Taken with You(18)
“Oh, I doubt it was a draft. It was pretty warm that day. As a matter of fact, it was so warm, I had to take my shirt off because I was sweating.”
Her mouth tightened, and he wondered if she was mad or trying not to smile. “Be that as it may, Warden Barnett, our policy requires proof of Whitford residency.”
“Is this a big problem you’ve had? People coming into town and signing up for a library card under false pretenses to steal a book?”
“Our budget’s tight. We can’t be too careful.” She lost the battle to hide her smile, and shook her head. “But, I think, in your case we can make an exception. You being an officer of the law and all.”
She pulled a form out of a drawer and started filling it in herself. Of course she knew his name and his address, since she lived next door. Then she looked up at him. “What’s your middle name?”
“Is that on the form?”
“No. I’m just nosy.”
“Charles. After my dad.”
She nodded and slid the form around to him. “You need to write in your phone number and sign the bottom, and I need to see your driver’s license.”
“My number, huh? Is that really on the form?”
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. Then she looked at his license. “You’re only thirty-five?”
“Why? Do I look older than that?”
“No, I just...you’re younger than me.”
He gave her a thorough looking over, enjoying the way pink spread across her cheeks. “Not by much.”
“Five freaking years,” she muttered.
“I don’t believe it. You should show me your license.”
She snorted. “Have you ever met a woman our age, or my age anyway, who lied about being forty?”
“It’s just a number.”
“Says the guy who’s only thirty-five.”
When he handed her the completed form, she gave him a small card with his name, a number and a bar code on it. “Automated, huh?”
“Partially. I got a grant to put the checkout system on the computer, but we still have the card catalogue in the old wooden drawers.”
“I like those, myself.”
She smiled and gave him a shrug. “To be honest, I haven’t fought too hard to get rid of those, even though purging the drawers twice a year is a pain.”
“Be a shame to see it go.”
She handed him a small pile of papers, one at a time. “Here are the rules. Books and audiobooks go out for two weeks, videos and periodicals for one. You can call and renew over the phone. The overdue fine schedule is on the bottom. They’re doubled for interlibrary loan titles. And here’s a list of our clubs and special events. You know, if you like to knit or something.”
A woman was approaching the desk with a toddler and an armful of picture books, so it was time for him to go.
“I’m on the quad today, so I won’t take any books home, but I’ll be back.” He skimmed the list of activities. “You’ve got a lot going on. I could spend all my spare time here.”
She gave him a don’t even think about it look, but morphed it into a polite smile as the other patron stepped into line behind him. “Welcome to the Whitford Public Library, Warden Barnett.”
“Thank you, Hailey. I’ll definitely be back.”
He gave a polite nod to the other woman and smiled at her daughter. Then he headed for the exit. But he paused before he pushed open the door because he could see the women reflected in the glass and they were both watching him leave.
It was the uniform, he thought as he stepped out into the sunshine. Almost made the hours of ironing worthwhile.
NINE
HOLIDAY WEEKENDS WERE a special kind of hell. Long weekends meant long hours, drunk people and a whole lot of stupidity, and Memorial Day was a doozie. After a long winter, New Englanders were ready to let loose and live it up.
At two o’clock on Monday morning, Matt leaned against a tree trunk and tried not to fall asleep on his feet. After a full day of chasing four-wheelers, arresting drunks, checking fishing licenses, and responding to a situation at a family barbecue that involved alcohol, a fire, gasoline and fireworks, he’d been about to head home when they got a call about a missing teenage girl.
Five hours of walking through the woods later, they got the call she’d been found. Apparently, she’d gone for a walk with her boyfriend and they had a big fight because somebody said something about somebody else on Facebook, and her boyfriend stormed off. After having a good long cry, she tried to find her way home and missed by a long shot.
It was a happy ending, but Matt was ready to just fall flat on his face and sleep in the dirt for a few hours.
“Bet she’s already updating her Facebook status,” Pete Winslow said. He was a warden Matt had worked with a lot and they’d become good friends over the years, and he was leaning against the tree next to Matt’s. “Probably taking a selfie in the ambulance.”
“Too bad she didn’t use the phone to, you know, call her parents.”
“It was charging when she went for her walk, so she didn’t have it. Her mom had it and gave it to her while they were checking her vitals. Probably so she could update her status.”
“Where’s the dad?”
“He’d had a few and wanted to go after the boyfriend with a load of bird shot, so he’s in custody until he sobers up.” Pete pushed himself upright with a groan. “Time to head home.”
“Easy for you to say. They had me come in from a direction they thought she might go, so my truck’s not here at the staging area. And it’s in the opposite direction of Whitford.”
“I’ve gotta go within a couple of miles of there anyway, so I can give you a ride. You have a way to get your truck tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” No, but he’d find a way. Drew Miller probably wouldn’t mind sending an officer to give him a ride. Or he’d pay Butch Benoit to drive him out there in his tow truck. It was the closest thing the town had to a taxi service. “I appreciate it.”
Once in the truck, it was tempting to close his eyes for a few minutes, but Pete was as worn out as he was. He kept his eyes open and they both talked about the idiots they’d crossed paths with that day just to stay awake.
When they pulled into Matt’s driveway, he shook Pete’s hand and opened the door. “You going to be okay? You can crash here if you need to.”
“I’ll be fine and the wife’s going to be asleep on the couch, waiting. I’ll put the window down and crank the music up. Sing-a-long time. You know how it is.”
Yeah, he did. “Thanks again, Pete. Drive safe.”
Matt let himself into his house and spent a couple minutes letting Bear welcome him home. As tempting as it was to simply keel over sideways on the couch and never move again, he had about twenty layers of bug spray on him.
He dragged his ass upstairs and secured his weapon, then left a trail of dirty uniform parts to the bathroom. After a quick, steaming hot shower, he tugged on a pair of sweatpants and fell into bed. He heard Bear settle in the oversized dog bed in the corner, and then he was out.
HAILEY WASN’T SURE what had awakened her when it was barely light outside, but after a few minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up. She had to pee, anyway. She brushed her teeth while she was in there and then went downstairs to start her day earlier than usual.
While the coffee brewed, she glanced out the window and then took a closer look. Matt’s truck wasn’t in the driveway. Frowning, she went to the living room and looked out that window. It wasn’t there. So far, she hadn’t seen him park it in the garage, since he had it filled with tools and his ATV and other assorted junk.
As far as she could tell, Matt had left for work the morning before and hadn’t been home since.
Worry for him hummed through her as she fixed her coffee and then, a few sips into the cup, she thought of Bear.
He had a doggy door, but what about food and water? If Matt had known he wouldn’t be home, she can’t imagine he wouldn’t have made plans for his dog. Even if he didn’t want to get her number from information and call her, he would have called somebody. But if something had happened to him or, God forbid, he’d been in an accident, how long would it be before somebody thought of his dog?
Surely if Bear got too hungry, he’d come outside and throw himself on her mercy. Maybe give her those big, sad, puppy dog eyes until she caved and grilled him up a burger for breakfast or something.
By the time she finished her coffee, Hailey knew she had to check on Bear. And not just see him outside, but check on his food and water, which meant going inside. Throwing a hoodie over her tank top, she slipped her feet into her flip-flops and went out her back door.
Halfway across her yard, she hesitated. Bear was a lovable and lazy lump of Lab, but that was when Matt was around. When it came to the neighbor lady breaking into his house, Bear was still a dog.
But he might be a very confused, lonely and hungry dog, and that got her moving again.
Matt had taken the screen door off and stored it in the garage since it blocked the doggy door, so Hailey didn’t have to worry about opening that. She twisted the doorknob and muttered a bad word when it didn’t turn.
If he’d locked the back door, he’d probably locked the front door, too, but she walked around the house and tried it, anyway. It was also locked. She thought she heard a single bark from Bear when that screen door latched, but nothing after that.