Faith's Sheriff (Montgomery Family and Friends) (3 page)

The little girl looked at her with trusting and adoring eyes.  Faith gave her an encouraging smile and they started walking toward Jasmine’s home.  The little girl chatted most of the way.  Faith had a responsibility to her student.  She didn’t want to upset her by asking a lot of questions, but Faith was going to have to report this to someone if she couldn’t find the girl’s father.  It definitely wasn’t safe for someone as young as Jasmine to be home on her own especially in this day and age.  Faith chewed on her bottom lip.  She decided the best approach was a direct one.  “Jasmine has your mom and dad ever left you alone before?”

“Nope,” the little girl answered with absolute certainty.  “I usually go everywhere my mom goes, but she said my aunt and baby cousin needed all her attention for a few days, so I stayed home with daddy.” 

They’d reached Jasmine’s house.  The door was still slightly ajar from her hasty exit.  Faith briskly knocked on the door and waited.  When she didn’t get a response she pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside with Jasmine.  “Mr. Tome,” she called out.  There was no response.  She glanced at Jasmine.  “Did you check your parents’ bedroom?”

“Yep,” the little girl nodded and then barely managed to suppress a yawn. 

Faith’s already present frown deepened.  This wasn’t looking good.  Jasmine was tired, but Faith couldn’t leave her in an empty house.  She was only six years old for crying out loud.  “Show me their room okay Jasmine.”  It was worth a try she thought, with any luck the man would be fast asleep in his bed and everything would be okay. 

They walked down the hallway to the last room at the back of the house.  Faith noted that the house was almost a replica of the one she was renting.  The door to the master bedroom was open and Faith could plainly see that the neatly made bed hadn’t been slept in.  Crap!  Nope this wasn’t good at all.  “Mr. Tome,” she called out again louder this time as desperation began to set in.  There was no response. 

She bent down on one knee so that she was eye level with Jasmine.  “I think you’re right.  No one else is here.  I can’t leave you home by yourself.”  She thought about taking the obviously tired child back to her home and letting Jasmine sleep on the couch, but she couldn’t leave this unreported.  Something was very wrong with this picture.  Her senses were screaming at her.  Something wasn’t right and she had an obligation to protect her student. 

The delectable Cole Duncan lived in one of the houses in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street.  It was about five houses down from where Faith was living.  She and Jasmine could walk there in less than ten minutes.  She’d gone out of her way to avoid the sheriff and all temptations associated with the man, but this wasn’t about her and her insecurities.  This was an emergency and she needed the sheriff’s assistance.

She took the little girl’s hand.  “Let’s go see if Sheriff Duncan is home,” she told Jasmine.  “I think we need his help.”

“Can’t we just stay here,” the little girl whined.  

Faith wanted to give in, but her senses were screaming for her to get help.  She was probably being paranoid, but after ignoring her intuition about Patrick she now tended to overcompensate.  It was indeed better to be safe than sorry as the old saying went.  “No I’m sorry, but you can’t stay here by yourself, besides what if your dad needs help.  We need to let the sheriff know what is going on, and lucky for us he lives in this neighborhood.”

Faith took the little girl’s hand and started off at a brisk pace.  She was anxious to let the sheriff know what was going on with Jasmine and her family.  He might know how to get in touch with the girl’s mom if they couldn’t find her dad.  It wasn’t late for a Friday night. She hoped he was home and not out on the town with a hot date.  And she told herself that was for Jasmine’s benefit not her own.  No way could she be jealous at the thought of Cole on a date.  Besides he hadn’t had a date at any of the dinner parties they had attended together.

She held her breath as they turned the corner.  She wasn’t sure what she’d do if Cole wasn’t at home.  Faith let out the breath she’d been holding in a giant puff of air when she saw that Cole’s house was well lighted.  Hopefully it meant he was home!  Home alone she added as an afterthought.  She didn’t want to walk in on an adult sleepover.  That would be too hard to explain to Jasmine if the little girl happened to ask.  And one thing she’d learned about Jasmine, the little girl was shy but curious.  

She began to walk even faster encouraging Jasmine to keep up while she talked to the child about adventures and late night outings.  Faith pressed the doorbell as soon as they stepped onto the porch.  She kept her finger on the lighted button and didn’t let up until she heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. 

“All right all right, I’m on my way.  Keep your pants on,” she heard the masculine voice instruct.  That sent some interesting images through her head, but she fought to block them out.  She needed to find Jasmine’s family not lust after the sheriff.  The door was flung open and a bare chested Cole Duncan stared back at her.  She felt her resolve slipping and quickly moved her eyes from Cole to the little girl who needed her help.  Jasmine she reminded herself was the reason she was here.

Cole flung open the door wondering who his uninvited visitor could be and why his or her finger was stuck on the doorbell.  It better not be a bunch of neighborhood kids playing tricks.  He was so not in the mood.  It had been another busy week at work.  His fierce frown turned into a sexy smile when he saw Faith Riley standing on his doorstep.  Then his eyes wandered to the little girl at her side and all thoughts of naughty fantasies and getting the lush brunette into his bed faded away to nothing.  This obviously wasn’t a social call.  He knew Faith didn’t have any children of her own though she did teach at the elementary school.  “What’s going on?” he asked in the stern voice he saved for the job.

Faith pushed aside the tingling that coursed through her body at the sight of the sexy sheriff.  Getting an eyeful of his well-muscled chest wasn’t helping.  Her body was telling her she needed to get to know Cole much better.  Her mind was telling her she needed to put on the brakes.  She’d already learned her lesson when it came to rushing into a relationship with blinders on.  It could be unhealthy and she didn’t plan to make that mistake again.  “Sorry to bother you Sheriff Duncan.”  That’s right.   Keep it formal.  She gave herself a mental pat on the back.  “Jasmine Tome came to my house a little while ago.  It seems she woke up from a nightmare and couldn’t find anyone else in the house with her.  I took her back to her house just to make sure she hadn’t somehow unknowingly overlooked her father.” Her forehead became wrinkled and her brows knitted together.  “I couldn’t find him either.”

Cole stiffened his spine.  “Where’s her mom?” he demanded in a very official sounding voice.

Faith shrugged, “Jasmine said her mother is helping her aunt out with a new baby and Mrs. Tome is staying over there.  Do you happen to know where her aunt lives?”

Cole frowned.  “Yeah I know where her aunt lives.  Jasmine’s uncle is one of my deputies, but he’s been overseas for the past few months.”  That was the main reason Cole was being rushed off his feet on the job lately.  “This isn’t like the Tomes.  Richard and Maggie have always appeared to be responsible parents.”  Cole opened the front door a little wider.  “The two of you better come on in, while I finish getting dressed.  Then we’ll go back to the house and I’ll have a look around.”

Faith watched him walk away and noted that his hair was wavier than usual and it looked damp too.  He must have just gotten out of the shower, which would also explain the naked chest.  Several images of Cole in the shower flashed through her mind and she let out a low groan.  Darn it!  Why did the man have to be so sexy?  She was probably going to dream about that chest and the rest of his body tonight.  Faith let out a long sigh, but abruptly cut it short when she saw Jasmine watching her with wide eyes.  There was no need to upset the poor child any more than she already was.

Faith felt guilty.  Her student was obviously upset and worried about her dad.  And instead of trying to comfort her, Faith was too busy having erotic thoughts of the sheriff dance through her head.  “It’s all right Jasmine.  I’m sure we’ll find your dad soon.” She offered what little comfort she could.  She wasn’t feeling too optimistic, but there was no reason to let her doubt alarm the young girl.

Cole finally returned.  He’d changed into a pair of khaki pants and a button up dress shirt, his uniform when on the job.  His badge was prominently displayed on his belt and Faith saw him tuck a service weapon into the small of his back. He bent down in front of the young child.  “Your name is Jasmine right?”  He waited for the little girl’s nod before continuing.  “Have your parents ever left you home alone like this before?”

“No,” she managed to whimper.  “That’s why I went to Ms. Riley’s house.  I had a nightmare and I couldn’t find my daddy anywhere.”  The little girl sniffled.  “I was so scared.  I’ve never been home alone before.  I wasn’t sure what to do then I remembered that Ms. Riley lived nearby.”  

Cole gave the little girl a comforting pat on the back and then stood up to his full and very intimidating height of well over six feet.  “We’re going to take my SUV over to the Tome house,” he instructed his two visitors.  “If I can’t find Jasmine’s dad then we’ll take her to her mom.  And I’ll issue a strong warning about leaving such a young child unattended.  We’ll let her deal with her husband this time.”  No one had gotten hurt.  If this was a marital issue there was no need for him and Faith to become involved.  It would be better for Maggie to deal with her husband and his errant behavior without involving the sheriff’s department, this time.

Faith grasped Jasmine’s hand in her own and they followed Cole into his garage.  She waited until he opened the backdoor of his large black SUV and motioned for them to get in.  She felt much better about the situation since she’d involved Cole.  He knew the family and he’d know exactly what to do if they couldn’t find Jasmine’s dad.  She let out a deep sigh of relief and helped her student climb into Cole’s large vehicle.

“I don’t have a booster seat, so make sure her safety belt is securely fastened.  Hopefully we won’t have to go any further than her house.”  He waited while Faith did as he’d instructed and then got in behind the wheel.  His brain was in sheriff mode and he had a thousand thoughts and questions running through his mind.  “How long ago did Jasmine come to your house?”  He needed a solid time frame to work with when he talked to either one of the Tomes. 

Faith fastened her own seatbelt as the garage door lifted up and Cole began backing into the driveway.  “I don’t know the exact time, but not more than thirty minutes ago.”  I walked her straight to her house and spent about five minutes calling and searching for her father.  When we couldn’t find him I became even more concerned than when she’d first appeared on my doorstep.  I knew I had to do something and you were the first person to pop into my mind.”  Oh man had she just said that out loud? “We walked straight to your house,” she blurted out to distract him from the previous comment.

Cole nodded in acknowledgment as he pulled the SUV into the Tome’s driveway.  “You did the right thing.  I want you to stay here with Jasmine, and give me a chance to check out the house for myself.”  His glanced into the backseat using his rearview mirror.  “She’s already nodding off, no need to disturb her now if we’re going to have to drive over to Robert’s house.”

Faith just nodded her agreement and watched as he briskly walked to the house and aggressively knocked on the front door.  She waited with bated breath to see what would happen.  No one came to the door, and she didn’t know if she should be relieved or more worried.  She watched as Cole opened the front door and disappeared from sight.  

Once again she was glad she’d had the forethought to take Jasmine to Cole’s house.  Their paths had crossed a few times in the couple of months she’d been in Florida thanks to mutual friends.  She was gradually getting to know him.  She was wary of Cole the man, but Sheriff Cole Duncan she trusted implicitly.  

Cole exited the house a few minutes later with a grim look on his face.  The bad feeling she had before was growing and spreading through her senses like a dark and oppressive cloud.  He was no happier about this situation than she was.  It looked like they’d be making a trek over to see Jasmine’s mom and aunt.  She watched Cole march toward his SUV.  The sound of his sturdy boots echoing off of the asphalt was the only sound Faith could pick out of the eerily silent night.

Cole glanced at the now sleeping little girl after he slid into the driver’s seat.  “Still no one at home and I tried calling my deputy’s house.”  His brows knitted together.  “The line’s busy.  I don’t like this at all!  Let’s take a ride over there and see what’s going on.”

Faith nodded her agreement.  It wasn’t as if she had anywhere else to be and she felt responsible for Jasmine.  After all she was the one the little girl had turned to when she’d been scared.  She looked back at the Tome house and could have sworn she saw a moving shadow separate itself from the wooded area in the back of the yard. 

She grabbed Cole’s knee and squeezed to get his attention.  “Wait, I think I saw something in the Tomes’ backyard.”  She half turned in her seat to try and keep her eye on the moving shadow, but Cole had already turned the corner before he was able to stop the SUV.  Faith lost sight of the suspicious shadow. “Never mind,” she gave him a sheepish smile.  “I’m getting tired.  It was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me.”

Cole took his foot off the brake and pressed the accelerator and they started moving again.  They rode in silence for the ten minutes it took them to exit the neighborhood they lived in and drive deeper into a wooded area that separated the surrounding houses from each other.   He turned onto a narrow side street and then turned into the driveway of the third house.  The home was barely visible from the road.  Instead of finding your typical suburban home as they drew nearer they entered a person’s worst nightmare.