AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know your integrity, I’m afraid.”
“Well, now you’ve learned it,” I snap. “Now youknow. I had nothing to do with this—this mess!”
Rory takes a step toward me. “Let’s take it easy, all right?”
How dare he look at me with his brown eyes as if he’s innocent in berating me like this? How did I feel safe in those arms only a few moments ago? How is that even possible? Now, his arms are barbed with thorns. “I don’t feel comfortable speaking any longer on this subject unless it’s in an official capacity with a lawyer present.”
Rory stops. “As is your right.”
“Of course it’s my right,” I say.
“I didn’t mean to upset you like this, Constance, really?—”
I close the space between us, my teeth bared. “It’sDr. Chaplinto you, Sheriff McEvoy, and I’d appreciate never having to correct you on the matter again.”
Rory remains stone-faced. A part of the job, I imagine.
“Now, I’d appreciate if you’d leave, Sheriff.”
He bows his head. “Thank you for your time,Dr.Chaplin.”
“Yes, you’re very welcome,” I say and spin back around to the ladder.
I wait to hear the door shut before I release a long, laborious breath. I will not go down for this. For something I had nothing to do with. Why would I endanger my own job? My career?
My mind swirls with questions and arguments until it is numb and nothing remains.
I put my hands on my hips and gaze at the place where the banner should be.
I will not allow myself to wish I had let him help me. I willnot.
6
Rory
“And then I said to him, I said—” Ed clears his throat, lifting his head high, “‘Sheriff, we’re gonna need a bigger truck.’”
Everyone around the high top table bursts into laughter, save me.
“Oh, come on, Rory, it’sfunny,” Ed says, smacking me on the back.
I force a smile. “Yeah, so funny I forgot to laugh,” I mutter, swiping my half-empty beer off the table and taking a long gulp, half-regretting agreeing to come out for drinks tonight at Willie’s Bar and Grill, a “true localestablishment,” as Ed had called it.
Establishment, indeed. I expected floors sticky with beer and a dank smell ofold. Instead, the floor doesn’t seem to have a speck of dirt and the only thing old about this place is the wooden bar that I bet gets wiped down with mineral oil to keep its luster. Even the Tiffany-style lamps advertising beer brands look well-dusted.
I almost said no to the invitation. However, we had a long day dealing with the fallout of the discovery of the skeleton on the Wilhelm property. Not to mention my… altercation with Constance this morning. That woman is a force to be reckoned with, I give her that. But I’m still not convinced of her innocence.
Besides, all that would be waiting for me at home would have been leftovers and television. This is much better than that, even with the bad jokes.
“Happens to me all the time, Sheriff,” Stewart bobs his head, then ducks his head to sip his Shirley Temple through the stirring straw. Hard to believe the guy is twenty-one. A fresh twenty-one, but still.
“All right, I’ve got a Reuben—” the server swoops in, a woman with a short pixie cut and a septum ring, the first I’ve seen in Wabash County. She places the dish in front of Ed. The next in front of Colleen, “A garden burger with sweet potato fries. And—” her eyes sparkle as she eyes Stewart. “A kid’s meal.”
Colleen and Ed hoot with laughter as Stewart flushes a shade of crimson I didn’t know was humanly possible.
“You’re terrible, Bea,” Colleen says, swiping at the tears of laughter under her eyes.
Bea puts her hands on her hips and then looks at me. She’s pretty and knows it, as indicated by the way she dresses. Short shorts, a tight Guns N’ Roses shirt, and red painted lips. “You sure you don’t want anything, Sherriff?”
