The Deputy's Baby

That included Cassie Gates.

“Let me give her a call and feel it out,” Suzy declared with a nod. She grabbed the phone but paused before picking it up. “But if she isn’t up for it, you’ll go to a desk until we can find someone else. Understood?”

There was no malice or annoyance in the woman’s tone. Just a boss needing to make sure her charge was on the same page.

And he was.

“I won’t push the issue,” he said. “Scout’s honor.”

She smirked at that and dialed Cassie’s number without another word. Henry was wondering if he should leave the room when a song started to play out in the hallway. They both looked to the open office door as the song got closer.

“You rang?” Cassie said, popping her head into the room, surprising them both. At seeing Henry there, she faltered but finished her thought. “Or are ringing, I should say.” She held up her phone as Suzy hung up hers.

“You’re here? Is everything all right?”

Cassie nodded hurriedly. “Yeah, I just thought I’d bring in some lunch for everyone.” Her cheeks reddened a little. She groaned. “Which I left in the car. Because pregnancy brain is real.” Her eyes flitted to Henry’s. Instead of looking away, she held his stare. “I was also distracted by someone in the parking lot looking for you.”

“For me?” Henry asked, once again surprised. Outside of the people who worked in the department, he’d made no friends in Riker County. He didn’t even know if he could give the people he worked with that title yet. Not to mention no one from his life in Tennessee even knew where he’d gone. At least, no one who would have bothered to visit. And surely if it had been his brother he would have called. “Who was it?”

Cassie pulled a plastic bag from her purse and passed it over. “His name was Michael. He was at the Carter Home yesterday when you came by with Billy. He didn’t know your name but knew you were the new deputy.” She shrugged. “He was in a hurry, so I said I’d make sure you got it.”

There was curiosity in her voice. Henry heard it plain as day. Yet it paled in comparison to his own.

He looked at the bag between his fingers. He didn’t open it. He’d recognize the ring anywhere. A warmth that had no business belonging to him started to spread in his memory. Just as quickly it turned ice cold. He looked back to Cassie. If her expression was any indication, she’d caught on to the unwelcome change in his demeanor. Apparently she wasn’t the only one.

“Deputy,” Suzy said, breaking their stare, “what’s wrong?”

Henry met his boss with an even look that he hoped gave nothing away but the facts. He held up the bag. “The last time I saw this ring was a year ago.” That cold feeling began to spread as he took a moment before finishing. “It belonged to Calvin Fitzgerald.”

By the change in her demeanor, Henry knew Suzy recognized the name. And why it was significant.

“A year ago...” she said, fishing.

Henry took the bait.

“The day of the fire,” he offered. “The day he died.”

Chapter Five (#u160bac0e-890a-5ac5-a740-28aa9cec7c8a)

Henry and Suzy went out to the parking lot in search of Michael but found no one. Cassie went to look at the security footage that covered the lot and had a deputy pause the tape for them until they came back.

“Do you recognize him?” Suzy asked. Thanks to budget cuts, the footage wasn’t grade A, but it was enough to make out the key features of the man Cassie had talked to. Red hair, general build and well dressed.

Henry took a moment but shook his head. “No. I don’t. Not from Tennessee and not from yesterday, either. If he was at the Carter Home, I didn’t see him.”

“And you’re sure that’s the same ring?”

There was a noticeable pause. Cassie glanced over at Henry. He didn’t look at the bag or the ring inside.

“There’s a chance it could be a different one.” Henry met Cassie’s gaze and looked away just as quickly. “Maybe this Michael guy was mistaken about who dropped it. I can go after my shift to try to talk to him.”

Suzy had opened her mouth to, Cassie assumed, question the shift in certainty when Detective Ryan Ansler moved into the doorway. His brow was drawn tight.

“Matt needs to see you,” was all he said. Though his tone added an understood “as soon as possible” to the end. It rallied Suzy instantly.

“I’m coming. Deputy Ward, keep me updated on what you find out about the ring.” She turned to Cassie. “And, Cassie, I have a favor to ask of you. Could you walk with me?”

Cassie nodded without another look at Henry. Part of her wanted to avoid him so she didn’t have to worry about their past, present or future just yet. Another part wanted to ask him why he had just lied to Suzy. Because she had no doubt that was exactly what he’d done.

Turned out that other part of her was about to get the chance. Not only did Suzy want her to help show Henry around the county, she wanted her to start today.

“But I can’t make you do it,” Suzy reminded her as they hovered outside the conference room door. Cassie could see Matt and Captain Jones talking inside, heads bent toward each other, clearly concerned. It put an ounce more urgency in Cassie’s gut. “This is strictly a favor. One I’ll understand if you turn down.”

Cassie couldn’t believe herself as she nodded. “The department is under a lot of stress right now,” she reasoned, more for herself than for Suzy. “I was on vacation for too long. I’m ready to help out now.”

Suzy gave her a smile. It was fleeting after she glanced at the men in the room. Her shoulders pushed back even more. She gave a curt nod. “Thanks, Cass.”

And then Cassie was alone in the hallway.

She contemplated staying there for a while or maybe finding a place to hide from the responsibility she’d just accepted. Or, rather, the man she’d just agreed to saddle herself with. Instead she patted her stomach and walked back to the bull pen to find Henry at his desk.

He looked surprised to see her. So much so, it almost was offensive.

“I’m ready when you are,” she greeted, trying to stay as friendly as she normally was. And no more or less than that. If she was going to work with Henry Ward, she might as well embrace it. “We can take my car, since you don’t have a cruiser yet. If that’s okay with you.”

Henry looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, standing. He scooped up the plastic bag with the ring and slipped it into his pocket. Then that smile was back. The one that had wholly captivated Cassie months before. The one that had pulled her from an almost-blind date and convinced her to play pool for hours with a man she didn’t know.

The one that had led her back to his bed.

A warmth began to move up Cassie’s neck to her cheeks. She turned on her heel to try to hide the blush, resigned not to speak to him again until she had better control. However, two steps out the front door and into the heat, she couldn’t help herself.

“You lied to Suzy,” she accused, still sure in her words. “Why?”

She felt his gaze turn completely on her as he fell into step next to her.

“What do you mean?”

“You said there was a chance that the ring wasn’t Calvin’s.” She spelled out her thoughts. “But you lied. You’re positive it is. Why tell Suzy differently? And how are you so sure?”

She turned to the man now. Cassie knew he was good at reading people, one of the few things she did know about him. She wanted him to see she wasn’t backing down.

Cool gray eyes searched her expression. Two unbelievably soft lips turned up into a small smile. If she hadn’t been walking for two, her knees might have decided to give out because of it.

“We haven’t seen each other in months and now we’re essentially partnered up to tour the county we both work for and the first thing you say when we’re alone is that I’m lying.” He said the last part deadpan. It wasn’t a denial. “I didn’t think this was how any of our conversations would start.”

“There’s a lot of things I’d like to say instead,” she admitted, growing hot in temper and not because of former steamy memories. “But this is important. I’ve learned through years of being here that if the past reaches out to you, then sometimes bad, bad things follow. I’d like to not be blindsided twice in two days. That goes double for the department. What happened to Billy...” She shook her head. “I’d just rather be prepared.”