“I should turn myself in. I might have to sit in a cell for a couple of weeks, but we’ll get this cleared up.”
Bree stood and turned so she was facing him, climbing up onto the chair on her knees. “I support you. I really do. But let’s see what’s in the sheriff’s office. If it’s nothing important then, heck, you’ll already be in the building, and you can turn yourself in then if you want.”
Bree was still working the Carrico angle—had been all day—but she hadn’t come up with anything to tie him to this third victim. He and Duquette had never served any prison time together or seemed to have any ties any other way. Bree hadn’t found any email sent by Carrico concerning Duquette.
She’d spent more time looking at the first two emails concerning Newkirk and Anders, convinced something wasn’t right, frustrated when she couldn’t figure out what it was.
She pulled back to return to her computer, but he grasped her hips and kept her in place in front of him. “Okay, we go to the sheriff’s office and see if there’s anything that throws major light on the case. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?”
As far as Bree had told him from the “watchful eye” she was keeping on the sheriff’s office in Risk Peak, they believed that he was making the most of his administrative leave and had gone on that romantic getaway. For once, small-town rumor was working in his favor.
But if they figured out that wasn’t the case, it would become a manhunt. So figuring out what the sheriff was keeping on her private computer was probably a good idea, even if the thought of it was distasteful.
An hour later they were going through a basement side door into the Grand County Sheriff’s Department office. It should’ve had a fire alarm on it, but Tanner knew some of the guys had disconnected it because it provided an easy way in and out for a smoke break.
He grimaced as the door made a loud creak as they opened it. If they got caught, it wasn’t technically illegal to be using that door, but it sure as hell was going to raise a lot of questions.
Fortunately, there wasn’t anything happening in these administrative offices in the back of the building at this time of night. There was more life on the south side of the building—a holding cell and the night officers’ offices. But they shouldn’t need to go there for any reason.
He kept a hand at Bree’s back as he led her down thedarkened hall toward Sheriff Duggan’s office. She had her laptop gripped tightly in her arms. She hadn’t offered a reason why she’d brought it, and he hadn’t asked.
Sheriff Duggan’s office door wasn’t locked, which only made him feel marginally better about opening it and ushering Bree inside. At least so far he hadn’t actually had to break in. But he was committed now. If there was fallout, he’d have to deal with it. He wasn’t going to second-guess himself any more.
Bree immediately moved over to a laptop sitting at the corner of Duggan’s desk. “This is it.”
“Work as fast as you can.”
Bree was pretty damn fast.
She had the sheriff’s computer opened and had hacked her way past the password in under two minutes. “Got it.”
He whistled through his teeth. “You’re scary fast there, freckles. Passwords don’t seem to give you any trouble.”
She smiled. “Passwords are nothing more than a security blanket for the general public. They definitely don’t keep any true hackers from getting what they want.”
He shook his head. “Promise me you’ll always stay on my side of the law.”
Of course, which side was his right at this moment? Tanner didn’t examine that too closely.
“Okay, Sheriff Duggan,” Bree whispered to the computer. “Tell dear diary what’s on your mind.”
A few minutes later, Bree reached a hand out toward him without looking back at him. “Oh my gosh, come look at this.”
“Is it bad?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s definitely not bad. She’skept a record of dozens of phone calls, messages and meetings she’s had today. All about you.”
“What?” He rushed to her side.
She showed him what she was talking about on the screen. Sure enough, at least a dozen people, from Risk Peak and other parts of Grand County, had contacted the sheriff basically as character witnesses on his behalf. Obviously some of them didn’t have all their facts straight—gossip was fast in a town Risk Peak’s size, but rarely accurate—but they’d all rushed to his defense when they’d heard about the arrest warrant.
“She’s keeping a very meticulous list of everyone defending you,” Bree said. “Some of these are pretty impressive character witnesses.”
He was honored and more than ever wanted to clear this up so he could get back to serving the town he loved so much.
Bree started clicking away on the computer again. “Okay, let’s see what else is going on inside the sheriff’s mind. Because as touching as that is, it’s not going to help clear your name.”
Tanner resumed his lookout through the cracked door as Bree went back to work. It didn’t take long for her to find the other info.
