Page 41 of In Safe Hands
Hearing the horror in the other woman’s voice made Daisy hedge her words. “It could’ve just been a case of not watching where he was stepping, I suppose.”
“He’s the sheriff,” Lou said flatly. “He was looking for evidence. That’s pretty sad if he trampled on the very boot prints he was looking for by accident.” Eyeing the meatball in front of her face as if trying to figure out how it got there, she popped it into her mouth.
“It does seem strangely incompetent of him,” Rory agreed. “He can be hard-edged, but I’ve never found Rob to be inept.”
Ellie frowned. “You don’t think Rob did that on purpose, do you? But he’s such a sweetheart. Since this whole Anderson King thing started, he’s been wonderful about lending me his deputies every time George gets called away. Plus, he organized that search for my father. I just can’t imagine him hiding evidence.”
“He’s always been upfront with me, too,” Lou added. As silence filled the room, Daisy shifted uncomfortably. These women didn’t know her very well at all. To them, she was probably still that weird shut-in. If she kept pushing, insisting that the sheriff had covered up evidence—either by accident or on purpose—Daisy would not only lose the argument, but she’d probably lose her only chance at friends, too. In a determinedly cheerful voice, she said, “Let’s talk about the Gray case.”
“Okay.” Lou hopped up from the couch and hurried over to the pile of stuff she’d dumped in the corner of Daisy’s living room. Daisy got up to help, but Lou already had an easel set up and an oversized pad of paper propped on it before Daisy even reached her.
“Is this the substitute whiteboard?” Ellie asked, smiling.
“It is.” Lou pulled out a set of markers. “Cal volunteered to bring the real one here in the back of the pickup, but with the sleeting-raining thing it’s doing outside, I didn’t want to risk having the whole thing erased by the time we got here. I needed something whiteboard-like, though. It helps me to see things written down when I’m trying to figure something out.”
“Where is Callum?” Ellie asked.
“City Council meeting.”
That was met with a chorus of groans from everyone except Daisy.
“I assume that’s bad?” she guessed.
“So boring,” Lou agreed. “If I hadn’t already had this planned, I would’ve had to make up something so I could get out of going. Speaking of that, Ellie, don’t you have search and rescue training tonight?”
“Nope. That’s George’s thing. I’d just get myself lost if I tried to find someone in the wilderness. I help him with his reports, but that’s about it.”
“Does Ian have night shift tonight?” Lou asked Rory, who nodded.
“Where’s your guy?” Ellie asked Daisy.
She blinked at the woman in confusion. “My…guy?”
“Please.” Lou chucked a marker at her, and Daisy ducked out of the projectile’s path just before it connected with her forehead. “We all saw how Deputy Chris was showing off for you on Saturday.” Her voice lowered. “‘Me big strong man, do many pull-ups.’” She finished her imitation with a grunt.
“Oh no!” Despite herself, Daisy felt her cheeks getting red. “We’re not… Chris and I are just friends.” Ellie and Lou snorted laughter, making her face even hotter. Even Rory looked like she was holding back a smile.
“Friends,” Lou said, “do not look at their friends like your cop looks at you.”
“She’s right.” Ellie reached over from where she was sitting in one of the armchairs and squeezed Daisy’s hand. “Chris couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. And his expression goes all…smooshy when he’s looking at you.”
Daisy was pretty sure she’d be able to toast a marshmallow on her face, it was burning so hotly. “No, really. We’ve never stepped out of the ‘friends’ box. He doesn’t even like it when I give him a hug.”
“Maybe he likes it too much.” Lou was doing something weird with her eyebrows as she said it.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Rory asked, squinting at Lou.
“Can we talk about dead people now?” Daisy asked quickly.
“Fine.” Lou didn’t sound happy about it. “But trust us on this—Deputy Chris wants you.”
Shaking her head, Daisy let it drop. It was too embarrassing to tell them about all the times Chris refused to let her touch him. A subject change was definitely in order. Besides, it would be nice to think about something other than her own drama for a while. “Could you recap what you’ve learned so far? Chris gave me the highlights, but he’s not really able to share much.”
Lou grabbed a blue marker and uncapped it with a flourish. “Sure. It helps to go over everything again, anyway. I see new connections that way.” She sketched a line of blue spikes.
“What are those?” Rory asked.
“Waves.” She drew some stick people next to the squiggly lines.
