Selena kept her voice steady.“Is there someone with you right now?”
“My mother.The FBI agent is still here, too.”
“Good.I’ll make sure you get my number so you can get directly in contact,” Selena said.
“I don’t want numbers.I want my husband back.”
No one answered that.There was no answer worth giving.
Marlene swallowed audibly.“Connor… Find who did this.”
The call ended.
For a few seconds, the phone remained on the table, screen gone dark.
Arnold was the first to move.He reached for the phone and put it back in his pocket.
Connor grabbed his hat from the table.“I’ll speak with Higgins.”
Selena turned toward him.“Maybe I should.”
“No.”
The word came too fast.
Arnold looked down at the floor.
Selena kept her attention on Connor.“That wasn’t a suggestion based on my ego.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You made a promise to a grieving widow.You knew Victor.You know Higgins.You’re angry.Those are not small factors.”
Connor put his hat on and adjusted the brim.“You don’t need to worry.Everything will be by the book.”
Selena felt a pang of worry.A pang that she remembered from when they were younger.It always said Connor was liable to go over the line.“I should come.”
“Selena.”
The use of her first name slowed her, though she wished it had not.
Connor’s eyes held hers.Red showed faintly at the edges, but the wetness had gone.“Higgins and I know each other.I want to speak to him one to one about a few things.”
“That’s exactly why I should be there.”
“You think I’m going to put him through a wall?”
“Right now, I don’t know what you’re going to do.”
The truth of it sat between them.
Connor lowered his voice."I know you're doing your job.I know why you're worried.But I need to do mine.Remember what happened with Sandra Holt.People will open up more to me because they know me.An FBI agent might spook them.There's a reason why I'm Sheriff."
“You can do your job with me in the room.”
“Not this time.”
Selena stared at him.A terrible feeling had taken root somewhere low in her stomach.Not certainty.Only instinct, sharpened by too many rooms where men had said they were fine right before they proved otherwise.
