All Through the Night (Liar's Web) (9 page)

Stealthily, Cherry got up from the sofa and quietly removed herself from the room, taking her art materials with her. Darcel hugged Star back with all her might as a feeling of immense relief flooded through her. She needed Star right now. After spending so many hours with only an Alpha male as her companion, she needed a healthy dose of estrogen. She desperately needed a sense of normalcy after the events of the last two days. What was more normal than her happily married, obscenely pregnant best friend?

Star slitted her eyes and looked back and forth between her husband and the sheriff. “Some people seem to think I can't keep a secret.”

“
I thought I told you to stay away?” Trueblood demanded as he turned toward Case. “We don't want to draw any attention to the fact that Darcel is here and cooperating with the police investigation.”

“
You try stopping a nine-month pregnant woman from doing something,” Case said through gritted teeth. “I dare you.”

“
You are so whipped,” Trueblood mocked in a low voice.

Star swiveled her head around. “I heard that.” She wagged her finger at him. “Don't let me get started on you, Jake Trueblood. You know darn well she's my best friend.”

“
You guys really shouldn't be here. She's in police custody!” Trueblood said bluntly.

Star began to sniffle loudly, right before she burst into tears. “I just wanted to see her and make sure she was all right. She could have been killed in that shootout.”

“
I'm fine, Star.” Darcel hurried to comfort her friend. At this moment she didn't think she could love her best friend any more than she already did. It was so like Star to come rushing to her side for support. That had been her nature ever since they'd become BFFs in kindergarten. Whether it was taking her side in a playground fight or helping her sew her prom dress, Star had always been on team Darcel. Even as an adult, it was still nice to know your best friend would come racing to your side when trouble came calling.

Case looked at Trueblood with dangerous-looking eyes. “You made my wife cry.”

Darcel wanted to laugh at the look of panic that broke out on Trueblood's face at Case's accusation. He no longer resembled the big, bad-ass sheriff. He furrowed his brow and shifted his weight from one foot to another before rooting around on his desk for a Kleenex, which he handed to Star.

“
I'm sorry if I made you cry,” he apologized awkwardly as Star swatted her eyes and nose with the tissue.

Star waved a hand at him. “It's not you. Pregnancy hormones are a bitch and a half. One minute I'm ready to kick someone's ass, and the next thing you know I'm crying over
An Affair To Remember
.
 
I'm so ready to have this baby.”

“
I can't wait to meet this little darlin’,” Darcel gushed as she reached out and patted Star's stomach. “If he or she is anything like the two of you, it's going to be some kind of amazing.” Just as her hand touched Star's belly, she felt a forceful movement from within.

She let out a delighted shriek. “Oh my God! I felt a kick. That's amazing.”

Trueblood's expression was a mixture of fascination and fear. His raven eyes were wide and full of wonder. He moved himself closer to Star and leaned his body forward so he had an unobstructed view. His eyes stayed glued to her mountainous bump, as if he was fearful he might miss something.

“
Go ahead and put your hand on it, Jake. It won't bite you,” Star urged with a laugh.

Darcel watched him hesitate for a moment, his long, lean fingers resting at his sides. Seconds later he reached out and laid his hand across her belly so his hand was splayed out, side-by-side with her own. He practically jumped out of his skin as another strong kick was delivered.

“
Whoa. You've got a little soccer star in here,” Trueblood joked as Case beamed with pride. Darcel and Trueblood both smiled as the little one did a crazy tap dance inside Star's abdomen. As Darcel looked up to smile at Star, she noticed her friend was watching her interplay with Trueblood very carefully. Her eyes twinkled with delight and amusement.

“
Yes, it is amazing,” Star said with a knowing smile. “Truly amazing.”

* * * *

An hour later, Jake was behind the wheel with Darcel in the passenger seat. They'd just said their goodbyes to Case and Star. All in all, he was happy they'd met with Cherry, despite the fact the sketch had been a dead end and her memory hadn't been jogged regarding the shooter's identity. Darcel had gotten a chance to connect with Star, which had made a huge difference to her frame of mind. She seemed less on edge and far more upbeat than she'd been that morning.

As he drove out of the sheriff's parking lot, he said, “I'm running a little low on groceries. I need to swing by the market and grab some stuff. Milk. Bread. Eggs. Cereal.”

“
No problem. I want to chip in for the groceries,” she offered quickly. “We'll go halfsies.”

“
There's no need for you to pay for any groceries. I wasn't hinting. Just stating the facts. I need to pick up a few things.”

She looked at him quizzically, wrinkling her nose as she stared him down. “It's only fair to chip in. I like to eat, in case you haven't noticed. So in the event that I eat you out of house and home, I'd feel more comfortable about having paid my fair share.”

He cast a quick glance in her direction. Darcel was turning out to be very different than he'd imagined. Up to this point he'd viewed her as nothing more than a nuisance. Although it boggled his mind to be so wrong about a person, he had to admit the truth. She wasn't the woman he'd believed her to be. She was fair-minded. Practical. Nice. She was turning out to be a lot nicer than he'd ever imagined.

Bodine had tried to tell him she was kindhearted. Spunky, yet vulnerable. She brought out his fiercely protective side. And not just as a law enforcement officer. As a man. He didn't want to think about the way she made him feel, how she got to him on a level that went deep down into his innermost core. No matter how many times he'd tried to shake the feelings off, they were still there, eluding all his attempts to extinguish them.

He let out a sigh, determined to avoid an argument. “If that's what you want to do, Darcel, we'll do it. We'll split the grocery bill right down the middle.”

Her face lit up, and she sent him a grateful smile that sent a lurching sensation straight through his chest. Her smile, he realized, elevated her looks to the stratosphere. She was stunning.

When he pulled in to the A & P parking lot and parked his truck, he noticed Darcel looking around the lot with wide, apprehensive eyes.

“
Do you think it's safe?” she asked in a husky voice.

He wanted to laugh out loud at the way she was whipping her head around in every direction, like an owl, but he needed to tread lightly. She'd been traumatized. Attacked. Her life had been turned upside down. Although he wanted her to be on guard at all times, he didn't want her to see bogey men lurking around every corner in town. She still needed to live her life.

“
I don't think you have anything to worry about at the A & P. All things considered, I think it's one of the safest places in town,” he said gently.

“
Are you packin’?”

“
Excuse me?”

“
Packing heat? Are you carrying a gun?”

He puffed out his chest a little. “I'm a sheriff. I always carry a weapon.”

She burst out laughing, her giggles turning into snorts as she gave in to a full-fledged belly laugh. Although it felt good to hear her laugh, he had no idea what was so hilarious.

“
That sounded like a cheesy line from a spaghetti western.”

He frowned at her. “Cheesy? Spaghetti westerns are not cheesy. They're the best cinema has to offer. Clint Eastwood.
The Man with No Name. A Fistful of Dollars
.
 
That's good stuff.”

Darcel rolled her eyes dramatically. “If you say so.”

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the supermarket, Darcel asked, “Can I push the cart? I love pushing the cart.”

“
Knock yourself out,” he replied dryly. Without skipping a beat, she pulled a cart from the carousel and wrapped her fingers around the bars. Whoa. She was practically salivating at the prospect of pushing the shopping cart. Was this a female thing? He'd never been food shopping with a woman before, so he had no idea how this thing worked. He was used to grabbing a small basket, filling it with a few basic items, then heading to the check out.

“
Fruit and veggies or frozen foods?”

“
Huh?”

“
Where do you want to start? Frozen foods at the left end of the store or fruits and veggies on the right?”

Was this a trick question? “Uh, doesn't matter.”

“
I always start at the fruit and veggies then make my way through the meat section before heading to the dairy and frozen foods.”

For a man who always knew what to say, he felt a little bit out of his league at the moment. There was a system to grocery shopping? Clearly, no one had sent him the memo. He considered himself lucky if he left the store without forgetting any of his items.

“
We're getting a lot of stares,” she whispered as she filled a bag with plum tomatoes.

He looked over at the deli counter where he saw two blue-haired biddies staring at them, whispering back and forth. He recognized both of them. Rosa Lee Simmons and Arma Beckwith. Just the other day he'd been over at the Simmons place to investigate a broken window at the back entry of the home. Turns out Rosa Lee's husband Roscoe had forgotten his house key and had smashed the window in so he could enter the house. Arma was Rosa Lee's widowed sister-in-law. The two had fought bitterly and reconciled more times than anyone could count over the past five decades. At the moment it appeared as if the two women were in a reconciliation phase.

“
Good afternoon, Rosa Lee. Arma,” he said in a booming voice that carried clear across to the deli counter. The older women’s faces reflected their shock at getting a shout-out from the sheriff in the midst of their gossiping about him. Rosa Lee's face went a paler shade of white, and Arma's eyes began blinking and twitching.

“
Afternoon, Sheriff,” said Rosa Lee while Arma smiled in greeting. “Miss Dawkins.”

 
“
Afternoon, ladies,” Darcel replied in a boisterous voice.

Jake snorted then said in a low voice, “Lots of busybodies in this place. They got nothing better to do than gawk at us. Instead of staring at us, Rosa Lee ought to train her husband to remember his house key and stop wasting the time of law enforcement.”

Her eyes got wide. “Do you think they heard I was the eyewitness to Ronnie's murder?”

“
No, that's completely under wraps. We would never give that information out to the public. Something tells me they're staring at us for a completely different reason.”

“
Like what?” she asked as she popped a green grape in her mouth.

“
You. Me. Grocery shopping together. You do the math.”

Darcel sputtered noisily. “Seriously? C'mon. That's ridiculous.”

Ridiculous? He bit down on the indignation rising within him at her words. Was she trying to say he wasn't worthy of dating her? Did she think he was beneath her? Clearly, she didn't have a problem with him guarding her precious little ass from a killer, he thought grumpily. But the mere idea of people thinking they were a couple was ridiculous. Hmmph! Just when he was starting to think she wasn't so bad after all, she'd opened her mouth and insulted him.

“
Ridiculous or not,” he said in a clipped voice, “we're clearly the subject of their gossip.” He shot a pointed look in her direction. “Rumors spread really quickly in this town.”

She stopped in her tracks and swiveled her head in his direction. “We're back to that again, are we?” She huffed. “You really do know how to hold a grudge, don't you?” She snatched a box of Coco Puffs from off the shelf and tossed it into the cart where it landed next to her Oreos and a bag of cheese puffs.

He reached into the cart, pulled out the bag of cheese puffs, and shook them in the air. “I draw the line at going halfsies on cheese puffs. These things will kill you.”

Darcel snatched the bag and threw them back in the cart. “Gimme a break, will you? I snack on junk food when I'm stressed out. In case you hadn't noticed, these are very stressful times. I think I'm allowed a few cheese puffs.”

As she stormed off toward the meat section, he couldn't help but notice how nicely her skinny jeans accentuated her shapely backside. For the life of him he couldn't imagine how she maintained her perfect figure by scarfing down Oreos, Coco Puffs, and cheese puffs. He wasn't a big junk food eater himself, but he had to admit it had given Darcel curves in all the right places. Her small waist, generous hips, and full breasts would make a centerfold envious.

He walked by the deli counter, sparing a tight smile for Rosa Lee and Arma, who were still waiting for their deli orders. Arma reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him forcefully to her side.