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Goodnight chief
Two minutes later, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
“Sheriff, Tom Gibbons wasn’t home, and his wife claims she has no idea where he is,” Johnny Cooper said from the doorway of her office.
“Of course she doesn’t.” She eyed the two cups of coffee her deputy held. “One of those for me?”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked into the room, handing her one of the cups. “I put a BOLO out on Tom. He’ll turn up drunk somewhere.”
“No doubt.” The man had failed to show up for his court hearing. Again. This was the fourth time in the year she’d been here that Gibbons had done a disappearing act and they’d had to track him down. She tapped her cup. “Thanks for the coffee. Much appreciated.”
“No prob. I’m going to go hit up some of Tom’s favorite hiding spots.”
“Good luck.” She had a great team. Well, except for one problem child. Mason Culpepper, her oldest deputy and longest on the force, thought he should have gotten her job and resented the hell out of her. He wasn’t shy about letting her know, either. Mason was lazy, had a bad attitude, and wasn’t liked by the other deputies.
The sheriff’s department was half the size of Tristan’s police department, not an unusual thing even though her people had the entire county to cover, and Tristan’s officers only patrolled inside the city limits. Those thoughts led her to thinking of Tristan, which soured her mood.
Four days had passed since their UFO museum night and the texts. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since. Not that she wanted to. Liar. “Shut up, voice in my head.”
“You got voices in your head talking to you? Not a good endorsement for a sheriff.” Mason laughed as he walked into her office.
Of course Mason would be the one to hear her. “Why aren’t you out on patrol?”
He threw his hands up. “Chill, boss lady. I’m going, okay? Just thought I’d stop in and say hello.”
No, he thought he could mess around a little, cut time off being on patrol. After he stomped out, she tried to work on the budgets for next year, but her mind kept drifting to Tristan. Since she’d come to Marsville, her life had revolved around her job. She hadn’t met anyone she wanted to date.
Liar. Damn voice. Fine. She’d very much like to date Tristan. There. She’d admitted it.
Sneaking into the museum and going for ice cream with him had been the highlight of her year. The night had reminded her how much she liked him. When he took her back home, he’d walked her to her door. She’d thought for a second that he was going to kiss her. She would have let him. But he hadn’t, and although disappointed, she was glad because she probably would have forgotten her no-cops rule, grabbed his hand, and dragged him straight to her bed.
Finishing these budgets wasn’t going to happen today. She shut down her computer. An hour or two out of the office was what her brain needed. Despite not having any intention of going near the Marsville Police Department, she somehow ended up parked in front of it.
The police building was next to Marsville’s municipal building and two times the size of hers. The sheriff’s department was located outside the city limits. Tristan’s people could walk outside their door and have a variety of places to eat lunch. The only businesses near her were a tire store, a clothing consignment shop, and a strip mall that housed a tattoo artist, an insurance agent, and a few other places that did not offer food.
She yelped at the sharp raps on her window. At seeing Tristan peering in and grinning, she wanted to punch him in the nose. It was, after all, his fault she hadn’t been herself since she’d fallen asleep thinking about him, then hadn’t heard another word from him. She powered down her window.
“Can I help you, Chief?”
“Now that’s a loaded question, Sheriff.” He comically waggled his eyebrows. “I was going to call you today, but surprise, here you are. You coming to see me?”
“Um, no, I have to...” What? She wasn’t about to admit he was the reason she was staring at his building, trying to think of a reason to stop by his office. She glanced at the municipal building. “I have to pick up some paperwork from the courthouse.”
“After you do that, stop and see me. Miss Mabel asked me this morning what we’d accomplished so far. I almost told her we’d come up with some good UFO jokes but thought better of it.”
“Yeah, probably not a good idea.”
He tapped the roof of her car. “See you in a few.” With Fuzz at his side, he walked into the police building.
Great, now she had to go to the courthouse and scrounge up some kind of paperwork. Fifteen minutes later, having conned a court clerk out of some blank pages and a manila folder, she stopped in the doorway of Tristan’s office. He was on the phone, but he waved her in.
Fuzz rose from his bed and came to her. She slid a Milk-Bone from her pocket and gave it to him. He put his paw on her knee as if to thank her, then returned to his bed. Half the town carried treats for Fuzz in their pockets or purse.
“Earl, he followed someone into Fanny’s shop and ate half of a fifty-dollar dress. Fanny’s demanding you reimburse her.” Tristan looked at her and rolled his eyes. “Since the dress is ruined, I’m sure Fanny will give you the rest of it if you pay up.”
Skye chuckled. A definite bonus of her job was that she didn’t have to deal with Earl and his goat.
“Great, I’ll tell her. You really need to put a stop to Billy escaping.” After disconnecting, he shook his head. “Earl said if he has to pay for the dress that it’s only fair Billy gets to eat the rest of it.”
