Page 19 of Final Inning

“Coach Kevin? Dr. Knight, you have secrets you aren’t sharing. Time to bare it all.”

Knight sent her a look at the image that immediately invoked. One of them baring it all—that was the exact thing he was going to avoid.

As if his life depended on it.

Hell. Maybe his way of life genuinely did.

Chapter 12

Valeria was really getting tired of this. Everyone had been talking about that stupid Harper for weeks now. Couldn’t they all just forget about her and get on with their lives?

She just kept watching customers as she rang up two gallons of milk, four cans of corn, and a six-pack of light beer for the customer.

That bitch Hagan was back. Great. Hagan was in here like almost every day.

Hagan had always had a real problem with Valeria, ever since they had been kids. It had never made sense. Hagan was older—she’d always been a bully where Valeria was concerned.

Hagan was one of the ones who had turned all the other girls against her in school. She’d just always done it behind everyone’s back, so no one could ever prove it was her. But Valeria knew; she remembered.

Hagan had been really mean like that—probably because she hadn’t really had a family to love her or anything. Hagan was a very jealous person. She’d always wanted what someone else had. Why wouldn’t she? Hagan had grown up dirt poor, with a dad who was nothing but a drunk and a loser.

But everyone believed Hagan. Even Julian.

Julian should have known Valeria better than that. It had taken her a long while to forgive him that, but…she had.

She’d always wanted to take care of Julian, since what had happened to his dad. It had hurt Julian so much…

She’d always felt really bad about that and everything. It was her first real exposure to death and grief and everything. It had been traumatic, no denying that.

Hagan was going around Helery County, acting like she was big and bad because she carried a gun now. Everyone could see right through her.

Hagan had to know she looked completely stupid, right? Maybe Valeria should tell her? Give Hagan the heads up, so the girl could have some dignity, right?

Valeria had heard they’d even had to have someone hem Hagan’s pants for her deputy’s uniform. She’d kept tripping over them or something.

Hagan was such a joke. More than that, she was pathetic.

Valeria rang up her Uncle Ted’s frozen pizzas and donuts next. It was the second time today he’d been in—everyone who worked in town ended up eating from the deli on a regular basis, the food was halfway good and everything. She saw him almost every day at the store. He asked her if she was behaving herself, and sent her that look that told her he’d be angry with her if she was a bad girl again.

It was a game they’d played for more than ten years now.

He reminded her he’d pick her up when her shift ended.

Then he turned and said something to Hagan that Valeria missed.

Hagan kind of paled, though.

Hagan didn’t like Ted. Kind of hard to miss, really. Damien, the deputy who followed Uncle Ted everywhere and had for like a million years now, said something to Hagan, too. It was probably sexual—Damien was a real pervert, and Valeria’s brother had told her that Damien was really hot for Hagan, too.

All of the guys at the sheriff’s office made fun of Hagan, though. Valeria’s younger brother was working there now that he was twenty-one. Uncle Ted had gotten him the job and was going to send Jamie to the academy soon, so he could be a cop, too. As an assistant deputy or something. Valeria wasn’t really sure what Jamie did, just that he bitched it wasn’t enough money sometimes.

Jamie had a lot to say about Hagan Lindhour. Mostly sexual stuff he would do to Hagan if he could when he was talking to his buddies and didn’t think Valeria heard, but still—no one liked Hagan there. Except as the ho she was.

So why did Hagan even do that job?

Girl cops were so stupid sometimes. Always trying to prove they were men or something.

Every girl cop that Valeria had ever met was that way. There was that one from ten years or so ago—from the next county north—who had given her mom a hard time once. She was always busting her mom for drinking, too. Telling her that she could do better for her kids.