Love in the Shadows

Chapter Forty

(Sam's POV)

"The man she arrested says he's the chief of police, Sam." I shook my head, trying to make sense of her words and Lucy walked across the room and gave me a tight hug.

"No point in trying to make sense of it until we get there." She gestured down to my clothes or lack of and her hand caressed my chest again, making us both catch our breath. I leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, before backing away and giving her a nod to show that I knew we needed to get back to business. She didn't turn away, watching me as I walked over to the drawers that I had put my stuff in to grab a hoodie and I delighted in the fact that our attraction was most definitely mutual.

Then I pushed the romance to the back of my mind and focused on our early morning wake up.

What the fuck was he up to now?

We were out the door within seven minutes of hanging up the phone with Sam and when we got into my truck, Lucy put a reassuring hand on my thigh, silently showing me her support.

She seemed to know that I needed the contact but was lost in my own thoughts, unsure of what we were about to find. My dads lack of effort to find Tanya had looked real bad before but what if it wasn't just laziness but actually criminal?

Why would he be trying to burn down the church? What was he trying to hide?

We pulled into the parking lot of Crossroads and whether it was the dark thoughts that had overtaken about my dad or the shadows that came with it us being here in the dead of night it looked less like a castle and more like a haunted mansion.

The massive lot was empty other than three cars. Two parked directly at the front, one at the very back. Lucy pointed to the car hidden in the shadows at the back. "That's one of our cars, must be Ryley."

"Do you want me to park next to her?"

Lucy shook her head, "No, may as well go at the front." Her eyes trailed back to Ryley's car. "This will be her first case with us. She was a firefighter turned arson investigator. I sat in on her interview, but that's the only time we've ever actually met."

"Well it seems like she's off to quite the start. Did you ask her to keep an eye on the church?" I hadn't thought of it earlier, but now that we were here, it occurred to me.

"No. I'm not sure why she's here but I'm interested to find out what led her here and then what your dad was doing here in the middle of the night with materials that made her think he had arson on his mind."

We both undid our seatbelts and she turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder as I went to open my door. "You sure you want to come in, Sam? You are more than welcome to sit this one out."

I swung my door open all the way and tossed out, "not a chance." If this was really my dad, I wanted to know what the fuck he was doing here because my mind was making all kinds of assumptions, none of them good.

We made our way up the steps and I pulled on the door, glancing at my watch to confirm that it was indeed two o'clock in the morning and the door to Crossroads was simply open.

Had it been this easy for Ryley?

Although we hadn't talked it through, Lucy and I stood a moment in the dark silence, listening for where to go. It wasn't long before we heard confirmation that my dad was indeed here as the quiet was interrupted by inane bluster.

Our feet moved towards the noise, I noticed that we were following the same path we had walked earlier, towards Mel office. We were almost at the entrance when I could make out my dad's words. "Look little lady, I don't think you know who you are dealing with here. This is ridiculous. Take me out of my cuffs and we need to get over to the station."

A softer voice spoke but I couldn't quite make out the words. But, she obviously hadn't agreed with my father because his voice raised an octave, bristling even more. "When your superiors find out how you've treated me, how you bungled this evening, they'll have your badge."

As we reached the doorway to Mel's office, I took in the scene in front of me. Ryley stood in the corner next to my dad, who she had cuffed and was sitting on Mel's couch.

She had probably been subject to multiple threats like the one we had just heard but didn't seem to let it ruffle her at all, her light brown hair was pulled back in a tight braid and although her features were sharp and obviously annoyed, she responded in a soft and sure voice. "I genuinely do not give a flying fuck what you say to my superiors. I have done nothing wrong tonight."

Ryley's eyes looked up as she finished speaking, catching our movement into the room and relief crossed over her face as she saw Lucy. Following her gaze my dad gave a dramatic sigh. "Thank god you're here, son. Would you please reason with this god damned woman."

My spine tingled, my dad did not greet me with any sort of endearment. Ever. What the fuck was he playing at? Did he think I was going to hide whatever he was doing here?

Lost in my own thoughts I missed him turning his gaze on Lucy, "And you. Fine fucking team you've got here, arresting me, the god damned police chief. When we could be checking the fucking scene and dealing with his body."

I hadn't had enough sleep to deal with his assholery tonight and the way he was talking to them was unacceptable. "Dad. Stop talking. You are going to let these officers figure out what is going on and you are going to be respectful. If you are in cuffs, there is a god damned reason. Just stop." I trailed off as what he said really processed, "Wait. What body?"