Page 6 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

Sadie dipped her chin toward a tree stand nestled in the trees, the thickening snow now concealing anything from the night before. “Let’s check out the stand. Maybe something else was left behind.”

They moved in silence. She might have agreed to play nice, but the truce did nothing to quell the tension pulsing between them. She made it to the ladder first and climbed to the top. Wide wooden planks made up the floor, a split railing along the perimeter.

Nothing.

She walked slowly around the square structure. Tommy’s shoulder brushed against her in the small space. Her foot crunched a patch of ice, and she dropped to a squat. The yellowish hue told her the ice wasn’t made from water. Leaning forward, she sniffed. “Beer. Someone was up here drinking.”

Standing, she studied the surrounding area. They sat in the middle of a dense patch of woods with the wide-open meadow twenty feet to one side. She pictured what was outside the woods in her mind’s eye. “Either someone came with Shawn to have a drink in the freezing woods then shot him, or someone followed him here.”

Tommy stood beside her. “I bet the latter.”

Her gut said the same, but she was curious to his reasoning. “What makes you think that?”

“Shawn was shot in the back, as if he was running away from someone. Someone close enough to share a beer could just shoot him and be done.”

“I agree.”

Tommy widened his eyes and smacked a hand over his heart. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

She couldn’t help the laugh that broke loose from her pursed lips. “I always agree with logic. Don’t get used to it.”

He grinned, the dimples on his cheeks deepening. “Are you saying I’m not usually logical?”

She shrugged, turning away. The charm that oozed from him threatened to suck her under his spell. She couldn’t let that happen. Not when getting wrapped up with someone like Tommy Wells could threaten everything she’d worked so hard for—threaten her very reputation. “I wouldn’t know.”

“That’s right. You barely know me but have decided not to like me. Why is that?”

Sadie ran a hand over her ponytail and made her way to the ladder. She cast a glance in his direction before descending. “Wehave bigger issues to worry about than why I refuse to fall at your feet. I’m more concerned with finding who killed Shawn. But first, we need to visit next of kin and let them know Shawn was murdered.”

All humor left his face, the grim expression from before returning.

For a second, she wished for the carefree smile to come back, the charm to pour through him and threaten to intoxicate her. Ignoring Tommy was much easier when she could tell herself he was just another man-child taking handouts and skating through life. This other side of Tommy shook her more than she cared to admit. It told her he was a man hellbent on cracking a case.

And it was sexy as hell.

After takinga quick pit stop by Sadie’s place so she could change into her uniform, Tommy stood beside her on the large stoop in front of the giant brick-colonial house in the center of town. He’d much rather be back at her cozy house in the woods. Surrounded by framed photos of Amelia and her artwork stuck to the fridge.

But anywhere was better than here.

Wiping his sweaty palm on the thigh of his trousers, he cast a quick glance at Sadie. “Ready?”

She nodded, lips pressed together and focus trained on the cherry-stained wood door.

“Here we go.” Tommy rang the doorbell then clasped his hands in front of him.

The steady thump of distant footsteps came closer, and the door swung wide. A scowl set on the petite face of Judge MelissaDowns, her crisp black suit framing her slender body. The scowl transformed into a confused smile. “Hello, there Tommy. Deputy Pennel. Can I help you with something?”

Sadie stiffened beside him, probably at the sound of his first name spoken so casually from the county judge. But he couldn’t let her reaction to something he had no control over affect him. “Good morning, ma’am. Could we step in for a minute?”

“Please, call me Melissa.” She straightened the white collar under her jacket and blocked the entrance, turning down the request to come inside. “I’ve got to leave soon for church. Either make it quick, or you’ll have to come back.”

“We need to speak with you about your husband,” Sadie said. “We regret to inform you Shawn was found dead this morning.”

Melissa dropped her hand, and all the color left her tanned face. Her bright blue eyes bore into Sadie. “Excuse me?”

Tommy fisted his hands at his sides. He hadn’t considered asking her to have a bit more compassion—a bit more respect—when delivering the death of someone’s loved one. It was no secret around town Shawn and Melissa had been estranged for years, the reason they’d never officially divorced a source of constant gossip and rumors. But that didn’t mean she didn’t care for Shawn or should be denied an ounce of kindness.

He forced the muscles in his face to convey empathy and not annoyance. “I’m so sorry, but it’s true. Deputy Pennel discovered Shawn this morning outside of town. Can we come in and speak with you for a moment?”

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