Garrett bumped his arm against mine, and I could almost hear him saying,Chin up, Cupcake. Daisy—the dog that loved every single cop here except Moody—all of a sudden was shaking like a leaf as she pressed herself against my leg. Damn it. She was picking up on my negative vibes. I straightened my spine, making a point of meeting the eyes of each of my cops.
I saved Moody for last. When our gazes collided, I saw from the victorious gleam in his eyes that he’d somehow managed to run into Jack. He knew and was already gloating. This would be my first test on how people would react to what I had to say. I cleared my throat.
“We’ll keep this brief so the next shift can head out. I… ah… If you haven’t already, you’re going to hear some rumors concerning me the next few days.”
Moody’s grin was pure evil. “You gonna tell us how you killed your wife?”
Every man and woman in the room swiveled their heads, staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. A few gasped. “No, I’m going to tell you about the day she took her own life. Christine, my wife, was very depressed, so much so that she decided she couldn’t face another day.” I refused to besmirch her memory by telling them she’d had an affair. That was none of their damn business.
“That’s not the way I heard it,Chief.”
Moody’s sarcastic emphasis on Chief wasn’t lost on me. “Then you heard wrong. The man who told you that has a problem with me and is simply trying to cause trouble.”
“Why should we believe you?”
I wanted to put my fist through Moody’s face. Knocking him out cold would shut him up.
“Because he’s telling the truth,” Garrett said.
Moody frowned. “Who the hell are you?”
Tommy took a step forward. “I believe you, Chief.” Several of my officers nodded in agreement.
I shot Tommy a grateful nod. “I’m sorry. I should have introduced my friend here. This is my former boss, Captain Garrett Caulder of the Chicago PD. He was also the lead investigator on my wife’s suicide. He’s here to answer any of your questions.”
“How do we know he’s really who you say he is? Maybe you’re paying him to back up your story.”
Now you’ve done it, Moody. I swallowed a snort, knowing what was coming.
Garrett eyed my captain as if he were studying a slug under his shoe that he was about to smash. “Exactly who are you?”
Moody puffed out his chest. “Captain Ralph Moody. This is my town, and we don’t much like strangers.”
“You thinking of using that thing to run me off with my tail tucked between my legs?” Garrett asked, eyeing the hand Moody had put on his gun handle. He glanced at me, his eyes dancing with mischief. “Damn, Chief, this is fun, like being in a Clint Eastwood movie. Is this where I get to say, ‘Go ahead. Make my day?’ I wish you’d told me how much fun I would have here. I woulda come sooner.” He turned back to Moody. “Do I get till sundown, hoss?”
Moody scrunched thick eyebrows together. “I don’t like you.”
“Seems we have something in common after all. I don’t much like you either.” Garrett turned away from my captain, as if bored with the man. “Do any of you have any questions about what you just heard? If so, now’s the time to ask.”
When no one spoke up, he said, “You can trust your new chief. He’s a good man and a damn good cop. If anyone still has any doubts”—he glanced pointedly at Moody—“he wasn’t home when it happened. A neighbor heard the shot and called it in, then stood outside the door until the cops arrived. No one entered or exited. End of story.”
With that said, he walked out, leaving me to wrap things up. Maybe I should reconsider asking Jenny if I could tag along on her world tour. Take off with her and forget about everything threatening to steal my new life.
Moody stepped in front of me. “How do we know he’s telling the truth? I talked to Conrad’s former partner. He says different.”
“You’re such an ass, Moody,” Tommy said.
“Hear, hear,” someone muttered.
I swallowed a grin that the youngest and shyest member of my force had the balls to risk Moody’s wrath. Or maybe it was that Tommy trusted me to have his back, because I did.
“If we’re done here, those off shift go home, and those heading out, be safe out there.”
Every single one of the cops in the room—except for Moody—lined up to say something to me as they headed out. Things like, “I’m standing with you,” from Gene Lanier. “You got us cool uniforms,” Kim Payton said. “And you got Kim and me off break-room cleanup duty.” Sarah Griffin added as my two female cops high-fived me at the same time, making me lift both my hands for them to slap.
It went on like that for a few minutes, until Moody, Daisy, and I were the only ones left in the room. Daisy growled when he glared at me.
“If you think this is the end of it, you’re a fool,” the man said, a sneer on his face.
