Deputy's Desire by Kianna Alexander

Author:Kianna Alexander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing
Published: 2014-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“I’m here.”

The quiet words made Andrew look up from the copy of the Ridgeway Tribune he had spread out on the desk. There, standing in the doorway, was the widow Leslie Decklin. In a simple gray day dress and small hat, she waited for him to acknowledge her. He took in the sight of her, noting that the pallor and gloom that consumed her had lifted somewhat in the days since the fire. “Come in, Mrs. Decklin. Have a seat.”

She moved to the chair on the other side of the desk and sat. Her blue eyes were beginning to come to life again, though the remnants of exhaustion and weeping still remained. “What do you need from me, Deputy?”

He kept his tone low and respectful. “We’ve had some evidence discovered at the café site and we want to see if you know anything about it.”

She nodded her understanding. “Show it to me and I’ll do my best to be of help.”

He produced the same line drawing he’d shown to Brian and slid it over the surface of the desk in her direction. “Have you ever seen this brooch before?”

She looked at the image in silence for a few seconds. Her eyes widened and she clamped a hand over her mouth but a gasp still escaped.

He sat up in his chair. “Mrs. Decklin? What is it? You recognize the brooch?”

Still covering her mouth, she nodded.

“To whom does it belong?”

She dropped her hand as the color drained from her face, leaving her as white as freshly fallen snow. “It belongs to my employee, Maggie Pew.”

Sure he’d heard her wrong, Andrew leaned forward in his seat. “Excuse me?”

She was still gazing at the drawing with wide eyes. “Yes. She would wear that thing to work every day.” She pointed at the image. “I’ve seen it a thousand times or more.”

His mind started humming. Maggie was a girl of only seventeen years old. Why would she be wearing such an ornate piece of jewelry? “You’re sure it belongs to Miss Pew?”

“Yes. I even asked her where she got it. She would only say it was gift from a dear friend.”

He scratched his head. “Is there anyone else who could have had possession of it?”

Leslie shook her head vigorously. “No sir. She never took that thing off, even though her hair was always getting caught in it.”

He scratched his chin. This was an interesting development indeed. “No one has seen Miss Pew in several days now. I asked after her before, and Mr. and Mrs. Thibedeaux and their staff knew nothing of her whereabouts.” As was common among the folks fairly new to town Maggie had taken a room at Sarah’s Suites, the hotel housed in the former gentlemen’s club.

Leslie’s expression changed, her lips pursing and her jaw tightening. “Damn that boy.” Her usually gentle eyes flashed like burning embers.

“What is it, Mrs. Decklin?”

“My son has been in and out of the house at all hours of the night.” Her tone was bitter. “Wherever he’s going, that’s where you’ll find the girl.

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