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Shaking out her stinging palm, she growled at the monitor. At least the beeping stopped.
“Feel better?”
“Damn it, Mase, the stupid internet went out again. Blasted cables were up all morning but the second the e-mail I was waiting for comes in, internet goes out. It's messing with me on purpose. I know it is.”
He nodded in sympathy. While all of Hamlet had a love-hate relationship with technology, Caitlin took it to the extremes. Mason long ago gave up telling her that beating the machine wouldn’t fix it.
“You really should look into getting one of those fancy cellphones. Pay for the right plan, you're supposed to be able to get internet on it whenever you want.”
“Then I'd have to drive out of Hamlet anytime I wanted to use the thing. And I'll be damned if they try putting up another cell tower around here. That first one never took and, hell, we just don't need it enough.” She knew some of the younger kids, like Addy’s Sally, made a big fuss out of having no cell service. It didn't bother Caitlin. She sniffed. “Give me my radio any day.”
Hamlet communicators were reliable. The channels were always open. It was bad enough she had to go to the county’s big municipal center on the rare occasions she needed help with one of her investigations. If she didn't have to take that narrow one-way strait, she wouldn't.
Caitlin hated leaving Hamlet. When they were still married, Lucas was alw
ays going, taking a couple of hours to visit the bigger shops, or even week-long trips when he went away for his job. To keep up to date in his practice, Lucas was forever attending classes, seminars, even hosting lectures of his own. It used to drive her insane with jealousy.
Now she paid her neighbor to get her anything Jefferson didn't have in his store, and she watched from a distance as Lucas sped his Mustang out of town. It still drove her nuts, yeah. As long as he didn't bring anyone back with him, she managed.
She had to.
“Speaking of heading out of Hamlet,” Caitlin said, accepting the coffee with a nod, “I've got to take a trip today.” She made a face. She couldn't help it. “It's for the Sullivan case or else I'd be out with the rest of you guys. I shouldn't be gone long. Now, go on. Report. How was your patrol last night?”
“Oh. Um. Good, I guess.”
“Really? And Ophelia? How was that?”
Mason froze. “What do you mean?”
Caitlin let out a laugh. He didn't find any humor in it and, he realized after a beat, neither did she. “Come on, Mase. We both know you took a spin by Maria's place at least once last night.”
He couldn't really deny it. And it wasn't like he did anything wrong. Hamlet was small. If his patrol took him past Ophelia, he was only doing his duty.
It struck him that no one had radioed Caitlin and told her about the threat left for Tessa. If Caitlin knew, she would've said something. No doubt. In her way, the sheriff was being playful. If she knew another crime had gone down, she'd be furious.
Last night was rough. He stood guard over Tess, watching as Lucas checked her out, took her measure, assured her that she was safe if she stayed inside of her room, regardless of what any faceless boogeyman left in a note. Mason longed to jump in, but the doctor never gave him the chance. So he tried instead to charm Maria into letting him stay the night, renting one of the rooms so he'd be close by if either of the women needed him. That hadn't worked, either. She obviously had more faith in a baseball bat than in Mason’s gun.
Probably didn't help that he'd pointed it at her, he admitted to himself.
In the end, he waited until Tessa took the medicine Lucas brought before purposely walking the doctor out. If he couldn't stay, he'd make damn sure Lucas didn't.
Not that it mattered. It was already too late. Seeing the way Lucas eyed her when he didn't think anyone was looking, Mason knew the other man was only going to stand in the way of him and Tessa.
Just like he was sure that Lucas wouldn't tell his ex-wife anything about what happened at Ophelia. He would do his best to protect the outsider.
Then so would Mason.
“You're right, boss. It was quiet. No trouble at all.”
“That's what I want to hear. We need more trouble like we need another outsider in town.”
He could never understand why she hated outsiders so much. They brought excitement, possibility. Everything was always so stagnant in Hamlet. A fresh face could inject a little life in their sleepy village.
Except for Jack Sullivan, he amended. That man had only brought death.
Mason shook his head, clearing that thought as quickly as it came. “Yeah, well, since it’s quiet, I was wondering if I could go off duty now. Take a couple personal hours since I just came off a double.”
Caitlin didn't answer him right away. Clicking angrily on the computer's mouse, she peered at her screen, scowling at whatever she saw. She wore her long red hair tied back, the tail resting over the shoulder of her crisp beige uniform shirt. She flipped it out of her face before taking her seat, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk.
