Perfect Night (Mason Creek)
“Yeah. I need it.”
I left and didn’t bother driving to my next stop. I crossed Highland Place to the bar and crossed Mueller Lane to the entrance of Bumps and Dents Body Shop. I didn’t recognize the man in the lobby wearing coveralls. He was polishing something in his hand with an oily towel.
“Hey,” I said, and startled him. He’d been deep in thought.
“Can I help you?” His eyes took in my uniform shirt. “Deputy.” He had one of those distinctive voices you wouldn’t forgot.
“Are you the owner?” Last I knew, Jessie’s dad owned the place. However, I didn’t want to insult the guy if he owned it now.
He shook his head. “That would be Henry Phillips.”
“Is he around?”
“He should be in back. I’ll get him.”
“Thanks. I’m Aiden by the way.” I held out a hand.
He held up his to show they were grimy with the work he’d been doing. “I’m Tucker.”
“Oh, you sing at the pub?”
“I do,” he said, nodding.
“My mom heard you at the festival and couldn’t say enough good things.”
“Tell her thanks.”
“I will.”
He ducked down a hall and shortly after Henry Phillips appeared.
“Aiden Faulkner,” he said, with an outstretched hand. “I heard you were back in town.”
“I am.”
“What brings you by?”
“You have external surveillance cameras around your property, right?”
“We do.”
“I’m hoping you might still have footage for the last week or so,” I said.
“Actually, you are in luck. It’s a cloud-based system, so it could go back further than that. Can I ask you what it’s for?”
I gave him the same line I’d given Ryder. “It would be a help to her family if I could rule out that she’d been in the area.”
“Her parents must be a wreck.”
“No doubt they are. Any help you can offer would be great.”
He promised to get me a link to the files if he couldn’t email them. I thanked him and left.
I was walking out when Emma’s dark blue MINI Cooper came around the corner. She slowed to a stop and rolled down her window.
“Hey stranger,” she said.
It had turned into a running joke between us. “Yeah, do I know you? Only a stranger would sneak out of the house in the morning without a goodbye.”
“Sorry about that. I went for a run and ran into the ice cream and gossip sisters.”
“I heard.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. If I had any clue I’d be seen, I wouldn’t have gone out in your shirt.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t tell her about what the sheriff said because it was my problem not hers.
“I hope you haven’t caught grief over it.”
I laughed. “It worked in my favor when I ran into Janet.” I paused. “You know Janet, right?”
“Redhead and single?”
“Yeah. She asked me out. Jessie saved me by the way. But on the way out, she apologized thinking that we were together.”
Her brow shot up. “Did you correct her?”
“Didn’t have a chance. She did all the talking, so I didn’t have to turn her down.”
Emma’s grin was filled with amusement. “Why would you have turned her down? She’s cute.”
I eyed her for a second, managing not to show my disappointment that she’d asked me that. “No reason. Maybe I’m waiting. I’m a patient man. Mom always told me not to compromise, especially when it comes to someone I want to call wife.”
Her jaw dropped.
I tapped the hood of her car. “Anyway. I need to get back to the station before the sheriff puts an APB out on me. You’re here early.”
“Yeah. I have a lot to do before we open.”
“I’ll let you go.”
She didn’t have to go far. She turned right into the pub’s parking lot which was directly across the street from where I stood. I crossed back over Highland Place where my department-issued SUV was parked.
Emma still had the ring on. Was I being a fool for hoping for something between us?
Chapter 15
Emma
No man should look that good, I thought as I turned into the bar’s parking lot. Stupid me had suggested he date Janet. Had he scowled when I said it or was I imagining it?
I parked and sat there for a moment. Did I really think Aiden would stay single for long with all the thirsty, single women in town? The tall glass of water he was, wouldn’t last long.
Finally, I let go of the steering wheel and went inside. I wanted to get the weekend’s bookkeeping done before Jack arrived in case we needed to talk.
After using my new passcode to enter the building and once again to get into the office, I smiled to myself for all my handiwork. “Thanks, Dad,” I said out loud. I could never be more grateful that he’d raised me to be independent and not depend on anyone when I didn’t have to.
I’d finished up the weekend tally which all tied out to the cash deposit for the bank waiting in the safe. I’d finished a paper I needed to turn in for one of my classes and was in the middle of reviewing the security footage when someone said, “I figured you’d be here early,” scaring the mess out of me.