What the hell?
“Go, Cooper,” Womack urged. “I’ll take care of this.”
“You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”
The words followed Adeline out the door.
She scrubbed the back of her hand over her face. Her cheeks were damp.
She had to get out of here.
Adeline stopped in Wyatt’s office and picked up her jacket and his keys. Her Bronco was at his house. She didn’t give a shit what she drove. She just wanted out of here.
Sullenger called after her, but Adeline ignored her.
She couldn’t breathe until she’d hit the street. Her heart thundered in her chest. This was insane. Absolutely over the top.
Tires squealing, she roared away from the curb.
She didn’t know where the hell she was going. Somewhere to think.
Five minutes later she parked at the Greenwood Cemetery. The massive live oaks surrounding it were laden with Spanish moss. The cemetery was at least a century old. More of her Cooper ancestors than she cared to own were buried here.
She paused at Gage Cooper’s grave and stared at the lavish granite headstone. “You piece of shit. Why the hell couldn’t you stay that silly kid you were when we played together? Why’d you have to turn into such a scumbag?”
Adeline shook off the suffocating feeling of regret. He was dead because he’d made bad choices. It wasn’t her fault. She glanced back down at the dates on the marker. Twenty-three damned years old.
“Idiot.”
She trudged through the rows of tombstones jutting up from the ground, some leaning from age, others damaged after Katrina’s ugly lashing. She reached the marker she was looking for and sat down on the cold, damp ground. The tree canopy in this section of the cemetery was so heavy that the ground had been protected to some degree from last night’s rain. Not saturated or muddy, just a little damp.
Carlton Riley Cooper
Beloved husband and father
“I miss you, Daddy.”
The whispered words curled around her, strengthened the emotions pressing against her heart. When her daddy had died, her life had turnedupside down. Wyatt had accused her of having a death wish. She’d taken far too many risks on the job. Had her mother worried sick. Had Wyatt ready to kick her ass. And Womack looking over her shoulder.
Then Sheriff Scumbag Grider had assigned her to work with the DEA to carry out a big sting. She’d been thrilled beyond words. That had felt like her chance to do something big and to get back at her asshole cousin and uncle for getting away with breaking the law for so many years. Mainly, though, it had felt like a way to prove she was worthy of the high praise her daddy had always heaped on her.
“Why did you just ignore Cyrus?” she asked aloud. Her father had been a fine man. An upstanding citizen. A volunteer firefighter. He’d sacrificed his life to save others.
Yet he’d looked the other way when it came to Cyrus.
“I know he was your brother and all,” she relented, “but you pretended not to know. That drove me nuts.”
Adeline closed her eyes and let the fond memories flow. Her daddy had loved her so. And her mother. There was not a more devoted husband to be found. He’d been a good man, despite the genetic connection to the biggest asshole in the county.
She opened her eyes. What the hell difference did it make if he chose to love his brother in spite of his shortcomings? As big a hero as her father had been, he’d still been only human.
Adeline smiled. “Love you, Daddy.” She kissed her fingers and pressed them to his headstone.
And really, that was all that mattered.
She pushed to her feet.
And went stone-still.