He left, closing the door with care instead of anger.
Selena stood in the middle of the room, nightdress hanging loose around her knees, whiskey warm in her throat and regret settling heavier than fatigue.Outside, Connor’s vehicle started.The engine idled for a few seconds, then rolled away across the lot.
She listened until the sound faded.
Only then did Selena lock the door.
The bottle sat on the dresser between the two paper cups.One untouched now.One nearly empty.She looked at them, then at the phone on the bed.
There were calls she should make.
Arnold.Cheryl.Maybe even someone at the Bureau, if Connor's visit to Morimer became a problem she could not bury with a warning.But that would make things worse if Connor had been lucky and had not been recorded in his interactions.
Damn you, Connor, she thought.She just could not bring herself to call it in.And that put her at war with her own ethics.Yes, she should have called the FBI.
Instead, she stood there with one hand on the deadbolt and prayed she could somehow avoid having to choose between her duty and her ex-husband.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
At eight in the morning, Selena sat parked outside the sheriff’s department with the engine off and her phone in her hand.
The building looked smaller in daylight than it did during the long evenings.Brick front.Glass door.Flag hanging limp in the warm air.Two cruisers in the lot, one deputy's pickup, and a county maintenance truck with a dented tailgate.The whole place had the practical look of a building built to survive budgets, storms, and complaints from people who wanted faster answers than the government could give.
She had arrived ten minutes early and still had not gone inside.
Her thumb hovered over her father’s number.
The call should not have felt difficult.Robert Raven was not a suspect.He was not a hostile witness.He was her father, and he had sounded happy when she saw him briefly the last time she was in town.That somehow made the delay worse.Every hour she spent in Elmsview without calling him became another small piece of proof that Diane was right about her.
Selena pressed call before she could talk herself out of it.
He answered on the third ring.
“Hey, honey.”
The warmth in his voice made her look down at the steering wheel.
“Hey, Dad.”
“You all right?”
“Yes.I’m fine.”She watched Cheryl cross past the front window inside, carrying a stack of folders against her chest.“I wanted to let you know I’m going to be in Elmsview for a bit.”
“That’s great.”Robert sounded genuinely pleased.“I hoped you might come visit.”
“Yeah.I’m really sorry I haven’t dropped by yet.”
“You working?”
“I am.”
“Is it to do with Warren Holt and Victor Schmidt?”
Selena closed her eyes for half a second.Of course he knew.Everyone knew.
“It is.”
“They were nice fellas.”
