move he was coming to recognize in her. She was always eager and her feet told the story. He kissed her a minute longer, knowing he would never get enough, but also knowing he needed to get back to work.
Breaking their kiss, he leaned back just enough to look her in the eye. She felt far too right in his arms, and it worried him a little. Bella was not a permanent part of Seagull Cove. After the New Year, she’d be gone, and he was falling too fast for this to be a good thing.
Letting go of her, he spun, grabbed two of the cookies, and darted back to the fireplace. “Guess these are mine now.”
“What!” Bella screeched. She leapt over and tried to take them from his hand, but Hank held them above her head. Her tiny legs just couldn’t jump that far, no matter how hard she tried.
Finally, breathing heavily, Bella paused and put her hands on her hips.
Hank didn’t even have to look to know her foot was tapping at a hundred miles an hour.
“Fine. Keep the stupid cookies,” she huffed, turning and flipping her hair over her shoulder. “See if I care.” She plopped onto the couch and Hank couldn’t help but follow.
Sitting down beside her, he offered one to her. “A cookie for a name?”
Bella shook her head. “No way. It’s too late, detective boy. You lost your chance.”
Hank just wiggled it in front of her, and finally Bella grabbed it. “Name,” he reminded her.
She ate the cookie and brushed off her fingers and skirt, then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What?” Hank sat back.
She grinned. “You didn’t bother to check that I actually had the information you were looking for.” Bella tsked her tongue. “That’s a rookie move, Sherlock. Better up your game next time.”
Scowling at her, Hank ate the other one he’d nabbed. He knew he could just stop and ask Emory on his way out the door, but it was much more fun to play with Bella. Unless he was the one losing, and this time around, he’d lost.
He grinned and shook his head. “Well played, Ms. Wood. Well played.”
She gave him a mock salute. “All in a day’s work.” Bella sighed and put her hands on her lap. “So...now what?”
Hank rubbed his hands on his pants and pulled out his phone. “Now, let’s go over what we know and what we’re still missing. Sound good?”
Bella squealed and bounced up to kiss his cheek. “Yes! Let me grab my phone!” She ran out of the room, presumably to the front desk, and came hurrying back with phone in hand. “I keep everything on my note app.”
Hank waved his phone in the air. “Me too.”
Instead of sitting in her own seat, Bella plopped herself on his lap, wiggling around until she was comfortable. “Okay. Now tell me what you’ve got.”
What I’ve got is a massive crush on a girl who’s leaving in a few weeks, Hank thought to himself. And I’m not sure I’m going to be able to let her go.
CHAPTER 9
BELLA TAPPED HER LIPS with her pencil. After seeing the crumbs outside the house, she was growing more and more determined to figure out who was taking Emory’s food. It was disappearing with alarming regularity. She was tempted to go back to the attic room, but Henry had already cleared everything out of there, so Bella was fairly sure the intruder wouldn’t be stupid enough to stick around.
“But they have to be somewhere,” she mused. “Otherwise, the food wouldn’t keep being stolen.” She squished her lips to the side. “But where?”
The garden shed popped into her mind again. True, the crumbs had been found just outside the door, but a garden rake had been left in the grass at one point and nobody could figure out how.
“Plus, the shed isn’t very far from the door they used,” Bella said firmly. Checking the clock, she transferred the phone line again to her cell and headed to the coat closet to grab her jacket. This Oregon Coast weather was no joke. It might not get as low in temperature as other places, but the wet and windy conditions made it pretty miserable nonetheless.
After bundling up, she headed out the side door. “Geez.” Bella pulled the collar of her coat tighter around her throat. Putting her head down, she marched on, determined to see what was going on at the shed. Enoch had said it was locked up tight, but Bella wanted to know for