6:30 pm.
Still nothing.
The door opened behind her.Arnold stepped in with a file tucked under one arm, his face carrying the answer before he spoke.
“Still no word,” he said.
Selena looked back at the board.“Where the hell is he?”
“I tried him twice.Went to voicemail both times.”
“Did he tell anyone where he was going after Carl Higgins?”
“No.”
Selena turned fully toward him.“Arnold, if he does something that’s going to jeopardize the case, then…”
“Thenwhat?”
Cheryl’s voice came from the doorway behind Arnold.
Selena had not heard her approach.Cheryl stood with her arms crossed and her chin raised, wearing the expression of a woman who had walked in on the last line of a conversation and already disliked the rest of it.
Arnold shifted aside, suddenly interested in the file under his arm.
Selena said, “Cheryl, I’m only looking out for him.”
“Of course you are.”Cheryl came into the room.“Like you looked out for him when you cut him loose and ran out of Harlan County fifteen years ago?”
The words struck with enough force to leave Selena searching for a response she could use in a sheriff’s office, in front of a deputy, during a murder investigation.
“That’s not…”
Cheryl lifted her eyebrows.“Not what?”
“Not relevant.”
“Oh, I’d say it’s relevant if you’re standing here talking about whether Connor can be trusted.”
Arnold cleared his throat.“Cheryl.”
“No, it’s fine.”Cheryl did not look at him.“Sheriff Chase has told us.We know, don’t we, Arnold?”
Arnold’s ears reddened.“Well, I don’t know all the details.Just the hits.”He glanced at Selena.“Connor was very respectful about it.”
Selena gave a short laugh without humor.“Yeah.I bet he was.”
Cheryl’s expression faltered by half an inch, but she recovered fast.“He’s a good man.”
“I know he is.”
“Do you?”
The room seemed to shrink around that question.Selena rested her hand on the table and made herself keep her voice level.
“This doesn’t matter.Not our personal life.You guys care about him.I care about him.”The next words had to be chosen with care.“As a colleague.He’s very upset about what happened to Victor and Warren.I’m saying that if we can anticipate him making a wrong move, we should try to persuade him out of it.That’s all.”
Cheryl studied her for a few seconds, arms still folded.
