“Slam on the brakes!” she yelled.
Bill did and the gun slid into Lindsey’s fingers. It was cold and hard and gave her the heebie-jeebies. What if she shot someone by mistake?
Edmund’s head appeared between theirs. “Drop it or I shoot him.”
Lindsey glanced over her shoulder. He had another gun to Bill’s temple. She opened her hand and dropped the gun.
“Get out,” Edmund said. “And don’t try anything.”
Both Lindsey and Bill eased out of their doors. She glanced at him over the roof. “Nice driving.”
He shrugged. “A man has dreams.”
Edmund had wadded up his plaid scarf and was holding it up to his nose. He waggled the gun at them, indicating that they should walk.
If there was anyone in the storage facility, surely Bill’s driving would have brought them forward. The place was as quiet as a cemetery. Lindsey regretted the imagery immediately.
“Walk,” he said. “And keep your hands up, so I can see them.”
Bill and Lindsey walked side by side. The Friends’ new shed was halfway down and around a corner toward the back. As they turned the corner, they were each grabbed and yanked in separate directions.
Lindsey would have cried out, but a hand was clamped over her mouth and a voice said, “Shh. You’re safe.”
Edmund came around the corner, and Officer Plewicki surged out from an open shed, knocked him to the ground, took his gun and cuffed him all in the time it took Lindsey to inhale.
She turned to see who held her. It was Sully, and she sagged against him with relief. He wrapped his arms about her and held her close. Lindsey could feel herself starting to shake as the hysterics began, but she buried her face against his wool coat and kept breathing until it passed.
“Pretty smart to call Nancy and leave your phone on,” Sully said.
“It was an accident,” she said.
Chief Daniels joined them, with Bill at his side.
“You had your phone on?” Bill asked her. She nodded and he said, “Well, that was smarter than my driving.”
“Your driving was brilliant,” Lindsey said. Then she smiled. Who’d have thought that under his immaculate attire Bill had the heart of a hero?
“That was something,” Chief Daniels said and clapped him on the shoulder. “Tell me, have you ever considered a career in law enforcement?”
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the police station. When they arrived, Nancy was there with Heathcliff. As Lindsey wrapped her arms around his wiggly dog body, she realized one of her biggest regrets had she been killed would have been never seeing her dog again.
Sully hunkered down next to her and scratched his head. “He’s not the only one who is happy to see you in one piece.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“So, Edmund turned out to be not all that,” he said.
He was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and she knew he was trying to gauge her reaction. Well, she had a reaction for him.
“At least Edmund actually asked me out,” she said. She rose to her feet and looked down at him. “I like you, Mike Sullivan, there’s no question about that. I like that you’re well read and funny, when you choose to talk. I like how gentle you are with your big man hands when you pet my dog, and I like the dimples that bracket your grin, which is a stunner. But damn it, I am not going to chase you. If you want to ask me out, you’re just going to have to strap on a pair and get it done.”
Sully’s mouth slid open in surprise and then turned into a grin that outshone the sun.
“Lindsey, we need you back here.” Emma entered the main room from the back of the station.
“Not now!” Nancy said. “Can’t you see she’s busy?”
“Oh, God, did I say all of that out loud?” Lindsey asked, horrified. “Near-death experience, please forget what I just said.”
She spun on her heel and hurried around the counter after Emma.
“Not so fast,” Sully said. The entire station went quiet as everyone turned toward him. “Lindsey Norris, I like you, too. I like that you’re smart and funny and can remember what everyone in town likes to read. I like that you ride a ridiculous bike to work in terrible weather, and I like that your eyes change color with your moods, like the sea reflects the sky. I like that you adopted a puppy who needed you, and I like the way the wind tangles up your hair when you let it loose, and I do like it loose.”
Lindsey was riveted, her gaze locked onto Sully’s while her breath stalled in her lungs. She could feel everyone watching them, and the heat in her cheeks reached the scorching level of DEFCON five.
“So, will you go out with me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. It came out breathier than she would have liked, but he seemed fine with that.
“Friday at seven?” he asked.
Unable to speak, she just nodded.
“Are we done now?” Emma asked, but she was grinning.
“Yes, I think so,” Lindsey said. With a small wave, she left the main room, with Heathcliff on her heels, and headed back to the interview rooms. As she turned the corner, she saw Nancy give Sully a knuckle bump.
CHAPTER 31
BRIAR CREEK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
“I found Heathcliff and Catharine’s love to be very unrealistic,” Violet said.
It was crafternoon Thursday, and in honor of Lindsey’s new puppy, they had read
“Did you?” Nancy asked. “I thought it was powerful, especially when Catharine declares, ‘I am Heathcliff.’”
“But then she marries Linton,” Lindsey said. “I found that very sad, especially for Heathcliff.”
“But did they truly love one another or was it more of an addiction?” Violet asked.
“It seemed to me that they were all disappointed in love and then intent upon destroying those unfortunate enough to love them,” Beth said. “Very selfish people, really.”
“A lot like Edmund Sint and Markus Rushton, if you ask me,” Nancy said.
“How is Carrie doing?” Violet asked.
“Better now that she and the kids can plan Markus’s funeral and start to heal,” Lindsey said. “Bill Sint was so upset by his nephew’s actions that he has even offered to help her keep her house.”
“You know, this tragedy has really shined a light on Bill,” Nancy said. “Who knew he had so many layers?”
“I suppose it takes a crisis, like how we locals really banded together to get through the storm, to see what a person is made of,” Lindsey said.
She, for one, was very glad Bill had turned out to have more going on beneath the starched shirts and perfectly creased pants. He had undoubtedly saved her life.
“How’s that scarf coming?” Nancy asked her.
“See for yourself,” Lindsey said.
As she pulled her hook through the last stitch on the edging, she couldn’t help but feel quite pleased with herself. Five feet long by six inches wide, her mohair-cashmere scarf was finished.
It was a frothy confection, and with its sea foam green color, it looked as if it could have been snatched from an unsuspecting mermaid and washed ashore during a storm.
“Oh, now that turned out just darling,” Violet declared.
“You can wear it on your date with Sully,” Beth teased her.
