Page 31 of Shadow Sabotage
“You okay?” His tone was mild, but worry sparked in his eyes.
“I’m fine.” I had to be.
He sat patiently, giving me a look that said he was there if I wanted to talk. But he didn’t push.
I squared my shoulders and brought the conversation back to the problem at hand. “Like I was saying, I found her, and I was assigned to the case. But he’s not letting me do anything.” The frustration roared back, taking over the sadness.
Rhett’s posture relaxed. He was used to seeing me pissed off. Could handle that. It was the sadness that bothered him because he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
“I’ve never known you to wait for permission,” he said, winking.
It caught me off guard. I laughed, the tightness in my chest easing. “You’re right,” I admitted. “That’s not my style, is it? Easier to ask forgiveness instead.”
My brother understood. He got me. He didn’t think I was being stupid or that I should be grateful for an easy gig—words Trey had thrown at me yesterday, insinuating that I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if Agent Weston had actually wanted me to contribute.
I never should have let those words eat at me. I could handle anything that was thrown my way, no matter what anyone else thought.
“Maybe you should solve this case without him.” Rhett smirked, egging me on. “Show him how we do it here in Wildwood.”
I grinned. “Maybe I will.”
After all, I was Claire Hawkins. I didn’t sit on the sidelines.
And I didn’t wait for permission.
I saidgoodbye to my beautiful horse, Shadow, stealing a few extra kisses from her for courage. Then I headed into the house and put on my uniform.
I was going to work, whether Agent Weston liked it or not.
He’d never given me his contact information, so I slipped into the office Mom and Beth used to manage the guest bookings and logged onto the computer. It only took a second to find his cell phone number in their records.
Before I could change my mind, I sent him a quick text.
Hi, this is Deputy Hawkins. I won’t be at the office this morning after all. I’m following up on some possible leads.
He texted back almost immediately, but I stuffed my phone into my pocket, choosing not to read it. If I hadn’tseenan order to stand down, then I couldn’t get in trouble for failing to do so.
Plausible deniability. My big brothers had taught me that one as soon as I’d been old enough to start getting into trouble.
Next, I tracked down my baby brother, Jonathan.
“Hey, you,” I called as I caught him loading up in one of the farm trucks.
He leaned his head out the window. “What’s up?”
I opened the door to the passenger’s seat and climbed in. “I need some info.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “What kind of info?”
“Names. Anyone Tony Evans was close to here who might still be in touch with him.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is this about that girl who got killed?”
“You know I can’t tell you anything about that. Andyoucan’t tell anyone I asked you this, got it?” I said it as a precaution, knowing that it wasn’t necessary. Jonathan was a vault. He wouldn’t tell anyone we’d talked. It was the sibling code.
He ran his hands through his hair, thinking. “Most of the people Tony ran around with have left, either for jobs or college. But there’s a couple of people you could try. Rob Dacus for one.”
“Rob?” My eyebrows shot up. Rob wasn’t exactly who I’d pictured the mayor’s son hanging out with. Tony had a dark side—I knew that. But it was the kind that stayed mostlyhidden under nice clothes and a winning smile. The kind whose behaviors were often excused because of who his parents were.
