Chapter 26

Detective Cooper claimed the vacant seat and said. “I thought I’d find you here.”

Jennifer usually was able to hide her surprise with a flippant reply, but today she was tongue-tied. As she stared at the detective, she frantically thought of something to say.

“What are you doing here? Are you going to arrest me again?” The words gushed out of her mouth without much thought.

Cooper’s brown eyes softened. He smiled and their eyes met. Jennifer blushed because she felt the words had come out all wrong. They sounded as if she wouldn’t mind being arrested by the handsome detective.

“No, I came here for another reason,” Cooper replied. “I noticed you haven’t put in a claim for the damage to your car, so I brought you the proper documents.” He pushed a couple of sheets of paper toward Jennifer. “All you have to do is fill them out.”

“Do you mean the bullet hole? Don’t worry about it. It gives my car a bit of character. Now that I’m making a decent living from my blog, I took my car to a mechanic for a complete mechanical checkup. I also filled it up with gas, and took it to a car wash for a good cleaning. You should have seen the look on the attendant’s face when he found the spent cartridge embedded in the back seat. I told him to put in the cup holder. It’s still there.”

When Cooper stopped laughing, he asked. “Are you sure you don’t want to get the bullet hole repaired? Since your car was damaged during a police operation you are entitled to compensation. And because I’m a member of an antique auto club, I can get you a good deal on a paint job. You can have your car looking like it’s brand new.”

Jennifer accepted the papers. “Okay, thanks, I’ll think about it.”

She was expecting Cooper to leave, but Margaret come out of her kitchen and asked him if he wanted a coffee.

“Sure, thanks, just black,” he replied, then turned his attention back to Jennifer.

“I’m glad to hear your blog is doing so well, but I thought by this time, you’d be writing for The Journal.”

Jennifer smiled. “I thought so too. I was elated when they called me and offered me a job. I was ready to accept it. but in the end, I refused.”

“Why? “I thought that was what you wanted?”

Margaret returned with a coffee for Cooper and gave her a refill. Jennifer stirred her coffee and added a dab of cream. “I did, and I accepted the job, but then changed my mind because I realized it would be a mistake. I don’t think I’d fit in because I’m not much of a team player. Besides, if I worked for the paper, I would have to give up my blog after working so hard on it.”

“Wise choice. I agree with you. You’re far too independent to work for anybody,” Cooper replied.