The portly gentleman trotted up and knelt at her side, cell phone in hand. “You hurt, missy?”
“I don’t think it’s serious, but we do need the PD.”
Dialing, Mr. Cooper tsk-tsked. “My first thought was about you.” He put the device to his ear and waited for a response. “I’ll have us someone here, pronto—Yes,” he said into the phone. “There’s been a mugging behind Scott’s Pharmacy…”
With help on the horizon, Steph’s eyes welled with tears. Who would have done this? Loganton wasn’t a particularly crime-prone town. Besides, it was no secret she didn’t make a great deal of money.
On the other hand, her pharmacy was rich with drugs, which she kept under lock and key. True, her professional bias immediately brought that to mind, but for what other reason would she have been attacked? Even someone who didn’t know her could verify with a minimum of effort how little cash she kept in the store. They could also watch her make the two deposits every day, one at lunchtime and the other after hours.
While Loganton was relatively clean by comparison to larger cities, in the past couple of years the town had experienced a scattering of drug overdoses, and last spring Ethan Rodgers and his fiancée, Tess Graver, had nearly died at the hands of a meth dealer.
Under the worsening rain, Steph unfurled her right hand. In her damp palm, within four half-moon indentations etched by her nails, lay the key to the door. “Thank you, Jesus,” she whispered.
She’d kept the drugs where they belonged.
At six o’clock, Hal Benson slid into his usual booth at Granny Annie’s Diner, the only eatery in Loganton. Even Pepper, his rescued greyhound, turned up her elegant nose at the cooking.
As he settled back against the puffy red vinyl seat, Karla, Granny Annie’s youngest niece, skidded to a stop by his booth, glass of water, order pad and red ink pen in hand.
Hal grabbed for the water in self-defense.
“Hey, Sheriff Hal!” Karla’s cheeks glowed pink, her brown eyes sparkled and her riot of black curls fought the restraints of the hairnet her part-time job forced her to wear. “You want the same as always?”
He took a drink as he thought for a minute. His frequent meat loaf, mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable Granny Annie offered that day didn’t really appeal to him tonight. “What’s the special?”
“Granny’s got two. Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread’s one, and the other’s chicken potpie, biscuits or corn bread and spiced apples on the side.”
“Hmm…the chicken sure sounds good. Why don’t you bring me some of that?”
“Iced tea?”
“Is there anything else a man would want with his meal?”
Karla laughed. “Not this sheriff, I guess.”
Hal took another sip of water then glanced out the window. The sky was ripe with the incoming thunderstorm. He hoped it would pass quickly; otherwise he was in for a drenching by the time he left the diner. Then he chuckled. If that was the worst thing he had to face that evening, he’d get off lightly.
Karla zipped off to the kitchen.
A flock of customers sailed in. The flurry of greetings inspired by their arrival filled the diner with the comfort of familiarity. Out of the corner of his eye, Hal saw Karla tear back out from behind the counter with her tray perched on a slender shoulder.
“Beep-beep!” She smiled at the newcomers in the aisle. “Beep-beep!”
Before the lively young waitress reached his booth, Hal’s cell phone rang. “Sheriff Benson here.”
“Hey, sir?” Patsy Anderson, his newest deputy, had a little-girl voice and the tenacity of a bulldog. “I’m not sure about this, but since you’re already out there for supper, I thought you might want to know.”
Hal held out a hand to slow Karla. “I want to know. What’s up?”
“Well, sir, it seems when the pharmacist, Miss Scott, went to close up tonight, she got mugged—”
“I’ll be right there. And thanks, Patsy.” He turned to Karla. “Can you have Granny hold my supper for me? I’ve got to go on a call.”
Karla rolled her eyes. “As if this was new.”
He sighed. Having Granny Annie hold his meal until after he’d taken care of whatever latest problem had erupted was not new. What was new this time was the victim.
Steph Scott had been mugged.
Hal hurried out, hopped into the cruiser, drove down Main Street, cut across River Run Road, then turned into the alley behind the pharmacy. He parked by the white Loganton PD car already there.
Veteran officer Wayne Donnelly and his rookie partner Maggie Lowe stood on one side of the back steps to the pharmacy, while Mr. Cooper, the postmaster, stood on the other. Steph sat on the top step, visibly shaken. All three were drenched by the now steady rain and blowing wind.
While Maggie smiled a greeting, Wayne frowned. Steph looked scared.
Hal tapped the brim of his hat, working to hold his concern at bay. “I was about to eat supper at Granny Annie’s when my deputy called. She figured since I was close by, I might be interested in what happened. I know you guys have jurisdiction, so I’m not here officially, unless you want my help, that is. Just came to offer, since Granny Annie’s is so close.”
Steph glanced up at him, her gray eyes huge. “All help is welcome,” she said, her voice low.
Hal shoved his hands in his pockets. That was that. It would now take an act of congress to budge him. “What happened?”
Maggie turned. “It sounds pretty typical. Steph was closing up shop when the mugger attacked. She fought him and was able to keep him from getting the key to the store.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Hal saw Steph shiver. “Hang on.”
He ran to his cruiser. There was no reason for her to be cold as well as hurt when he had an unused jacket in the car. The abrasions on her face were bad enough.
“Here.” He held out the navy waterproof coat seconds later. “You need it more than my trunk does.”
For a moment, he thought she’d argue. It wouldn’t surprise him if she did. He’d watched Steph put everyone else’s needs before hers for years now, even back when they’d both been in school. She’d always been the one to help rather than the one who received the help. This time, however, she was in need.
Hal was about to insist when she surprised him by reaching out and taking the jacket. Their fingers grazed in the exchange, and the electric shock of awareness that hit him took his breath away. From the startled look on Steph’s face, it seemed she’d felt it, too.
For a moment, Hal wanted nothing more than to reach out, wrap his arms around her and promise her everything would be fine. But he couldn’t do that, so he did the next best thing. He held out the coat for her.
As she slipped her arms into the sleeves, he said, “We’re going to make sure we get the guy who did this to you.”
Her silvery-gray gaze met his. “Thanks.”
“Of course we will,” Maggie added, giving Hal a curious look.
He blushed.
With a shrug, she turned back to Steph. “Don’t suppose you have surveillance out here?”
Steph shook her head.
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea. We might have caught the guy on film.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You do that,” Maggie said. “Let’s get back to