She looked down at the body, then at me. “How did they know?”
“Because someone inside this town tipped them off.” I met her eyes. “You’ve got a leak, Julia.”
She swallowed hard. “And you think it’s someone from the Sheriff's office?”
“I think it’s someone close. Someone who knew exactly when we brought him in.”
For a moment, the only sound was the hum of the lights.
She turned toward me, her voice quiet. “If you’re right, then everyone in town is in danger.”
I stepped closer, brushing a stray lock of hair from her cheek before I even realized what I was doing. “That includes you.”
Her breath caught. “You should stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m the only thing you want to protect.”
I let my hand fall and smiled faintly. “Maybe you are.”
Her eyes softened, just for a second, before she straightened and walked toward the door. “We’re not doing this, Hawk. Not now.”
“Then when?”
She paused. “When it’s safe.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to make it safe.”
6
Julia
The body was barely zipped into a bag before the station filled with whispers. Word traveled fast in Copper Cove—faster than bullets. By the time I reached the Sheriff's office, every deputy in the building had heard that a cartel member had swallowed poison in the interrogation room. The Sheriff walked in and shut the door.
I dropped into a chair and pressed my palms against my eyes. “We had him, Sheriff. We finally had a lead.”
Hawk stood by the window, the early evening light cutting across his face. “You still do. Copper Ridge Mine.”
“You think the cartel’s using it as a base?”
“I’d bet my last breath on it.”
I looked up at him. “Then you just volunteered to help me prove it.”
His mouth curved. “Thought you’d never ask.”
“Listen, you two need to be careful. Someone here is working for those cartel men. I don’t know what else to think. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so; the mine has been closed for fifty years.”
We droveout to the old mine at dusk. The sky burned orange behind the trees, and the air smelled like rain. The closer we got, the quieter it became—no birds, no crickets, just the rattling of gravel under the tires.
The mine sat behind a chain-link fence, half swallowed by vines. The old rusted “KEEP OUT” sign swung lazily in the wind.
“Creepy enough for you?” Hawk asked.
I switched off the headlights and scanned the area with my flashlight. “You take the east side; I’ll check the west side.”
He leaned closer. “Splitting up is how people die in horror movies.”
