Brianna’s usual cheerful smile wavered, replaced by a look of trepidation that vanished again so quickly Sylvie wasn’t sure if she’d actually seen it. “This year.” She’d lowered her voice and glanced at her uncle, who was busy stocking a shelf with clean mugs. She must have noticed Sylvie’s puzzled look when she added in a whisper, “I’m…sneaking away for it.”
“I won’t tell.” Sylvie paid and picked up her coffee. “Thanks for this. Have a great day!”
Walking out, she thought about Brianna’s family—herotherfamily. She knew them through police reports; Brianna’s parents and brother had constantly been in trouble for dealing pot in the old days, but now they owned a legal dispensary. Brianna had been raised by her aunt and uncle, who obviously kept a tight leash on her.
It’s family who saves us or dooms us. She put all residual thoughts of her birth family out of her head—easy to do after so many years—sent up a little prayer of thanksgiving for George and Cynthia, and headed for the department.
* * *
Sylvie madeit in just before the morning briefing. She slipped into the meeting and took the empty chair beside Carla.
Carla smiled big. “Hey, there’s my girl. Sorry you had to come in today.”
“Yeah, thanks for messing up my day off,” Sylvie joked back. Normally, she’d have three days off in a row, but vacations always messed up everyone else’s schedule.
“What’d I miss while I was fighting with my brothers?”
“Poor baby. Not a lot.” No way was she telling Carla about Alex, though she’d been giving Sylvie hell over her ‘hot instructor’ for weeks.
“How’s class going? When you gonna leave me for the K9 Unit?”
Sylvie grinned. “Still have a long ways to go, so you’re stuck with me for now.” She nudged Carla’s shoulder with hers. “You could always join me.”
“Naw, you know I’m a cat person.” She ran her fingers through her dark, curly hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“When you gonna leavemefor the East Coast?” As much as Carla claimed to fight with her brothers, they all adored each other.
“You kidding? I’m trying to talk them into coming out here. Though, it was really, really good to be home.” Her voice turned wistful.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” Sheriff Robert Daniels stood at the front of the room. “If you could all pipe down, we’ll get started.” He went through the rundown of recent activity—a couple more break-ins along Alpine Avenue, a gas station robbed at gunpoint, a string of catalytic converter thefts, and the usual bar fights and drunk-and-disorderlies. Sylvie scanned the room from her seat at the end of a row. Frank’s partner Tom Hicks caught her eye as he sat back in his chair, arms crossed, looking bored. Not unlike half the room. When she caught his eye, he smirked at her. Frank was there too, and he gave her a friendly though tired nod.
Sylvie waited for any word on security for Lyons’ music festival. Usually, Robert would be giving them updates by now on expected crowd numbers and discussing extra shifts. But not a word. George was right—as far as Boulder was concerned, Lyons suddenly didn’t exist.
So when Robert asked if there were any questions, Sylvie raised her hand. “What about Lyons? The music festival?”
“What about it?” He rocked on the balls of his feet.
“Why suddenly the extra security?” She heard murmurs from a few other officers. “Thought the organizers had it covered by the officers at the Lyons substation and through private security for the most part.”
“Priorities change year to year.” He looked away from her. “No other questions? Good. Get out there and be safe.”
Sylvie and Carla exchanged looks as the meeting broke up.
“I’ll be right back.” Sylvie stood up before Carla could stop her and chased after Robert, who seemed determined to put as much distance between himself and the conference room as quickly as possible. She caught up to him in the hall.
“Robert, hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
He turned and looked exasperated, then kept walking. “What, Madden?” he asked.
“Seriously, what was that all about? You don’t think George can handle it all of a sudden?”
“You mean your dad?”
Oh, fuck you. “No, I mean the town of Lyons, which, last I checked, has always handled the festival well. Assigning extra officers looks like a vote of no confidence.”
“I’m using an abundance of caution here.”
“Fine, then assign me to some shifts.”
