Page 171 of The Woman Left Behind

In the end, Harry was powerless to do anything but say, “We’ll run with what you’ve already given us. Go home. We can wait on the full report.”

“Harry, Rus has briefed me on your theory about this, and I know about the cookies. I’m working late tonight,” she retorted.

Christ, but it worked in that moment to be reminded how inherently good most people were when you were faced with someone who seemed to have no soul.

“Owe you one, Theresa.”

“My job, Harry. Talk later.”

“You got it.”

They hung up and Harry continued to stare out the window.

He was unusually antsy, impatient.

He was this because Karl Abernathy was clearly rattled, a man like that rattled was proving beyond messy, and Harry didn’t want anyone else dead.

And he wanted Lillian to know who killed her parents so she could fully close that chapter of her life and get on with it free from the burden of carrying that mystery.

“Harry?”

He turned and saw Megan in his doorway.

He expected this.

In fact, he was surprised it took this long.

“Hey, Megan,” he greeted.

She came in and stopped in front of his desk. “I suspect you know the natives are restless.”

He crossed his arms on his chest and said nothing.

Because…yeah.

To be fair, if he was a civilian, he would be too.

But for fuck’s sake.

“The coven is up in my face about the outing of Dern and Karl Abernathy’s reign of terror,” Megan shared. “I did explain we duly elected a new sheriff some years ago, and he does not run his department in the same manner. They still want heads rolling. As much as part of me understands who they are and why they became what they became, they’re still a serious thorn in my side. But with all honesty, they aren’t the only ones who are super freaking ticked about the stuff that’s surfacing in Misted Pines.”

“Dern is scheduled to return to this station tomorrow at one o’clock with his attorney to answer questions about the complaints lodged today, along with speaking again to the FBI about the murders of the Rainiers. We have accounts of three further abuses of office, and if he knew the fucked-up shit Abernathy was up to, and he didn’t put a stop to it, that’s going to go worse for him. He’s already done time for shit like this, Megan, but make no mistake, when he comes in tomorrow, and after we get whatever we can out of him, I’m gonna charge him for three counts of criminal stalking and harassment.”

She nodded.

“And we are going balls to the wall to find Abernathy,” he told her.

She nodded again.

“If you need to call a town council meeting so people feel they’re informed and we have things in hand, and I have to attend and report, I will, but I won’t like it. It goes without saying, I’m not thrilled about what’s surfacing in Misted Pines either, but unlike them, it’s my job to do something about it. I intend to do that. I need time to do it. But I also have a life.”

Her lips twitched before she said, “I’ll buy you as much time as I can.”

It was Harry who nodded then.

She shifted to leave but turned back. “And I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that you have a life outside this office, Harry.”

Harry pulled in breath through his nose then tipped his head at her.

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