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Alyssa took her keys and tried on a polite smile. Though she didn’t like the way the man had said “here,” she agreed with him.
“Yes, it definitely has the attention of the entire community. It’ll be nice when it’s all over.” She jingled her keys, wanting to end the conversation. “Thank you for being less distracted than me.”
The man grinned.
“No problem,” he said. “Have a nice day.”
The way he said the last part, just like the word here, was so odd that it caught Alyssa a little off guard. She hesitated a few seconds too long. His smile wavered.
“Thanks again.” She tried to recover, heat exploding into her cheeks. She turned away and hurried to her car. When had she dropped her keys? And how?
She tried to mentally retrace her actions, and none of them included her opening her purse, let alone taking her keys out.
“Maybe I am way more stressed than I originally thought,” she mumbled, unlocking her door with the key fob. The day was hot and twinged with growing humidity. She held the unlock button down a few seconds longer. The front windows rolled down in response. She waited a moment, still trying to puzzle out the question of her keys leaving her possession, as a wave of heat poured out. It pressed against her skin with a maliciousness she’d come to expect from Alabama summers.
And here she was, about to go get into a hot bath. She sighed, wondering how that made sense, and tossed her purse into the passenger’s seat. She smoothed down the back of her pencil skirt and plopped down into the driver’s seat.
Click.
Alyssa paused, confused.
Click.
“What?” she muttered, trying to find the source of the noise. Last time she checked, her car had never clicked before. “I swear if it’s the AC crapping out...”
Alyssa didn’t have to look far. “Oh my God.”
* * *
CALEB’S PACING GAVE him a front row view of the woman named Alyssa Garner. He watched as Robbie and, presumably, his wife had dropped her off and then watched as she had started for the parking lot.
For a moment she had seemed happy, lighter than she had been that morning. Almost carefree. Her head was tilted up, lips in the same direction, and her shoulders were relaxed. At some point, wherever she’d gone, she’d even let her hair down. It cascaded over her shoulders and back, shining in the sun, more red than brown as it had looked inside. He wondered how she looked without her trendy black pair of frames on. Either way, he couldn’t deny that he found her attractive.
Alyssa seemed to be a quiet woman with an equally quiet beauty.
But Caleb now wondered if that was true...especially after what she’d done at the bank.
That anger that had startled him before began to rise in his chest again just thinking about the man Dupree Slater.
Caleb wondered if she had a scar from him.
Surprised again, he caught his thoughts before they became even darker.
He didn’t know Alyssa. At least not personally. He hadn’t even known she existed until that morning. He wasn’t close to her or, in fact, to anyone in Carpenter or Riker County. Having feelings for her like he was didn’t make sense. And wasn’t wanted.
You won’t be here long, he thought, resolute. Keep your head down, follow orders, and then you’re back home.
Caleb had started to turn away from the glass doors, giving Alyssa some privacy and his thoughts a firm shake away from her, when movement stilled his motion. A man ran up to her. He gave Alyssa something, but from Caleb’s angle he couldn’t see what it was. Or what the man looked like.
Could be a friend, he reasoned. Or a boyfriend.
No sooner had he thought that than he dismissed it. While he couldn’t see the man’s expression, he watched as Alyssa’s changed. Her brow furrowed and she frowned. Then she was smiling, but in a flash that smile fell away.
She was confused or unhappy. He couldn’t tell which, but it was enough to keep him watching as she left the man’s side and went to her car.
The man watched her go. He must have known her, Caleb thought. Why else would he just stand there watching?
Maybe he was admiring her too?
Either way, Caleb didn’t like it.
He left his post and stepped out into the heat. The humidity was suffocating. It amazed him that it still caught him off guard. And that people chose to live in it.
“Excuse me?” Caleb called out.
The man didn’t move.
Caleb’s gut started to talk.
And he didn’t like what it was trying to say.
“Hey,” he tried again, taking a few steps forward and giving the man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he hadn’t heard him. “Hey, buddy!”
The man, now a few yards away, turned around. It was a slow, lazy movement. He didn’t seem surprised at a slightly agitated court deputy’s appearance, but the same couldn’t be said for Caleb.
“You.”
The man with the horn-rimmed glasses grinned. “Hello, Deputy. How can I help you?”
Caleb hung back at the bottom of the stairs. His gut was full-out yelling now. It prompted him to really look at the man.
Over six feet and thin, the man wore glasses, but they had the opposite effect that Alyssa’s had on her. Instead of giving the impression that he might be on the quiet side, they turned his sharp facial features and thinness into an overall look of aggression. The descriptor popped into Caleb’s head so fast he realized he’d already had the thought the first time he saw the man. It didn’t help that his body was seemingly speaking an entirely different language with how he was dressed—slacks, a dark red vest and dress shoes—and where he was.
He was comfortable and anxious. While he greeted Caleb with a grin, Caleb noticed one of his hands against his thighs, his fingers tapping out a rhythm. A nervous tic. An anxious activity like pacing but more controlled.
“What are you doing out here?” Caleb asked, acutely aware of the space between them. “Are you still waiting for your friend?”
The man’s grin widened.
“You’re good with faces,” he said. “I didn’t think you’d remember mine. But no, I’ve already seen my friend.” He glanced toward the parking lot and then back to Caleb. “I’m on my way now. Have a good day, Deputy.”
He didn’t wait for a response. Putting both hands in his pockets, he moved away from Caleb to the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. Caleb thought about following him and demanding his name at the very least, but then his gut was twisting again.
He turned back to the parking lot.
Something felt off.
Alyssa’s outline could be seen in her car in the middle of the visitors’ lot, but she hadn’t started it yet. Why she hadn’t at least turned the ignition just to get the AC going, Caleb didn’t know. Maybe Alabamians were made with more heat resistance than he was.
Still, the lot wasn’t in the shade and the sun wasn’t being kind. It beat down on the little Honda like it had been doing all morning.
The inside had to be hot as hell.
Caleb took a moment to debate whether or not he should check on her. Maybe she was having issues with her car. Or maybe the man with the glasses had said something that upset her. Maybe it wasn’t any of his business either way.
Caleb adjusted his belt and turned back toward the courthouse.
Keep your head low, he reminded himself. It isn’t your place.
Halfway up the stairs, his feet stalled.
No, it was going to be impossible to keep his head low when his gut was telling him to do otherwise.
* * *
IT WAS SO HOT.
Alyssa’s muscles were straining to not move while sweat began to roll down her skin without any such constraints. While the windows were down, no breeze moved throughout the car. Her only company was a stifling, unforgiving blanket of wet heat. It was turning her situation into more of a nightmare. The hammering of her heart hadn’t broken the silence, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t beating against her chest in terror.
Sure, there was a chance she was overreacting. Paranoia. But what if she wasn’t?
She tried to take in another deep breath to help tamp down her nerves.
It didn’t help.
Especially not when someone approached the open window.
“Excuse me?”
Alyssa let out a shriek and gave a small jump in her seat. It was enough movement to make her adrenaline surge higher.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the man said.
Alyssa allowed herself just enough movement to look at the stranger. Although he wasn’t just any man. The golden-haired deputy was staring back at her. She found his eyes, the perfect middle ground between golden and green, and felt genuine relief at his presence. However, she guessed her expression said something else entirely. His light brows drew together so quickly that she knew he knew something was wrong. “Are you okay?” he asked, voice ringing with authority.
Alyssa took a deep, wavering breath. “Have you seen the Lethal Weapon movies? You know, with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as cops?” she asked.
The deputy raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Yeah...”
“Well, you know the one where Danny Glover’s character is sitting on the toilet?”
“Yeah, that’s the second movie,” he said. “When he realizes there’s a bomb strapped to it. Why?”
A chill ran up Alyssa’s spine at that four-letter word.
“Well, this is probably going to sound ridiculous,” she started, “but I think there’s a bomb under my seat.”
Chapter Five (#udafacf7d-430d-5ea5-b5da-91df5756006b)
The deputy squatted down on the other side of the door so that his gaze was level with hers. Under any other circumstances she probably would have been distracted by the proximity, but right now her mind kept going to what might or might not be beneath her seat.
“You’re going to have to elaborate on that one for me.”
Alyssa licked her lips. They were already drying out despite her lipstick.
“Okay, so when I sat down I heard something click,” she started. “I hadn’t turned the car on yet, so it confused me. Then I heard two more clicks and actually felt those coming from under me. Under my seat. And then I saw the light.”
“The light?”
Alyssa moved her head to try to motion to the floorboard. She still wasn’t about to move the rest of her body if she could help it. Her hands were on her lap, fused together with sweat and nerves. In the movie, once Danny Glover’s character had gotten off the toilet it had exploded. And she was not about to blow up in a Honda.
“I can see the reflection of a red light blinking on the floorboard,” she answered. “It’s faint but it’s there. And it hasn’t stopped blinking.”
The deputy didn’t ask for permission, not that she was going to begrudge him for the invasion anyway, and moved his head in through the window to look toward her feet. Alyssa caught a whiff of either shampoo or body wash that smelled intoxicating as he moved into her personal space. Some kind of musk and spice infusion. Something she definitely shouldn’t be distracted by at the moment.
“I know I could be overreacting, but I guess I’ve just seen so many movies and TV shows where clicks and flashing lights equals bombs,” she admitted. The fear that had tensed her every muscle was now starting to feel a little silly. “And if it isn’t a bomb, which it probably isn’t, I’ll just be mortified for life.”
The man pulled out of the space and back into a squat next to the door. His expression gave nothing away.
“Can I open your door?” he asked, voice even.
Silly thought or not, the request scared Alyssa.
“If there’s a bomb under your seat, opening the door shouldn’t trigger it,” he added.
“But if it does?” she couldn’t help asking. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face. It was so hot.
The deputy’s expression stayed neutral when he answered.
“Then, I promise you, we won’t know the difference.”
Alyssa felt her eyes widen.
“I don’t know if I’m happy with that logic.”
The man didn’t apologize for it.
“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to,” he said. “I just need to take a closer look.”
Alyssa chewed on her lip but nodded.
“What’s your name?” she tacked on. The man raised his eyebrow. “Just in case we do blow up.”
“Caleb Foster.”
“I’m Alyssa Garner,” she introduced. “I would shake your hand, but I’m terrified that if I move I’ll—Well, you know...”
Caleb flashed a smile. It didn’t last long.
