Free The Honeymoon Cottage (A Pajaro Bay Romance) by Barbara Cool Lee

have any problems."
    Joe nodded. He paused in the open doorway. "Um." Another pause. Ryan raised an eyebrow and Joe said, "I heard about your resignation."
    He nodded. "You'll be working with a new guy after I'm gone. I'm sure it'll be fine."
    Joe nodded. Paused again. "Hey," he said.
    "Yeah?"
    "You coming tonight?"
    "To the school fundraiser?" Ryan shook his head.
    "I'm cooking enchiladas for 200 people. Don't you want to see me sweat?"
    "You never sweat, Joe."
    "You haven't seen me playing Monopoly with Marisol. You haven't sweated till you've been outwitted by a eight-year-old. Now, how about dinner, Captain? The family would love to see you."
    "Some other time," Ryan said. There would be no other time, and they both knew it. He knew Joe meant well, but there was no way he was going to one of the town gabfests once word got out that he was resigning. Mabel Rutherford alone would be more than he could take.
    Joe shrugged and left.
    Ryan watched him go, then his mind shifted back to what was really bothering him. Camilla, Oliver, and the mysterious Dennis Hutchins.
    As soon as Joe was gone Ryan fired up his computer. While it was booting up, he opened up his notebook to a new page. He wrote down a list of names: Dennis Hutchins, Oliver Hutchins, Joyce Hutchins, Camilla Stewart. None of what he'd learned about them in the last day made any sense. He hated unsolved mysteries.
    He tore out the page. This wasn't his case—in fact, there was no case related to Pajaro Bay at all. The only crime was embezzlement, and he didn't have jurisdiction over that.
    He crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash. Read through his phone messages, read a brochure on some optional training available and made some notes for Joe on courses he should take. He was leaving, he reminded himself. Coasting through his final work days until he could hit the open road.
    He dug the crumpled page out of the trash. Dennis Hutchins was a fugitive with a felony warrant. He might be in this area. It was entirely appropriate for him to do a bit of background checking on the situation. He ignored the voice asking him why he needed to stick his nose into this, and got to work.
    He tried the official databases, looking for the missing Dennis Hutchins. Nothing. No criminal record under that name. A want out of San Jose on suspicion of grand theft. No details in that other than what he'd already learned from Camilla. Dead end.
    He didn't have enough of a detailed description to do a more general search, and he saw the warrant was not detailed either. San Jose P.D. didn't have anything more than he did, at least in this database. He should call San Jose and get the details before he went much further with this.
    He called, got shuffled around a bit and ended up leaving a message for the detective on the case. He looked up at the clock. Still before 10 a.m. He had a little more time before he headed out on his mid-day tour of the village. A visible police presence helped keep things running smoothly, and with Joe gone it would be his turn to make the daily stops—coffee shop, fishermen at the wharf, a swing past the school and a stop at the fish shack for a cup of coffee and an update on the town news from Mel, the crotchety old guy who ran the place.
    He had a little more time. He looked at his crumpled page again.
    All right. He'd go at this another way. He'd learned over the years that the info was usually out there. He just had to be creative to get it.
    He googled the name Dennis Hutchins. Hutchins was too common a name. He got hundreds of hits.
    He tried again, looking for the names Dennis, Oliver and Joyce Hutchins all together.
    Still nothing.
    So probably Hutchins wasn't his real name. What had Oliver said? First in Sacramento with Mommy.
    He tried the names Dennis, Oliver, and Joyce, with Sacramento.
    He got an immediate hit.
    The Sacramento Bee had a funeral notice for a Joyce Ashford Henning.
    He clicked on the article.
    A car accident. Two years ago,