"Saturday."
"She flew into Redwater?”
"She flew into Boise and drove. She likes to drive."
"And she's at your cabin?”
"Yes, Chief."
"Rachel Doyle? Who you were at the academy with?”
"Yes, Chief."
I’m digging a big hole here.
She sits with it.
She sits with it long enough that I can see her thinking. I have watched Val think in this chair for fourteen years. I know the look. She is running what I just said against what she knows, and she is looking for the seam. She has three possible seams. One is the plate of my truck on the county road. Two is the scent she can smell on me. Three is whatever else she has that she has not put on the table yet.
"How long is Rachel staying?” She says the name Rachel like she is damn sure it is a lie.
"Through Thursday."
"Good."
"Yes, Chief."
"When she leaves, you come back to the city and you sleep at your apartment."
"Yes, Chief."
She closes the folder. Both hands on the desk. She leans an inch forward.
"Hale."
"Chief."
"I have not in fourteen years caught you in a lie."
"No, Chief."
"If I catch you in one now, it's going to be the last one I let go."
My mouth goes dry.
"Yes, Chief."
"I am not asking you any more questions this morning."
"Yes, Chief."
"Go."
---
I go down the stairwell.
I do not stop on the landing.
