He folded his arms in front of his chest.“Sandra’s not the type.”
“Type won’t hold up in court.”
“I know that.”
“Then don’t ask me to ignore her.”
“I’m not.”
“You are a little.And you ignored procedure when we interviewed her with others present.We need to be smarter than that.”
His jaw shifted.“Maybe I don’t like seeing you walk into a room and make an enemy out of everyone in it.You forget how things work around here.”
“I didn’t make them enemies.I asked questions.It’s called police work.”
“I was out of the room,” Connor said.“Then I come back in and they are shouting at you to leave.Maybe it was your tone.”
Selena set the pen down."Is this about Sandra, or is this about you thinking I don't understand my home anymore?"
Connor looked out through the window again.Selena could see out of it, too.
Main Street moved past them in pieces.A woman pushing a stroller.Two boys on bikes.An old beat-up truck parked near the far curb.Life carrying itself onward while Warren Holt remained dead on a table in Selena’s mind.She could see it pressing down on Connor.Piece by piece.
“I remember meeting you here so many times,” Connor said quietly.
The change in subject was too direct to be accidental.
Selena said nothing.
Connor kept his eyes on the street.“You’d sit right where you are now.Jessie would steal fries from both of us.Hank would threaten to make us wash dishes if we didn’t pay.”
“He never meant it.”
“He made me do it once.”
“You deserved it.”
“Probably.”
"You were wild back then.Always quick to anger.I still can't believe you made Sheriff."She said it with a smile.
“Sometimes I wonder if I’ve really changed at all.”
Selena wondered that, too.
Silence settled over the booth.
Selena lifted her mug and took a sip.The coffee had gone lukewarm.Across from her, Connor still watched the window as if the street might tell him what neither of them could.
The case waited.So did Ray, Derek, Sandra, Warren’s debt, the broken window at the lodge, and whatever had been hidden beneath the county’s neat routines.
Tomorrow would bring more questions.She just hoped Connor would stay in line as she asked them.
CHAPTER NINE
The house would not cool down.
Connor lay on his back with one arm across his eyes, listening to the ceiling fan turn above him with a tired click in every rotation.The sheets had twisted around his legs sometime after two, then become another thing to fight.By four in the morning, sleep had given up on him entirely.
