Detection Mission. Margaret Daley
In fact, Heidi, I’ll take you where you want to stay. Unless you have somewhere else to go, we would like you to stay in Sagebrush at least until you remember. In case you recall something about the men in the woods that day.” He paused. “Don Frist will stand trial, and if you could testify to his presence or that you saw him with the young boy, that would be great.”
Her forehead creased. “What if I don’t remember?”
“Don’t worry about that. I don’t like taking on extra worrying because it’s a waste of time. I figure I’ll leave the future in God’s hands. He’s very capable of taking care of it.”
“Any suggestions about where to stay?” she asked.
“I’ll check around and see what I can come up with.”
“I appreciate it, but I don’t want to cause you a lot of extra work...”
Her vulnerability poured off her and ensnared him. “It’s not. I know a few people who know a few others. We’ll find somewhere for you to stay.”
Her smile reached deep into her eyes and lit them. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but thank you. I don’t know where to turn.”
“My pleasure, Heidi. Now I’d better leave you to get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to see when you’ll be released from the hospital.”
He strode from her room and headed for his SUV in the parking lot, his dog poking his head out the window. The second Lee opened his door, Kip barked, peeking his head over the front seat and licking him on the cheek.
“Glad to see me? I wasn’t gone long.” He started the engine and rolled up the window. “Lie down. We’ve got a mission. To find Heidi a place to stay.”
* * *
The next day Lee paused in the doorway of Molly’s kitchen at his boarding house, a large Victorian home near downtown, a block off Sagebrush Boulevard. He took in a deep whiff of her coffee, the best in town. Two things that appealed to him about the place besides its quaint atmosphere were its owner, Molly Givens, like a second mother to him, and a large fenced backyard for Kip.
At the sink rinsing some dishes, his landlady glanced over her shoulder. “Did you bring your mug?”
“Yep. Wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to have some of your coffee. It sure beats what I make myself.”
“It smelled like you were brewing burned rubber. Here, pour yourself a big cup. I certainly don’t need to drink any more. Doctor’s orders. Watching my caffeine intake.”
Lee filled his travel mug, relishing the aroma wafting from the glass carafe. “I seem to remember you talking a few weeks ago about fixing up those couple of rooms on the third floor and taking in another boarder. Are you still interested in doing that?”
The kindhearted older woman dried her hands and faced him. “What are you up to?”
“I know someone who needs a place to stay while she recovers.”
“Recovers from what?”
“She was injured. A head trauma. She has amnesia. She can’t even remember her name.”
Molly quirked a brow. “That lady you found out in the Lost Woods?”
“Yes, but it’s not common knowledge. How’d you find out about her being here?” He should have realized if anyone knew what was going on in Sagebrush, it would be Molly. She didn’t have to work, but she’d been lonely after her husband died five years ago, and she’d opened her second floor for two tenants. She was a people person and couldn’t see living in a huge Victorian house by herself. He’d been glad he’d snatched up the first apartment, and shortly after that another coworker had taken the second one available. Mark Moore, a fellow police officer who worked the graveyard shift, lived across the hall from him.
“Lorna Danfield spilled the beans. We’re good friends. From church.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Lorna was the one who reminded me of your empty third floor. I should have remembered you two take care of the flowers for church.” Lorna was the secretary at work and was always looking out for the officers and dogs that were in the K-9 Unit.
“I’ve been talking of doing something. Now is as good a time as any. When will your lady friend be getting out of the hospital?”
Lady friend? That made what he was doing sound like more than someone helping another. And that was all this was. After his breakup with his fiancée, Alexa, eight months ago, he certainly wasn’t ready to jump into a relationship beyond casual. “I’ll find out today, but I think in the next day or so.”
Molly blew out a deep breath. “There’s a lot of work to do in a short time.”
“I think I can get some of the guys from the unit to help. We could work on it in the evenings.”
“And if she gets out before that, I have a spare bed in my apartment.”
“If she stays for a while, I don’t know how far her money will stretch to cover expenses.” Lee dumped two spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee.
“That’s okay. She’s in need.”
“Thanks—I knew I could count on you. She feels alone.”
“I can imagine.” Molly set her hand on her hip. “Well, maybe not really. I’m who I am because of my memories. It would be awful not to remember anything.”
“Some people might like a clean slate.”
“A do over? As far as the Lord is concerned, every day is a new beginning in His eyes. He forgives and forgets.”
Lee shifted under the intensity of Molly’s gaze.
“Let what Alexa did go, Lee.”
“She wasn’t who she appeared to be. I’m a cop. I’m trained to read people. She had me totally fooled.”
“The only one you’re hurting is yourself.”
“How am I supposed to just forgive and forget?” he ground out. “She slept with another man and is having his baby. We were talking about getting married the whole time she was seeing this guy—a fellow cop.”
“At least Dan works on a different shift.”
“Yeah, but we still run into each other.” Lee glanced at the clock over the stove. “I’ve got to go. Work calls.”
“You might have a hard time pulling Kip away from Eliza this morning. They’ve been playing and chasing each other around the backyard.”
“I think Kip has his eye on the Malinois. They both like to herd and try to with each other.”
When he stepped outside, he spied the two dogs lying together under a maple tree. Kip saw him, jumped up and hurried toward him. Eliza, Mark’s dog, raced toward him, too. She looked similar to a small-size German shepherd with tan fur and a black muzzle. He greeted Kip in his usual manner, then patted Eliza.
“Gotta leave your girlfriend, Kip. We’ve got a job. We’re heading for the Lost Woods. Captain wants us to start a grid search of it, see if we can find any more bodies. Several people are missing.”
Kip rubbed up against Eliza, yelped once then loped toward the gate. With one last glance at Eliza, her head tilted, her ears perked forward, Kip barked again as though to tell him to get moving. There were times he felt the dogs they worked with understood every word they said to them. As they were all highly trained and intelligent, he wouldn’t be surprised if they did.
“Sorry, girl, gotta take him to work,” Lee said before jogging toward his dog.
In the driveway he opened the back of his SUV for Kip. “We have to make a quick stop at headquarters, then to work.”
Kip lay down, putting his head between his two stretched