SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(15)
“Oh, just fine. The babies are kicking away, especially at night. Thankfully, Everett gives the best foot and back massages. What I can’t get used to is my protruding belly.” Rose rubbed her hand over her stomach. “I keep forgetting it’s there despite how big it is, and when I go to open doors, especially the fridge door, it’s in the way.”
Debbie laughed. She was glad to hear Rose seemed to be all right. It was good she had such a supportive network to help her through this, and she seemed to be in good spirits, if a little pale. Her mother still looked anxious.
They talked about the recent snow, and Rose wanted to know all about the baby Allan had saved earlier from the flooded SUV in the culvert. He had said Debbie played a major part in the rescue, which was sweet of him. She wanted to deny it was true, but didn’t want to contradict him.
“How do you like working with Allan?” Catherine suddenly asked.
Debbie couldn’t help her reaction. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. Did his mom know how much she loved working with Allan? That she hoped more than a friendship could develop?
“He’s great to work with. He treats me like a partner should.” Though all the men on the diving team were really great sports.
Rose and Catherine exchanged glances, but Debbie—despite all her police training—couldn’t read their feelings in that shared instant.
“Well, I’d better be getting back to the office. I still need to write up that report, dig a little more into another case, and then share a pizza with Allan later.”
“You’re having a pizza,” Catherine said, frowning.
“Oh sure, I know it’s not the most nutritious food, but I’ve been craving one ever since he mentioned going out to have one.” Not that Debbie believed his mother was concerned about nutrition. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but his family seemed to be acting a little oddly about the fact that she and Allan were now partners.
“Allan did?” Catherine said, as if she had thought it was all Debbie’s idea to go out together.
Debbie sighed dramatically, then rose from her seat. “Yeah. Before my previous partner retired, we used to go out every Friday night for pizza. He was a widower, a fatherly type, and we enjoyed letting our hair down after work. I haven’t done that in about a year. So I mentioned it to Allan, and he suggested we go out for pizza. We meant to do it for lunch, but…” She stopped speaking. She didn’t want to bring up the murder again.
The ladies really didn’t need to know all her and Allan’s business, especially if they didn’t approve for whatever reason. But some small part of her did care what his family thought about her. Since the family was so close knit, she thought they’d probably want to approve of her if things between her and Allan got serious. Maybe they were worried that she might hurt Allan if things didn’t work out.
She wasn’t even sure if she could handle being that close with family. She’d never had anything like that growing up. Not that there was anything going on between her and Allan, but…
“Thanks so much for dropping by. Some of the other police officers said they’d drive by here at different times, just to ensure there’s no trouble,” Catherine said.
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
“Thanks, Debbie,” Rose added. “I really appreciate you coming by.”
“It was good to see you again,” Catherine said, and both ladies walked her to the door.
“I hope my coming here wasn’t too much of an intrusion. I just wanted to offer my services. Call me anytime if you need anything at all.”
With final thanks and good-byes, Debbie headed back to the office, wishing she’d further clarified that she and Allan were not dating.
As she always did when she was driving, she watched traffic around her, behind her, in front of her, and pulling out of roads on either side of the main one she was driving on. She did so because of her police training, watching for any misdeeds, but when she glanced at her rearview mirror again, she swore a black sedan had followed her from somewhere close to Rose’s house all the way to the town where Debbie worked. That was forty miles away.
When she parked at the sheriff’s office, the vehicle turned off on a street two blocks away. She had planned to get the driver’s license plate number when he went past her. She admitted she was probably being paranoid. But on the other hand, if she saw a car like that following her again, she’d call in his license plate to have him checked out—just in case she wasn’t being paranoid.
Chapter 5
Allan got a call from Rose and picked up immediately, concerned that something was seriously wrong. He’d been worried his sister or Lori might go into premature labor over this whole murder business.
“Allan, just a quick heads-up. We had an unexpected visitor,” Rose said. “Debbie Renaud came by the house to offer assistance if I needed it.”
Now that was one scenario he’d never expected. “Hell, I told her everything was fine when she asked me. What did she say?” Allan didn’t want Debbie having anything to do with the family, in the event some nutcase was looking to take down werewolves and thought she might be one too.
“She didn’t say anything about the case, and we just let on that it was awful, which it was. Then we talked about other subjects. What could Mom and I tell her? No, we couldn’t talk to her? She was really sweet and making sure I was okay. She also assured me she’d help us out anytime we wanted her to. But what’s this business with you taking her out for pizza?”