip. When the sheriff’s department dispatch answered, he identified himself and said, “Send a patrol car out to Oakmont Street. Have them cruise the street real slow a couple times. Make it a regular patrol, several times a day until further notice. Yeah, thanks.”
“Does that mean you changed your mind about picking him up for trespassing?” she asked.
“It means I want him to be real uncomfortable with hanging around watching her. As far as her knowing about him, I do think it is wise to alert her and her parents. We can get her softball schedule and have a plainclothes deputy at her games to keep an eye on things.”
She exhaled. “Good. So now what?” She glanced to the end of the block and then back in the direction they’d come. “Are we going to find a place to watch him?”
He shook his head. “We are going to get ice cream.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“If we linger around here, he’ll see us and get suspicious. We can follow him again when he returns to his car…which, as I recall, is parked at apartments across the street from Dairy Queen.” He offered her his crooked arm as if to escort her. “Shall we?”
The next afternoon, Jules left Bonnie in charge of the gift shop in order to follow Chase again…without Cal tagging along. This was her mission, and she didn’t need the distraction of him and his square-cut jawline. She’d reached the parking lot across from Chase’s employer and was intently watching the workers leave the building when someone knocked on her passenger-side window.
She yelped her surprise and clapped a hand over her racing heart. When Cal waved at her and popped the door open, she glared at him. “Way to give me a heart attack, Colton. Don’t you know better than to sneak up on a woman?”
“I was hardly sneaking. When you’re on a stakeout, it’s not good to get so laser-focused on one thing that you ignore your periphery.”
Turning her attention back to the employee exit across the street, she grumbled, “Why are you here?”
“Why areyouhere without me? We had a deal.”
“I—” A niggle of chastisement pulsed in her chest before she shoved it down. “I only wanted to see if he followed that same girl again today.”
“Zoey Rogers.”
“What?”
“Her name is Zoey Rogers. She’s seventeen. I did a little work overnight. First, I stopped by the girl’s house after I dropped you off and talked to her and her parents. I advised them we were actively working to bring Hamilton in, and that we’d monitor her situation. They promised not to confront Hamilton or do anything to blow the investigation.”
A mix of feelings pummeled Jules. Relief that the girl had been warned. Irritation that Cal had acted without her. Hope that they were a step closer to stopping Chase Hamilton. Disappointment that she’d missed the opportunity to spend more time with Cal.
She shook her head.No.She couldn’t get used to being around Cal Colton. She stared at him silently, unsure what to say besides… “Good.”
He flashed his incredible smile before his gaze darted to something outside and he directed her attention across the street. “Our man is on the move.”
Sure enough, Chase Hamilton was climbing into his white truck. Jules quickly started her engine, and Callum laid a hand on her wrist. “Easy. Don’t get too close.”
Her nerves jangled as Chase drove away before she pulled out and turned in the same direction their target had gone. He drove toward the high school again, pulled off the road in a different spot to watch the teenagers leaving the school grounds.
Jules spotted the redhead at the same time Cal said, “There’s Zoey.”
Plastic wrap crinkling, he casually popped a peppermint candy in his mouth. She sent him a scowl as if the crinkle were loud enough to scare off their target.
