Page 61 of Shadow Sabotage
We’d planned our timing perfectly, but if he stuck to his routine, he wouldn’t be there long. I had to choose between exploring this moment with Claire or moving forward with the interview we’d planned.
No distractions.My father’s mantra echoed in my head.
We were working a homicide case. There was no question about what had to take priority. It was unprofessional for me to even be indulging this flirtation, no matter how enticing I found Claire.
So when she turned back to me, still wide-eyed, I gave her an easy grin. “Ready to ambush Mayor Evans?”
A flicker of nerves flashed on her face. “You should know that he doesn’t really like me,” she blurted out.
“Really? Why not?”
She flushed. “Probably for lots of reasons, but the big one? My first month on the job, I gave him a parking ticket.”
I blinked twice, then let out a deep laugh. “You gave themayora parking ticket? As a rookie deputy?”
“Yeah.” She let out a long breath. “I should have known better, right?”
“Or he shouldn’t have been illegally parked.” I chuckled. “You’ve got balls, Hawkins.”
Her smirk came back. “What I’ve got is more impressive than that. And we need to work on how you give compliments to women you aren’t wooing into bed.”
I had to bite my tongue to stop from giving a completely inappropriate response to that one. “Fair enough. But listen, maybe we can use the mayor’s feelings to our advantage.” A plan was starting to form for this interview. A way to get Mayor Evans on my side and make him trust me.
“How?” She gave me a skeptical look.
“Can you handle me being an ass to you?”
She snorted. “I’ve been handling it just fine, haven’t I?”
“I think I’ve been delightful so far,” I said, giving her my most charming smile and earning an eye roll in return. “From everything I’ve heard, it seems like Mayor Evans is a boys’-club kind of guy. Am I right?”
“Totally,” she confirmed.
I nodded. “Wendy told me as much. If he already dislikes you, even better. Odds are, he’s going to have a natural reaction against being questioned. Even more so since we’re ambushing him on a Saturday instead of during his regular office hours. Butif I can get him to side with me—the two of us against you—he’ll be more open.”
“That won’t be hard.”
“Alright. When we go in, you take the lead. Tell him we’re there to question him about Tony’s involvement with Katelyn Brown. Play the part of a rookie who doesn’t understand the power games, who doesn’t know she’s supposed to kiss his ass and play nice.”
She leaned forward, tantalizingly close. “In other words… Be myself?”
“Exactly.” I grinned.
“Got it. I’ll get his feathers ruffled.”
“Then I’ll smooth them out.”
Her lips twisted into a devious smile. “This will be fun.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Claire
I had almost blurtedout my feelings for Vance. When he’d touched my face and told me that he thought I wasspecialfor all the things I was usually criticised for, I had felt like my heart was going to burst. All the things I’d told Cheyenne came bubbling back up, forcing their way to the surface.
Thank God Mayor Evans had walked out of the restaurant, saving me from pouring my heart out in a way I wouldn’t be able to take back. Flirting was one thing. It was easy to blow it off and call it innocent fun. But telling him that I was actually falling for him?
It could ruin this new partnership. That was the last thing I wanted.
