My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,61

they would be home in time for supper and no, Eli didn’t need to make the trip to the hospital. Eli promised to meet them at the house.

Unable to get Holly off his mind, he decided to come back and help her clean up and see what she was going to do now.

As he got out of his truck, he noticed a car sitting two doors down past the grocery store. He’d seen the two men sitting in the sedan as he’d passed by but hadn’t thought much about it. Now he realized they had a perfect view of Holly’s shop.

Strangers? Tourists?

Of course they could be here for the auction.

However, these guys made his cop instincts hum. They hadn’t been there when he’d left a few hours ago. What could they be up to now? And why were they just sitting there watching Holly’s store?

He shut the door of his truck and debated whether or not to approach them. He could at least get a license number and have a buddy at his old department run it for him. Just to satisfy his curiosity.

Decision made, Eli headed in their direction. Once they realized they were his intended targets, one said something to the other and the car backed up, did a three point turn and sped down the street.

But not before Eli got a plate number.

Suspicious behavior warranted proactive behavior, he always said. Pulling out his cell phone, he punched in a number.

“Hello?”

“Hey Ken, this is Eli. How ya doing?” Ken Larson, a fellow detective in New York, had been one of his best friends on the force.

“Eli? Good to hear from you. What are you up to? When are you planning on coming back here?”

“My dad was hurt in an accident so I’ve been helping out around the farm. As far as when I’m coming back…well, I don’t guess that’s going to happen. You know I applied to be considered for the captain’s job and haven’t heard anything so…I think maybe I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

Silence. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“As far as I know, they haven’t made an announcement yet on who the new captain is, so you might be getting a call after all.”

That rocked Eli back a moment. He’d completely given up on the position. But all he said was, “We’ll see, I suppose.”

“So why are you calling?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Shoot.”

Eli gave him the plate number and Ken promised to get back to him.

The door to Holly’s store opened and she carried a filled-to-the-rim trash bag.

“Hey, you need some help?”

Her head snapped up. “Eli? What are you doing back?”

“Thought I’d offer my cleaning services.”

Her eyes warmed and lingered on his, then she blinked and looked away. “Sure, if you’ve got the time.”

Shooting her a wry look, he said, “What else have I got to do? Buckeye is taking care of Dad, I sold the horses and made a few bucks,” he said as he shrugged. “Other than that, I’m feeling pretty useless all in all, I guess.”

Holly laughed, a sincere chuckle that shot joy through him. “Eli, you are far from useless. You said you sold your horses.”

“True.”

She paused and an expression crossed her face. One he’d never seen before and didn’t know exactly how to identify. “What?”

Opening her mouth, she started to say something, then stopped and shook her head.

He grabbed her arm in a gentle grip. “What? Come on, you can’t look like that and not tell me what you were thinking.”

She took a deep breath. “I was thinking that you should run for sheriff.”

“Huh?”

A shrug. “I know. Dumb idea, wasn’t it? Like a former New York detective would be interested in being a sheriff in a small town place like this.” She waved a hand. “Never mind. Momentary lapse of sanity.”

Turning, she led him back into the store and handed him a broom.

As he swept, her words lingered in his mind. Run for sheriff? Build a life with Holly? Yeah, he thought, smiling, he could see that happening. He turned to leave.

As he did the vision of the two men in the sedan sitting across the street from Holly’s place chased away his pleasant musings. Time to figure out who was threatening Holly. If he didn’t, she might not have a future to share with him.

EIGHT

Bundled against the wind and cold, but in need of some exercise, Holly stepped onto the front porch and pulled up short. “Alex?”

He sat in his sheriff’s car at the top of the horseshoe-shaped drive and shot her