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“And just sit around and feel sorry for myself? No, I need to work.”
“Okay. I’ll take your safe back to the house.” He put a finger under her chin, lifted her face, and brushed his lips over hers. “We’ll find who did this.”
“We better.”
He liked her saying “we,” as if they were a team. Fortunately, her cruiser wasn’t damaged, and after seeing her off, Tristan went to his house to drop off the safe, then went to the station.
“Need a minute of your time,” he told his captain. Matt walked into his office behind him. “Close the door.”
“What’s up, Chief?”
“You hear about the sheriff’s apartment?”
“Bad business that. Any idea who did it?”
“Possibly. She fired Mason Culpepper, and he told her she’d be sorry.”
“Mason’s always had a hot temper. He wasn’t happy he didn’t get the sheriff’s job.”
“I talked to him last night. He swears he was home asleep and didn’t go anywhere near her apartment. Right now, there’s no proof he did it.” He decided not to tell Matt that Mason had been at the resort. That would mean revealing he’d been out with Skye at the time. Not that he cared if anyone knew, but she did.
“Where do we go from here then?”
“Since this personally involves the sheriff, she’s out of it. The investigation is ours. I want Mason watched. You, Vee, and Kyle take turns keeping an eye on him.” Along with his captain, Vee and Kyle were the officers he trusted the most.
“How much can I tell them?”
“Everything I just told you but tell them to keep their mouths shut.”
“Do you think Mason would do that? From what I’ve heard, if someone hadn’t seen the fire, people could have died. Mason might be an ass, but he loves his ass. Would he risk life in prison or the death penalty?”
“I wish I knew the answer to that. Is Bentley around?”
“Saw him about ten minutes ago.”
“Tell him I want to see him.” Bentley Morrison was his only detective, and fortunately for the town, rarely had any serious cases. Crime in Marsville pretty much consisted of the Watters brothers getting drunk and starting fights, a few domestic calls—usually involving the same couples—occasional drug deals, and a few burglaries.
“And, Matt, the sheriff is staying in a guest room at my house until she makes other arrangements. If I hear anyone implying there’s funny business going on between me and her, they aren’t going to like the consequences.”
“Gotcha, Chief.” He stood. “But if there was something going on, who cares?”
Tristan couldn’t agree more. Didn’t matter what he thought. He wouldn’t stand for Skye feeling like she was in the middle of a repeat of what happened in Florida.
Bentley stepped into the office. “You wanted to see me?”
“Close the door and have a seat.” He filled Bentley in, including that Mason had been at the resort last night.
“You think he followed you there?” Bentley was a bored detective most of the year. He was going to want to go gung ho on this, so Tristan would have to keep him reined in and on track.
“Not me, the sheriff. Unfortunately, I can’t be certain. You’re the only one who knows we were there. Miss Mabel assigned us to a committee, and it was a business dinner. Since Mason threatened her, he might try to stir up trouble that we were there on a date.”
“You’re both single, so why would it be a problem if it was a date?”
Everyone seemed to get that but Skye. “She’s new and still proving herself. She doesn’t want people to get the wrong impression, so no one needs to know about the dinner. Unless we can prove he did follow her, then that goes in the file.” At some point, he might have to tell Bentley about what happened to her in Florida, but not yet. “Mason made some threats, which she got on tape. I’ll forward the recording to you.”
“Can I interview him?”
“Not yet. For now, let him think he’s convinced me he’s innocent. Matt, Kyle, and Vee are going to keep tabs on him. You can start by talking to Parker. Get him to tell you everything he knows about the fire. One of her deputies talked to the neighbors last night but talk to them again. There’s also footage from a neighbor’s security camera I’ll send you. See if you can get us height, weight, and any other identifying features.”
