Wyatt cuffed his brother on the shoulder. “I know you’re just venting. But I—”
“Detective Colton,” one of the plainclothes officers called. “Hamilton just pulled up to the loading dock.”
Wyatt straightened his spine and arched an eyebrow toward Cal. “We good?”
Cal’s returned nod and expression confirmed his agreement. “Go get the bastard.”
Wyatt and the other officers disappeared from the manager’s office, and Cal stepped over to the black and white video screens, where the feed from security cameras played in real time.
He set his teeth as he watched the men approach Chase Hamilton, badges out. He saw the moment Hamilton tried to flee, but was tackled by one of the plainclothes officers. Hamilton fought back and eventually had a pair of handcuffs snapped on behind his back.
Cal should have felt a deeper sense of satisfaction at the stalker’s arrest. The operation went smoothly. Charges of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer could be added to Hamilton’s list of crimes. But knowing Wyatt and the drug task force planned to offer the scumbag a Get Out of Jail Free card gnawed his gut.
Jules would go ballistic.
After returning to his Jeep, Cal followed his brother and the unmarked cars to the police station, where he intended to observe Hamilton’s interrogation.
As expected, they had to wait for a public defender to be summoned to represent Hamilton during the plea deal negotiations. During the intervening downtime, which was taking much longer than expected, Cal called Jules to check on her. “Everything okay at the homestead?”
“Yes. Fine. Kelly stopped by to visit. She’s challenged me to a game of Scrabble, which I’m losing big-time. I think she’s making up words, but she brought cherry cobbler, so I’m letting her play whatever words she wants.”
Cal laughed. “Had I known she was coming to the house, I’d have warned you that my sister is a word game Mensa.”
“What about you? How is your work errand going?” she asked, and he heard the trepidation in her tone.
“The hard part is over. Just waiting for the strings to all be tied up.” He glanced at the clock in the station lobby. “Clearly I’m going to be later than I thought. Maybe you and Kelly should eat without me. Put it on my account.”
Hearing the front door of the police station open, Cal glanced up. He stilled and frowned, recognizing the woman who’d just entered the station. “Hey, I’ve got to go.”
“Be careful,” Jules said as he hung up.
He approached the woman and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Chapter 25
“That was your brother,” Jules said as she disconnected the call and set aside her phone.
“Don’t tell me. He’s going to be later than expected, and we should eat without him?” Kelly asked as she drew a new set of letters from the Scrabble bag.
“Yeah. Should we order pizza for delivery?”
“Sounds good.” Kelly turned the game board to face Jules and asked, “What is Callum doing that’s keeping him away from his houseguest?”
“He wouldn’t say, other than department business that he had to personally handle. But he took his gun and his badge and acted dodgy when I asked if it was dangerous business.” Jules studied the Scrabble board while Kelly placed the order for a large pizza. Finally, Jules playedPAINTon thePof Kelly’s last word.
“Dodgy, huh?” Kelly said, picking up the thread of conversation expertly when she finished calling in their dinner order. “Well, I know what it is to worry about loved ones on the job—” Kelly paused to record Jules’s score “—having three brothers in law enforcement and a firefighter. But if it’s any consolation, Callum is good at what he does. He doesn’t take unnecessary risks.”
Jules forced a grin and waggled a few fingers dismissively. “Oh, I’m not worried.”
Kelly angled a dubious look at her.
“Well, not too worried,” Jules amended. “I just don’t like being kept in the dark about what he’s doing.” Shrugging, she tempered that comment. “Not that I’m keeping track of his business or—” She frowned at the Scrabble board where Kelly had just playedQIon theINof herPAINT. “Qi? Now I know you’re making up words.”
Kelly laughed. “Look it up. It’s perfectly legit. And theQis on the double letter, so I get it doubled both ways… And I’m out of letters, so…game over.”
“Ugh.” Jules rolled her eyes and stretched out on the sofa. “If you hadn’t brought cherry cobbler, I’d swear you came to torture me.”
“Speaking of…ready for a serving? There’s ice cream to put on top.” Kelly put the letter tiles back in the game box and stood.
