1
Four Years Ago
Hannah Freeman stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her hands gliding down the front of her uniform. A tingle of pride zipped through her at the sight as it had for the past month. Navy pants. Navy short-sleeved polo. Over her left breast was embroidered Easton Police Department and underneath that was her title: Chief of Police.
Chief. She made bug eyes at her reflection and grinned, not caring if the silly expression didn’t match the dignity of the uniform.
When she had applied for the police chief position, her chances were a complete tossup in her mind. Young. Female. A tiny Southern town. Stunned when she received a phone call from the mayor a week later, she was even more shocked when they wanted to interview her almost immediately. Within a month, her exemplary military and police credentials had the town offering her the position despite her youth and sex. Only a few had openly expressed doubt that a female would be able to handle the pressure of being police chief. And she was determined to prove them wrong.
Now, a month later, she filled her days getting used to new duties, the townspeople, and her staff of one receptionist, Pearl, who doubled as the dispatcher for calls that did not go through 9-1-1, Mason, a police sergeant, and three officers. But today was special—it was her chance to meet the other area chiefs and sheriffs at the monthly law enforcement leaders’ meeting.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia consisted of only two counties, physically separated from the rest of the state, joined at the southern tip to Virginia Beach by a seventeen-mile bridge that crossed over the Chesapeake Bay. North was Maryland. Besides the sheriffs of the two counties, there were only four towns that were large enough to have an individual police force. Legal jurisdictions dictated their areas of operations, but it appeared they assisted each other as much as possible. Hence, one of the reasons the leaders of local law enforcement met monthly to discuss concerns that they shared.
Nerves slithered through her, but she tamped the negative emotion down with the knowledge that she was not the only new hire. Mitch Evans had just taken over as Police Chief of Baytown, and Dylan Hunt had been hired as Police Chief of Seaside six months ago.
Driving into Baytown, she called Pearl to remind her that she would be at the meeting and not back into the office until after lunch. She had not had a chance to visit Baytown but knew they had the only public beach in the county and summer vacationers would fill the rental houses. Main Street was quaint with little shops and she decided to visit soon when she was not on duty.
Now, driving to the Baytown Police Station, she was struck with how much larger Baytown was than Easton. All the towns on the Eastern Shore were small, but Baytown had over a thousand residents, whereas Easton only had about three hundred. She parked near the front of the two-story brick building and smoothed her hands over her uniform again before pulling on the glass door leading into the station reception area.
“‘Morning!”
The greeting rang out from the elderly receptionist sitting behind the counter. Her curly, blue-tinted grey hair bounced as she waved.
“Oh… good morning. I’m—”
“Know who you are, Hannah Freeman. You have the distinction of being the only female police chief out here,” the woman announced, her curls still shaking. “Kudos to Easton for finally hiring a woman! I’m Mildred Score, by the way.”
A female officer wearing a Baytown uniform walked from the back hall and smiled toward Hannah. “Hello, Chief Freeman. I’m Ginny Spencer. It’s nice to meet you.”
Shaking Ginny’s hand, she accepted the warm greeting, glad to meet another female officer. “Hi. Call me Hannah.”
“I understand you were MP… Army?”
“Yes, I was.”
“Same for me. I know you’ve got to head into the LEL meeting, but I’d love to grab coffee or drinks sometime when we have a chance,” Ginny invited. “There’s not a lot of us female officers around.”
“That’d be great.” She cocked her head to the side and asked, “By the way… LEL?”
Mildred walked up and said, “That’s the shortened version of Law Enforcement Leaders. Otherwise, it’s too much of a mouthful to say! Come on back.”
Waving goodbye as Ginny left the building, she followed Mildred’s bouncing curls toward the staff workroom.
“The LEL meeting is in here. Coffee’s on the counter. Make yourself at home.” With that, the efficient Mildred offered a nod before heading back to the front.
Walking in, she was surprised her feet did not stumble at the sight of the four men already in the room. She was no stranger to attractive men, but the four in front of her exuded masculinity and military bearing as well as open friendliness, ramping up their handsomeness.
Coming to her senses, she squared her shoulders and stepped forward, her hand extended in greeting. Mitch Evans, tall, with a lean, muscular body, welcomed her to their group and Baytown. Colt Hudson, Sheriff of North Heron County, was huge. Tall, muscular, with thick dark hair and an intense gaze, he smiled widely as they were introduced. Next came Liam Sullivan, Sheriff of Acawmacke County, and Wyatt Newman, the Police Chief of Manteague, equally as handsome. She wondered if it was against regulations for a law enforcement leader on the Eastern Shore to be balding, pot-bellied, and cursed with bad teeth.
“Grab some coffee, Hannah,” Mitch invited, waving his hand toward the counter. “We’re just waiting on Dylan.”
Before she had a chance to move to the other side of the room, she turned at the sound of someone rapidly approaching. She blinked as his hands darted out to land on her shoulders in an effort to keep their bodies from crashing together. As she stared up into his face, a thought flashed through her mind… You can crash into me anytime. Just as handsome as the other men in the room, this one had a boyish, lopsided grin and hazel-green eyes. Tall, with a runner’s muscular body, her gaze darted from his brown hair swept to the side, all the way down to his boots. His uniform was similar to hers except he sported khaki pants and a navy shirt with Seaside Police Department emblazoned over his heart. And, like hers, Chief of Police declared his position.
By the time her gaze dragged back to his face, his grin quirked up even more on one side and his eyes actually twinkled. While the other handsome men had an air of confident professionalism, this man oozed an air of lighthearted enjoyment of life.
“You must be Hannah. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dylan. Dylan Hunt.”
She reached her hand out, and as his fingers closed over hers, electricity zapped about the room, circling around the two of them, blocking out everyone else. She jerked, forcing her lungs to fill with air, certain she must look like a fool. Heat crept over her, and she prayed her face was not flaming red. Shocked at the instant connection, she glanced up at Dylan, surprised to see the same wide-eyed, shocked expression on his face. He stared at their hands before he lifted his gaze to hers. If it hadn’t been for the other men in the room, she wasn’t sure she would have remembered to pull her hand back.
As they sat down around the table, she noticed Dylan moved quickly and sat next to her. Mitch began the meeting, and she worked to steady her breathing, quickly falling into the rhythm of her job. Pride and competency filled her, and she hoped no one had observed her momentary lapse of professionalism.