Page 24 of Take a Hike
“Gabrielle,” the sheriff greeted the woman in a carrying voice, and Charlie grinned.The acoustics are perfect.
“Sheriff.” The husky, feminine voice wasn’t as clear as Summers’s, but Charlie could hear it if she strained her ears. “Thank you for talking with me.”
“Of course.” The sheriff sounded slightly stiff, making Charlie wonder if Summers was more comfortable doing interrogations than soothing victims and their relatives. “I don’t have much new to tell you, unfortunately.”
Gabrielle gave a soft sob. “I heard that Clint was cleared. Is that true? Is the killer still running around free? What if he comes after me next?” Her voice quickly gained in volume, echoing through the high-ceilinged lobby. “I need protection!”
“How did you…? Never mind.” The sheriff sounded irritated, probably at how everyone and their dog knew all the details of her case. “We’re just starting the investigation, Gabby. We’ll be talking to a lot of people, but we’ll find out who did this. Are you still out at the compound?”
“Yes.” Her voice quavered, but a note of defensiveness crept in. “It’s my home.”
“I understand that, but it won’t do any good for us to posta deputy outside,” the sheriff explained with strained patience. “What about your brother? Can you stay with him?”
“Ugh. No.” The transition from weepy to disgusted was so fast that Charlie dared push the door open enough that she could peek around it, wanting to see what Gabrielle looked like. “His wife is an enormous bitch.”
Relieved to see that Summers had her back to her hiding spot, Charlie got an almost straight-on look at Gabrielle. Even with her forehead wrinkled and her full lips puckered in an expression of distaste, Gabrielle was beautiful. Tall and willowy, she had big eyes and strawberry-blond hair that tumbled over her shoulders in shiny fat curls. Curiosity satisfied, Charlie retreated, allowing the door to close until it was barely cracked open.
“I just don’t think the compound is the safest place for you right now,” the sheriff continued. “You’re surrounded by people of interest in your husband’s murder. Until we clear them and find who’s responsible for his death, your brother’s place or even a motel room would be a safer choice.”
“I need to be around family right now,” Gabrielle said, the weepy shake back in her voice. “Realfamily. That’s what the Freedom Survivors are to me.”
“Things are going to get tense,” the sheriff warned. “We’re just starting interviews, and I know the militia members don’t take well to questions from law enforcement.”
The door swung away, almost sending Charlie sprawling. She jumped up and back several steps as Chris—the door opener—eyed her with amusement.
“Should you be here?” he asked.
“Ah…just checking how long the sheriff was going to be.” Even though it was probably too late, she widened her eyes in her best innocent look. “I have a meeting at ten, so I’m in a bit of a time crunch.”
“A meeting.” He eyed her suspiciously. “Would that be with the murder club, by chance?”
“No.” She didn’t mention that some of the murder club ladiesmightbe attending. “It’s with a potential source.”
“Mm-hmm.” He packed alotof skepticism in that wordless sound. “Who’s your source?”
She snorted. “You want me to rat out my source before I even get any information? What kind of…source-haver do you think I am?”
His heavy sigh was a familiar sound. Charlie made quite a few people sigh like that, as if it came from their very weary soul. After a quick glance over his shoulder, he gestured for her to move down the hallway. “Sheriff’s almost done. You might want to get back to the interview room and put on your innocent face again.”
Charlie grinned. “It’s like you know me, Deputy Daisy’s Husband.” Turning on her heel, she hurried back to the tiny room and took a seat. In just a handful of seconds, the sheriff joined her, eyeing her with suspicion.
I get that look a lot, Charlie thought, following Chris’s advice and imitating her twin’s angelic expression.
The sheriff’s frown deepened, but she didn’t call out Charlie for eavesdropping, so Chris might’ve kept his mouth shut.“Why are you in Simpson?” Summers asked, picking up where they’d left off before Gabrielle’s interruption.
“Why would you even ask that? Look at this place!” Charlie spread her hands, intending to indicate the beauty of the town and surrounding area, but only managing to wave at the tiny interview room, which made her comment come off as sarcastic. “The whole mountain thing, I mean.”
As the sheriff’s frown deepened, Charlie heaved a sigh. This was going to takehours.
***
“You made it,” Fifi called across the sheriff department parking lot before turning to Bennett in the seat next to her. “I won the bet.”
“Love your confidence in me, Feef.” She’d only accomplished it because the sheriff had been called away to help with a multicar accident a half hour into the attempted interrogation, but Charlie smiled and took the credit anyway as she trotted over to the car and climbed into the back seat. “What’d Bennett bet?”
“That you’d be arrested for mouthiness.”
After considering that for a moment, Charlie gave her brother-in-law an approving nod. “Fairly safe bet, but I don’t think mouthiness is an official crime.”
