Page 120 of Shadow Sabotage
Judge Barrington had no idea Katelyn was dead until we’d found her body. Darla had texted him from Katelyn’s phone, telling him that she’d changed her mind and was leaving. Then she’d recruited Trey to help cover it up, promising him the one thing he wanted—and threatening to pin the whole thing on him if he didn’t cooperate.
I’d been right about the snowmobile. Trey had used one of the SAR ones from the storage locker to dump Katelyn’s body in the park, knowing she’d eventually be discovered—in Sage County. That was the only way Trey would get the homicide investigation experience he needed.
When we told Judge Barrington the truth, he crumbled. He told us how he’d met Katelyn and had become taken with her. He’d made up excuses to bump into her while she was there, trying to lay the groundwork for a connection.
Then one day, she’d shown up at his office, crying and making him believe that Tony had hurt her. He’d never realizedshe was playing the same game he was, looking for a conquest of her own.
He gave us full access to everything, including her second phone. He had no interest in protecting himself from the consequences of his affair.
Only in taking down the woman who’d killed his lover.
“Seems like we have a solid case,”I said, snagging the last egg roll from the carton. We were at Vance’s cabin, finishing up a late dinner of Chinese takeout—paired with scotch, of course. It was the first chance we’d had to even be alone since making our arrests.
“Yeah.” Vance grinned. He grabbed the fortune cookies and tossed me one. “Darla never counted on both of her men turning against her like that.”
“I’m glad they did. She’s awful,” I said, shaking my head. “I feel terrible about what she did to Katelyn—and to Sheriff McGrath and Serena.”
“Think they’ll be okay?”
I nodded. “I do. He loves her. And now that she realizes she was being manipulated, she knows that. I think she feels really stupid for listening to Darla’s lies.”
“She is stupid.” He leveled a look at me. “She should have known better aboutyou.”
“She doesn’t really know me.” I shrugged. “But she apologized. And I think we’ll be okay, too.”
“What about you and the sheriff?”
Sheriff McGrath had asked to speak with me privately earlier that afternoon, but Vance and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about it.
“I think we’ll be fine. Eventually.” I blushed. “I definitely read too much into that conversation with him. He admitted that hefigured Tony was our guy, which was why he wanted his hands out of it. And he hoped we would go gentle on Leslie if she lied to us to protect her son. That’s what he meant about the good people in Wildwood.”
“Politics,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Exactly.”
He cracked open his fortune cookie and pulled the fortune out.
“Did you get a good one?” I asked.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Says I have a long journey ahead of me.”
I swallowed hard. “Guess they nailed that one.”
“Guess so.” He looked away, then said the words I’d been dreading. “I’m leaving tomorrow. I have to go back to the field office in Laramie to wrap things up there before…” He trailed off like he couldn’t bring himself to voice it.
No.I wanted to scream it, wanted to rage, even though we’d both known that this was coming. There was really nothing more for him to do here.
But I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
He held my gaze. “It’s been really great working with you, Claire.”
No.
“Sure,” I said, forcing a laugh. “Minus getting shot at and roughing it in the wilderness.”
He didn’t smile. “All of it. I wouldn’t trade any of it.”
My heart thundered against my chest. “When do you leave for New York?” I asked quietly.
