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  “I’ve been over that. It’s my job to do the protecting, and no, I’m not likely to give it up anytime soon, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Let’s get going.

  She sighed, as they walked to his car. It was exactly what she was thinking, along with other burning questions. Waiting until they were headed back to town, she half turned to him. “Did you have a thing with Denise? And Virginia? She was involved with the Ralph thing, you know. She delivered the letters at the very least.”

  It looked like he wasn’t going to answer, then he shrugged. “I’ve never had anything but—let’s call it a wary respect for Virginia. Her company flourished despite her attempts to alienate the whole town. As for Denise, yes, I did. For a few months, some time ago. We thought it was a secret, but apparently neither of us was good at that sort of deception.”

  “Good enough to fool me.”

  Ethan let out a long sigh. “No one intended to fool you. As I recall, you left both me and the town, not the other way around.”

  “I didn’t go on a whim. We agreed to call a halt to our relationship, since I’d be gone for a few years. I had no intention of staying away forever. Maybe you weren’t happy about it, but we did agree. Remember?”

  “I’m pretty sure I had no choice.”

  “Then you should have said something a whole lot earlier than you did.”

  He held a hand up. “You’re right. Let’s not get into that again.”

  She nodded, but wasn’t finished with the rest. “So, why was it a secret about you and Denise?”

  “She was running for mayor. We wanted to keep it quiet because we knew it wasn’t a big deal to either of us, but the town might not have been happy about the prospective mayor and the sheriff being an item. It was two lonely people having enjoying each other’s company. No harm. No foul. Is that so wrong?”

  “Not wrong, only we’re all in the same circle of friends. It would have been nice to know.”

  “Nice? How so? All it would have meant was you could judge us, like the rest of the town. Like you’re doing now. Can’t you be glad that we had a little happiness when we were both feeling alone? Denise had a tough time fitting into a mayor’s shoes, and I had the promotion weighing me down. We both had a lot to learn, and every eye in town was on both of us. Surely, you understand how that feels.”

  He was referring to the guilt she felt about throwing away her career in business development. Now she was working for herself and knew she was doing a good job, the guilt had retreated, and she was being treated as if she had never made that mistake. She hadn’t thought of Ethan struggling with his own choices.

  “I’d have thought you’d be happy to have the job you love.”

  “I am, but it’s been strained going from deputy to sheriff. In a small town where everyone knows you and wants you to treat them as a friend, when it comes to the law, that only makes things more difficult.” He straightened. “I’m not complaining, and I don’t want to make excuses for Denise and me. You weren’t here. You couldn’t know or see how it was. It was nobody’s business but ours, and I seem to remember you’d found someone else too.”

  She flinched at the truth of his words. “Therefore I have no right to comment?”

  “What do you think?”

  She knew she’d overreacted, but it had proven hard to get the image of her friend and her ex-boyfriend together out of her head. Any awkwardness that might have marred their relationship would never happen now Denise was gone, and that made her sad. She was sure she would have accepted them eventually, especially since there was no chance she and Ethan could be anything more than friends.

  He pulled into the station parking lot. “Anything else before we go in, pink panther?”

  “I’m truly sorry, Ethan.”

  He must have seen she meant it, because he gave her a relieved smile. “Me too.”

  “Can we start again?”

  “As friends?”

  “Always.”

  He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. His arms around her, and the feeling of safety they provided, reminded her that a friend was worth so much more than anything else.

  In fact, it was pretty darn priceless.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The station had become weirdly familiar. Ethan left her in the waiting room while he took an urgent call. Maddie knew the drill and dreaded the interrogation, but this time, she was in for a surprise. Deputy Jacobs came down the hall full of concern when he saw her. It certainly made a nice change from his previous attitude.

  “Can I get you some ice for your cheek, Ms. Flynn?”

  She touched the side of her face where Ralph had slapped her, and flinched. With all the drama she had forgotten about it. Now the pain came back with a vengeance. There would most likely be a bruise tomorrow if there wasn’t one already. She was glad there was no mirror, because she felt dirty and a mess. Her hair had escaped the braid in several places, what little makeup she was wearing had to be ruined by the treatment she’d been subjected to, and her clothes were covered in dust and grime.

  “There’s no need. I’ll take care of it when I get home. Thanks, Deputy.”

  “Robert, or Rob,” he said with a smile.

  There had to be a first time for everything, and Maddie wasn’t immune to how a small thing could change the way you looked or felt about a person. Maybe Rob wasn’t the uptight stickler she’d thought he was.

  “I hear you helped capture Ralph Willis. That was very brave of you.”

  “Thanks, Rob.” She peered around him.

  “Mr. Willis has already been taken down to the cells, so you don’t need to worry. You’re safe here.”

  She nodded. “Is Ethan coming back?”

  “He said he would as soon as he’s done with the call.”

  Maddie felt exhaustion creep through her. If Ethan didn’t hurry, she was might just stretch out on the chairs.

  Before that could eventuate, the door opened, and in walked Angel and Laura, with Virginia between them. Maddie would surely have fallen over if she hadn’t been sitting. At the same moment, Ethan strode purposefully down the hall from the opposite direction.

  If she was a mess, Virginia was worse. This was something Maddie had never seen. The weird thing was that her enemy looked like she’d given in as well as giving up.

  “Can someone please tell me what’s going on? My mind isn’t capable of processing this right now.” Her finger traced a circle of the group in the air.

  Angel was close to, but not touching Virginia, and didn’t seem angry or perturbed by it.

  “Virginia came to tell us about Ethan’s car being tampered with. She was scared for him. We called him, then hid Virginia until he told us to come to the station.”

  Her tone implied she was mighty annoyed, but the foot tapping said way more. And it was Maddie who appeared to be the problem, not Virginia.

  Maddie sighed. “I meant to call you after I followed Virginia and saw where she was going. It escalated so fast I didn’t have time.”

  “Time enough to pack Honey with supplies for a stakeout.” The toe-tapping reached a crescendo.

  “I was being prepared.”

  “Preparing to go behind everyone’s backs is what you were doing, and you know it.”

  Maddie wanted to argue, but she realized it was useless to deny the truth. “Will it help if I say I’m sorry?”

  “Maybe. Just not right now,” Angel fumed.

  Maddie turned to Ethan, who was wearing a slightly amused expression. Was he enjoying her discomfort with everyone being upset at her? And what was up with the way they were all treating Virginia, who was surely in this mess up to her thinly plucked eyebrows?

  “Come on through, ladies. We have some things to discuss.” He pointed down the corridor.

  “Wait for me.”

  Gran was coming down the hall with Deputy Jacobs. She threw her arms around Maddie, making her wince as Gran squeezed for all she was worth.

  “Th
ank goodness you’re safe.”

  Ethan coughed. “If we’re all here? Come into my office.”

  He ushered them inside and pulled up five chairs before taking his seat behind a large oak desk. Maddie was on one end, and Virginia sat in between Angel and Laura. Angel patted the woman’s hand, and Maddie cringed at the gesture.

  “I’m so confused by the attitude in this room. Isn’t she involved in Denise’s murder?” She nodded at Virginia. “I mean she was the one that lured me to that place tonight!”

  Angel frowned. “Shush, Maddie. Just listen for a change.”

  Maddie had just been told off by her best friend while Virginia, the cause of all her problems, calmly sat staring ahead. This was a nightmare.

  “She’s agreed to tell us everything without the aid of a lawyer, which she’s waived the right to, and I think we should hear it together. Go ahead when you’re ready,” Ethan encouraged.

  Virginia clasped her hands, still staring into a distance only she could see.

  “When Ralph came to me offering financial backing for the election, I turned him down flat. I didn’t want to be responsible for Maple Falls in any way, shape or form. I thought that was the end of it. Then my mom got sick. Very sick. She had no insurance, and the medical bills piled up. I managed for a while, but I couldn’t look after her and work full-time. Then she needed hospitalization.”

  She lowered her head, but not before Maddie had seen tears rolling down her cheeks. Ethan got up and poured a glass of water from the cooler in the corner and placed it gently in Virginia’s hands.

  She took a few sips, then a deep breath. “Ralph turned up at the right moment, which was clearly not a coincidence. I was desperate. He offered to pay mom’s bills if I would run for mayor, and once I took office, I would allow him to buy back his father’s lands. I got into the race late, and I knew what people thought of me. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I did the best I could. Then the box with the altered forms turned up. Ralph was furious that it was found. He accused me of sabotaging the election. I couldn’t prove my innocence, so he threatened my mom again. This time, all I had to do was take a few letters and slip them into the mailbox.”

  “You wrote those notes, threatening Gran?” Maddie snapped. “How could you when you’d been through that with your mom?”

  Virginia glared at her. “I didn’t write them. Besides, wouldn’t you do anything you could to protect Gran?”

  Seeing her point, while not liking the way it was made, Maddie merely nodded. Was it Ralph or Mickey who wrote them?

  “I was as shocked as everyone when Denise was murdered, and when your bakery caught fire I knew Ralph had probably done both. I knew, Ralph’s aim was to get the land, but I didn’t know how far he was prepared to go to achieve it.”

  Virginia unwound the scarf from her neck. Underneath it, a large nick on her neck was dotted with dried blood.

  “He could see I’d had enough, and he said that even if I didn’t value my own life, he knew I wasn’t so blasé about my mom’s. After the letters, I said I wanted out, that I’d sell my business and repay every cent. His answer was that he could prove I sent the notes. He’d taken pictures of me mailing them. He also said my debt would be cancelled if I did one last thing. All I had to do was get you to the barn.”

  “He could have killed me, Virginia.”

  “I know. And I also knew he was never going to let me walk away, no matter what he said. That’s why I contacted Angel and told her where you were.”

  “Why Angel?”

  “She’s the nicest out of you all, and even though it would take some time to get her to see I was telling the truth, I knew she’d listen and would get Ethan to do the same. I hoped there would be enough time, and luckily, there was.”

  Maddie wanted to be outraged, but how could she be? It was true. There was no love lost between any of them and Virginia, but Angel would be the one to give a person a second or third chance.

  Something else was nagging at her. “When you said it, I assumed you meant you went to see Angel after you put the note under Ethan’s door, and after you had left the factory. But that’s not right, is it?”

  “No. I went to see them earlier.”

  Maddie turned to Angel. “That means you all knew about Virginia luring me into danger, but you let me go anyway?”

  Angel’s look softened. “We did. Ethan assured us it was the only way to catch Ralph in the act. We agonized over it, so don’t think it was easy to make the call, but in the end, I knew you would have agreed to go, but if we told you, you wouldn’t have acted as surprised as you should.”

  “I don’t like that you took the choice away from me.”

  “We understand that, but Ethan was with you all the way,” Laura interjected.

  “He wasn’t there when I was chloroformed, or when I was slapped. He wasn’t there when I was tied up or trapped in the bathroom with a killer.”

  Gran made a disgusted noise, Laura paled, as did Angel. Ethan had the good grace to look uncomfortable.

  “I couldn’t find your car, and the factory isn’t visible from the road. I thought I knew where Virginia was talking about, but the sign must have been taken down since the last time I was out that way.”

  Virginia sat forward. “I offered to go with you. It’s not my fault you can’t read a map.”

  “I could have told you that,” Maddie almost laughed. It may have been a bit of hysteria.

  Ethan ignored her. “Yes, you did offer Virginia, but we couldn’t know if there were any other people involved. We still don’t know for sure. Hopefully Ralph will spill the beans.”

  “Hopefully?” Maddie asked.

  “Ralph is a piece of work, I wouldn’t be surprised if his uncle hangs him out to dry.”

  Maddie was wiping her face with her sleeve, feeling grit in every pore, and she stilled.

  “His uncle?” Laura asked quietly.

  “It’s conjecture, but yes. Mickey Findlay.” Ethan answered.

  “Wow. This is complicated,” she said.

  “Ralph Willis’s father was old man Willis. His mother was Cora Findlay,” added Gran, who prided herself on knowing everyone in town. “Cora ran away many years ago with her son. Her parents left the house to Mickey, but Cora got all the money and they had a great deal, so I assume she lived quite well.”

  “She was a wealthy woman for sure but kept a very low profile for some reason. On her death she left all her land to Mr. Willis who never got over his heart break over losing his family. He didn’t want it, so donated all the land we use for our festivals and markets to the town. Although, neither of them cared about money, it seems like their son is cut from a different mold.” Ethan kept his voice slow and steady.

  “So, Ralph finds out who he’s related to and comes to town to get his land only to find it’s been given away?” Maddie asked.

  “Exactly. We know he contacted Mickey Findlay and that’s when it gets ugly. Although, we have no proof of his involvement other that the family tie.”

  The last piece of the puzzle slipped into place, but Maddie had to tie up all loose ends. “So, where does this leave things with Virginia. Does she walk away scot-free?”

  “That’s up to the court.”

  “If I go to jail,” Virginia whispered, “what happens to my mother?”

  Maddie leaned around Angel. “You should have thought about that. She’s going to be hurt either way now. If I had a mother as sweet as yours, I wouldn’t want that. All you had to do was ask for help instead of being so mean all the time.”

  “Leave it. This isn’t the time,” Angel said.

  Virginia stood, back straight, face pale but determined. “I deserve to go to jail, but don’t think you know enough about me which gives you the right to judge my relationship with my mom. Ethan, can I go to another room or to my cell?” Her bottom lip wobbled.

  “Sure.” Ethan took her out of the room and back down the hall.

  Maddie turned to the friends who
had lied to her. They were watching her closely too, trying to gauge her reaction. Maybe “lie” was too harsh a word for what had happened. They’d kept her in the dark, which was no different from what she had done to them.

  Ethan was still absent, which gave her the opportunity to ask one more burning question.

  “I’d like to know whether Virginia would have done the same thing to me if she hadn’t been in love with Ethan and seen me as a threat.”

  “What?” Angel was all but off her chair as she swiveled around in shock.

  “Don’t tell me I actually know something you two don’t?”

  “Ethan and Virginia? Impossible.”

  Ethan chose that moment to return, and Angel flushed at being overheard.

  “Don’t start that rumor again. There’s never been anything between us,” he said firmly to all of them, but more so to Maddie.

  “Maybe not from your end, but you have to know she’s in love with you. It’s so obvious. She can’t tear her eyes away from you. Plus, she did threaten me outside the bakery, when she told me to stay away from you.”

  Ethan didn’t answer, but he looked mighty uncomfortable.

  “I didn’t notice anything.” Angel’s eyes were wide with shock.

  “I always knew how she felt,” Laura sighed deeply.

  Maddie wouldn’t embarrass Laura by pointing out that she would know how Virginia felt more than anyone else, since she was also smitten with the sheriff.

  She rubbed her wrists. “Can I go home?”

  Ethan nodded. “Let the Girlz drive you after you sign the statement I’ve prepared. They can do theirs tomorrow and pick up your car. It’ll be safe here tonight.”

  Poor Honey, left stranded all over the county instead of tucked up in the garage. Maddie didn’t have the strength to argue.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine