Page 135 of Five Mountain Daddies

“They don’t,” he admits. “Which means it might take longer. But they’re not going to let thislinger.”

I watch him, trying to decide if he’s covering for his cop buddies, or if he’s telling thetruth.

He sighs and stands up. “Listen, Cora, here’s the thing. They need to close cases, prove they’re doing good, in order to get funding. Mason gets maybe a handful of murder cases a year, and they have to close every single one, which means making an arrest and getting aconviction.”

“So they’ll find his killer because of… funding?” That’s almostworse.

He shrugs. “I never said it made sense, or that it wasn’t fucked up, but there it is. They’ll do it, justslowly.”

“Fucking hell,” I saysoftly.

“I’m sorry, Cora. Truth is, this isn’t my jurisdiction. I can’t do anything about thishere.”

I don’t know what I expected. When I saw him at the funeral, and heard that he was a cop, I thought maybe, just maybe, he’d be willing to care about Atticus enough to help. Maybe Wyatt could solve this. I don’t know why I put so much effort and belief in this man, someone that left our town years ago and hasn’t been backsince.

He hasn’t been friends with Atticus since we were kids. Wyatt doesn’t owe me or Atticus anything at all. The fact that he’s here, and that he made some calls for me, just shows that he’s a decent guy. But he doesn’t owe meanything.

Still, it’s not okay. It’s not okay that the cops don’t care about Atticus just because he had problems and was a pain in their ass. Atticus was still a person, and he was murdered. They have to find the killer. That’s what they fuckingdo.

I lean back up against the counter and take a deep breath. Wyatt watches me carefully, and I can tell he’s trying to decide if I’m going to freak out or something. I look up at him and force myself tosmile.

“Thanks for trying,” Isay.

“Yeah,” he answers, looking a little relieved. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you betternews.”

“I just wish,” I start saying, but Istop.

“What?” He cocks his head atme.

“I just wish someone like you could investigate,” I say finally. “I mean, someone who cares about Atticus, or at least usedto.”

“I know,” he sayssoftly.

“Maybe you can take it on as a freelancer?” I say to him suddenly, not even sure if what I’m asking is possible. “You know, like a privateinvestigator?”

He frowns. “That’s not what Ido.”

“I know, but I could pay you. And it could be like a sidejob.”

He looks away. “I can’t, Cora. I have to go back to Chicagosoon.”

“Yeah,” I say, deflated. “Of course youdo.”

“I wish I could help more,” he says, and then stops himself, because of course hedoesn’t.

Nobody wants to help more, not even Wyatt, the only person in the world that knows the real Atticus like Ido.

I put my glass down and meet his gaze. “You don’t have to stay any longer,” I say to him. “Thanks fortrying.”

He looks a little hurt at that but he nods. “Of course.” He puts his glass down and heads back to mydoor.

I sigh to myself. What’s wrong with me? Wyatt is a good person and he clearly wants to help, but what do I expect? He can’t drop his life and investigate this murder. He doesn’t work in Mason, this isn’t his life. The fact that he showed up at all is proof that he’s a decentguy.

I walk with him to the door. “Listen, thanks for coming,” I say to him. “Seriously, it was really good ofyou.”

“Of course,” he says. “I’m sorry about him, Cora, I really am. He was a greatperson.”

“Back then he was,” I agree with him. “I guess that Atticus died a long timeago.”

---