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“No pretty little blonde troopers,” she muttered softly.
His eyebrows arched. He grinned. He chuckled. He caught her around the waist, riveted her body to his, and kissed her so hungrily that she moaned.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said on his way out the door. He paused and his eyes twinkled at her. “And no troopers. I promise.”
She watched him leave with her heart in her eyes. She didn’t even care if it showed.
CODYHADBEENin the detention center when he went to check on Mr. Whatley, finding him unwell. He was soon hospitalized with a seizure, which was interesting, because he’d never had one before and he certainly didn’t have epilepsy—the doctors’ tests were ongoing, but the attending physician was certain that he wasn’t epileptic.
“You don’t think it was a health problem that caused it?” Cody asked.
“No. We’re doing bloodwork, but the first panel indicates that he ingested a poisonous substance.”
Bobby Grant, Cody thought immediately. The man had found a way to get to Whatley even in a highly guarded prison cell. It was unnerving.
“Do you know what it was?”
“Not yet. I can tell you that it’s not something I’m familiar with. We’re sending a sample off to the state crime lab and putting a rush on it. That might tell us more than we know at the moment.” He cocked his head. “Nice guy. He apologized to us all for the trouble.”
Cody smiled. “He’s like that. The whole town has sort of adopted him.”
“Does he have enemies?” the doctor asked curiously.
“My mind was running in that same direction. And yes, he does have one, the new boyfriend of his only sister. They’re worth millions.”
The doctor was quick. “And if he marries her, it would be better if there was only one heir, and it was her?”
“Bingo. So I’ll need every piece of evidence you can get me that this was a deliberate poisoning and not something he just happened to eat. We’re careful about what we feed our prisoners,” he added.
“I don’t doubt that,” the doctor said and smiled.
Cody gave the doctor his cell phone with pleas for the results as soon as they were obtained.
After he left the hospital, there was a commotion in the local grocery store, where the nephew of Abby’s boss, Mr. Owens, was having a meltdown when he was two dollars short of the amount he owed for the groceries he was getting.
He stopped immediately when he saw the sheriff, glared at the checkout girl, and started out the door.
“I’ll just go hungry,” the boy yelled back at the checkout girl, as if it was her fault. “I never have any money. Well, that’s going to change, very soon!”
He stomped out, leaving behind several stunned faces.
“I just told him he was two dollars short,” the checkout girl defended herself and burst into tears.
One of the checkout boys gave her a shoulder to cry on.
“It’s okay,” Cody told her. “Life’s little problems intrude every so often, but there are usually compensations,” he added. He smiled. “You’ll get tougher as you get older, and you won’t take things so much to heart.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Sheriff Banks,” she said.
“It goes with the job.” He left the store and climbed into his squad car. It was getting late and he hoped he’d finally be able to go home. Just as he was thinking that, the radio blared with a new wreck, another with injuries.
“Oh, well,” he said on a sigh, and cranked the car.
TWOMORNINGSLATER, Cody went by the detention center to see Mr. Whatley, who’d been released from the hospital, but was still being held on a charge of attempted bank robbery. The doctor was having an expert go over the drug panel, but he had found a substance that could induce a seizure. He was being cautious about naming it, but he’d promised to get back to Cody today with the information.
Whatley looked up when the deputy let Cody into his cell. “My sister called,” he said miserably. “The deputy took a message but he wouldn’t let me talk to her.”
That was irritating. He was going to have something to say to the jailer when he left. “What was the message?” Cody asked gently.
