Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “I always have back-ups.”
“Smart woman,” Gabe said before biting half the cookie in his hand. “Damn, Sadie. These are amazing. Even better than my wife’s…but don’t tell her I said that.”
She smiled. “I won’t. And thanks.”
After the sheriff washed his cookie down with a gulp of coffee, he pulled out his pad and pen. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, her expression turning serious as she recounted the events.
Dale’s chest tightened with each detail falling from her lips.
Had it been a coincidence?
No. He didn’t believe in them.
Had she been targeted because she was driving his truck?
Or had she been the target?
His gut knotted and the delicious cookie he just devoured now sat like a lead lump in his stomach. Either way, she was now in danger, and he knew instinctively it was due to her association with him and his dad.
“…Then it just sped off like nothing happened,” she said, regaining his attention.
Gabe jotted down notes in his pad, his face grim. “Did you get a look at the driver? Any details about the vehicle?’
“Not much.” She shook her head. “The windows were tinted, and there was no license plate. It all happened so fast. But it definitely wasn’t an accident. It felt deliberate.”
Dale’s jaw tightened as he listened, the need to protect her rising like a wave. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “We need to figure out who the hell is behind this.”
“We will,” Gabe assured him, closing his notepad. “I’ll have my deputies keep an eye out for the vehicle, and I’ll check the traffic cameras in the area, even though I’m sure Carter is already on it.”
He nodded, glancing at the clock on the microwave. “We’ll soon find out. He’s on his way over as we speak. Said he found something.”
Sadie set her cup down and slid off her stool. “Then I’d better put on more coffee and dig out another secret cookie stash.”
Dale watched her, his mind still reeling over her brushes with danger today, while admiration warmed the chill from his chest at the way she was handling it. Her hands were steady as she filled the reservoir on the coffeemaker with water and scooped grounds into a filter before clicking the brew button.
She was calm, collected, and amazing. Most women he knew would’ve been unhinged, and rightfully so, but not Sadie Quinn, he thought as a knock sounded from the back door.
“Come in,” she called and stopped his heart.
“Sadie, you can’t just let people walk into your house without checking to see who is at the door first,” he said, rising to his feet, but before he reached the back door, it opened and Cooper, Dean, RJ, and Mac strolled in.
“Hello. Looks like we got here just in time,” Cooper said, nodding at the gurgling coffeemaker before grabbing a cookie. “Carter texted he was almost here.”
She glanced at Dale and nodded. “You’re right, I should’ve checked first. These guys are dangerous.”
RJ laughed, reaching around Dale to swipe a cookie, while Dean nodded a greeting and took a seat at the island.
Mac, however, strode up to him and stopped, looking as pissed off as Dale felt. “You and me, we need to talk, later.”
By talk, the guy meant he was going to chew Dale out. Whatever. He didn’t have time for that bullshit, but he nodded anyway.
The muffled sound of a car door slamming had him walking toward the front door, passing a yawning Tesla on his way. Heglanced out the side window to see Carter already heading for the porch.
Dale opened the door and watched his approach, noting a tablet gripped in his hand.
When the guy reached him, he lifted a brow. “Sadie, you really let yourself go,” he joked, stepping past Dale into the house and waiting until the door was shut. “We got something,” he said, holding up the tablet.
