Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding) Read online

  “Are we still talking about the truck thing? That’s not necessary. Just water under the bridge, right?” She inclined her head toward his arm. “Are you actually going to open the door or are you waiting for a ref to blow a whistle first?”

  Jackson laughed, but still didn’t open the door. The pleasant buzz of alcohol hummed through his veins, the effect magnified by an incredibly attractive woman with pretty gray eyes, standing close enough to touch.

  He lifted a hand to touch the dried paint smear on her cheek, but thought better of it at the last second. “You might want to wash that off.”

  A flare of color washed across her cheeks, but she angled her body away from him before he could be sure if he’d just made her blush. “There’s a stiff penalty around here for blocking.”

  “Gonna cuff me, Detective?” he teased.

  A small smile finally caught the corner of her lips. “I’d try not to sound so excited, Mr. Knight. People might get the wrong impression about you.”

  Mr. Knight? Jackson opened his mouth, but the sound of her cell phone ringing cut him off.

  She pushed the door open and slipped into the night with only a warning. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

  “We’ve got another one.”

  Hayley’s hand tightened around her cell phone, grateful for the distraction from her second run-in with Jackson Knight. She still couldn’t decide if it was worse that he didn’t remember her or that he’d confused her with a perky, big-boobed cheerleader he’d thrown up all over.

  “Hayley?” her partner prompted.

  “Yeah, I’m here.” She crossed the crowded parking lot, barely resisting the urge to stick her hand in the bag to score a few fries.

  “Can you follow up with a witness from last night’s robbery? His shift ends in less than an hour and my wife will have my ass if I miss drinks with the in-laws on their last night in town.”

  Ignoring the tired aches in her back and shoulders, she slid behind the wheel of her truck. Dreams of a long soak in the tub after a twelve-hour shift and four hours of painting evaporated faster than the steam rising out of the bag in her hand. “That’s two Saturday mornings of hockey drills you owe me.”

  “Thanks, Hayls. I’ll email you the details.”

  The wait gave her just long enough to search Barney’s windows and see if she could pick Jackson out in the crowd. He had to be sitting just out of her line of sight, she decided a few seconds later. Just as well. Judging by her quickened pulse and ridiculously fluttery stomach, the years since high school hadn’t completely dimmed a foolish crush on her brother’s best friend.

  Her phone beeped to signal a new message less than a minute after her partner hung up, dragging her thoughts firmly away from Jackson and his determination to make up for not remembering her.

  The latest robbery brought the number of incidents to five in the last three weeks, all involving wealthy tourists with reported losses totaling nearly nine thousand dollars, and they still didn’t have a single suspect. Their captain was already feeling pressure from the mayor’s office to make an arrest before the robberies affected their small town’s thriving tourist industry.

  She glanced at the details on the screen. Gerald Capshaw had been at the scene of the latest robbery right around the time camera footage from a nearby business caught a shadow fleeing into the night.

  She wasn’t banking on Gerald remembering anything, seeing as he’d apparently had a few beers following a double shift, but a few direct questions might trigger something he hadn’t realized was important.

  Hayley rubbed her eyes, fighting the weight of exhaustion tugging at her limbs. Maybe she should have listened to Matt and hired someone to do the renovations to her gramps’s house long ago instead of taking most of them on herself.

  With just over an hour before Gerald finished his shift, she started her truck and headed back to her grandfather’s to change. Although tempted, she decided on professionalism over showing up to question Gerald looking like something from a design show nightmare.

  By the time she got cleaned up and to Gerald’s workplace, she discovered he’d gotten off early and was probably at Stone’s playing darts. The parking lot was already filling up when she pulled into her family’s sports bar. Matt would be happy about that. The wraparound deck was half full with people chatting, drinking and smoking. A handful of them waved or said hello by the time she got inside.

  It took a couple minutes to get Matt’s attention and pass on the beer he offered her. “Where can I find Gerald Capshaw?”

  He gestured to the last dartboard at the far end of the bar. “Guy with red hair and his stomach sticking out of his shirt.”

  “I thought you were with the guys tonight?”

  “Got too busy here, but Allie and the girls are still going strong. Jackson and a couple of the guys are around here somewhere too.”

  Everyone’s favorite hockey player must have decided on another beer after Barney’s. Lucky her.

  Weaving around tables, Hayley noticed a few friends and at least one of Allie’s bridesmaids in the middle of the bar’s almost nonexistent dance floor. Next to it, Jackson sat surrounded by four women, one of whom held out a marker, her free hand already tugging at the hem of her shirt.

  Hayley rolled her eyes. May lightning strike her dead if she ever wanted a celebrity to autograph her breasts. Still, she glanced over her shoulder on her way past, mildly annoyed by how quick Jackson was to accommodate the brunette.

  She never pretended to have a high opinion of most jocks in high school, but she’d once believed Jackson was different. He’d always acknowledged her presence with a nod or an easy smile and never stooped to making snide comments he knew she’d overhear like others had. And for one very brief, very naive moment, she’d thought…

  Focus, Hayley.

  She was here to work. Not to contemplate Jackson Knight’s possible redeeming qualities. Matt had often defended Jackson, especially after the scandal surrounding his car accident and early retirement from the NHL, insisting he wasn’t like the rest of the guys. But when another woman slid into his lap, all but rubbing her boobs in his face, Hayley decided her original opinion of jocks probably applied to Jackson after all.

  Getting back to business, she managed to pull aside her potential witness for a brief conversation out on the deck.

  Gerald hadn’t seen any more than the retreating shadow the security camera picked up, leaving them no further ahead with their investigation. It took exactly three minutes to realize he didn’t have much to offer, but she followed him back inside anyway, listening to the man’s grievances about his neighbor’s fence being on his property, among other things.

  The mention of Jackson’s name behind her split her concentration. She dutifully nodded at Gerald while eavesdropping on the other men’s conversation. With the satellite radio playing from a speaker overhead, she only caught a few words.

  “…fuck up…”

  “…alcoholic…”

  “…cheater…”

  “…gonna tell that prick what I think about him.”

  Cutting Gerald off, she told him to call the station if he remembered anything else, and moved a little closer to the three guys talking about Jackson. For every hundred people who idolized the town’s only sports hero, there was at least one who mocked him. The talk tonight was likely just that—talk—but it might not hurt to stick around.

  One of the men stood up so fast his chair tipped backward. He didn’t bother to set it upright. The guy was pushing giant status with a height of at least six foot six and was built like a grizzly bear, right down to his frizzy auburn hair.

  Not just talk then. Not from the way he was knocking into the few tables between his and Jackson’s.

  Hayley glanced in Matt’s direction, but he was busy with customers. Stone’s didn’t need a regular bouncer since most people just dropped in for a couple beers after work or to watch a game on one of the bar’s flat-screen TVs, but every once in a
while they ran into a problem. Like tonight.

  She followed Grizzly Adams, knowing there was a good chance he’d back off when he saw her. She didn’t know everyone in town, but most of the regular crowd here knew she was a cop, and that was usually enough to make them realize they didn’t want her kind of trouble.

  A hand encircled her wrist, jerking her to the side when she was two feet shy of planting herself in the big guy’s path.

  “Hayley.”

  Half expecting it to be one of the wedding party pulling her over to share a drink, she did a double take when she came face-to-face with her second blast from the past in one day.

  “Eric.”

  “Hi.”

  Caught in a state between seriously? and no fucking way, she stared at her ex. “What are you doing here?”

  He grinned, and she was relieved she didn’t feel so much as a flicker of emotion. She hadn’t been able to say the same when they’d broken up three years earlier.

  “I was looking for a welcome home, but you’ve never gone with the expected.”

  Like much of what Eric had said to her during their relationship, there was a hint of disapproval in his tone.

  “But to answer your question, I’m back in Promise Harbor on business for a while.”

  “That’s nice,” she managed, tugging her hand free. She looked over her shoulder just as Grizzly Adams reached Jackson’s table. She was too far away to hear their exchange, but watching the laid-back expression on Jackson’s face give way to a guarded look, she would have bet her next paycheck that he didn’t like what he was hearing.

  “So how have you been?” Eric asked, moving back into her line of sight to regain her attention.

  Her gaze didn’t stray from Jackson and Grizzly Adams. “Funny, you didn’t seem too worried about how I was when you moved out or how I’ve been for the last three years. Why bother now?”

  “Guess I deserve that.”

  And then some.

  Jackson gestured to the empty chair and she was sure she saw the word “drink” pass his lips. Grizzly Adams didn’t seem to appreciate the offer and whatever he said made Jackson’s shoulders square up, but he made no other move toward the giant. Grizzly Adams wouldn’t be the first moron to try picking a fight with him, on or off the ice.

  “Have lunch with me tomorrow,” Eric pressed.

  “I have plans.”

  “Oh, right. The wedding.”

  Shit. She’d forgotten about that, but all thoughts of the wedding fled as a couple guys Hayley recognized from high school moved closer to Jackson. They didn’t like what they were hearing any more than Hayley liked what she was seeing.

  Grizzly Adams’ pals flanked him, and the people standing closest to the small group finally seemed to notice the mounting tension.

  Hayley moved into the crowd, Eric sticking right at her side.

  “Wait a second.”

  “Not now, Eric.”

  “I was an asshole.”

  Was?

  Grizzly Adams got right in Jackson’s face. People stepped into Hayley’s path, cutting off her view. She shoved her way through, ignoring the complaints. One guy started to push her back until he recognized her. He quickly switched gears and even helped her out by nudging his buddy out of her path just in time for her to see Grizzly Adams take a swing at Jackson.

  The crowd surged around them, closing her out.

  “Move. Police,” she shouted over the crowd.

  Matt must have finally noticed the problem and killed the music just as Hayley’s voice cut through the encouraging shouts for a fight. People scrambled out of the way, but nothing broke up the group of men already pummeling each other.

  Damn it.

  This time Grizzly Adams landed a punch that knocked Jackson into the table behind him. Drinks scattered across the slanted tabletop before smashing on the floor.

  Hayley didn’t give Jackson a chance to retaliate, or let Grizzly Adams get in another punch. She elbowed her way between them. A dirty look was quickly followed by a double take and a quick step backward as the giant recognized her. She snapped her head around to face Jackson in time to see his fist coming at her.

  His eyes widened, but he wasn’t fast enough to correct his aim entirely, and she felt the sting of the glancing blow across her cheek. Shock dropped his arms at his sides, making it easy to jerk one hand behind his back and spin him around.

  She had the crowd’s full attention two minutes too late. “Jackson Knight, you’re under arrest for assaulting an officer and disturbing the peace.”

  “Hayley?” Matt pushed his way to her side, a baseball bat in his hand—the only bouncer her gramps had ever needed to run the place.

  The look on her face kept her brother from talking her out of the arrest. The rest of the surrounding fights had broken up by the time Jackson’s hands were cuffed behind his back.

  Matt winced. “Guess she’s not over that truck thing, bro.”

  Chapter Two

  “You arrested the Jackson Knight?”

  Hayley rolled her eyes at the exaggerated disbelief in her partner’s voice, not bothering to ask him to lower his voice. By now most of Promise Harbor had heard about last night, and all the Knight fans she worked with at the station had already given her hell.

  “He was detained for a couple hours without being charged.” No harm done. Which had been her line of defense when her captain called demanding an explanation for cuffing the hometown hero, since the mayor was already on his case.

  She’d been tempted to tell the captain to take a number as the mayor had been on her case since she was at least fifteen years old.

  Her partner, Phil, leaned back in his chair. “Captain didn’t make you smooth things over with Knight this morning?”

  “He realized I would’ve had a much bigger problem if I hadn’t taken Jackson out of the equation.”

  Phil grinned. “I didn’t know you two were on a first-name basis. Maybe you should ask him to be your date to the wedding.”

  She was almost grateful for the change in subject, then remembered she had to dress up for the wedding. “I’m taking Gramps. He’s been looking forward to it for a while.”

  “Too bad. Going with Knight would probably help your reputation after last night.”

  “Dating him in high school would have been more damaging to my reputation than arresting him was.” And she’d led the pack when it came to bad reps in high school.

  Her partner’s feet hit the floor. “You wanted to date Knight in high school?”

  Reaching for the phone, she scowled at him. “That’s not what I said.”

  “So you had a crush on him.” Phil whistled like she’d just fed him the harbor’s juiciest gossip in months.

  She didn’t have a chance to deny it—and by “deny it” she meant throw her team’s hockey trophy at his head—before the nurse answered. Glaring at her partner became less of a priority as she listened to the nurse explain that her gramps had had a rough night and would likely sleep most of the day.

  Apparently she was going to the wedding solo.

  Phil overheard enough of the conversation to guess at the outcome. Unlike half the town, he spared her the sympathetic look. “Don’t tell me, he was awake all night because he heard his granddaughter arrested his star hockey player?”

  “Ass.” She smiled anyway.

  He stood up. “You only came in this morning to catch up on a couple things, and now you’re done. Get going before I change my mind about covering your shift today.”

  “If you and your wife have plans…”

  “You’re not trying to get out of going to the wedding because of last night, are you?”

  Not exactly. “No. I just haven’t heard from Gavin.”

  “So he still doesn’t know his girl is marrying someone else?”

  “Allie hasn’t been his girl for a long time.” And Gavin hadn’t let Hayley forget that important detail for an equally long time.

  Phil shrugge
d as though that fact didn’t mean a whole lot, then winced. “Today is not your best day, Hayls.” He stared at something behind her.

  She turned around, immediately spotting Eric strolling toward them. She barely suppressed a groan.

  “You want me to hang around and pretend like I give a fuck about organizing my desk or something?”

  Hayley surveyed the mess on Phil’s desk that had Category Three Hurricane written all over it. “I think it’s probably a lost cause.” Especially since he had a habit of stacking his stuff on her desk the rare times he decided he liked a tidier work space.

  Eric had just about reached them.

  “You sure? Running down a perp and tackling him on the boardwalk isn’t the same as dealing with this jerkoff’s kind of bullshit.”

  Spending as much time together as they did, she had confided in Phil on more than one occasion about her relationship with Eric and the problems they had. Phil probably knew more than even her brother and had been thrilled when they finally broke up, undoubtedly relieved he didn’t have to listen to her ramble about the whole situation any longer. If he’d had his way, he would have kicked Eric’s ass long ago.

  “I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t exactly surprised to see Eric after last night, but she couldn’t imagine what was left to say. There hadn’t been anything to say since their breakup, and she didn’t see a reason for that to change.

  Grabbing her keys, she stood just as her partner left and Eric reached her desk.

  “Hi.”

  She spared him no more than her polite, on-the-job half smile.

  “We didn’t have much time to talk last night.”

  “What was it you wanted to say?” With a wedding that could break her best friend’s heart, having to face Jackson after last night knowing he was undoubtedly pissed, and getting bad news about her gramps, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to indulge her ex the way she foolishly had for most of their relationship.

  “Can we talk somewhere else? Maybe grab a coffee?”

  “I have a lot to do today, Eric.”