I stayed at the crime scene for another three or four hours and led four different investigators through what had happened. All the while, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nicole Bryant’s family. Nicole didn’t have superpowers, and she couldn’t shake off fatal wounds, but she still risked and lost her life to protect other people. She died a hero in every sense of the word. Someone needed to tell them what had happened and why.
After hours of interviews and prodding by the medical staff, I turned my firearm over to a detective with the Highway Patrol and drove home. Harry and a minister from the local Methodist church had already stopped by Nicole’s house to inform her family that she had died, so I’d go by in a couple of days when things had settled some. It was the least I could do.
Tonight was one of those nights in which I most needed someone, but nobody came to the porch as my truck pulled into the driveway. Judging by the already brightening skyline, sunrise was about an hour away. I stripped off my clothes, showered with water so hot it turned my skin red and raw, and then slipped into the softest pajamas I owned. As I went to bed afterwards, I hugged my pillow and prayed the nightmares wouldn’t be too bad.
With no one to wake me up, I slept until almost eleven the next morning. The sun poured through my windows, striking me in the face. My head hurt, and my body ached. Sleep had been a welcome respite, but the moment I opened my eyes, a weight pressed down on me again. I had been so self-absorbed at the crime scene I hadn’t even asked about Sasquatch. I hoped he was alive.
As I swung my legs over the bed, birds sang outside my window. I liked wildlife, but today, I needed silence. I closed my eyes and took two deep breaths before standing and getting dressed. Half an hour after waking up, I left my house and drove downtown.
When I got to the station, I found a Cadillac sedan parked in the loading zone out front. Police officers parked there all the time when they had to run into the station for something quick, but it was rare to see a civilian with gall enough to park in a spot that even law enforcement officers tried to avoid for over five minutes at a time.
Trisha was at the front desk, talking on the phone when I walked inside. She smiled, but she was directing officers toward a car accident out by the interstate, limiting her ability to talk. I mouthed hello to her before taking the steps upstairs to my boss’s office. The county had yet to appropriate funding to renovate the entire second floor of our station, so Harry was the only person with an office up there. He liked the solitude and the quiet. Today, voices carried up and down the hallway.
I followed the sound and found Councilman Rogers, Detective Delgado, and Harry outside his office, talking. All three men turned as I walked toward them. Councilman Rogers held out his hand for me to shake.
“Detective Court,” he said, smiling as he took my hand and covered it with both of his own. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
I glanced at Harry with my eyebrows raised before looking to Rogers.
“What have you heard?”
“That you closed your case,” he said. “You got ’em. This Kushnir fellow and his friend Kurt Wilkinson. They killed that naked girl you found out at Ross Kelly Farms. I hope you understand that there are no hard feelings between us. Sometimes I let the emotion of the situation get to me.”
I looked to Harry again, my brow furrowed. Then I looked at Rogers again.
“Why do you think Wilkinson and Kushnir killed Laura Rojas?”
Rogers looked to Detective Delgado.
“You think it’s a coincidence that these two roll into town right after your victim goes down?” asked Delgado. “I don’t. They killed Laura Rojas, and then they killed her boyfriend, Aldon McKenzie. Jennifer McKenzie probably got in the way, so they killed her, too.”
“That’s a good theory, I guess,” I said, nodding, “but what evidence do you have?”
“Evidence is for trials, and there won’t be one,” said Rogers before Delgado could respond. “Kushnir died last night, and Wilkinson died this morning in a shootout with the State Highway Patrol. We have everything we need to close these cases. You don’t need to harass anyone else, Detective.”
“I’m not harassing anyone,” I said. “I’ve been working a homicide, and I’ve been following the evidence. Back me up, Harry.”
“Sheriff Grainger won’t be with us too much longer. He’s retiring with full honors,” said Rogers, smiling as he put a hand on Delgado’s shoulder. “As soon as we can swear him in, Detective Delgado will be your new boss.”
Delgado’s smile held more than a hint of malice.
“I hope that’s not a problem for you, Detective,” he said. “You weren’t gunning for the job, were you?”
“No. I’m happy being a detective,” I said, glancing from Harry and then to Councilman Rogers. I took a step back to give myself some space. “Let’s back up a minute. Can you give me any reason to close my investigation of Laura Rojas? Other than that it upsets your clients.”
Rogers’s smile turned into a glower before returning to a malevolent grin.
“I’m a county councilman, and I don’t have clients. I have constituents.”
“No matter what you call them, they still pay your mortgage,” I said, looking to Harry. “Step in here, please. You may be retiring, but you’re still the sheriff. Act like it.”
He looked down and scratched his brow. “At Councilman Rogers’s suggestion, I’m using my stored personal leave to take a vacation until my retirement. You should direct your questions to my successor.”
“Sheriff Grainger’s going on a cruise,” said Rogers, smiling and raising his eyebrows. “It was a little gift from St. Augustine County to commemorate his years of honorable service.”
“Well, congratulations, Harry,” I said. “A retirement and a cruise. You’re making off like a bandit.”
“I understand that you’re upset about Officer Bryant’s death, Detective, so I’ll cut you some slack,” said Rogers. “In the future, though, you would be wise to avoid speaking to your superiors with that insubordinate tone.”
“Harry’s on leave pending his retirement, so I wasn’t talking to my superior in an insubordinate tone,” I said. “You’re a civilian, so you’re not my superior officer, either. Detective Delgado, as superior as he thinks he is, still holds the same rank I do and does not supervise me. By definition, Councilman, I’m not insubordinate, although I appreciate your advice.”
He narrowed his gaze. “You are clever, aren’t you, young lady? Things are going to change around here. We might not have room for clever young ladies in our department too much longer.”
“Fine,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “Until you fire me, though, I have work to do.”
“The Laura Rojas case,” said Delgado, lowering his chin.
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “I’m working the Laura Rojas case. Though I appreciate your theory about Kushnir and Wilkinson, I’d like to see evidence before I believe it.”
“All right,” said Roger. “I’m not an unreasonable man. I think that’s a fine idea. Find evidence and close this case to your satisfaction.”
“Thank you for your permission to do my job,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
He smiled that malevolent grin once more and put a hand on Delgado’s shoulder again. “Sheriff Delgado and I have projects to discuss. The county cleared funds to renovate this old place, and we’re talking about the future. And let me tell you, Detective Court, the future is looking up. St. Augustine’s going to become the new Branson. We’ll be an Orlando in the Midwest. I can see it now.”
“How nice,” I said. “I look forward to seeing what your brain trust comes up with for the building.”
The smile slipped off his face. “I told you when we met before that you ought to smile more often. Men like women who smile occasionally. Might make for a more pleasant workplace.”
“One of my colleagues died last night,” I said. “Another is in the hospital. I don’t even know whether he’s alive. You’ll forgive me, but I don’t have a lot to smile about at the moment. Our soon-to-be sheriff should take heed and wipe the smirk off his face. He lost a colleague, too.”
Delgado’s lips tightened to a thin line.
“As you were, Detective,” he said. “I’m sure you have better things to do than sit and chat with us.”
“Yeah, I do,” I said. I turned around and started toward the stairs. A pair of heavy footsteps followed as Delgado and Councilman Rogers continued speaking in hushed tones. As I reached the landing between the first and second floors, I turned and looked at Harry. “Something you want to tell me?”
“Sorry,” he said. “Things happened fast last night.”
“Seems like it,” I said, crossing my arms. “So you’re out and Delgado’s in. You warned me, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Your timing sucks, though.”
Harry leaned against the handrail and crossed his arms. “Nicole is dead. Preston is in the hospital. The doctors saved his life, but he lost a lung. He can’t work in the field.”
The anger I had felt earlier swelled until it made my skin feel hot.
“That doesn’t excuse you quitting,” I said. “You may not like the job, but you’re a decent sheriff. Delgado will be a disaster.”
“Councilman Rogers came to my office this morning with a letter signed by every county councilman. If I didn’t quit, they planned to call an emergency meeting, where they’d hold a vote of no-confidence in my abilities as sheriff. They were going to fire me for getting Nicole Bryant killed and for allowing Preston to get shot. I’d lose my health insurance, my life insurance, and possibly my pension.”
“You had nothing to do with Nicole’s death or Sasquatch’s injury.”
“You think I don’t know that?” asked Harry. He sighed disgustedly. “The County Council runs St. Augustine, and they take their marching orders from the people who pay their salaries. That’s how it is, that’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it’ll be. You’d better get used to it because that’s the world you live in.”
I looked down. My hot anger had transformed into something cold and sharp.
“Do you even remember when you lost your balls?” I asked. “This is bullshit, and you know it. The guy I used to work with wasn’t a coward.”
“That’s unfair, Joe,” he said. “You walk a mile in my shoes, you’ll find the world’s a much bigger place than you realize.”
“I know how much the world sucks, boss,” I said. “I just wish you’d try to change it instead of running from it. Enjoy your cruise. You’ve earned it.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I turned and walked away before he could get a word out. I hurried to the first floor before anyone could stop me and then signed out a marked cruiser. Harry was my friend, and I cared about him, but this wasn’t him talking. I’d apologize in time, but I had shit to do. Today was about Laura Rojas, Aldon McKenzie, and Jennifer McKenzie. Today was about the dead. Tomorrow, I’d worry about the future.