Page 4 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

“Thanks.” She shut him out and locked herself inside, absorbing the sudden silence. There were no police sirens or car horns blaring. There were no city busses accelerating just outside the window. Exhaling a long, slow breath, she settled on the couch, allowing herself the luxury of listening to the trees swaying in the wind and the faint sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore somewhere in the distance.

She kicked off her shoes and crossed her ankles on the lumpy cushion, letting her mind race through all the things she had to do: unpack, find a place for her glass and other tools she’d towed up with her in the mini U-Haul, locate the grocery store, and drive around a little before she had to turn over the rented SUV and get herself a bike. Yawning, she rested her head against one of the beige pillows. She needed to call Mom and Dad and let them know she was officially on the vacation they kept urging her to take. And she had to let Marion know she was off the clock for the next little while. Her agent was bound to be less than thrilled with the idea, but Callie had rarely taken time off during the four years they’d been working together.

She stared at her phone peeking out of the top of her purse and the red light flashing, alerting her to unread texts and voice messages that needed to be listened to. She moved to stand, knowing she had to get on with things, and realized she simply couldn’t. Her legs and arms felt like lead weights—her eyelids too. She let them close, and within moments, the exhaustion she’d been fighting for months swallowed her completely.

~~~~

Nate snagged a towel as he stepped from the shower and dried himself off on his way to the bedroom. He pulled boxers and socks, clean jeans, and one of his usual black polos from his dresser drawers and made quick work of putting them on. He headed back to the bathroom, where his towel ended up in a heap on the counter next to the deodorant he snatched up and rolled on. Checking his watch, he beelined it to his nightstand, grabbing his holster and gun before he hustled downstairs for his boots and keys and ran out the door to his county-issued Chevy Tahoe.

“Kay, I’m heading in,” he said into his radio, connecting with dispatch. “Denny can head home as soon as Shawn shows up.”

“Shawn’s here now—stuffing his face full of the sticky buns I picked up over at the bakery. Molly outdid herself this morning.”

No one made a better sticky bun than his sister. “They better save me one or I’ll have to kick some ass.” He put the receiver back in place and drove down the dirt road, passing by the cottage with the spiffy Land Rover and mini U-Haul parked out front. His new guest was planning on making herself at home.

He turned onto Route 1 and headed into town with his mind on Callie Davis from New York. She was a hell of a looker with her gorgeous blue eyes, but he couldn’t say he knew much else. Her financials had cleared. Mini wouldn’t have let her rent the place otherwise, but currently his new neighbor was a big question mark. He started by Carter Island Realty and Rentals on his way down Atlantic Avenue and at the last second pulled into the parking lot, noting that Mini’s vehicle wasn’t there. He got out and used his key on the full keychain to let himself inside. Moving down the hall, he walked into the back office, where he knew Mini kept her paperwork. He leafed through the small stack of current rentals and found the Callie Davis application that had been faxed over late yesterday afternoon. After quickly making a copy, he locked up and drove the two blocks to the station. He pulled into his reserved space and waved to Penny Jonas as he made his way up the walk to the tidy gray clapboard building and opened the door.

Kay turned in her seat—plump and pretty with her hair dyed a darker black than it had been yesterday. She pushed back from the desk she’d called her own for nearly twenty-five years. “Good morning, Sheriff.”

“Morning.” He shut the door behind him. “Anything exciting going on around here?”

“Tobias’s dog escaped the yard again and crapped in Fanny Marstens’s driveway—smack dab in the middle of this morning’s newspaper. She called in mad as two hornets.”

“Huh,” Nate said, rubbing his fingers across his mouth, doing his best to hide his grin. Small-town crises. They rarely went a day without one.

“I handled that one myself,” Kay continued. “Had Tobias head over, clean it up, and go get Fanny a new paper. Suggested he stop off and pick her up something from the bakery to smooth things over.”

Nate poured himself a cup of Kay’s excellent coffee and added a couple of drops of cream. “Good call.”

“Denny pulled over Jack Lancaster again about thirty minutes ago. Going nearly eighty-five by The Point. Foolish boy’s going to get himself killed—or someone else.”

Nate sipped his brew, barely stifling a groan of pure pleasure. “How’d Denny handle it?”

“Called Jack’s dad to the scene and handed Paul the ticket—comes to right around five hundred dollars, I think was what Denny said.” She added a sniff with her decisive nod.

Nate nodded his own approval. “That should hurt. I’ll stop by the shop and speak to Paul—let him know Jack’s got one more strike before his license belongs to me and the Registry of Motor Vehicles for thirty days.”

“Foolish boy,” Kay sniffed again. “Not even seventeen yet.”

If Jack kept it up, he wasn’t going to live long enough to see his next birthday. “I’ll talk to them both.” He remembered Callie’s rental application in his hand and grabbed one of the last two sticky buns on the plate.

“Shawn’s out running patrol,” Kay chimed in again.

“I’m going to take care of a quick something before I head out.” When he wasn’t responding to calls, he liked poking his head in at the businesses around town.

“Sure thing. Enjoy your breakfast. Figured we needed a special treat to celebrate our first official day of the off-season.”

“I know we all appreciate it,” he said before he helped himself to a huge bite of gooey deliciousness.

“Nothing’s too good for my boys.” Kay smiled, then turned to her computer and got back to work.

“You’re the best,” Nate said through his mouthful as he headed to his office, under no illusion that Kay didn’t run the show around here. Technically he was the boss, but realistically it was debatable most days. He sat down and scanned Callie’s application, wanting to make sure that all of the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed. As sheriff, it paid to know who was on his island… Or he could just be honest with himself and admit he wanted the deets on the gorgeous woman living thirty yards behind him.

“Callie Davis,” he muttered. “Twenty-six.” He lifted his brow as he read her Manhattan address. He punched her Upper East Side residence into Google Maps and noted that she wasn’t hurting for cash. His gaze wandered to her occupation, which she’d left blank, but her place of business appeared to be the Marion West Gallery a few blocks south of her swank apartment building. He hadn’t pegged her as a saleswoman—certainly not the snooty gallery type. She seemed quiet—maybe a little shy. Or that had been his first impression, and he was rarely wrong.

He typed her Social Security number into the database and stared at the State of New York’s current DMV photo on file. Rubbing at his jaw, he absorbed the punch of attraction. Callie May Davis had one hell of a face. In her picture, her glossy blond hair rested against her shoulders. Her big blue eyes sparkled while she tossed a huge grin at the camera. Her small nose crinkled with her perfect smile and her chin was slightly pointier. According to the State of New York, she was five five, one hundred twenty pounds, and an organ donor. She had no traffic infractions, no outstanding warrants, and no vehicle registered to her name.

He sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head. There was no doubt Callie Davis was a stunner, but today she hadn’t looked like the carefree beauty he was currently studying on his monitor. The woman who’d stood in front of him had been exhausted—her eyes troubled. He recognized a person high on stress and short on sleep. She’d sent him a couple of small, hesitant smiles during their quick and mostly pointless conversation, but he wanted her to aim one of her powerhouse grins his way—several of them, in fact, which surprised the hell out of him.

He sat up straight again and realized he was frowning. It had been a long damn time since he’d been intrigued by anyone—not since Elizabeth—and look how that had turned out. But he couldn’t deny the gut-clenching jolt he’d experienced when he popped his head out from beneath the sink and made eye contact with Callie.

“Nate, we’ve got a traffic accident over by the Harrington farm,” Kay called down the hall.

He X’d out of the database and gained his feet.

“Doesn’t sound like it’s anything too major. No serious injuries, but I’m sending the ambulance over anyway.” Kay followed him as he made his way to the door.

“I’ll go check it out.”

“Shawn’s on his way too.”

“Great.” He hurried to the Tahoe and took off toward the accident, tucking Callie May Davis in the back of his mind.