Page 10 of Shadow Sabotage
As soon as he was out of sight, Trey grabbed my arm and gave me a warning look. “Listen, Hawkins, this is my case. You know what it means to me. Don’t try to weasel your way into it.”
I wrenched my arm away. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not doing anything.”
“You weren’t even on duty last night, and yet you talked Sheriff McGrath into giving you the shift,” he said, his eyes dark.
“Forgive me for offering to take a job no one in their right minds would want,” I huffed, grabbing my backpack and slinging it on my back.
“I’m just saying, you better not do anything to make me look bad.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if I could possibly do that. Don’t worry. You and Agent Weston are perfect for each other. I’m sure you’ll become best buddies forever working this case together.”
He glared at me and opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but I was done listening.
I walked off, congratulating myself for not flipping him the bird on the way out.
Chapter Four
Vance
I heardDeputy Hawkins behind me on the hill, catching up quickly despite her short legs. She was fast, even on this steep slope.
And when she caught up, stuck behind me on the narrow path, I could practically feel the impatience vibrating off her.
“In a hurry?” I asked over my shoulder, chuckling.
“I can practically smell the coffee from here,” she said, nearly groaning.
The trail gave way to the wider, gentler area close to the campground where her friends were set up. She slipped out from behind me and set her own pace.
And shot me an annoyed glance when I matched it.
I took the chance to look at her again. When she’d introduced herself, I almost hadn’t believed she was really a deputy. From a distance, she’d looked like a kid who’d been dared to spend the night alone out there for the thrills.
She barely came up to my shoulder. But she had to be pure muscle based on the way she moved. She wore no makeup that I could tell, adding to the impression of youth. She was tanned like she had spent most her life outdoors, with a scattering of freckles on her nose and her cheeks. Her long blonde hair was a tangle of curls and waves.
It made me think of mermaids—and not the princess kind. Based on the way she’d spoken to me, I had a feeling she was as unpredictable and dangerous as the mermaids in the legends of old.
But behind that fierce exterior, I’d noticed shadows in her eyes. I suspected she’d had a tough night, whether she would admit it or not.
She let out a sigh of relief when we broke the tree line and her friends came into sight. “Please tell me there’s coffee left,” she called out.
Cheyenne, the one who had led me to the crime scene, slipped on a glove and pulled the percolator off the fire. “Of course there is,” she called back, lifting it in salute.
“You should sleep, you know,” I said under my breath.
Deputy Hawkins glanced my way. “Why? I slept last night, remember?” The words came out like a challenge.
I looked again at the shadows underneath her eyes—and at the ones that lurked within them. “You may have slept on the job, but there’s no way you got any decent rest down there. ”
She waved me off. “Nothing a good cup of coffee won’t cure. We’ll share if you want some.”
“I’m good,” I answered.
“Suit yourself.” She shrugged and took off in a jog, catching up to her friends as she called out a question. “What happened to my tent?”
“We packed it up,” the long-haired man said, slinging an arm around her shoulders as she reached them. Protective stance—boyfriend, maybe? He eyed me as I gave them a nod, passing by them to get my gear.
A truck emblazoned with the Sage County Sheriff’s emblem pulled over on the campground loop, unable to squeeze into the packed campsite. The sheriff jumped out and walked to my vehicle.
