Close Call in Colorado by Cindi Myers

Author:Cindi Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-10-28T17:56:14+00:00

Chapter Ten

“The donation box was in the open, right by the counter,” Jake said. He was in his khaki sheriff’s department uniform now and had apparently responded to the report of the theft, along with Deputy Wes Landry. “Anyone could have walked off with the box.”

“But we were watching it,” Sheri said. “If someone had leaned over the table to get it, I know I would have seen them.”

“When was the last time you know for sure the box was there?” Wes asked.

“A man who said he was from Texas bought a T-shirt and put an extra twenty in the donation box,” Austen said. “I thanked him.”

“When was that?” Wes asked.

“I don’t know for sure.” Austen rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe fifteen minutes before Sheri noticed the box was missing.”

“I remember the Texan,” Sheri said. “I’m sure I saw the box after he left.” She bit her lip. “I had my back to it for a few minutes while I talked to a couple of my students who stopped to say hello, but I’m sure I would have noticed if someone had leaned past me, into the booth.”

“What did the box look like?” Wes asked.

“It’s about eight inches square, with pictures from search and rescue training exercises pasted all over,” Jake said.

“Hannah’s mom made the box for us a few years ago,” Sheri said.

“We have it out every time we do a booth like this,” Carrie said. “No one has ever bothered it before.”

“But everyone would know the box had money in it,” Jake said. “That’s all the provocation some people need.”

“How much was in the box?” Danny asked. “Any idea?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Sheri said. “But people were being really generous. The Texan wasn’t the only one who left a twenty. I’m thinking at least a couple hundred dollars.”

“I bet it was more than that,” Austen said. “Maybe three hundred.”

Danny may have been the only one to hear Carrie’s low moan. “What are our chances of getting the money back?” she asked Jake.

Jake shook his head. “That money is probably long gone by now, but we’ll do a search of the area. Maybe the thief still has the box.”

“I’ll help look,” Sheri said. She looked to Carrie. “You and Danny are here to take over the booth, right?”

“Sure,” Carrie said. “You go do whatever you need to do.”

“I’ll come with you,” Austen said. He followed her out of the booth.

Carrie looked a little dazed. Danny glanced around them. Now that the sheriff’s deputies had moved away, no one was paying much attention. Word of the robbery hadn’t spread yet and they had the next two hours of their shift manning the booth to get through.

“We need something else to collect donations in,” he said. He dug around in a pile of plastic bins at the back of the booth. Amid a stack of volunteer sign-up sheets, old climbing rope and miscellaneous first aid supplies he found a battered climbing helmet. “This should work,” he said.

A further search unearthed a black marker.

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