Well, now that she said it… “Um, no?”
She cocks a brow. “No?”
“No!” I blow out a frustrated breath. “There’s a reason we didn’t exchange names. I don’t anticipate a happy reunion.”
“Maybe I should come with you so you’re not alone.”
That’s the safe, smart choice. It’s what Hailey would do.
Except, I’m not Hailey. “No, it’s better this way. It will be fine. All I’m going to do is corner him in the privacy of his own home, explain this nightmare, and set some clear boundaries.”
Hailey sighs like the long-suffering sister she is. “Of course you are.”
Chapter 5
Charlie
After the Monday from hell, all I want is to go home and sit on my dock. I don’t want to talk to a single person until tomorrow, when I need to give a nine a.m. press conference.
An accident with multiple casualties is enough to make things crazy, but now there’s an ongoing investigation of the dead congressman to contend with.
Since this is small-town America where life is boring and uneventful, everyone wants a piece of the action. The coordination of state agencies, witness interviews, evidence collection, press, and overblown egos has not led to easy days.
All I need is silence until I no longer want to kill everybody.
I get in my car, pull out of the station and onto Main Street, heading toward my house. The sound of the river that runs through my backyard and a glass of bourbon are calling me home.
At the thought of bourbon, I think of her.
Typically, I stick to whiskey, but that’s not what I’m in the mood for tonight. Not when the memory of licking the drink from her lips is still fresh in my mind.
Once again, I shake her off. Fuck, she’s persistent, constantly knocking at the edges of my consciousness, demanding entry.
I glance in my rearview mirror and spot a white Jeep a couple of cars back. I note it, surveying my surroundings out of habit. I come to a stop sign, and Ryder’s fiancée, Sophie, is headed in the opposite direction in her cream-colored Porsche convertible.
She blows through the sign and then, because no one is behind her, pulls up next to me. She flashes me the charismatic smile that has the citizens of Revival eating out of the palm of her hand.
“Hey.” She points in the direction of the station, located next to Revival’s city hall, where we both work. “Is Ryder still there?”
“Hey, Soph. Yeah. He shouldn’t be too much longer, maybe an hour.” I glance in my rearview mirror again in time to see the Jeep swerve, making a jerky right-hand turn onto a side street.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise, heightening my senses.
It’s nothing. It’s the training conditioned into me. After the last couple of days, I’m not surprised my hyperawareness has gone into overdrive.
She runs her hand through her loose blond curls. “It’s been a hell of a day.”
Sophie runs the Revival PR department and has been fielding communications for the city since the accident took place within its limits.
While I’m the county sheriff, Revival is under my jurisdiction and we are the police department for the town, so Sophie and I regularly work together. “It’s been a real shitstorm.”
“I’m picking up Darcy, and we’re going to go blow off some steam at Sam’s. Wanna come?” When Sophie moved here, she became fast friends with the first lady of Revival, Darcy Strong. Which isn’t a surprise. They are both bad girls, forced to keep their mayhem confined to the inner circles as pillars of the community and members of the Revival power-couple set.
A car pulls up behind me. “I’m good. You girls stay out of trouble.”
“No promises.” She honks her horn and drives off, the powerful engine of the sports car a loud purr.
I accelerate, keeping my eyes on the road to minimize someone attempting to flag me down.