Page 14 of Shadow Sabotage
I disliked him already.
This was Wildwood, Wyoming. We were friendly here—or at least tried to be.
Most of us, anyway.
But he had waltzed in here with his shiny leather and his sharp eyes and acted like he owned the place. Hadn’t even bothered to speak to me since I’d been assigned as his partner. Hell, he hadn’t even looked up from that file. Every minute that ticked by made me want to crawl out of my skin.
Sitting in silence, with nothing to do, was even worse than being stuck on desk duty with paperwork.
I tapped the pen faster, staring at him with narrowed eyes until he finally looked up.
He gave me a placid stare back. “Yes?”
I raised my hands helplessly. “Do you have an assignment for me? Something you need me to research or someone I shouldgo talk to? Or am I just supposed to sit here, grateful for the privilege of watching you?”
Speaking to a superior like that was way out of line. But sitting quietly for so long had used up all my willpower, and I’d never mastered the art of biting my tongue when I was pissed off.
He smirked. “There will be plenty of work to do, I’m sure. How about you start by getting me a coffee?”
Oh, hell no.
I sat back, putting my hands flat on the arms of the chair, and gave him a death stare. “How about you get your own damn coffee?”
Half of his mouth twitched in a smile before his gaze dropped back to the papers in front of him.
Another four minutes passed without either of us saying a word. Fourexcruciatingminutes of silence that had me contemplating all of my life choices.
He had to be punishing me on purpose. No one naturally stayed quiet for that long.
I finally cleared my throat and started to speak, but he held up a single finger in a gesture to be quiet. I crossed my arms and scowled.
“Finished,” he said, closing the file and tossing it onto his desk so that it slid my way. “Sheriff McGrath gave me that when I got here. It’s the missing persons report on Katelyn Brown, sent over from Laramie PD. You should familiarize yourself with it.”
I grabbed it.
“I was serious about needing coffee,” he said, standing. “I’m going to get a cup. Do you want one?”
I looked up in surprise. He was offering to getmecoffee? After I’d smarted off to him?
Was this a trap? I should say no.
Coffee though… It was too tempting. My skin hummed just thinking about it. “Um, sure. Thanks.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “How do you take it?”
“Black.”
A nod of approval. “I’ll be right back.”
I stared as he disappeared down the hallway, wondering if I had misjudged him. But then I remembered him putting me through almost twenty minutes of silence in his office and decided I hadn’t.
He was still a prick.
It tookAgent Weston half an hour to return—much longer than it took me to read the file. When he did, he held two purple cups from the coffee shop down the street. He came in and handed me one, then took the seat at his desk.
“Why’d you go all the way there?” I asked. “We have coffee in the breakroom.”
“One, because breakroom coffee isn’t usually very good. Two, because it gave me a chance to meet people and check out a local spot.”
