Page 8 of Shadow Sabotage
“I was off duty last night. My friends and I were camping when we found the remains. Since I was already here with outdoor gear, I volunteered to stay and keep watch.”
His eyebrows rose. “You were asleep.” The accusation was clear.
My cheeks flushed with anger as much as embarrassment. “Yes, I was.” I squared my shoulders, hoping to leave it at that.
But he kept pushing. “Do you often fall asleep on duty, Deputy Hawkins?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, I do,” I said, crossing my arms and mirroring his stance.
The answer threw him off. “What?”
I kept my face straight. “I’m the Sheriff’s Office liaison for the Sage County Search and Rescue team. During tourist season, half my job is sleeping in the woods. I do it all the time.”
His face relaxed, and that humor flickered in his eyes again. “Fair enough. But if you volunteered to keep watch, you should have followed through.”
The reprimand irritated me even more than his accusation. He didn’t even know me, and he was acting like I’d failed at my job.
I was getting damn sick of it.
“My ears are the sharpest in Sage County,” I said between gritted teeth. “I know how to sleep light, how to listen for the telltale sounds of an intruder approaching. Years of sleeping in bear country will do that to you. Based on the condition of those brand-new hiking boots you’re wearing, I’m guessing you wouldn’t know much about that.”
I didn’t bother keeping the disdain off my face as I sized up the six-hundred-dollar shoes that looked like they’d never seen terrain more than a thousand yards from a parking lot.
“Hmm.” His lips twitched before he turned his head and looked at the area I’d marked off with flagging tape.
I shot Cheyenne a look behind his back that forced her to fake a cough to cover up the laugh that slipped out.
He glanced at her, then turned back to me with an expression that said we hadn’t pulled a thing over on him. Cheyenne mouthedgood luckbefore making her escape.
He watched her climb the hill and waited until she was out of earshot before his attention came back to me. His arms remain crossed, his tone clipped. “Tell me what happened.”
I explained about how we had been camping, how Cheyenne’s dog had found the bones, and about the bracelet Wendy had found. He listened carefully, his eyes scanning the scene. They landed on the skull, still visible even from here.
I shuddered seeing it again, though I was grateful it was less distinctive in this light. It had been impossible to miss late in thenight, when moonlight had glinted off the white bone, drawing my gaze to it no matter how hard I tried to look away.
I wasn’t sure what had been worse. Sitting awake, unable to stop my eyes from focusing like a laser on that skull … or the nightmares that ensured I slept so lightly I wouldn’t miss a sound.
The DCI agent tilted his head toward me, his brow furrowing as another shudder ran through me.
I bit the inside of my cheek, annoyed I had let him see me flinch.
He waited a moment before speaking again. His tone was slightly softer when he did. “You saw the remains up close. Was there any soft tissue remaining?”
“Not that I saw,” I said, blinking quickly, as if it could erase the images that flashed through my mind at his words.
“Show me the charm bracelet.”
“I can’t. Sorry. Wendy, our coroner, had already bagged it before the sheriff called DCI.”
“That’s fine,” he said absently, his eyes as focused on that white piece of bone as mine had been the night before. “You said it looked similar to the one Katelyn Brown was wearing when she went missing.”
“It’sidenticalto the one she was wearing,” I corrected. “Except that it only had three charms instead of four.”
“Which three?” He looked at me again.
“A football, a crown, and her initial. K.”
“You’re sure?”
