Excerpt from Haunted Hearts
Shadow Valley was tiny and quaint. It sat nestled amongst the hills, filling up the bowl of the valley. It appeared as if houses had tried to make their way up the hillsides, but nature had finally staked her claim and allowed no further advancement. The trees were so thick around the edge of the town that she wondered if a person could walk between them. Either way, they’d be surrounded by beauty. The autumn hues were just starting to appear. Soon the entire landscape would be a riot of color.
But she could see how the town got its name. When the sun went down, darkness would fall quickly. Shadows from the hills would sweep over the town like a protective blanket, and all that color would change to black.
Smiling to herself, Callie plopped back down into the driver’s seat and buckled her seatbelt. This was exactly what she’d been looking for. This was a place where she could relax and settle in.
This was a place she could call home.
A news report came over the radio, and she changed channels. A rock station suited her mood. Checking her mirror, she pulled back out and began to cruise. The road snaked down into the valley with twists and turns. The rock-and-roll beat a heavy rhythm, and she stepped harder on the gas.
“Ooh, ooh, baby,” she sang along. “Whoa, oh. Shake it, shake it. Huh?”
Her gaze flashed to the radio. That was a terrible guitar solo. Wait… The wailing got louder, and she glanced at the rearview mirror.
“Ah, crud.” Flashing red and blue lights.
Not again.
She pulled over to the side of the road. The police car swung in behind her, and she grimaced. This was not the new beginning she’d planned. The police car came to a textbook stop, a few feet back and slightly off-center. She watched as the policeman opened his door. One foot settled on the pavement, and her eyes widened as he emerged from his cruiser.
“Whoa,” she said on a swift exhale.
Now that was a big guy. Big, solid, and intimidating. His height continued to grow until he filled up her rearview mirror. With the way he stalked toward her, he looked like a jungle cat approaching his prey. Callie licked her dry lips. Why did she suddenly feel like lunch?
He approached her car carefully, and she rubbed her damp palms against the steering wheel. She couldn’t see his eyes behind the mirrored sunglasses he wore, but she could feel him watching her as closely as she watched him. Suddenly self-conscious, she ran her hand through her tangled hair and tried to make herself presentable.
“Ma’am,” he said in a low voice as he stepped up to her door. The rumbling tone made a shiver go down her spine.
“Officer.” She tilted her head back to look him in the face, but with the way he towered over her, it nearly put a kink in her neck. When their gazes finally connected, she didn’t care.
Lordy, he was something—all dark, muscle-bound, and rugged.
Awareness sizzled deep down in her belly. So help her, if the man had a jar of peanut butter stuffed in his pocket, she would not be held accountable for her actions.
“Good afternoon,” she said breathlessly.
“Could you remove your sunglasses?”
“Oh, sure.” She took them off. Giving in to a bit of feminine primping, she ran a hand through her hair again. With the way it had been whipping around in the wind, she must look like a maniac. “Sorry,” she said, looking up at him through the fan of her eyelashes.
For a moment, he went still as he looked at her. Then his weight shifted. “Do you know what the speed limit is on this road, ma’am?”
The speed. Right. She had a bad habit of not paying attention to that.
She flashed him one of her best smiles. “My second-grade teacher was a ‘ma’am,’ but she had blue hair. Could you try miss or even miz?”
He went quiet again—only this time in a completely different way.
Callie’s smile faltered. What? What had she said wrong? Wasn’t a bit of flirtation expected under these circumstances? Especially when he looked like that? She couldn’t see his eyes, but the line of his lips had gone flat. His jaw had somehow become firmer, and she shivered as the nip in the air became more pronounced.
Abruptly, she realized he wasn’t paying attention to her. He was listening to yet another news report on the radio.
“Authorities are still on the lookout for two escaped convicts from the correctional institute at Concord. People in surrounding areas are warned to be on the lookout. The convicts are thought to be unarmed, but should be considered dangerous. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of—”
She hit the power button. “I hope I don’t look like an escaped convict to you,” she teased.
If anything, the lines on his face became even sterner. “Can I see your driver’s license, miz?”
He said it in such a deadpanned tone, she almost missed it. She looked up at him, hoping to see a smile, but the expression on his face hadn’t changed. “Yes, officer,” she muttered.
“It’s chief.”
Of course it was. Callie sighed. This was not going well at all.
“Sorry.” She pulled her purse off the floorboard and onto her lap. She felt his attention sharpen, so she kept her movements slow so he could see what she was doing. She pulled out her wallet, but the plastic slot where her license was usually housed was empty.
“I know it’s here somewhere.” She threw him yet another apologetic look that bounced right off those reflective sunglasses.
She finally decided that discretion was not the best policy, and flirting with him was definitely out of the question. The man might be drool-worthy, but he also appeared to be a by-the-book type of lawman.
And a grumpy one at that.
She grabbed a handful of things out of her purse and began flipping through the business cards, punch cards, and coupons. When that proved unsuccessful, she put the handful of items on top of the box in the passenger seat and reached for another.
The police chief hooked his thumbs in his gun belt and waited impatiently.
Handful number two didn’t provide any better results. She was reaching for a third when he finally broke down and asked, “Are you licensed to drive?”
“Of course I am.” Callie refused to look at him. Looking at him made butterflies swirl in her stomach, and she was unsettled enough as it was. She searched through her latest collection and found a ten-dollar bill, an expired library card, and two tubes of lipstick.
“Do you remember the last time you saw your license?”
She glanced at the box. “No, but…”
She’d had it out a lot. She’d been filling out so much paperwork with her address change. For a second, her heart tripped. Could she have left it at the lawyer’s office or any one of the utilities she’d had to cancel and/or set up? She had such a hard time keeping track of things.
She touched a laminated card, and relief poured through her. “Here it is.”
She held it out to him and tilted her head, purposely letting her hair flow over her shoulder. Her blond hair. It was time to get this situation back in hand. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong, sir.”
He took the license from her, but otherwise ignored her.
Trying harder, she gave him her best doe-eyed look. “The countryside is just so pretty, I got distracted.”
She wished she could see his eyes. Sweet-talking worked much better when she could read an officer—or a police chief’s—reaction. At least, it had in the past. She needed every advantage she could get with this guy.
“So, Ms. Calina Thompson,” he said, reading her name, “you never answered my question. Do you know what the speed limit is on this road?”
Damn. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what that tone of voice meant. She was getting a ticket. She squinted down the road and saw a speed limit sign. “Thirty-five,” she said glumly.
“Right. And how fast were you going?”
She threw him a dry look.
“I didn’t think you’d have an answer for that.” He looked at the contents of her impractically small back seat. “Looks like you’re loaded down pretty well.”
Ooh, something personal. There was her opening.
“I’m moving,” she said, perking back up.
“You should have those things secured with a rope or have the top up. It’s a hazard, especially with as fast as you were going.”
Which, apparently, he wasn’t going to tell her. Callie sank deeper into the seat. Not only was she getting a ticket, it was going to be an expensive one.
He glanced at her license again. “You’re from Boston?”
The way he said “Boston” made it sound like something that made his nose hairs curl. Great. That was just what she needed, some cocky small-time chief of police trying to show his muscles.
Well, he didn’t need to try so hard. She’d already noticed them.
A sharp reply was on the tip of her tongue, but she managed to hold it back. “I was.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Shadow Valley.”
His head came up. “You’re moving to Shadow Valley?”
Had she not just said that? “That’s the plan.”
“The Rutger place or the apartment over Ernie’s?”
She looked at him blankly. “The address is 1255 Highland.”
“The old Calhoun place?”
The abrupt change in the direction of the conversation threw her. Was he actually trying to socialize with her now? After he’d decided to give her a ticket? Didn’t this guy know how the game was played? “My aunt Jeanne left the house to me in her will.”
“You inherited the place?”
Something about his reaction disturbed her. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“I didn’t know there were any Calhouns left.”
Callie drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. She’d heard about small towns being cliquish, but this was ridiculous. Was he checking her pedigree or something? Were outsiders not allowed? “Aunt Jeanne was a Thompson. I don’t know anything about any Calhouns.”
He stared at her for a long moment.
“That’s good.” He turned on his heel. “Real good. Hold on, I need to run this.”
Callie blinked in confusion. What had that been about?
She watched him in the mirror as he walked away. She could usually charm people without lifting a finger—and, with him, she’d definitely been willing to let her fingers do the walking—but he’d been immune. In fact, he’d been downright surly. Apparently, her list needed a bit of tweaking. Ruggedly handsome or not, she didn’t like the man. She hoped the townspeople were friendlier, because their police chief had the personality of a rock.
Which, in fact, matched his backside pretty darn well.
She ripped her gaze away from the mirror once she realized what she was doing. Forcing herself, she stared straight out the front window.
“Tight butt, mean man.”
Really, would it be so hard for him to let her go with a warning? It wasn’t as if she’d been speeding intentionally. Sometimes her foot tended to get a little heavy. She’d had a long drive, and she was excited about seeing the town. Did that warrant a ticket?
Her mood deteriorated as he let her sit there. And sit and sit and sit. She was stewing by the time he deigned to walk back to her car.
“Sign here,” he said.
She snatched the electronic doohickey, scribbled her name, and passed it back to him.
“That’s quite a list of infractions you’ve gathered,” he said. He lifted his head, and she felt the force of his gaze. “I’m warning you right now that Shadow Valley isn’t Boston. You won’t be doing that here.”
Callie felt her blood pressure rise. Was that a threat or a warning? “I’m sure I won’t have to. The town’s not about to have the traffic problems Boston does.”
“That’s not the only difference you’ll find.” He looked over her muscle car. “There’s very little entertainment here.”
She mentally counted to ten. Her friends had told her the same thing. Now, this Podunk police chief was trying to chase her off using the same logic? She’d had just about enough of people telling her how she should live her life.
“I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet.”
“Well, we have plenty of that.” He handed her the ticket, along with her license. “Welcome to Shadow Valley, Ms. Thompson. Try to keep it under the speed limit.”