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“That pretty much sums it up.” He didn’t want to offer any additional details because… well, he didn’t know the details.
“What’d you use to break the window?” The chief leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She was trying to trip him up.
“Can’t remember exactly.” He shrugged, eyes widened with innocence.
Natalie’s glare intensified. “So, you remember breaking the window. You just don’t remember how you broke it.”
“Must’ve been the adrenaline.” He shot her a grin that hadn’t failed him once. “It all happened fast.”
“One more time,” Natalie said tightly. “Youintentionallybroke the window?”
“Sure.” He made another noncommittal shrug. He’d keep his answers as generic as possible so she couldn’t prove anything.
“Then how come the surveillance video shows the person simply opening the window and then falling inside the garage,accidentallybreaking the window with their boot?” A victorious glint sparked in her green eyes.
Silas almost laughed. The chief was stubborn, he’d give her that. But his bullheadedness had gotten him through SEAL training. “That might’ve looked like an accident,” he said, enjoying the challenge she’d presented. “But I assure you, that was an intentional stunt. I kicked out the window on purpose.”
“Come on, Silas.” Natalie threw up her hands. “I know you didn’t break into the Klines’ garage, so you can give up the act.”
“All due respect, Chief, you—”
The door creaked open and Brad Kline poked his head inside the room. “Hey, Natalie, can I have a word with you please?”
Well, this was an interesting development. Either Brad was here to confront someone about breaking into his garage or he’d come to confess he had a white UTV with a purple stripe.
Sighing, the chief pushed up from her chair and pointed at Silas. “This is not over. I’ll be right back.”
He nodded emphatically while she stepped past him and disappeared into the hall.
Whew.He let his head rest against the chair back. With all of the distractions momentarily gone, he remembered the look on Morgan’s face when she’d seen him standing in the kitchen. Shock. Contempt. Disdain. She’d been mad enough then, but now she likely thought he was some kind of criminal getting hauled away to the police station. That was okay though. He could handle her judgment if it meant taking Tess’s place in this predicament. He’d blown his chance with the girl anyway. She hated him. And Silas couldn’t see any path forward for him to step into their home and their lives when neither Morgan nor Willow wanted him to be there. He’d ruined things.
The door opened and Silas sat up straight again.
Natalie reappeared, along with Brad Kline. “You’re free to leave.” She waved him out of her office. “It looks like you’re done wasting my time today, thank the good lord.”
Silas stayed where he was. She was just going to let him walk out? So she could go after Tess instead? “I’m sorry?”
“Brad has dropped the charges.” Natalie crossed the room and sat back down at her desk.
“You’re dropping the charges?” He turned his attention to Brad.
“I didn’t realize Tess was the one who’d broken into the garage until my dad told me.” He still hung out by the door. “In fact, I didn’t realize there’d been a break-in at all until an hour ago. My father called it in without telling me. I know what Tess was looking for. And if I would’ve just come to Natalie earlier, none of us would be here right now.”
“Ah.” Silas stood and faced the man. So, Tess had been right about the white UTV in Brad’s garage.
“Obviously we’re not pressing charges.” The man replaced him in the chair across from Natalie’s desk. “My father, Ford, and Darrell were the ones shooting at the wild horses. I didn’t know until the meeting at Tess’s house.” He removed his cowboy hat. “I didn’t want to turn them in, so I confronted them instead and told them to knock it off or I’d have to tell the police. Obviously, with everything that’s happened, I won’t have a choice now.”
“We’ll have to start a report. I’ll have to alert the Bureau too.” Natalie was already typing away on her laptop.
“Sorry about all of this, Silas,” Brad said. “Please offer my apologies to Tess too. I should’ve just turned them in when I first realized what was going on.”
“I get it.” He knew a thing or two about loyalty. “I’ll let you handle things from here, then, Chief.” He gave Natalie a salute.
She gestured for him to leave her office, but she was smiling too.
After a brief hug and promise of cookies from Terry, Silas left the station and nearly ran into Aiden, who was on his way in.
“Whoa.” His friend moved aside so Silas could step out onto the sidewalk. “Tess sent me down here to bail you out. But I can see you don’t need my help.”
