Point of Attraction by Margaret Van Der Wolf

when I left, I’m sure.”
    Even knowing how he felt
about her and certain he had not taken Raggs, Georgie still
struggled with the urge to pull her shoulder clear of his touch.
Georgie wanted to tell him she knew he hadn’t, but his remark
about that old thing went deep. The door chime pinged and they all looked to the
front of the shop. She wondered who had put it back up.
    Jeffrey left them and was walking out
while another officer stood at the reception desk. The officer
stared after Jeffrey now out the door, fixing his tie and looking
back through the window.
    To Georgie, surprise was the word for
the moment. “Wow,” she murmured. “Never thought Raggs would rate
two police officers.”
    “That’s my partner, Officer Clark,”
Mason said. “I asked her to interview your business neighbors who
were open late last night to see if they had any problems or saw
anything out of the ordinary.”
    “ That’s your partner?” Georgie asked,
saw Mason’s brow twitch, obviously taken back by her question, but
before he could say anything more, Officer Clark, arrived with a
wide smile and extended her hand.
    Georgie met the gesture. “Tonie,
right?” she asked.
    “Yes, Ma’am, Tonie Clark. Told you
you’d see me again,” Officer Clark said. “Only I didn’t think it
would be this soon nor under these circumstances.”
    Mason cleared his throat, and Tonie let
go of her hand, tilting her head at him with a subtle roll of her
eyes. “Georgie, I mean Ms. Gainsworth, cut my hair last
night.”
    “Really?” Mason asked.
    “Yes. Really,” Tonie said.
    “Then you were here too?” Mason
asked.
    “Well, not that you’d ever notice, but
I was here getting my hair cut. Then I left. Ms. Gainsworth was
going out the door too.”
    There was something in Mason’s tone,
but Georgie couldn’t place a name to it. Was it interest? Surprise
maybe? Wow, she thought. Maybe it was true what they say; that a
partner in the line of dangerous duty like police work was almost
as close, if not closer than, a spouse. A couple? Suddenly, Georgie
didn’t want to talk to them anymore. Raggs was gone and she wanted
her back. That was all. She wanted her Raggs back.
    “I wished I hadn’t gone to class,”
Georgie said.
    “Did anyone else see anything out of
the ordinary,” Mason asked Tonie.
    Tonie shook her head. The friendliness
slipped away and Georgie saw the professional take over. Flipping
through and reading the pages in her little notebook, Tonie said,
“They saw nothing they don’t see every night. They did say they
could adjust their clocks by Ms. Gainsworth’s comings and goings.”
She pointed at Georgie. “Which is not a good idea, having a
predictable schedule like that.”
    “Okay. That’s all for now,” Mason said
to Tonie. “We’ll check out the whole area, up and down the street.
I’ll go over some more details with Ms. Gainsworth and be out in a
minute.”
    “Yes, sir.” Tonie removed her hat, ran
her fingers through her hair and gave Georgie a thumbs-up. “Just
what I wanted. Thanks. Hope we can find your property or that it
shows up safe and sound.” She adjusted her hat back into place and
went out.
    For the longest time, Georgie looked to
the departing officer. When the quiet of the moment became a third
presence, she looked up at Mason and nearly blushed at being caught
staring. “I was just thinking.”
    “What?”
    “Just that it’s tragic enough when a
police officer is taken down, but when it’s a woman?” She shook her
head. “Yet I can’t deny her the right to do the job. I should write
a book about it.”
    “If anyone can do it justice, it would
be you.”
    “And you.” Georgie felt the eyes of
those around them, and it was a struggle to keep from reacting to
Mason’s steady gaze and that of others who might be taking note of
all this.
    “So show me where Raggs
normally sits and where the girls were when they think the theft
might have taken place.” He leaned down and