Falling in Love on Willow Creek by Debbie Mason
Chapter Eight
Chase leaned against the blue industrial garbage bin in the alley behind I Believe in Unicorns. Black had called for the meet. Chase had a story worked out in case Sadie took them by surprise—there was a moose loose on the streets of Highland Falls.
As Chase had discovered, large wild animals wandering down Main Street wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. It had happened as recently as last month, according to the Highland Falls Herald. After embarrassing himself with Sadie, Chase had spent the past three hours learning everything he could about wildlife in the area while surveilling the cottage. Though he planned to keep some of his newfound knowledge to himself. He needed a believable excuse to hang out with Sadie.
Black exited I Believe in Unicorns as if he’d seen the cousin of the snake Chase had shot in the woods. The sound of Michaela crying in the store abruptly cut off when the back door swung closed behind his partner as he made his way into the alley. Black slumped against the garbage bin Chase stood half-hidden behind.
“How can something that little be so loud? And cranky? Sadie’s right, the kid’s possessed.” As he tapped a cigarette from a pack into his massive palm, Black scowled at Chase. “What are you smirking at?”
“Pink suits you.”
“Har har.” He stuck the cigarette between his teeth and pulled out his sweatshirt to look down at the unicorn. “Gotta admit though, going gay was a good call. Although it doesn’t seem to deter the old ladies.”
“Sadie’s grandmother made a move on you?”
“No, three of her friends did. Agnes is too busy trying to set me up with Sadie. Unlike Sadie’s friend Abby, who has a guy in mind for me, and several in mind for Sadie, who she’s trying to convince to do a version of TheBachelorette on her YouTube channel.” He rubbed his ear as though he’d lost his hearing. “I think Abby might be a problem.”
“Yeah, so do I. Sadie doesn’t need a man. She needs to sleep.”
Black cocked his head. “Interesting that you would go there, but that’s not the problem I was referring to. Abby wants to use me to promote Project HOPE on her YouTube channel. I can’t risk her blowing my cover.”
“We could have her channel shut down for a couple weeks, but I don’t like the idea of impacting her income.”
“Yeah, it sounds like she does a lot of good promoting the community. Local businesses might suffer.”
“We’ll talk to Gabe. See if he has any suggestions on how to get her to back off.”
“If Sadie agreed to do the bachelorette thing for her, it’s a good bet Abby would—”
Chase’s pulse kicked up. He had to cut this off now and in such a way that Black wouldn’t question his motives. He was doing that enough for the both of them. “As much as I agree Abby poses a threat, that wasn’t why you called. You said you needed my help to distract Sadie so you could get a look at the computer. What’s going on?”
“Between Satan’s spawn screaming the store down and—”
“Don’t call her that,” Chase said, defensive on the baby’s behalf. “Her name’s Michaela.”
“Don’t look so smug. It’s not like Sadie could name her after me-slash-Eddie, the real hero of the day. No one names—”
“We have more important things to discuss than Sadie choosing to name her baby after me and not you. Were you able to follow up on whether Agnes is funneling money through the store to Elijah?” The moment Sadie pulled out of her driveway, Chase had called to share his suspicion and to inform Black that he had to pretend he was gay.
“I don’t have any hard evidence yet, but Sadie seems to think so. At least I’m pretty sure she said his name when she was ushering Agnes and the bank manager into the office for a chat. It was a little hard to hear through the closed office door and over the demon…baby crying while also helping out customers. It was quite the shitshow. Literally. I had to change her diaper, and that’s on you.” Black’s dark eyes narrowed. “Don’t think I haven’t figured out that you played me. The only reason I’m not patrolling the woods and communing with nature is because you’re a card shark.”
As they’d both called dibs on the park ranger job—Chase because he wanted to stay close to Sadie, Black because…he probably wanted to stay close to Sadie too, which ticked Chase off—they’d played a game of blackjack. Chase won, as he knew he would. Counting cards wasn’t especially difficult. After watching a short instructional video while pretending to be returning an email outside Boyd’s cabin, he’d figured it out.
But if Black thought he got the short end of the straw…“You think it’s easy playing park ranger? I’d take Michaela and flirty seventysomething women over what I saw in the woods this morning. I swear, the thing must have been ten feet—”
Black chuckled and blew out a couple smoke rings. “Come on, you out of anybody can’t believe Bigfoot actually exists.”
“I wasn’t talking about…Wait a minute, there’ve been sightings of Bigfoot in these woods?” He shuddered, catching the gleam of amusement in Black’s eyes. No way was Chase going to mention his run-in with the snake now. But he was definitely looking into Bigfoot sightings at some point. He waved his hand. “Of course I don’t believe in Bigfoot. I was just having some fun with you.”
“Is that right? I’m surprised. You’re not what I think of as a fun-loving guy.”
“All right, Black. Just tell me where we stand and why you think you’ll find the information on the computer. Agnes strikes me as old-school. I don’t see her banking online. Not to mention I’m pretty sure I witnessed a cash payoff between her and Elijah’s girlfriend back in February.”
They’d dug into Payton Howard but there were no red flags, other than minor run-ins with the law as a teenager and the fact that she’d dated Elijah. A few weeks of surveillance hadn’t gotten them any closer to finding the guy. It was like he was a ghost.
“I agree. But after the meeting—which went on for over an hour, I might add—Sadie was chomping at the bit to get on the computer but the baby needed to be fed. If you can believe it, she tried to get me to give the kid a bottle but one of Agnes’s friends needed a hand with her bags.”
“Why wouldn’t she get her grandmother to feed Michaela?”
“The meeting didn’t go well. Both Sadie and Agnes were upset. At each other, if I’m reading it right. I think the store’s in financial trouble. Sadie promised the bank manager she’d have a business plan to him by the end of the week.”
“She doesn’t need this right now,” Chase said, thinking out loud. At the look Black gave him, he decided he should have kept the thought to himself.
“And how exactly would you know that, Roberts? Have you been spending time with Sadie without telling me?”
“I told you, I ran into her this morning. I was going to debrief you tonight. Like we agreed, remember?”
“No, I think it’s more than that. You could have told me when you called this morning.”
He could have, but he’d been afraid Black might hear something in his voice that would make him wonder about Chase’s feelings for Sadie. “After talking to her, I was ninety percent certain we could take her off our suspect list. I wanted to search the cottage before telling you. There were no signs of her brother being there or that she’s in touch with him. But aside from her telling me, there were plenty of signs she’s struggling. She moved back to Highland Falls ten days ago and hasn’t unpacked.”
“It’s no wonder. The kid never sleeps, from the sound of it.”
Chase didn’t share how bad it actually was. He also didn’t want to share everything Sadie had told him or that she’d cried in his arms. It was private, a special moment he wanted to keep to himself. It had nothing to do with the case.
“But you can’t fool a player, Roberts.” Black tossed his cigarette, grinding it into the pavement with the toe of his boot. “So here’s the deal. Neither of us makes a move on her while we’re working the case.”
Damn it, he’d been right. Black was interested in Sadie too, and there was nothing Chase could say without giving himself away.
“Honestly, I’m surprised I’d even have to reiterate that with you, Mr. By-the-Book,” Black continued. “Come to think of it, I’m surprised you searched Sadie’s cottage without a warrant.”
“You don’t have to reiterate it with me, Black. I’d never jeopardize a case”—or his chance to get back to DC—“by getting involved with a member of the suspect’s family.” He ignored the weight lying heavy in his stomach. “You, on the other hand…”
“Trust me, I’d never do anything to jeopardize a case, particularly this one. I owe it to Brodie to go by the book.”
“I’m glad to hear it, and just so you know, technically, I didn’t break into the cottage. The patio door, including the screen door, was open.”
“That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not.” He glanced at the back door to the store. “Now that I think about it, I can use it as an excuse to get Sadie out of your way. I should be able to stall her at the cottage for at least an hour.” Maybe she’d let him unpack some boxes for her. He’d had a hard time not doing so while he was there. “Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, if you can do it. I’ve been trying to get her to leave for the past hour. That’s why I finally caved and called you.”
“All right, I’ll stick around here for another few minutes before going around to the front of the store. That way it won’t look suspicious.”
“Good. You know, this partnership might just work out after all, Roberts.” Black grinned, offering his hand.
Less than a second after Chase had clasped Black’s hand, the agent tightened his grip. Chase knew never to trust that grin again. He firmed his own grip, glad to see the other man wince. Seconds later, Black did the same. And so it continued until Chase finally gave in for the sake of expediency and their cover. “Am I supposed to say uncle?”
Black chuckled and released Chase’s hand. “You surprise me, Roberts. I didn’t know you had it in you. But I’m glad to know I’ll have more than just that big brain of yours backing me up.”
Fifteen minutes later, Chase walked into I Believe in Unicorns. Both Black and Sadie turned to him, expressions of relief and gratitude lighting up their faces. He’d stopped by Spill the Tea to pick up something for Sadie, but he had a feeling her relief had nothing to do with the blueberry scones and tea in the tray. Spine arched, arms flailing, Michaela screamed at the top of her lungs in Sadie’s arms.
Chase imagined Black’s relief didn’t only have to do with Michaela. Abby Everhart looked like she’d been trying to sell his partner on something, or someone. Chase recognized the petite redhead from her YouTube channel. He’d watched it to get a feel for Highland Falls and Sadie, who’d made a couple appearances on the show. Although she apparently worked more behind the scenes than in front of them.
Sadie rushed over with a red-faced, sweaty Michaela. “You are not leaving here without giving me your cell phone number.” She pushed the baby at him. “Please, work your magic. She’ll make herself sick if she doesn’t stop crying.”
He wished they didn’t have an audience. With her bloodshot eyes and pale face, Sadie looked like she needed a hug. And he wanted to give her one, which would have been incredibly difficult for him to process if he hadn’t wanted to hug her before. It was a good thing that he didn’t believe in magic and fairies like half the citizens of Highland Falls claimed to, or he might think she’d cast a spell on him.
“Okay, I’ve got her.” Cradling Michaela against his chest with one arm, he held out the tray from Spill the Tea to Sadie. “Go sit and have your tea and scones while Michaela and I take a tour of the store. Let’s go see the unicorns, shall we?” he said to the baby, who’d stopped crying to blink at him.
Sniffling, her muffled sobs shaking her little body, she buried her face in his neck and sighed.
“Oh my gosh, he’s a baby whisperer.” Abby approached with a grin that reminded him a little of Black’s, putting him on instant alert. “And he comes bearing gifts.”
Tapping her lips with her finger, she looked from him to Sadie. “Is there something you’re not telling me, girlfriend? Is he the reason you don’t want to do Falling in Love on Willow Creek? That’s the working title for this summer’s main attraction on my YouTube channel, Abby Does Highland Falls,” she explained to Chase. “I’m Abby, by the way.”
He smiled. “Michael Knight.”
Abby’s mouth dropped open. “Sadie, it’s him. It’s your knight in shining armor.”
From where she sat on a stool behind the cash register, Sadie choked on a bite of her scone. Grabbing her tea, she took a sip. Face flushed as she cleared her throat, Sadie nodded. “Yes, it’s him.”
“Oh, wow, it’s so wonderful to meet you.” Abby closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him and Michaela. The baby stiffened at the same time Michael did. Apparently, he only felt comfortable when Sadie hugged him. Interesting. And concerning.
Black looked concerned too, but mostly put out that he didn’t get a mention. Chase smiled.
“Oh my gosh, so he is totally the reason why you don’t want to do my bachelorette event. You’re together.”
Sadie slowly lowered the to-go cup of tea from her mouth, looked from him to Abby, and nodded.
His smile fell. Wait. What?
Black shot him a what the hell is going on? look.
He shot back an I don’t have a clue look. But while he may not have had a clue, after the initial shock of Sadie saying they were together had worn off, a bolt of happiness lit him up inside.
Black’s eyes narrowed.
So maybe that warm glow wasn’t only lighting up Chase on the inside. His next thought extinguished the warm glow completely. He’d made a promise to Black, and he had to keep it. No matter how difficult it would be to do so.
“As happy as I am for you, now I have to fill that slot with something equally fun and entertaining.” She glanced at Black and smiled. “And I think I know exactly who can do that. So, Nate, what do you think about From Behind Bars to the Wilds of Highland Falls?”
“I’m not exactly sure I Believe in Unicorns qualifies as the wilds of Highland Falls,” Black said, sending Chase a desperate do something glance.
“Sadie and I aren’t really together together, so, you know, she could star in Falling in Love on Willow Creek. No offense to Nate, but she’d be a much bigger draw.”