Sheriff Colton bobbed his head once in acknowledgment. “Okay. What did he do while in the shop?”
“Wandered aimlessly for the most part. He didn’t act interested in the merchandise, just stayed by the wall of T-shirts, which is the wall farthest from the register. He acted jittery, kept his back to me. I tried to keep an eye on him, thinking he might be considering shoplifting or, I don’t know, pulling a gun and robbing the shop.”
“You said there was another man. When did he arrive?”
She scowled at the sheriff. “I’m getting there. You said tell you everything, so…”
He raised a hand. “Apologies. Please continue.”
“I called to him once, saying the shop was closing, but he didn’t react, didn’t answer. Just kept hovering by the back wall and glancing at the front door every minute or so.”
“As if he was waiting for someone? Expecting someone?”
Jules nodded. “Exactly. The second guy came in around ten after six. I can’t close the store while customers are still inside, so I was kinda peeved about the late arrival.” She traced the fakemarble pattern in the Formica tabletop. “But once the second guy showed up, he only stayed thirty seconds. They talked for a few seconds and left the store about a minute apart.” She snorted. “As if they were trying to play it like they weren’t together, leaving separately.” She shook her head. “I know a drug deal when I see one.”
“What made you think it was a drug deal? Could you hear what they said?” the sheriff asked, his blue eyes bright as he narrowed his incisive gaze on her. “What did the second guy look like?”
She gave a short wry laugh. “Impatient much, Sheriff? I’m getting there…in an orderly manner.”
His laugh bubbled up like spring water, clear and refreshing. His gaze mirrored the same mirth as he grinned at her. “More apologies. My family is always telling me I get overeager. Please continue…in an orderly manner.”
His grin stirred something light and warm inside her, and she felt as if her chair were tipping. She splayed her hands on the tabletop to steady herself and pulled out her practiced defenses. Sharpening her tone, she asked, “Are you mocking me?”
He blinked as if startled that someone could think his charming demeanor and ready smile were fake. “No. Certainly not. I appreciate thoroughness and order. Please, finish.” His expression sobered as he pinned her with a look that burrowed to her core. “Why did you think they were dealing drugs?”
She lowered her eyes to the table again, unable to focus while she looked into that sky-blue stare. She didn’t want to tell him how many drug deals she’d seen her father conduct, so she just said, “I recognized the signs. I’m not naive, Sheriff.”
“Didn’t mean to imply you were. I meant what specifically told you it was a drug deal?”
She sighed. “The first guy acted jumpy. Not nervous so much as edgy, needing a hit.” She knew the difference, having seenit in her father so often growing up, but the sheriff didn’t need to know that private detail of her life. “The second dude was wearing a UNLV hoodie and kept his hood up, shielding his face. He clearly didn’t want me or any cameras to identify him.”
“But you said there are no cameras here,” he said.
“Doesn’t mean he knew that. Do you want me to tell my impressions or not?”
He waved a hand. “Please continue.”
She knitted her brow as she dredged up memories of the night before. “The first guy was kinda scrawny, but the second guy was more average height and seemed to have a large build. But that could have been because of the big hoodie. Again, I couldn’t see his face, and, honestly, I couldn’t tell you for sure what race he was. His hands were in his hoodie pocket. Only reason I know it was a man is because I heard him talk. His voice was low and deep.”
She sensed that the sheriff wanted to ask another question, and, flicking a glance at him, she held up a hand to stay him. “The first guy, the dead guy—” she jerked her head in the general direction of theGeese in Flightsculpture, where the body had been found “—he asked UNLV guy if someone named Gina or Tina or some such was with him.”
Sheriff Colton perked up and began scribbling in his notepad. “What did UNLV answer?”
“Not sure, he was mumbling. But his tone said he didn’t like the question. Dead guy said, ‘I know’…then something I didn’t catch. But UNLV’s reply was clipped. Just a couple grunted words. I did catchfiveandblue, or maybetwo—something with anoosound—before he turned and hurried out, his back to me. Dead Guy acted all the more restless and jittery after UNLV left. Like he was impatient to leave. So I kindly reminded him I was trying to close, and that seemed to be all the encouragement he needed to hustle out of the store.” She fell silent, exhaling thecoil of tension inside her. If she never had to talk to cops again, it would suit her just fine.
When Sheriff Colton said nothing, she risked a glance at his penetrating blue gaze. He was studying her closely, and when their eyes met, he curled his cheek up with a grin. Oh, Lord. He had a dimple.
She scowled, internally stomping on the giddy trill that buzzed through her veins. “What?”
“Just making sure you’re finished before I speak” His smile brightened, and she matched his mirth with a darker glower.
“Youaremocking me! Didn’t your mother teach you manners?” She folded her arms over her chest, determined not to be mollified by the rich timbre of his chuckle.
“She did. My many siblings, however, taught me to tease.” He fingered the brim of his hat, his expression unrepentant. After another beat, he reached in the breast pocket of his uniform shirt and extracted a business card. When he handed it to her, the paper was warm from having been tucked against his body heat, and a shimmy of sensation rolled through her, wakening nerve endings and stirring up hormones she’d kept under lock and key for the last few years.
Displeased with her reaction to the sheriff, she gritted her back teeth, trying to rein in the feral attraction to him. But like wild horses, the feelings flaring in her bucked and fought constraint.
When he pushed back from the table and rose from his chair, she couldn’t help but notice how tall and fit he was. His broad shoulders and muscled arms stretched the fabric of his uniform shirt in all the best ways. He rested his hand loosely on the service weapon at his hip and started for the door. “That’s all for now, but please stay available in case we have more questions for you. Since the victim, by your account, was in the shop prior to his death, I’m sure the forensics team will want to have a pokearound. We’ll have to keep the shop closed until they finish.” He jammed his campaign hat back on his head. “To be sure no evidence is disturbed.”
