SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(18)

“No, thanks. I can drive.” Then she chewed on her bottom lip. “You don’t think I’m that bad, do you?”

“We’ll take you home,” Allan said. Even if she was fine, he didn’t want her to risk getting in an accident on the way to Whitefish thirty miles away that would get her into trouble with the sheriff’s department. He doubted her blood alcohol level would be that high. Even so, the beer definitely had affected her.

“Okay. But I’m really feeling great.”

That’s what Allan was worried about. That she was feeling too great. After they finished the pizza, they walked outside and found it had been snowing the whole time they were eating. Because of the weather conditions, Allan was glad they were taking Debbie home. He drove his own vehicle, and Rowdy drove Debbie’s. She sat in the passenger’s seat, leaning her head against the window of her car. Allan wondered if she’d gone to sleep.

Halfway to her place, Allan noticed a black sedan following him through the traffic lights. The car continued to follow until Allan turned right at a street that would take him out of his way. The sedan continued on past.

Once Allan had turned around and gotten back on the main road to Debbie’s home, he saw the black sedan turn down the next street. When Allan passed the street, he expected to see the sedan still driving along, but it had vanished. Other than a number of businesses closed for the night, there wasn’t anywhere for the sedan to go, except to turn down the next street. He had to have been flying at that point to make the corner before Allan reached the intersection.

On the rest of the drive to Debbie’s house, Allan kept watching for the black sedan. It probably meant nothing sinister, but working for law enforcement, he was wary.

When he pulled into Debbie’s driveway, Rowdy was just parking. “What happened to you back there? I thought you’d gotten lost,” Rowdy said, getting out of Debbie’s car.

Allan went to the passenger door when Debbie didn’t get out. “I thought I…” He didn’t want to sound paranoid and changed his mind about saying anything. He shrugged. “Is Debbie asleep?”

“The whole way here,” Rowdy said.

Allan was glad they had driven her home, given the circumstances. He opened her door, but she stirred and smiled up at him. “Ohmigod, I’ve never fallen asleep on a date. Well, it wasn’t a date. But you know what I mean.”

Allan helped her out of the car, and she was boneless. He noticed she’d left her purse on the seat and seized it. But she managed to walk on her own. “Are you going to be all right tonight?”

“Yeah, sure. Long day. Missed lunch and breakfast—meant to have both, but never got around to either. I had some hot chocolate at your sister’s house to tide me over, but I think the beer got to me. A little.”

Allan smiled and held the door to her duplex for her. She didn’t move out of the doorway, but waited for him to hand over her purse. “Thanks. I had a lovely time. Next time, I’ll have water. It would be safer that way.” She waved at Rowdy, who was standing beside Allan’s hatchback. “Night. That was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

“Next Friday?” Rowdy asked in a hurry.

She glanced up at Allan, her dark-brown eyes wide with expectation.

“Sure.” What the hell. If the three of them were going to have pizza, maybe on a regular Friday-night basis, no one would get the notion he was dating Debbie. Himself included.

“Night, Debbie. See you tomorrow.” Even though it was Saturday, they were diving to Van Lake again to see if they could find more clues.

Rowdy waved good-bye. “Night, Debbie.”

“Night, all.” She closed her door and Allan waited until he heard the lock snick closed.

“I sure admire you for the work you do,” Rowdy said as they climbed into Allan’s car. “I wanted to be a police diver. I thought it sounded really glamorous and more fun than regular police work. Then Debbie’s retired partner told me about diving in murky waters, with swift moving currents, under ice, in frigid water, and at night or other times when there is zero visibility. The worst was the idea of diving in intake pipes and sewer water. So I decided I liked my job just fine. I guess with your SEAL training, diving suits you. Still can’t figure out why Debbie would want a job like that.”

Allan nodded. He wasn’t about to explain what she had told him if she hadn’t mentioned it to Rowdy.

“So sorry about your kinfolk seeing that murder scene today. I can imagine how horrified they must have been. With both being pregnant, I worried about miscarriages.”

“They were shook up, sure. After witnessing such a thing, they’re wary now, of course. Until we catch the murderer, it’s a big concern for everyone.”

“I agree. I hope that I didn’t mess things up by butting in on your pizza night with Debbie. She was just so adamant, I couldn’t say no.”

Allan shook his head. “Like Debbie said, it was nice getting to know a little more about each other off duty. After such a harrowing day, the evening went well, I thought.”

“It did, but I can bow out next time. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Debbie, but I can make excuses.”

“I don’t have any problem with you having pizza with us.”

“She said you weren’t on a date.”