His Unexpected Family. Patricia Johns
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the table in time to the music.
“How about you, Chief?” Nancy asked. “Long day?”
Greg nodded, then frowned. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about that 11-80 the other day—the one with the baby.”
“How’s Sweet pea doing?” Benny asked with a grin. They’d nicknamed her Sweet pea that night when Greg brought her back to the station, and Benny had settled in with a bottle of formula and held her for a solid hour.
“She’s doing great.” Greg could feel the smile coming to his face. “She is very well cared for.”
Emily Shaw had been on his mind more often than he cared to admit, but his concern for the case was more than the beautiful kindergarten teacher with her quick smile.
“So what’s not sitting right with you, Chief?” Nancy leaned forward.
“What did we find in the victim’s car?” Greg asked. “The accident happened outside of Haggerston, so we’re assuming she was on her way here. She had family here, after all.”
“That’s right.” Benny nodded. “Emily Shaw, for one.”
Greg nodded. Emily topped his list, too, especially since Jessica Shaw had thought enough of her to name her godmother, but even Emily seemed surprised by the honor. Something felt wrong.
“But what did she have with her? A diaper bag and a purse with a toothbrush inside. She was two hours from Billings, where she lived. Does that seem right?”
“Two hours there and another two back...” Benny shrugged. “Could have been a day trip.”
“What do you think, Nancy?”
“As a woman?”
“Yes, as a woman.”
Nancy gave him a smug look. “So now I’m a woman, am I? I’m just one of the guys when I beat you at push-ups.”
Greg shook his head and laughed. “Don’t rub it in. What do you think?”
“No woman travels two hours one way with a newborn and only brings a toothbrush and a diaper bag. No extra clothes for the baby or anything.” Nancy shrugged. “Something feels off with that.”
“Who does that?” Greg asked.
“A distressed woman,” Nancy replied. “That packing didn’t show any forethought. She was upset about something.”
Greg nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“Or a woman who might not make great decisions at the best of times,” Benny said.
Greg gave a smile of thanks to the server as his wings and tea arrived. The wings were plump and saucy, and the little dish of blue cheese dressing on the side was overflowing onto the wings. Crunching on a carrot stick, he looked across the table at Benny and Nancy thoughtfully.
“So was she running away from something?”
“Or someone?” Benny took a sip of his cola and shrugged.
Greg shook his head and picked up a wing. “Wish it made more sense.”
“Is the family suspicious?” Benny inquired.
Greg shook his head. “Not that anyone has mentioned, formally or otherwise.”
He sank his teeth into one of the wings, the spicy sauce making his mouth water. For a few minutes he put his attention into his food, and when he’d sucked the third bone clean, Nancy suddenly said, “If the victim thought someone had tried to kill her, she would have mentioned it, don’t you think? She was alert.”
“But in shock,” Benny pointed out.
Nancy nodded and gave a shrug. “Something isn’t adding up.”
“It might be nothing criminal at all,” Greg agreed, “but something is nagging at me with this case.”
“Is it a case right now, Chief?” Benny asked.
“I’m not saying that I think this was murder.” Greg frowned thoughtfully. “I’m going to need a little more information, though, before I formally close the case.”
Chapter Five
The next evening, Emily pulled open McRuben’s front door, a blast of air-conditioning meeting her in a welcoming wave. There was no lineup, and the only other patron was an old man nursing a coffee in a disposable cup by the bathrooms.
A bored teenager took her order, and Emily watched in silent delight as he filled her fries up to overflowing. When the boxed burger was deposited onto her plastic tray, Emily’s mouth watered in anticipation. Extra pickles, extra mayo and a dab of their secret sauce... This was the kind of dinner she looked forward to more than she cared to admit.
“Need a hand with that?”
Emily started at the familiar voice and looked up to see Chief Taylor standing there in uniform.
“Chief!” She looked down at her tray piled high with burger, fries, a milk shake and a sundae and felt her cheeks heat.
“Get me the same, would you?” He pointed to her tray and put a bill on the counter.
“Do you have a secret love of fast food?” she teased.
“I’m actually here for a perfectly professional excuse.” He shot her a grin, the most relaxed Emily had seen him yet.
“I don’t believe you.” She felt a smile tickle the corners of her mouth.
“All right, truth be told, I want a burger. But since you’re here, it could save me some time.”
“That’s more like it.” She chuckled, picking up Cora’s car seat.
“Let me carry this for you.” He picked up her tray.
Leading the way to a booth by a window, Emily looked back over her shoulder. “So what is this good professional excuse of yours?”
“Just some unanswered questions, mostly, Miss Shaw.”
Greg waited until Emily had Cora settled on the bench beside her before he eased into the seat opposite her.
He nodded his thanks to the teen who put down an identical tray to Emily’s in front of him. “About Jessica—does anyone know why she was coming to Haggerston?”
Emily shook her head. “I don’t know, but I guess I’d assumed she’d been on her way here. Her dad was here, after all. I did ask people at the funeral, but no one was really sure.”
He unwrapped the burger and peeked inside, his expression unreadable. “What is this?”
Emily laughed. “You did ask for what I was having.... It’s a burger with extra pickles, mayo and secret sauce. It’s delicious. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
Greg took a cautious bite, then smiled. “Good.” He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “I normally do extra bacon and tomato.”
Emily raised her eyebrows as an idea struck her. “I should start putting some bacon on this. That would be perfect.”
Greg shot her an amused look and then sobered. “So no one knew Jessica was coming?”
Emily shook her head. “Everyone was saying the same thing—we had no idea she was pregnant, let alone already a mother. We hadn’t heard from her in a long time.”
Greg nodded slowly. “Did she have drug problems? What would isolate her from her family like that?”
“Well...” Emily opened a ketchup package and made a little mound to dip her fries into. “Her parents were good Christian people, and Jessica was the black sheep of the family. She was the one who went out partying as a teenager and defied her parents