He leaned his back against the side of the truck, lounging on it as if it belonged to him. But it was more than that. Rufus looked natural, even in his leather pants, against my vehicle, as if he had always been there.
“Well,” he said, rubbing his jaw, “I’m talking about the fact that if no one in this town is going to investigate Sadie’s death, we might as well do it.”
“Are you insane?”
He smirked, his dark eyes sparkling. “Maybe so.” He opened his arms and let them fall to his thighs. “After all, I don’t know who I am, so there’s nothing pressing on me. As far as I’m concerned, I have all the time in the world. Also”—he wagged a finger—“I have the distinct feeling I’ve done something like this before.”
“What? Lost your mind?”
He chuckled. “No. What I mean is, I believe that I’ve looked into things, searched for the truth.” He touched his hair and glanced at the ground, embarrassed. “I know it sounds silly, but I have a feeling that this is part of who I am.”
So are other things, I thought.
I glanced at my truck and then at Rufus. He had a point.
“Besides,” he added, “you haven’t slept.”
I hiked a brow. “How can you tell?”
“It’s obvious.” He unlocked the truck and opened the door, gesturing for me to get in and slide over across the bench seat. “Now, will you do me this favor and let me play chauffeur today? It’s the least I can do to repay your kindness.”
I stared into his eyes, the darkness of them so fitting, yet they held sympathy and gentleness that I never thought to witness in him.
Don’t ask me why I did it, why I said yes, but I did. “Sure. Take me to the police station.”
Chapter 11
“Looks open-and-shut if you ask me,” Tuney Sluggs said.
Rufus and I stood in his office. Tuney had managed to wake up this morning with his wits about him since he wore his uniform, complete with cowboy boots.
“Chief,” I said, “there is no way that Sadie would have fallen into the foundation without getting out of it. Would you?”
He rubbed his chin, his hand scraping over his whiskers. “Well, I suppose,” he said, “if I was drunk, I might not. We’ll see what happens when toxicology comes back.”
Anger whittled through my veins. “I discovered this morning that Sadie was withdrawing money from the bank at an alarming rate and making large credit card purchases that I haven’t been able to account for yet.”
He grunted. “Sounds like a woman who likes to spend money.” He winked at Rufus as if it was an inside joke. “She wouldn’t be the first I’ve ever heard of who did that.”
My jaw opened, and I was about to spew a line of profanities at him when Rufus stepped in.
“Would it be possible to get the deceased’s personal effects? What was discovered on her last night? That is, if you’re finished with them.”
Tuney grunted again and waved at the doorway. “Sure. Tell the desk sergeant on your way out that I said it was okay.”
There was so much more that I wanted to say, but Rufus tugged me from the office.
“But I wasn’t finished with him yet,” I snarled.
“You were,” he said in my ear, his breath tickling my flesh. “If you’d spent one more minute with him, your head would have exploded.”
I scoffed. “That wouldn’t have happened.”
He stopped and shot me a pointed look. “You did not see the expression on your face.”
I folded my arms and scowled. “What expression was that?”
“Like you wanted to throttle him,” he murmured. Without another word, Rufus took my elbow and walked me toward the desk sergeant.
