“Hope. I need to talk with you, if you have the time?”
He looked serious, his blue eyes intent as they focused on her. Newman had got out of his car and moved to her side.
“What’s happened?”
“Let’s take this somewhere quiet.”
She nodded.
“What’s up, Cubby?”
“I need to talk to Hope for a bit, Jake. You all good if I do that in the barn?”
“Sure.” Jake looked curious, but he didn’t say anything. “I’ll put the coffee on, you come on up to the house after.”
“Will do.”
Hope followed Cubby to the barn with Newman on their heels.
“Does this concern you too?”
“Nope, but Cubby filled me in.” His face was serious, which only increased her tension.
They entered the large space, and she saw cars and tools. Stopping just inside the door, she folded her arms over her chest and waited.
“There’s been a few incidents at the Wildlife headquarters. Last night someone broke in and stole two cameras. And Casey Rae Linear is laying the blame at your feet.”
The shock had her staying silent as Cubby elaborated. He told her everything he knew, and beside him, Newman stood silently with his eyes on her.
“And you believe I did this?” She looked at him.
“No!” The word exploded from Newman with so much force Hope couldn’t help but believe him.
“Thanks.” It meant a lot to her that he believed her.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you did it either, Hope,” Cubby said. “But I have to follow this through as I’m the sheriff.”
“Of course, Cubby. I understand that. But I didn’t do it.”
“Can anyone verify where you were last night?”
“Only my mom. But I went to bed early, just after nine.”
“Good, okay, that’s a help.” Cubby got out his notebook and scribbled as she talked, and answered the questions he asked her.
“Right, that’s it for now. I’m going to try and solve this as soon as I can, but don’t leave town before I do.”
“I won’t. I guess because Casey never liked me, and after what happened between us just the other day, this is personal now too. There’s also this business with John Finch, and me saying I’m looking at challenging Wildlife for what they did to me.”
Cubby nodded. “Newman filled me in on that conversation, and the rest of the stuff.”
They left the barn then, and headed up to the house, where the McBrides were awaiting them with Mikey on the deck. She took a chair, suddenly exhausted.
“You okay?”
“Trying to be,” she said as he sat beside her. “But it’s not fair, Newman. I mean, I lost my job because of him, and now this from her.”
“I know, but we’ll get through. Trust Cubby, okay? He’s the best.”
