“I suspect you probably burned the one I gave you after your accident last year.”
“No, I didn’t.” Her face flamed as she sucked both lips back behind her teeth. “I think I shredded it.”
“Nice,” he grunted. “Keep this one. You understand the case will be easier to work if you contact me directly instead of routing everything through Jayne like it’s third-period French or something.”
Ellie sputtered over a laugh. “And the cop zings me again. I had no idea you were such a smart-ass.”
He stopped at the door, his hand wrapped around the handle. “That’s probably because you’re always too busy ignoring me.”
Ouch.
“Your file number’s on the back of the card. Don’t let him in, don’t answer his calls, and if you see him anywhere near this place, you call me, understand?”
Again she opened her mouth, but he talked over her.
“Don’t call Jayne, don’t call Regan, and don’t call Maya. Call me. Or 911. Got it?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Got it.”
“Good. Lock up as soon as I leave.”
He had one foot out the door when she finally found her voice again.
“Hey, Ponch?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re starting to make me think you might have been right about something.”
“Yeah? And what would that be?”
Leaning against the door frame, she crossed her arms. When he finally turned around at the bottom of the porch stairs, his brow raised in question, she smiled slowly.
“That maybe you’re not a complete asshole.”
His features softened, the dimple in his cheek teasing her but never actually making a full appearance. Instead, he raised his hands and walked backward the few steps to his car. “Lock the door.”
She did, though it took her a good long while to push herself away from it and the way his leaving made her feel.
Chapter 8
“Let’s be careful out there.”
—Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues
There was no such thing as a quiet night shift, yet between each call, Brett still made time to drive down Ellie’s street and around each of the hotels and motels in town. If this asshole Kurt was hanging around, they’d find him.
In the meantime, he’d do some digging into Kurt’s sentence and early release. Maya had identified the guy who’d ordered a dozen tulips as the same one who’d been sitting outside Ellie’s store, so at least Brett knew who he was looking for.
He still hadn’t figured out what it was about Kurt that looked familiar, but he would.
Not a word from Ellie all night. Maya texted him in the morning to say she had picked Ellie up early and taken her to the bus depot to retrieve a shipment. Half an hour later, another text, this one saying Ellie’s part-time employee, Angie, was at the store with her and all was well. So after a couple hours of sleep and something to eat, he jumped back in his truck and headed to the detachment to meet Sarge.
It wasn’t often Sarge called members in on their days off, so something must be up. A twenty-three-year veteran, Sergeant Schilling ran a pretty tight ship, expecting, and usually getting, the best out of his people. Constable Tory Hudak was already in Sarge’s office when Brett arrived.
“Good morning.”
“Closer to evening,” Hudak chuckled, shifting her chair over a little so he could pull up a second one. To look at Hudak in uniform, with her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, her makeup at a minimum, and her “don’t bullshit me” attitude, you’d never guess she had a soft side. She did; all you had to do was mention her kids and she pretty much melted.
Sarge didn’t waste time.
“What else can you tell me about this Palmer file? Do you think this Kurt Neill fella poses an actual threat?”
“Yeah, I do.” In case Hudak thought to interrupt or disagree, Brett hurried on. “It’s starting the same way it started the first time, Sarge, and I know gut feelings don’t count for shit inside a courtroom, but I’m telling you, there’s something about this guy.”
Sarge flipped through the file on his desk. “Remind me where you met him the other day?”
“We were both in The Stalk Market, the flower store there on Main. To be honest, I didn’t even talk to him. There was just something about the way he spoke—you know, smooth, slippery. And on his way out, there was something…it was like he sneered at me. Seemed kinda weird at the time, but now that I know who he is, he probably thought he was being funny.”
“That doesn’t make him a threat, Hale,