Secrets and Sin, page 24
At this point, Lucy wasn’t even shocked anymore about what was happening in her life. It was just one more piece of crap that she’d been handed.
Someone really didn’t want them investigating what happened to Sarah.
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It could have been much worse.
Lucy walked slowly through the store, assessing the damage, and looking for items that might have been stolen.
Whoever had broken in had stayed mostly in the back of the store near the children’s section. They’d knocked books off shelves, ripped apart stuffed toys, and thrown tiny pieces from dozens of games all over the floor. They’d also gone into the area behind the register, opening cabinets and tossing the contents, and pushing items off the shelves. The rest of the store had been untouched from what she could see.
“They got into the office and storeroom as well,” Jane announced, her tone clipped. “Your desk was torn apart.”
She was as angry as Lucy was. Maybe more.
Cooper was glowering at everything and everyone, and poor Deputy Blake was just trying to keep them all calm and focused. He had his police report paperwork out so he could inventory what had been damaged or stolen.
She’d been through this once before quite recently, so she knew the drill.
“Did someone call this in?” Cooper asked. “Did they see or hear someone?”
“No one called it in,” Blake said with a shake of his head. “I was driving by and saw someone dart out of the alley and into the shadows. I thought it was suspicious behavior, so I went to take a look. That’s when I saw the back door open. I still had Lucy’s phone number in the files because of the break-in at her home.”
“I hope you’re going to look into this as not just a one off,” Cooper said. “Clearly, this is a pattern. Someone is trying to scare and harass Lucy.”
“Believe me, we’re going to look very closely at this. A few of the merchants on the street might have some security footage that we can look at. I’m going to do my best to find out who is doing this and why.”
“We know why,” Jane said. “It’s because we’re asking questions about Sarah.”
“That’s one theory,” Blake replied.
“It’s the only theory, Deputy,” Jane shot back.
“You might want to leave policework for the police,” Blake said. “It can be dangerous.”
Jane’s gaze openly ran over the chaos and destruction surrounding them.
“I think we already know that.”
“Jane, why don’t we start making a list of all of the damaged items?” Lucy asked, trying to keep her friend from having it out with Blake. They were all on edge right now. “It looks like they only hit a few sections of the store.”
“I can gather all of these stuffed animals and make a list of them,” Cooper offered. “Then work on the games.”
What was the old saying her mother loved?
Many hands make light work.
Lucy hoped that was true tonight.
“I’m going to call the station and give them an update,” Blake said. “Then I’ll be back to start cataloging those items.”
Lucy dropped her purse on her desk in the back room and then retrieved a notebook and pen before heading out to the children’s section. Jane had already begun stacking books that appeared to be undamaged so they could be shelved, and had another stack started with items that weren’t as lucky.
Cooper was collecting lifeless plush toys, scooping up the cotton stuffing and putting it in the trash. It was a strange and sort of macabre scene except instead of dead bodies it was pink rabbits and blue elephants.
“Damn,” Lucy cursed, scrubbing the tip of her pen on the paper. “It ran out of ink. This is why I shouldn’t buy the cheap ones. I’ll go get another in the office. Maybe two or three.”
“I can get them,” Jane offered.
“Thanks, but I need to stretch my legs a bit,” Lucy said, levering up from her spot on the floor. “I have that jar of chocolate on the desk, too. Should I bring it out here?”
“Do you even have to ask? Hell, yes.”
Lucy walked through the store and into the back room, halting in the doorway. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of what she was seeing.
Deputy Blake was looking through her purse.
“Blake?”
The deputy jumped and turned around, smiling sheepishly.
“You caught me. Sorry about that.”
She rounded the desk, her gaze pinned to Blake. What in the hell was he doing?
“What were you looking for?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks were red with embarrassment.
“I’m ashamed to tell you, but… I had onion rings for dinner, and I can hardly stand my own breath. I was looking for mints or gum. I should have asked and I’m so sorry. I was just embarrassed.”
Gum or mints? She could handle that request.
“You should have asked, but you’re in luck. I have some mints in the desk drawer. Hold on, I’ll get them for you.”
She reached into the middle drawer and quickly scanned the contents, finding the pack of mints. Wintergreen, her favorite.
“You can keep these,” she said, handing them to the deputy. “I have to go to the store tomorrow anyway so I can pick up some more.”
“I don’t want to take all of yours,” Blake protested.
“It’s okay. There’s only a few in there.”
“I appreciate it,” Blake said, tossing one into his mouth. “Thanks.”
When he’d done that, his rolled-up sleeves had slid even further up his arms, showing off his ink. She froze when she saw that he had a feather tattooed on his lower arm, right near the heart he’d shown off with Angel. There was also a crow near the elbow.
Lucy could barely breathe. She had to stifle a horrified scream.
Deputy Blake was the person in the room on the video. He’d been there with Sarah and Ethan. Had he been working with Farrow? Did he have something to do with Sarah’s death? And what about Ethan’s shooting? And her break-ins? He’d been looking through her purse, and not for mints. Had he been looking for the thumb drive?
“You look pale,” Blake said. “Do you need to sit down? Are you ill?”
Yes, I’m very ill. Sick to my stomach.
“I think it’s just hitting me at the moment,” she replied, her voice shaky. “Being robbed twice in only a few days. It’s emotional. Violating.”
“We can do this tomorrow morning if you’d rather. Maybe you should go home and lie down.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I want to get this done tonight. I don’t want to put it off. Let’s do this.”
As soon as Lucy could get a few moments alone, she’d pull Cooper and Jane aside and tell them, too.
She had to keep it all together and pretend that she knew nothing. Play the game until they could get to a safer location.
If Deputy Blake had killed before, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill again.
The first thing she needed to do? She had to find a way to let Zack know.
“Don’t you think that’s sort of weird?” Tate asked. “You’ve both been apart for eighteen years up until about a week ago, but you’ve both seen those tattoos.”
“Some people have the same tattoos,” Frankie pointed out. “They’re not always one of a kind.”
“True, but that’s a good point,” Zack said. “If both Lucy and I recognize these tattoos then it has to be someone that we’ve both seen this week.”
“Who have you seen?” Frankie asked. “I mean, both of you, although not necessarily together. It’s summer so short sleeves aren’t unusual unless it’s in the evening.”
“We saw Farrow but briefly. And he was wearing long sleeves,” Zack said. “And we saw Ethan, but we know it’s not him. He was in the video.”
“What about the guys you met for beers?” Tate suggested.
“Lucy didn’t meet them except for maybe at the wedding, but everyone was wearing long sleeves there. I met Daniels, but Lucy didn’t meet with him either.”
“You met Angel,” Tate reminded him. “But that’s definitely a man’s arm.”
“A man’s arm,” Zack echoed, his gaze suddenly far away. “Yes, it’s a man’s arm.”
“Okay, we’ve narrowed it down to half of the town’s population,” Frankie said. “That’s progress. We can call the cops and tell them that it’s a guy. It’s a start, I guess. I feel I also need to bring up that it’s been eighteen years. Tattoos can change a bit on the body over time. I read an article that said that tattoos fade and can blur over the decades. In addition, our skin ages, too. And if the person likes to get ink, they may have other newer tattoos on their arm, as well.”
A new tattoo? Zack’s mind was racing through all the images from the last week, a movie in fast forward. It was only when he remembered their meeting with Angel that it hit him.
Angel and Deputy Blake had showed off their matching tattoos. But that had also revealed all the other ink on Blake’s arms.
That’s where he’d seen them. Those tattoos were on Blake’s arm.
And Lucy was with Blake. Just a few doors down.
If Blake was involved with Farrow and trying to cover up what had happened all those years ago, it wasn’t a safe place for her to be.
Hopefully, they weren’t too late.
Lucy had never been in this position, having to deal with a man that might possibly be a killer, too. He was certainly a criminal, videoing young girls without their consent. That was for sure. Whether he had something to do with Sarah’s disappearance or Ethan’s shooting was an open question, but she needed to assume that he had.
Blake wasn’t making it easy, however. For some reason, he seemed to be following her around the store, not letting her alone for a moment, constantly on her heels. She couldn’t get to her phone to text Zack, and she hadn’t been able to tell Jane and Cooper what was going on.
Bless them, though. They were both giving her strange looks. She must have been giving off a strange vibe because Jane was currently wearing a worried frown.
“Are you okay? I can handle this if you’re not,” Jane whispered. “Just make up an excuse like you have a migraine. I’ll back you up. Cooper and I can finish this.”
“No, I don’t want to do that.”
She was trying to communicate with her eyes and facial expression, but nonverbal wasn’t her strong suit. Jane appeared more puzzled than ever.
Lucy had picked up a stack of books and placed it by the register where Blake was standing next to her to catalog their damage into his police report. They were halfway done when Zack, Tate, and Frankie came in the back door.
Zack had a strange expression on his face that she was sure matched her own. They hadn’t been together very long, but she instantly knew that he knew. She didn’t have a clue as to how he’d figured it out, but somehow, he had.
Her body tensed, and she had to quell the urge to run into his arms where she could feel safe. But she couldn’t do that. They all had to act like this was any other night, and Blake was any other cop.
“Lucy, maybe we should just finish this tomorrow morning,” Zack said. “It’s late. We should go and get a good night’s sleep.”
“I agree,” Frankie said with an exaggerated yawn. “We’ll all help in the morning. You probably weren’t planning to be open anyway so you could clean up. I’m sure Deputy Blake would like to get home, too.”
Zack had slowly been moving toward her as if to place himself between her and Blake. Lucy also took a step away as the door to the bookstore opened once more and Finn walked in. He strode toward Blake, not acknowledging the rest of them.
“Blake, we need to have a talk. Let’s step outside.”
“Sure, Finn. Let me set this police report down. I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were off duty tonight.”
“You know how the job is. Sometimes we get called in to the station.”
“Something going on? Do you need my help? I can stay on duty a little longer.”
Blake placed the clipboard on top of the counter before turning back to face Finn. Lucy tried to move farther away, but she didn’t get far. A hand clamped on her arm, jerking her backward and against Blake’s chest.
She could barely take a breath when she realized that something cold was being pressed to her temple.
Deputy Blake had taken out his service revolver and was currently pointing it to her head. Finn had pulled his own gun and had it pointing at Blake.
Zack had backed off but only slightly, his voice coming out low and soothing.
“Don’t do anything crazy, Blake. We’re all friends here. I don’t know what you’ve done so far, but I know that you don’t want to go to prison for murder.”
“Listen to him,” Finn said. “This isn’t going to end well for you. You shouldn’t trust snitches with your secrets. They turned on you when I pressed them. They admitted that you paid them to toss Lucy’s condo and bookstore. That you had them following Ethan Fields. I know that you shot him. He’s awake and talking.”
Blake lips curled in derision, his entire body stiff as iron as he held tightly to Lucy.
“You all need to stay back. Stay away or I’ll pull the trigger. I know you have the videos,” Blake said. “I couldn’t find them on Ethan, and he said that he didn’t have them anymore. I saw him hug Lucy that day on the street. He slipped it to her then, didn’t he? Into her purse?”
“We have the videos,” Finn confirmed. “And so do the state police. It’s too late, so whatever you’re planning to do isn’t going to work. There’s no way out for you now. We know about you and Farrow, and how you were using the teenage guys to get the girls in sex videos. How you paid them in drugs. Was Sarah going to tell on you? Ethan was, wasn’t he? He couldn’t take the guilt anymore. He wanted to tell the truth.”
“Ethan didn’t know what the truth was,” Blake said, his hand clenching her arm even harder, his fingers a steel band. If she lived, she’d have bruises tomorrow. “He didn’t want to admit his part in it. He wanted to pretend that he wasn’t a criminal. He thought he could tell the story and come out like a hero. He thought he wouldn’t go to jail.”
The cold metal of the gun was still pressed to her damp skin. Sweat had begun to trickle down her back, and her heart pounded so loudly it was like a marching band was parading around her store on the Fourth of July.
Steeling herself so she wouldn’t tremble, she tried to take a few breaths, but she couldn’t seem to drag the air into her lungs. She didn’t want to die today. She had a hell of a lot to live for - friends, family, and love - but surviving might not be in the cards.
“Let Lucy go,” Zack commanded. “Keeping her won’t save you. You won’t get away.”
“I think she might be my ticket out of here,” Blake taunted, his arm trembling visibly as he pointed the gun at her head. She could hear his ragged breathing, his frame rigid and tense. “Isn’t it funny? All the money and power that the Winslows have, and here you are, powerless. I can do whatever I want to your girl and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Fuck you and your whole rich and spoiled family.”
“Do you honestly think that all of these people here tonight are going to let you walk out of here with her?” Zack asked. “You’re delusional. Let her go. You won’t get two steps outside of this store.”
“Drop the gun,” Finn demanded. “Just stop all of this. There is no way out. The state police are barricading any route out of town. It’s over, Blake. It’s done.”
The deputy never had the chance to reply, although Lucy was sure it wouldn’t have been any sort of capitulation. The bell over the door rang as it was pushed open, a figure she couldn’t make out walking in.
The sound of a gunshot almost stopped her heart right there and then, echoing in her ears. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes, and then she was being shoved to the floor, a hard body covering hers as a second shot fired. There was the scuffle of footsteps and some shouting, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying over the ringing in her ears.
I’m still alive. I wasn’t shot.
She was breathing in and out, she could feel the hardwood floor, smell the comforting scent of Zack’s body, and taste the salt in her own tears as they streamed down her cheeks.
“Are you okay? Can you stand?”
Zack had rolled off her and was running his hands down her arms and legs as if reassuring himself that she was uninjured.
Was she okay? As far as she could tell, yes.
Could she stand? She wasn’t so sure about that, her legs still shaking with fear as the adrenaline that had been rushing through her veins began to drain away.
The sounds of sirens were in the distance, but Lucy’s attention was on the two bodies slumped on her store floor.
Deputy Blake.
And Angel. She’d been the one that had walked into the store only moments ago. She must have scared Blake, and he reacted by shooting wildly, hitting his fiancée. What on earth was she doing here in the first place?
Finn must have shot Blake, and Zack had pushed Lucy behind the counter away from the gunshots. Jane was crying and Cooper was comforting her while Frankie sat on the floor slumped against a bookshelf. Tate was sitting next to her, saying something to his sister that Lucy couldn’t make out, but she was giving him a watery smile in return.
“I recognized Blake’s tattoos,” she finally said, her voice shaky as hell. “I knew he was involved.”
“I remembered and that’s why we came here. I almost had a heart attack when he grabbed you.”
“So did I.”
Zack stood and helped her lever to her feet before wrapping his strong arms around her, burying his face in her hair. She pressed herself close to him, letting him be the strong one for now. She could hear the reassuring thump of his heart under her cheek, reminding her that they were both alive.
They’d found some answers to those annoying questions and uncovered a whole lot of secrets in this town. Maybe Sarah could rest in peace when all was said and done.
