Nash snorted.“Told you before, Tate—why would the Kings bother runnin’ dope through your county when it’s already crawlin’ with it?”He shrugged.“I like my money clean.”
Tate’s eyes narrowed.“Funny,” he muttered.“Man who keeps sayin’ he’s clean always seems to turn up where the dirt is.”
Nash held his gaze, letting the silence stretch until Tate looked away first.
“Ms.Berry,” Tate said, voice slick with condescension.“Heard you had quite the day, sugar.”
Cassie crossed her arms, leveled him with a flat stare—and then turned her back on him entirely, facing Nash instead.
Watching Tate flush an angry shade of red, Nash chuckled.
“Caldwell,” Tate barked.“You get her official statement yet?”
“We were just gettin’ to it, Sheriff—”
“That’s a no, then.”Tate turned back to Nash, flicking his fingers toward the door.“Walker, I think it’s time you moved along.”
Nash didn’t budge.“I’ll leave when Cassie does.”
Tate stepped closer, one hand drifting toward his duty belt.“That so?Maybe we can think of a few ways of changin’ your mind.”
Cassie spun toward the sheriff, eyes blazing.She yanked out her phone, thumb unlocking it in one smooth motion.
“Go on—keep talkin’.And just so we’re clear—not only is every person in this room about to get front-row seats to your threats, but so are my twenty thousand Instagram followers and ten thousand YouTube subscribers—”
Nash watched Tate’s lips press thin as the realization took hold that he wasn’t the one holding the reins anymore.
“You want my statement?”Cassie went on.“Here it fuckin’ is.I wanted to see the house I grew up in one last time before I left.Saw the broken glass and the woman chokin’ on the floor.Couldn’t get in without cuttin’ myself, so I went through my old bedroom window instead.And now here we all are.”
Before I left.
The words hit Nash hard, but he kept his face neutral.
“So now we got trespassin’,” Tate said tightly.“Breakin’ and enterin’, too.”
“So I should’ve just left her there dyin’?”Cassie stepped right up on him, phone inches from his face.“That what you’re sayin’, Sheriff Tate of Redwater County, West Virginia?I shoulda let her choke to death over a goddamn break-an’-enter charge?”
Ollie cleared his throat.“No denyin’ she saved Maya’s life.And that’s what matters.”
Tate shot him a glare before turning back to Cassie.“I’d imagine it won’t be long before you and I are havin’ words again, Ms.Berry.’Specially if you’re hangin’ around the likes of Walker.”
Cassie sucked in a hard breath, fingers curling tight around her phone.Nash felt it immediately—the shift in her, the storm about to break loose.
Slinging an arm over her shoulders, Nash steered her toward the doors.“Don’t give him a reason,” he muttered.And for once, she didn’t fight him.
Outside, the light had dimmed even further, the sky hanging low and heavy as they headed toward his bike when—
“Cas, wait up!”
Nash bit back a curse as Ollie jogged across the lot, that stupid fuckin’ hat still tucked beneath his arm.“Found this during my walkthrough of your house,” he said, holding out an old cassette tape.“Didn’t want Tate confiscatin’ it.”
“Shit,” Cassie breathed, taking it.“I can’t believe I forgot it.”
Nash’s eyes caught on the faded ink as she turned it over.
WHEN YOU MISS HER.
Connor’s handwriting.No mistaking it.
