Page 9 of Shadow Sabotage
“Positive.”
“Hmm.” He turned back to the scene. “The fourth charm. Do you know what it was?”
“Yes.” I could remember the picture of her that had blown up all over the news when she went missing, the one where she had posed with her hand under her chin, showing off perfectlymanicured nails and that silly charm bracelet. Her blue eyes had stared daringly at the camera with a coy look that cut straight through, like she was looking right at me.
Now, I felt the agent’s eyes on me. Studying me.
“What was the fourth charm?” he asked.
I sighed. It made me sad in a way, because it was the one thing in that photo I could relate to.
“It was a horse,” I said, remembering the pretty charm that looked so much like one I used to wear. “A silver horse.”
“That’s right.”
I realized he’d known all along.
For a long moment, we stood in silence, both caught up in our own thoughts. But the silence was broken by cheerful whistling and the sounds of someone quickly descending the hill, not caring if he slipped a little on the way.
I barely stifled my groan when Trey emerged, looking as startled to see the DCI agent and me standing together as I was to see him. A quick glance at my watch confirmed I wasn’t crazy. It was still an hour earlier than he was supposed to be here.
The irritation that flashed across Trey’s face when he saw us was quickly replaced with a smooth smile. He strode over to us with a cocky grin and stuck his hand out.
“Sergeant Trey Collins. You must be from DCI. We appreciate you coming out to assist,” Trey said as he shook the agent’s hand.
“Special Agent Vance Weston. Nice to meet you.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. So much for Trey having to suck up to a woman. These two were going to get along great. Two cocky men who thought they were smarter than everyone else—and I’d have to deal with both of them.
“Wendy, our coroner, and Sheriff McGrath will be here in about an hour, but I had a feeling you’d be early,” Trey said, grinning. “I’ll give you the rundown on the case thus far and wecan start processing the scene. Hawkins, you can go ahead and take off. I’m sure you’re eager to get back to your little camping trip with your friends.” He stuck his hands into his pockets and gave me a patronizing smile.
Agent Weston studied him the way he’d studied me earlier. “Deputy Hawkins already gave me the rundown,” he said flatly. “As for processing the scene, we’ll wait for the rest of the team—including my tech from the crime lab, who will need to take samples before anything is contaminated further.”
Trey’s smile faltered and I did an internal happy dance. I’d never seen Trey get put in his place before, and even though it was incredibly subtle, I could tell that was exactly what Agent Weston had done. I knew it wasn’t for my benefit—Agent Weston was probably irritated by Trey’s remark about “assisting us.” On paper, sure, that’s what was happening. It was our jurisdiction and he was here by request. But anyone with half a brain knew that DCI would be in charge and we’d be the ones offering assistance.
“Oh, sure.” Trey nodded, trying to look agreeable. “Whatever questions you have in the meantime, I’d be happy to help. Once I saw that bracelet last night, I realized our victim was Katelyn Brown. I spent a few hours reading up on her disappearance so that we can hit the ground running.”
Fury flared inside me.Treyhadn’t been the one to connect that bracelet to Katelyn. That had been Wendy—and me.
But I knew it wasn’t worth putting him in his place. If I did, he’d just find a way to make me pay for it later.
Agent Weston glanced at me, then back at Trey. “I appreciate that. Maybe later. Right now, I need to get my gear and bring it back down so we’ll be ready when the team arrives.”
“Great, I’ll help you,” Trey said.
“Actually, you should take over here,” Agent Weston said smoothly. “I can carry my own gear. Deputy Hawkins has been stuck here all night. I’m sure she’s eager to be relieved.”
“Of course,” Trey said, relaxing. As much as he wanted to stick with Agent Weston, I knew he was even more glad to get rid of me.
Agent Weston stuck his hands in his jacket and headed toward the slope. When he realized I wasn’t following him, he turned and looked at me expectantly. “Sergeant Collins has this handled, Deputy Hawkins.”
Trey grinned.
“I’m just going to grab my bag,” I answered, forcing a smile.
Pricks. Both of them.
Agent Weston nodded and continued walking like he didn’t really care if I followed him or not.
