Page 37 of Petty Deadly Gorgeous

“Shucks, a handsome man like you shouldn’t be flirting with the likes of me. But I’ll take it.”

I chuckled as I went around her desk to the hall and followed it down to the sheriff. With two quick knocks on his open door and he waved me in.

“Close that so we can talk.” He gave me a nod.

I closed the door behind me and took a seat. He leaned back in his chair and eyed me before he spoke. “What brings you here?”

“Well, sheriff, Detective Sean Riley and myself have been tasked with some missing girls and a cold case that happened thirty years ago here in Castle Hollow.”

“The Bishop case.” He nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“Let’s start with the missing girls.” I pulled the pictures from my jacket and handed them to him. “Do you recognize any of them?”

While he reviewed them, I looked around his office. There were department photos in frames, a couple little league pennants, and a few framed articles from local papers. His wooden desk looked old and worn, complete with some graffiti carved into it.

He made a little humming sound with each picture he reviewed. “Nope. Can’t say as I do.”

“Are you sure?” I sat forward in my chair.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. “Do you want me to look again?”

I held my hands up in defense. “I’m just trying to be sure.”

“Mm-hmm.” He glowered my way and looked at the pictures again. “No. No. No. And no.” He handed them back to me. “Anything else?”

I had to remind myself to take a deep breath, and that this man had seen me naked.

“Do you remember the Bishop case? Was there anything strange about the case?” I sat back and relaxed in the chair. It wasn’t as comfy as my memory foam back in Grimgate, but it felt decent enough. “Anything that stands out?”

He shook his head. “I remember sweet Anna having to hear that her parents were dead on her birthday and Miss Ramona was distraught over losing her daughter. There was no weapon, no prints, nothing.”

My head cocked to the side. “What could get in and do that?”

“Well. Maybe a specter.” He laughed.

“Or a demon?” I waited to see his reaction.

He laughed harder. “Now you’re really not going to accuse Jon of something like that? Are you?”

“I don’t know the guy…” The sheriff cut me off.

“But you let him suck your dick and fuck your ass.” He winked. “Now, does he strike you as the killing kind?”

My jaw hit the ground. “I… uh… no.” I cleared my throat. “No.”

“That’s right. He’s a lover.” He put his hands behind his head. “Now. Since you’re talking about cases, I got one for you.” Taking his hands down, he sat forward and picked up a file that had been sitting in front of him and tossed it across the desk. “One of our residents, Miss Joann Helms, is missing her niece. She was a sweet young thing named Brooke, and she was last seen in Ailmere at a no-tell motel there with a man.”

I picked up the file and flipped it open. In an instant, I recognized the young woman in the picture, but Brooke wasn’t the name she gave me. She told me her name was Candy. And my life came to a screeching halt at that moment.

He knows. And this is his way of putting me on notice.

“I’ve talked to all the people I could and looked into her disappearance. All I have left to do is go out to the motel and see if there’s surveillance.”

“I could do that for you.” I offered, and closed the file. “Help you out.”

He scratched his chin. “You sure? I don’t want to put you out.”

“It’s not a problem. I’m heading back to Grimgate this afternoon.”

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