Page 46 of No Broken Promises

I almost make it into my car when he is there again, grabbing the top of my car door and keeping me from leaving.

“I wanted to talk to you about the fire.”

A split second passes while I try to process exactly what Artie said. He doesn’t remove his hand from my car door, and I don’t open it any farther, but he still waits with that patient smile on his face for me to answer him.

“The fire,” he prompts. “Remember? I thought for sure someone would have come to ask me if I’d seen anything at all. But no one came by.” He keeps on babbling as I struggle to figure out what in the world he is talking about.

“Okay?” I know for a fact that I can’t hide my confusion. I hope that he will take the hint and explain further.

Unfortunately, seconds tick by while he stares at me with that cheery smile and doesn’t say a word, just stares.

“Artie,” I prompt him. “What are you getting at?”

His vision clears, and his smile drops. Once again, he is the same serious man that I’ve known just as long as I’ve known Remy. “Uh, I have cameras on the exterior of my house, remember?” He turns back to his house and nods toward the white camera I can see poking out from under the soffits on his porch. Taylor is standing there with a bottle of water in her hand, so I wave with an awkward smile.

“From when I checked about Boo,” he goes on. “I have the video file from the night of the fire, and I thought that might be helpful.” From behind his back, he pulls out a plain white padded envelope that has his address on the front, and the pieces click into place.

“Oh, shit, Artie, that’s amazing.” I push the door open, careful not to hit him with it, and take the envelope that he offers. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Parker. I hope it helps.” With that, he walks back toward his house, leaving me with my thoughts and an envelope that may have answers as to who would throw a Molotov cocktail through my window.

Those thoughts lead me to the only logical thing to do with the envelope. I drive to BPD to get answers.

The redheaded woman sitting in dispatch smiles broadly at me. “Hi, Poppy.” I look around. “I thought you worked over at the sheriff’s department.”

Poppy laughs. “Not anymore. Chief Townsend offered me better benefits. You know… money, and the fact that I don’t have to see Logan all the time.” She runs a hand through the curls that fall around her shoulders in cascading waves, and I can’t hide the laugh bubbling up.

Poppy and Logan are kind of an epic love story gone wrong. She’d gotten her heart broken, and he left town for a few years. Then he came back and started working with the state police while she worked dispatch for the sheriff’s office.

“So…” I purse my lips together and look around to make sure no one is listening in. “You’re telling me you quit Birch County because your ex got a job there.”

She nods, her eyes bugging out. “He said it had nothing to do with me, but then I had to keep hearing his stupid voice over the radio every night. I decided to leave when Chief Townsend offered me more money, and I started last week.”

“Makes sense to me.” I tap my fingers on her counter. “I’ve got a hundred bucks on the fact that he’ll be working for BPD before the end of the year though.”

The horrified expression that crosses her face only makes me laugh harder than I had before.

“Take that back,” she hisses and then scrunches her nose at me. “It’s not a nice thing to say.”

“No,” I say while shaking my head. “But if you decide you need help burying his body, let me know. I’m sure I could round up a few people to help.”

“I can definitely do that.” Poppy winks and turns back to her computer for a moment. “So, what can I do for you? Are you here to see Remy? I’m not sure if he’s in the office right now. That man never remembers to log his status in his computer, and they all take the back door to the station.” She prattles on for a minute, and I let her with a smile on my face.

“No, actually.” I hold up the envelope in my hand and wonder idly how she even knows that there is something going on with the two of us, but then think better of it. Police officers are worse gossips than high school girls. Without a doubt, before I’d even made it home from the hospital after the fire, they all knew about Remy and me. “I’m here to see Officer Ortiz about the fire.”

She nods in understanding. “Okay, I’ll buzz you in. Come on back, and I’ll take you to him.”

A moment later the loudest buzzing sound I’ve ever heard before fills the air for about two seconds. I grab the door while it is still unlocked and walk in, smiling at Poppy when she sees that I made it inside okay.

“You wouldn’t believe the number of people who can’t get in through the front door.” She laughs lightly. “Let’s go.”

I follow her down the hall, which has white walls lined with photos of the department at different dates throughout the last hundred years. All the way back to the very first Birch Police Department, a horse and buggy crew that I’d love to have seen in real life.

At the end of the hall, we walk into a wide-open area which can only be the bullpen. Milling about are three different officers, all looking like they are trying to do anything to get out of paperwork. One even has a paper airplane in his hand that he throws and then goes to pick up.

“Hey, Parker.” My brother-in-law, of course. Linc shoots me a devilish grin while he leans down to grab the offending piece of paper that hasn't quite made it as far as he wants. “What are you doing here?”

I hold up the envelope and shake it while shrugging my shoulders lightly. “Oh, nothing. Just doing your jobs for you, that’s all,” I tease, but the flash of a challenge being presented to him makes Linc laugh. “But seriously, I'm here to see Officer Ortiz.”

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