Donuts and Handcuffs

He nodded, thinking. “If I were to get back to you with a window of time from last week, is there any chance you could share the footage with us?”

“Absolutely,” I nodded. Being instantly agreeable had been hammered into my psyche since I was three. “Dare I ask what happened?”

“Yeah, it’s already been in the news, but you’ve been busy, obviously. The Carter building at the corner of Dawes and Chapman burned down, and it may have been arson. Someone may have snuck in the back door and started the fire.”

“I know you can’t likely tell me details, but should I be looking for huge rough guys, or anybody who looks shifty?”

“We don’t have any identifying clues at all,” he said.

“Okay... But were the doors bashed in by somebody huge, or was it a clean lock pick situation?”

Daniel gave me a completely stunned glance.

I laughed quickly. “Sorry, I used to watch a couple of crime shows, and they were always looking for things like that.”

He nodded. “Good point. I guess I could say that nothing indicates that any of them were any particular size or extremely powerful individuals.”

“Them. So I’m going to assume that it’s at least two or more people?”

Daniel shook his head, grinning. “You’re too quick, Bailey. We’re thinking three or four, but I guess it could be as few as two.”

“Okay. I’ll look over the feed tonight.”

Daniel reached out for the pen and pink cupcake notepad on the counter, jotting down a phone number. “That’s my cell.”

I grabbed the next sheet of paper and wrote down my cell number. It suddenly occurred to me that he was now the only person besides suppliers that had my number, but I squashed that thought down immediately. I needed to focus. “And that’s me.”

“Great. Thanks. I’ll text you in a few hours.” He looked at me carefully. “But if it’s a pain to get to your security system or anything, please let me know and I can come help. Or send one of our techs to assist.”

“It’s easy,” I said. “I can get to it at some point during breaks in my extensive napping schedule that I have planned out for this afternoon and evening.”

“Good,” he grinned. He glanced toward the door, making sure there was no one in the shop or out front. Then he bent down to brush his lips against mine for just a second, sending surges of raw desire straight through me.

“Call if you need anything at all, Bailey,” he said gently, stroking my hair and tucking it behind my ear. “I’m just on neighborhood patrol today, so I’ll be around.”

“Isn’t that a c

omplete misuse of police resources?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Daniel looked surprised, as he nodded. “Technically you’re right. This is the first time in my life I haven’t given a damn about the rules.” He leaned in to kiss my forehead. “You’ve corrupted me completely already, Bailey.”

I laughed, flashing him a huge grin as he gave me a careful hug then left.

As soon as he was gone, I nearly collapsed against the counter. He had obviously been kidding, but he was far more accurate than he realized.

I was no good for him. There was absolutely no way that I could be involved with a police officer. Even if it wasn’t completely ridiculously dangerous for me, being with me could shame him if it were ever discovered. There’s no way I could let him look like a laughing stock in front of his colleagues. Or put him in danger. There’s no way that I could take a chance and ruin this lovely man’s entire life.

On some level, I knew that my past wasn’t my fault. But I felt toxic. Like the darkness was in my blood. It wasn’t something that I could run away from.

After years of being with dark souled people, Daniel was a ray of light. He even had the sunshine in his eyes. Was I actually so afraid of my past that I wouldn’t allow myself one chance to be happy?

CHAPTER SIX

I sent Bailey a text giving her a time window and a description of what we were looking for. There had been a fire a week ago in an old building that had been tied up in red tape for years. The owners wanted to sell, but the only buyers wanted to tear it down to build condos. Since it was a heritage building, that was not permitted. So it had been smothered in paperwork for a while.

With the building gutted from the fire, it was condemned and had to be torn down. It was a little too convenient for the purchasers to swoop in and get a great deal.

Fire investigators had estimated that the blaze started somewhere between midnight and two am, so any people or vehicles spotted in the neighborhood that seemed out of place between eleven and three could possibly be a lead.