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Cooper was collecting lifeless plush toys, scooping up the cotton stuffing and putting it in the trash. It was a strange and sort of macabre scene except instead of dead bodies it was pink rabbits and blue elephants.
“Damn,” Lucy cursed, scrubbing the tip of her pen on the paper. “It ran out of ink. This is why I shouldn’t buy the cheap ones. I’ll go get another in the office. Maybe two or three.”
“I can get them,” Jane offered.
“Thanks, but I need to stretch my legs a bit,” Lucy said, levering up from her spot on the floor. “I have that jar of chocolate on the desk, too. Should I bring it out here?”
“Do you even have to ask? Hell, yes.”
Lucy walked through the store and into the back room, halting in the doorway. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of what she was seeing.
Deputy Blake was looking through her purse.
“Blake?”
The deputy jumped and turned around, smiling sheepishly.
“You caught me. Sorry about that.”
She rounded the desk, her gaze pinned to Blake. What in the hell was he doing?
“What were you looking for?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks were red with embarrassment.
“I’m ashamed to tell you, but… I had onion rings for dinner, and I can hardly stand my own breath. I was looking for mints or gum. I should have asked and I’m so sorry. I was just embarrassed.”
Gum or mints? She could handle that request.
“You should have asked, but you’re in luck. I have some mints in the desk drawer. Hold on, I’ll get them for you.”
She reached into the middle drawer and quickly scanned the contents, finding the pack of mints. Wintergreen, her favorite.
“You can keep these,” she said, handing them to the deputy. “I have to go to the store tomorrow anyway so I can pick up some more.”
“I don’t want to take all of yours,” Blake protested.
“It’s okay. There’s only a few in there.”
“I appreciate it,” Blake said, tossing one into his mouth. “Thanks.”
When he’d done that, his rolled-up sleeves had slid even further up his arms, showing off his ink. She froze when she saw that he had a feather tattooed on his lower arm, right near the heart he’d shown off with Angel. There was also a crow near the elbow.
Lucy could barely breathe. She had to stifle a horrified scream.
Deputy Blake was the person in the room on the video. He’d been there with Sarah and Ethan. Had he been working with Farrow? Did he have something to do with Sarah’s death? And what about Ethan’s shooting? And her break-ins? He’d been looking through her purse, and not for mints. Had he been looking for the thumb drive?
“You look pale,” Blake said. “Do you need to sit down? Are you ill?”
Yes, I’m very ill. Sick to my stomach.
“I think it’s just hitting me at the moment,” she replied, her voice shaky. “Being robbed twice in only a few days. It’s emotional. Violating.”
“We can do this tomorrow morning if you’d rather. Maybe you should go home and lie down.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I want to get this done tonight. I don’t want to put it off. Let’s do this.”
As soon as Lucy could get a few moments alone, she’d pull Cooper and Jane aside and tell them, too.
