Misty Lake: Book One in the Misty Lake Series (13 page)

11

Monday morning dawned warm and sunny, a beautiful day in Misty Lake. Jake loved his town, always had. Even when his friends had talked about getting out after high school, he had always known he wanted to stay. He loved the sense of community, a feeling that remained even as the town grew. He appreciated those who had been there for years, working hard to keep the town’s economy growing. And he was proud to work for the people who had put their faith in him as sheriff.

As he walked out of his apartment on the second floor of a refurbished building on the town’s main street, he took in the morning’s activity. Rosie’s Diner was filling up with those looking for a home-cooked breakfast or a leisurely cup of coffee. If his father wasn’t already there, he would be soon. Jake remembered how, a few weeks into his father’s retirement, his mother had said, in her tone that left no room for debate, she needed some peace and quiet in the mornings and his father needed a reason to get up and get moving. He was interfering with the routine she had had in place for over thirty years, she had claimed. Knowing better than to get on the wrong side of Anna’s Italian temper, Sean had spent every weekday morning since having a cup of coffee at Rosie’s with friends who went back to the days when they were the ones raising hell in town.

Bob Bell, the president of First National Bank, was opening up and gave Jake a wave. Further down the street Jake could see a steady stream of people filing in and out of The Whole Bean, the town’s trendier, and wildly successful, coffee shop. Megan Perkins, a year behind Jake in school and his on-again, off-again girlfriend for most of their high school years, had worked hard to build the business after her husband of only two years had left her with a newborn baby. Jake and Megan had remained friends and he was proud of her and her success.

As Jake made his way down the stairs that wrapped around the outside of his apartment building and to his car parked behind, he saw Lynn from First National along with other harried-looking parents urging their kids to hurry into the church that housed Precious Ones Daycare. Lynn had one hand of each of her two-year-old twins gripped tightly in her own and somehow managed to hang on to them while juggling two backpacks, stuffed animals, and blankets. The woman was a superhero, Jake thought, shaking his head.

Yes, he loved his town. And if it seemed a little sunnier or a little happier this morning, well, that may have something to do with the call he had from Sam the previous night. There had been that brief moment of panic when he saw her name on his cell phone and his thoughts jumped to trouble, but it hadn’t taken long to determine that wasn’t the case. Sam had called him, he thought to himself, and couldn’t hold back the grin.

She had been a little cryptic, first saying she wanted him to come over last night, then changing her mind and asking him to come over tonight. She had said there was something she needed help with but hadn’t elaborated. He had tried asking some questions but she had deflected most of them. In the end, Jake had talked her in to going out to dinner since she had already fed him on two occasions and he wasn’t about to let it become three before he had the chance to reciprocate. She had started to refuse and then, almost as if she was waging some kind of internal war, had done a one-eighty and agreed to dinner at The Misty Lake Lodge, Jake’s favorite place on the lake. They’d have a nice dinner, some wine, candlelight, all those things women seemed to like and, he figured, she hadn’t had much of lately. He hadn’t looked forward to a date this much in a long time. Maybe since that first time he had convinced Megan Perkins to go to a movie with him and they had never made it into the theater. God, he thought to himself, that was a long time ago. He had had to do some quick thinking when his dad found her sweater in the backseat of his car the next day.

He was still chuckling to himself as he made his way into his office and picked up a ringing phone. Pete Griffin, his friend from the Minneapolis Police Department, greeted him in his booming voice.

“How the hell are ya, Jake? Still busy bustin’ speeders and guys without fishing licenses?”

Playing along with their long-standing joke, Jake shot back, “You know me, every illegal fisherman’s worst nightmare. How about you? Still got task forces, committees, and community groups telling you what to do?”

“Same old, same old. I guess we all do what we gotta do.” Then growing more serious, “So, what’s going on up there? Sounds like you’re having some trouble you think might be gang related?”

Jake filled Pete in on what was happening and gave him the names of the kids in Sam’s class, including Tyler since he’d been tight with Zach, knowing if any of them were heavy into gang activity, Pete would know them.

Pete was quiet for a minute then began, “Well, a couple names stand out. First, the Salentine kid. Does he have an older brother, William, or Blade, as he’s known?”

“Yeah, that’s his brother. I’ve heard a little about him but tell me what you know.”

“Blade’s been running with a gang for about eight years. They’re bad news, Jake. Blade’s bad news. He disappeared about six weeks ago. I’ve talked to departments in Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, lots of places this gang of his is known to have a presence, told them to be on the lookout. So far I haven’t heard anything. We like him for a couple murders but haven’t had any luck getting witnesses to come forward. They’re all scared. I don’t know Jimmy, but these guys tend to try to get family members to join, make it hard to say no.”

“I don’t like it that no one knows where he is. Can you get me a photo? I want to make sure we’re on the lookout here.”

“Consider it done.” Jake could hear him clicking away, probably emailing a file while he talked. “Now, the other name I heard from you that raised a flag was Tyler Loomis. Not really my area as he’s not a known gang member, but the kid has been in enough trouble that we all know him. He’s been in and out of juvie, stands to do some hard time if we can pin a rape on him. I didn’t know he was up there for the summer.”

“From what I hear from the director at the camp, he shouldn’t be. They normally don’t take kids with records like his but apparently his probation officer finagled it. So, what’s your take on this? Could one of these kids be responsible?”

“Could be, yes. But I don’t think it’s likely. Frankly, it’d be pretty small time stuff for either Salentine or Loomis. Seems to me the more likely scenario is that one of the other kids in this Ms. Taylor’s class has something against her. I didn’t recognize any of the other names but I could do some checking for you, pull some files.”

Pete’s suspicions mirrored his own and Jake’s anxiety increased. The thought of Sam alone with the group had him more and more concerned. “Thanks, Pete, I’d appreciate it. I got an overview from the camp director but if there’s more, I’d like to know.”

“Not a problem, I’ll get on it today.”

“Let me ask you this. Assuming the older Salentine has made his way up here and has made contact with his brother, do you think the vandalism could be some kind of gang initiation?”

“Not really typical initiation stuff we see from the gang Salentine is in with, it’s usually some pretty serious assault, even murder. But, if he’s working on his brother and has something to hold over the kid’s head to scare him, he could be easing him into bigger stuff. It’s not out of the question.”

“Yeah,” Jake was nodding as he twirled a pencil between his fingers. It was about what he had expected to hear.

“You’re looking at someone from the camp…what about locals? Someone who doesn’t like this lady?”

“That’s the thing, she’s new in town, doesn’t really know anyone except the kids she volunteered to work with. The attacks, especially the last one, have felt personal. A lot of damage, including to some stuff the kids were working on, things she’s teaching them how to build. They were stored in a cabinet, had all been pulled out and pretty much wrecked. Not exactly a stretch to think one of them could be responsible.”

“Makes sense. Well, buddy, gotta go protect the citizens of this fine city. Good luck, let me know if I can help you out with anything else.”

“All right, Pete, thanks again. If you can dig up any information you think is pertinent, send it my way. And get your butt up here one of these days, it’s been a long time. Tell you what, I’ll even spring for a fishing license so I won’t have to write you a ticket.”

With a laugh, Pete signed off and Jake stared out his window, going over the facts he had so far on the case and hoping for a break…soon.

It had been a long day filled with routine paperwork, frustrating dead ends on Sam’s case, and a particularly ugly incident of road rage that had resulted in two arrests and a shattered window on Jake’s patrol car thanks to an errant swing with a tire iron. Jake was more than ready to put it all behind him as he drove to pick up Sam for their date. When she answered the door in a short, white sundress, some strappy sandals that made her legs seem to go on forever, and with her hair loose and curling riotously around her shoulders, he found it hard to remember his name let alone the miserable events of his workday. Unable to resist, he didn’t even manage a hello before he grabbed her by the waist and closed his mouth over hers.

     Sam’s breath caught and she had to grab his arms for support. The jolt was there again along with something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. Desire, yes, but a calm at the same time. A feeling of closure, as if she had been searching long and hard for something and had finally arrived where she was meant to be. A contented sigh started in her throat before she caught herself.

Whoa! Sam jerked back and stared at Jake. Where had that come from? She definitely wasn’t looking for permanent, for home, for…the L word, but damn, if that wasn’t what it had felt like for a moment. A little dazed, she didn’t realize Jake was talking to her.

“Sam, everything okay?”

“What? Oh, yes, fine. You just…just surprised me, that’s all.” Needing a minute, she turned and headed for the closet. “I need to grab a sweater,” she mumbled.

Jake frowned after her. Had he screwed things up? He shouldn’t have grabbed at her like that, should have at least tried to act somewhat civilized. She had just looked so good, he was actually proud of himself for keeping it at only a kiss. But Sam was smiling as she made her way back with a sweater and purse in hand. She patted the dog on the head then looked up and smiled even brighter. “Ready?”

Conversation on the drive to the restaurant was limited to small talk, the next heat wave bearing down on most of the Midwest, and the Twins’ resounding win over the White Sox. All the while, Sam was struggling mightily to make sense of her reaction to Jake’s kiss. She hardly knew him. Any feelings other than friendship and maybe a mild interest in a little more than friendship were ludicrous, she told herself. It was only when Jake asked her about her day with the kids and their reactions to the damage that she put personal thoughts out of her mind and focused on Jake’s investigation.

“They were all surprised, confused, upset. Even though things are pretty well cleaned up, they all noticed the paint and stain spills on the floor, the dents and dings to some of the equipment. And, of course, they saw the damage to their own projects. Jackson took it the hardest, I’d say. He was angry and, even though he tried to hide it, sad. When he looked at his jewelry box his face just fell. I assured him it could be repaired, or he could start over, whatever he wanted, but he seemed upset, distracted, all during class.”

“So no one had an odd reaction, anything that struck you as suspicious?”

Sam fought the urge to lash out, to insist the kids were all innocent. She gave him a long look then replied as calmly as she could, “No, they all seemed bothered by what happened. Zach reacted the least but that wasn’t a surprise, he’s always distant. Oh, and Jimmy wasn’t there today. Stu brought a message from one of the counselors saying he wasn’t feeling well so would be staying back at camp.”

Jake’s head snapped toward Sam. “Sick? Has he missed before because he’s been sick?”

“No,” Sam answered slowly. “What are you getting at, Jake? Everyone gets sick sometimes.”

“Nothing. Just seems curious that he’d be out today after what happened, that’s all.”

“Jimmy’s a good kid, Jake. He didn’t do this.”

Jake just nodded and let the subject drop as they pulled up to the restaurant. The dinner, candlelight, and wine seemed to relax Sam although Jake caught her looking at him kind of strangely a couple of times. When he asked, she changed the subject. The same way she did when he asked what it was she needed help with. So he kept the conversation light and enjoyed the evening.

Sam’s mood changed quickly once they were back at her place. She seemed nervous, fidgety, as she let the dog out, offered him something to drink, turned on the TV, turned it off, and turned on music all the while wringing her hands and glancing towards the kitchen. Finally, Jake took both her hands tightly in his.

“Sam, what’s going on?”

She took a deep breath then blurted out, “I found something in the shop yesterday. I didn’t know what to do, couldn’t face it alone, I guess. I didn’t know who to call.”

“Did you find something related to the vandalism? Something you think might tell us who’s responsible?”