“We’ve already discussed this, Mayor,” Santiago said. “There was a room full of people, plus video footage of you initiating an assault on Ms. Green. I suggest you let this matter lie, because if she chooses to press charges?—”
The mayor waved him off.
“I want her arrested formurder. Do you really think it’s a coincidence that a respected member of our community is killed, and not even forty-eight hours after the death, Ms. Green owns Mrs. Willoby’s home. Bought it outright!”
Santiago leaned forward and rested his forearms on his desk, broadcasting his impatience. “Ms. Green secured all the necessary paperwork and paid the family legally and generously; I inquired. They accepted her offer. There’s no evidence that remotely points to Ms. Green as the cause of Mrs. Willoby’s death, so I suggest if you don’t want her to sue you for assaultanddefamation, you be real careful when you speak about Ms. Green.”
“But she bought the place before it went on the market, Sheriff! I had plans for that house and she ruined them just like she’s ruined everything else in my life.”
“Maybe I’ve missed something,” Santiago said, irritation rising. If there was one thing he had a hard time abiding, it was a whining man. “What specifically has Ms. Green done to ruin you that has not been of your family’s own making?”
“Oh, fuck off! You don’t think I know about her and her damn woman-power-action-economic-league bullshit they’ve got going? She’s trying to meddle in official government business, criticizing the work me and Bailey Joe have done on the revitalization process. Questioning ourcompetency.”
The mayor stood so abruptly his chair skidded against the hardwood floor. “How does that woman have enough money to pay cash for that goddamn house? I bet a thousand dollars to a bucket of slop she’s on the run for embezzlement. Check her out, Stillwater, I want to know everything you find on her, and I’ll make sure she spends the remainder of her days locked up at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.”
Santiago tensed.
There was something unsettling about the way he wanted to wrap his hand around the other man’s throat and watch as life fade from his eyes. Unlike Anderson’s bullshit allegations against Lauren, Santiago’s need to respond to the other man with violence was solely her fault. She’d weakened layers of disciplinebeforeshe sought safety in his bed, and now that he knew what if felt like to have her warmth pressed against him, her hand wrapped around him, now that he knew what if felt like to want something more than peace and calm again…his fraying discipline could be a problem.
“Mayor,” Santiago began. Because Anderson was the mayor, and in his professional capacity, he was the sheriff. This was his home; he had a legacy to protect; and for a brief period, evena shrew to keep safe. “I acknowledge that Ms. Green can be an extremely destabilizing force, but we both know if the tables were turned, you wouldn’t think twice about outmaneuvering a person on a business matter. On the issue of your mother, she was drinking and driving, and she’ll finally be held accountable for it.” He stood. “So, before you come in here talking to me about framing an innocent woman who has broken no laws, I’ll remind you that I workwithyou, but I don’t workforyou. My loyalty is to the law and the people of this town. Now, I’ve got cases to get to and a department to run. Thanks for stopping by.”
The mayor glared at Santiago and left his office.
Smiling slightly, Santiago sat back down and opened the coroner’s reports.
“My job here is done,” Lauren mumbled around the last mouthful of chicken and dumplings. “I’ll upload the photos to the new website as well as your socials, and tomorrow we’ll finalize and launch the website.”
“It’ll be nearly a full house for dinner tonight,” Lina said enthusiastically. “I’ll have Audrey to come by and take some more photos of the event. You sure you don’t want to join us tonight?”
“Are you trying to make me pregnant?” Lauren stood, smiling as she rested her hand over her full stomach. She immediately felt sick as the image of a super pregnant Lahn rested her hand over Derrick’s as he gazed down at her, lovingly stroking Lahn’s stomach.
“Mija, are you unwell?” Lina asked moving to Lauren’s side, directing her to sit again.
Why would she marry a man who never looked at her like she imagined Derrick looking at Lahn? Why would she love a man who’d never looked at her with that kind of all-consuming love?
“Have you ever experienced a love so deep that you can exist in its fathoms without drowning. Where that love actually breathes new life into you?”
“No. Never,” Lina said, matter-of-factly.
“Have you ever been betrayed so badly that nothing about the world can be trusted?”
“Yes, that one I can say yes to.”
“What helped you heal?”
“The death of the one who hurt me, of course.”
Lauren blinked. Lina had moments of unflinching honesty that were unnerving, disturbing even, but then the older woman told her about her first husband who wasn’t a man of her choosing, a man who was abusive for many months before he died under mysterious circumstances. She loved her second husband, but she’d lost the ability to love outside the parameters of reason.
“I’d only have my best friend Resse if I let go of those who’d betrayed my love. That just feels so lonely to imagine.”
“Maybe it would be less so if you had new people, say, someone who already holds you in great esteem, and not just because you’ve brought a great deal of excitement in her life?—”
“And the possibility of reinvigorating her business.”
“That’s nice, but I am growing in age and this place does not have to be everything. I could go live with Santiago on the mountain for the rest of my days if I chose. I just don’t choose.”
“Yeah, you definitely don’t want to live with him,” Lauren said, putting her belongings back in her bag. “He snores.”
