Page 73 of Shadow Sabotage
“Why? Claire, youaregood at this job. You’re inexperienced, yes. But you have natural instincts. You’re smart. You’re brave.” I stopped myself before giving the entire list of reasons why I thought she was one of the most amazing people I’d ever met in my life.
We’d have that conversation later.
“Thank you,” she said, removing her hands and giving me a small smile. “But I don’t think that’s why he gave me the job.”
“What are you saying?” My mind was going a million places, and none of them were good.
She tucked her hair behind her ears and took a deep breath. “Today, when he kicked you out of his office, Sheriff McGrath wanted to check up on the investigation. Which is normal, right?”
“Sure.” I nodded. “It’s still his town. He has the right to be kept in the loop. Although, personally, I think we should keep the details to ourselves until we know he’s telling the entire truth about his involvement with Katelyn.”
“Agreed. I didn’t give him any additional information.”
“See? Smart.” I grinned.
“Thanks. But the conversation felt weird.” She looked more uncertain than I’d ever seen her.
“Weird how?”
She shook her head. “His facial expressions. This is where I wish I had Cheyenne’s intuition, to know if I can trust my gut or if I was reading too much into it. But when he asked about the case, something about his face made me think he had an ulterior motive.”
I frowned. “I think you should trust your gut.”
Gratitude flashed in her eyes. “Then he told me that he gave me this case for two reasons. One, because I needed it to earn some credibility.”
“He’s not wrong,” I pointed out. “It’s unfair, but I’m sure he’s observed how you get treated by Collins and Mayor Evans. That’s never good for a department.”
“Yeah. And not just them. Judge Barrington is almost as bad, and half the men in town just roll their eyes at me when I’m in uniform. But the second thing…” She drew in another deep breath, then spit the words like she needed to get them outbefore she changed her mind. “He basically said he gave it to me because I understand that things aren’t always black and white.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sheriff McGrath knows I get frustrated by arbitrary rules.” She shrugged. “We’ve argued about it in the past. I prefer taking individual circumstances into account versus going strictly by the book. He said he wanted me to remember that in this case.”
My eyes narrowed. “We’re talking about murder, Claire. What individual circumstances could matter when it comes to that?”
“Exactly.” She gestured in agreement. “When I say I don’t always go by the book, I’m talking things like leash laws or restrictions on how many pets you can own. Minor stuff like that, stuff that doesn’t hurt anybody. Gray-zone areas.”
I took the opportunity to tease her, knowing it would ease more of that heaviness that had settled on her. “Says the woman who gave the mayor a parking ticket. You certainly thoughtthatwas black and white.”
Her lips twitched. “Well, individual circumstances dictate that healwaysdeserves a ticket if I catch him breaking a rule.” She winked and dug into the food on her plate.
I felt my shoulders loosen. Her fire was coming back and I was more relieved than I could say.
“Fair enough.” I chuckled. “But back to Sheriff McGrath. You’re saying he picked you for a homicide investigation because you don’t always play by the book?”
Her face fell again. “He also said I need to remember who the good guys are. That anyone who wants to protect our way of life in Wildwood is a good guy. That sometimes good guys make mistakes, but that doesn’t make them bad people… And that this is a chance for me to prove that I’m here to protect the ‘good guys’ in Wildwood.”
I blinked twice and took a deep breath. “That … does not sound good.”
“He also said that sometimes cases go cold and that nobody will hold it against me if this one does, too.”
“Shit.” I put my fork down, having lost my appetite.
“Right?” She leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I walked out of there wondering if Sheriff McGrath really was Katelyn Brown’s new boyfriend and if he’s hoping I’ll cover for him. If maybe the real reason he recruited me for this job was because he’s corrupt and he wanted someone weak that he could manipulate.”
I blew out a breath. “Well, if that’s true, then he made a big mistake there.”
“Did he?” She looked at me, her expression clouded with doubt and shame.
