Hands on hips, Wyatt held his ground several seconds—just long enough to piss her off even more. Then he turned and walked out of the room.
When the doors had closed, Adeline settled the full weight of nine damned years of fury on Cyrus Cooper. “Now, you listen to me, old man. A woman is missing, most likely dead. I’m here to help determine what happened to her, and I’m not going anywhere until I know all the facts. So you call off your dogs until this is done, and we won’t have a problem.”
Those squinty eyes held hers. A few years ago he would have gone toe to toe with her even if only by means of the crutches. But no more. The idea that he was so helpless gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling all over again.
The seemingly patient and kind expression he’d worn for the sheriff vanished. A long-simmering bitterness tightened his features. “You’re still as full of piss and vinegar as ever, aren’t you, girl? Still flaunting that self-righteous attitude your daddy took to his grave.”
The comment about her father obliterated the glee she’d momentarily experienced. Hatred charged through her. “Did you hear what I said?” Adeline stepped closer, glared down at him with all the loathing that writhed inside her. “I’m sorry as hell Gage is dead, but I didn’t kill him. Your son killed himself by being involved with drug smugglers. So if you’re still holding that against me, it’s time you got over it.”
“You are my baby brother’s only child.” Cyrus lifted his saggy chin and studied her, the bitterness abruptly replaced by something akin to sentimentality. “He and your mother loved you more than life itself. That’s the reason you didn’t die when my Gage did.The only reason.”
“I didn’t die,” she countered, “because I was on the right side of the law.”
“This thing that happened,” Cyrus confessed, the ferocity going out of his voice and his expression with the same abruptness as the bitterness, “was a long time ago.” He braced his elbows on the padded metal chair arms and steepled his fingers. “At the time, I asked you to leave Mississippi and never come back. As long as you didn’t, I promised not to seek my vengeance for what you did to my son.”
Whatever else she said on the subject would be a waste of time and energy. “Do you have a point?”
“My point is,” he offered, “things have changed. I no longer have any interest in seeking revenge.”
“Then why the hell were my tires slashed?”
“I can’t control what others do,” Cyrus explained wearily. “There are a lot of folks around here who are still deeply grieved by what you did to Gage and to Sheriff Grider.”
“Grider was a piece of shit who sold out his office to help the people your son was working with. Peopleyouwere working with.”
“I won’t argue about the past with you, Addy. I’mdying.”
The word rang in the silence that followed.
Why the hell hadn’t her mother told her about this? Adeline gritted her teeth against the slim thread of emotion she shouldn’t have felt. This bastard didn’t deserve her sympathy. “If you’re expecting me to say I’m sorry,” she offered, “that’s not gonna happen.”
“I don’t expect you to feel remorse for my situation.”
That was good, because she sure as hell didn’t.
“I have cancer. They say I have eight months, tops. Life looks very different when you’re viewing it from this angle.”
Whatever. “Are you going to tell your people to leave me be?”
“I’ll tell them,” Cyrus granted, “but I’m doubtful that it will carry much weight. Since my cancer was diagnosed, Clay does what he pleases with or without my blessing.”
Clay, the scumbag, was Gage’s younger brother. He was probably the one who’d vandalized her Bronco. “Maybe you’ve got everyone else around here believing you’re no longer in charge, but I know better. Clay does exactly what you tell him, just as his brother did.”
“Things really have changed, Addy.” Cyrus held her gaze, probably selfishly searching for some glimmer of the sympathy he claimed he didn’t want. “More than you know.”
“Did you send me the photo?”
The old bastard frowned. “What photo?”
“Did you cut and paste words onto a page and send it to me?”
He shook his head. The confusion was seemingly genuine. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then that puts you in the same boat as everyone else around here. Nobody knows shit. I’m here to see that the job gets done right, since it involves me somehow. So keep your dogs off my back.” That was all Adeline had to say.
She headed for the double doors. She’d spent as much time breathing the same air space as this creepy old bastard as she intended to.
“Was Ms. Prescott blond?”