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Someone needed to slow him down before he self-destructed.
“Yeah, you know, I do have a problem with you, Sheriff.” Rose slung the towel over her shoulder and planted her hands on her hips. “You talk all high and mighty about truth, but the sheriff’s department doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to finding the truth, especially when dealing with society’s most marginalized people.”
“Maybe that was true under the last administration,” Ash admitted, though it seemed to pain him to do so. “But I’m going to start changing things around here.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that. Do you even know this town? Have you ever actually sat down with any of the people here and asked them how they want things to change?”
“No,” he said, voice tight, his patience obviously on its last fraying thread. “I haven’t exactly had time for fireside chats.”
“Make the time.”
“Oh, sure. I’ll add it to my to-do list right after I corral the media, figure out who killed Darcy Cantrell, and protect everyone from this wildfire—which, it was just confirmed five minutes ago, was started by arson, so my list just grew exponentially longer because now I have to find a fucking arsonist. But be honest, Rose. You can’t really be too concerned with the state of our town and its marginalized people when you opened a pub here to profit off our rampant alcoholism.”
“Oh, fuck you.” She snapped the towel off her shoulder and stormed away, slamming her office door hard enough to rattle the bottles on the shelf behind the bar.
“Yikes,” Pierce signed.
“That sounded like a conversation Zelda and I want to nope out of,” Sawyer agreed and started toward the door with Zelda leading the way. “See you guys next week. Unless you do decide to investigate, then I’m in.”
Ash swung toward the remaining group, his eyes intense as a muscle twitched under his beard. “Nobody here is investigating any-fucking-thing, got it?”
Zak gave a noncommittal shrug and also walked toward the door. Pierce hesitated, then followed.
“I mean it, Hendricks!” Ash’s voice boomed after them. “We may be family now, but that won’t stop me from throwing your ass in jail for obstruction.”
“Your sister will love you for that,” Zak called back, unperturbed.
Ash groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a raging headache. “Of all the men she could’ve married…”
Dr. Firestone took the long way around Donovan but patted Ash’s arm soothingly as she passed him. “You know he just likes pushing your buttons, Sheriff. Don’t let him see how much it bugs you, and he’ll eventually stop.”
“Easier said than done, Doctor.”
“I know.” She gave a sympathetic smile as she left.
The front door clicked shut, leaving Donovan and Ash alone in the bar.
Donovan was still waiting for that next rollercoaster hill. It was going to be a killer when it finally came, and he suspected Ash was here to push him over the edge. “So… the fire was arson?”
Ash paced a few steps, his hands bladed on his hips. “Yeah. Someone doused the back of the barn in accelerant and struck a match.”
“At the risk of sounding like Zak—I told you so.” But he couldn’t find any joy in being right. “There was someone in the barn with me that night.”
Ash parted his lips to protest, but Donovan held up a hand, stopping him.
“And it wasn’t Tiago coming to my rescue. I don’t know why he lied, but I saved myself, and Sasha didn’t know him. We saw him out to dinner the other night, and she didn’t recognize him as one of the firefighters she flagged down. You need to talk to him again because his story isn’t adding up.”
Ash growled and continued pacing. “Don’t tell me how to do my job.” After several minutes dragged by in silence, he stopped moving, took a deep breath, then finally met Donovan’s gaze. “I need you to come in for questioning regarding Darcy.”
There it was—the second rollercoaster drop. And this hill catapulted him straight into his worst nightmare. “Are you arresting me?”
“If I were going to arrest you, you’d be in cuffs already. This is just a routine follow-up.”
“Routine, my ass.” He thought of the chicken teriyaki rice bowl he’d asked Rose to store in the fridge under the bar. He was already running late to take it to Sasha for lunch. “Does it have to be right now?”
“No, but I’d appreciate it if you could make an appointment with my secretary within the next two days.” Ash dug a card out of his wallet and held it out. “The number’s on there.”
He didn’t make a move to accept the card. “Okay.”
